BLAMEIT's ANNUAL PRESEASON RANKINGS

[BlameIt]

I know it's only July, but we are less than a month (for most teams) until football 'officially' begins.

So, that being said, here is BlameIt's Class 1A Preseason Top 7

1) IC REGINA - this is a no brainer. They are tied for the longest win streak in the NATION. They return all but one skill position player, and a horse up front in Phil Arendt. Until they lose (if they lose) this is where they stay.

2) SOUTH WINN - Garrett Bohach was a stud, let's face facts. He will be missed. As will Chris Brincks. However, SW returns its top 2 RB and are very deep at skill positions. If it can survive "the district of death", look out come November.

3) WEST LYON - They don't rebuild, they reload. Yes, they lost their #1 QB and #1 and #2 RBs. But, they return Iowa OL commit Jake Newborg. That's enough for me.

4) FDSE - People are going to question their ability to make a deep run due to the graduation of Vinnie Harvey. Don't fret. SE returns TJ O'Tool (1500 yd rusher), and the QB/WR combo of Bocken to Peed. They will be heard from.

5) SUMNER-FREDRICKSBURG - And, my surprise pick to click. I like what the Cougars have returning on paper. They graduated a 1100 passer and the #1 WR, but return the backfield. Playing in the District of Death will season them for anyone.

6) MANSON NW WEBSTER - Coy Snell. Alex Bush. Statistically speaking, those two, alone, put the Cougars in the top 10. They play in a very winnable district, but have to go through FDSE to get to the top.

7) WEST BRANCH - This still may be a bit high, but I just cannot find another team to rank higher...on paper. The Bears return 5 starting OL, which is a nice commodity at any level.. Lucas (both Lamont and Lenoch) are going to be the stat sheet stuffers for WB in 2014.


Teams that BC Moore has ranked as of now that BlameIt cannot agree with (AKA the computer doesn't know graduation and stats):

#4 Wilton - they lost pretty much every skill player imaginable, and lost an all-state OL/DL to transfer. No way they are a top 10 team. New HC Ryan Hetzler will have big shoes to fill after Lance Pedersen took the HC position at Mt Vernon.

#7 Dike NH - lost WAY too much to be that high...for now. But they seem to reload quite well.
#8 West Marshall - Ferch is gone. He was, literally, their whole offensive team.
#9 Clayton Ridge - They lost s 2200 yard passer, their #1 and #2 rusher, and their #1 and #2 WR. Moser is a great OL, but not enough to save the Eagles in the District of Death.
#10 Van Meter - they will be near the rankings all season because they play in arguably the worst district in 1A football. But, sorry, they are not a top 10 team without Brandon Brittain. He was the full meal deal for the VM run in '13.


SEMI FINAL PROJECTIONS (these will depend on what the IHSAA does with their new geographical playoff matchups)

West Lyon v FDSE
Regina v South Winn

Regina v WL

Regina for title #5

ALL COMMENTS WELCOME

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Originally posted by BlameIt:

ALL COMMENTS WELCOME

 

[cidhawkeye]

Is WB done recruiting or do they have a couple more offers out there?

 

[Superbee922]

Nice job BlameIt.

I wonder when the last time was that Emmetsburg was not on everyone's pre-season top 10 list?

It will be interesting to see how Madrid adjusts to the move up to 1A.

I would make a few comments about Sumner-Fredericksburg, which you have bravely listed as your surprise #5 pick.

It looks to me like the Cougars graduated a little more offensively than you may have realized. Besides a 1000 yard passer (you mentioned him), they graduated 5 of their top top 6 rushers (including their leading rusher), their top 5 receivers, and one of the leading punters in 1A..

What they have returning are many of their leading tacklers, their 2nd leading rusher (about 520 yards, 8 TD's) who is also their leading returning receiver (4 receptions last year), and their place kicker (who was good on only 65% of his PAT's).

Maybe they have a great offensive line returning intact, and really good skill position underclassmen ready to step up. I honestly don't know.

I would nominate Sigourney-Keota for a pre-season rating (10th?). They were 5-4 last year, including a one point loss to West Branch and a 19-0 loss to Regina. It looks like they return their leading passer, leading and #3 rushers, and a number of their leading tacklers.

Most comments welcome

 

[BlameIt]

SK graduated STARTING QB Luke Lyle, although Gretter started the last half of the season due to List having mono.

Kolton Greiner will be a huge loss for the Savage Cobras. He is a quick step away from going yard every time he touched the ball.

SUPERBEE I looked at the defensive side of the ball re: S-Fred. You know as well as I do that defense wins championships. You can usually replace OL at the 1A level to some degree

CID not really sure what you are getting at. Giese chose to come to WB of his own fruition. We offered Cook, but he felt like he'd have to live in Marvin's footsteps so he decided to remain a Regal.

As for MADRID being successful, they always will to some degree.

MADRID and SIG-KEOTA are never going to get back to where they were. The prehistoric 80-90% run teams are rarely successful beyond round 1 of the playoffs anymore. Hence EMMETSBURG's slide of late. Teams have them figured out after seeing the same thing for 20-30 years.

You have to run the football to win, yes. But not predominantly.


This post was edited on 7/8 8:32 AM by BlameIt

 

[Superbee922]

Originally posted by BlameIt:

SUPERBEE I looked at the defensive side of the ball re: S-Fred. You know as well as I do that defense wins championships.

Agreed ... definitely. S-Fred is usually pretty solid defensively.

Originally posted by BlameIt:

MADRID and SIG-KEOTA are never going to get back to where they were. The prehistoric 80-90% run teams are rarely successful beyond round 1 of the playoffs anymore. Hence EMMETSBURG's slide of late. Teams have them figured out after seeing the same thing for 20-30 years.

You have to run the football to win, yes. But not predominantly.

Not so sure I agree here, although I certainly do enjoy the wide open offenses that are in vogue now and think they are good for the game. Emmetsburg won the championship in '08 and St. Ansgar in '11. Both predominantly running teams, and not exactly a generation ago either.

I think it has more to do with talent level that with offensive schemes. Emmetsburg isn't cranking out the championship-contending wrestling teams anymore either. I just don't think the athletes are there like there used to be.

S-K is in a tough spot - an economically-depressed area that is not really near enough to a thriving metro area to serve as a bedroom community. They have have suffered severe enrollment declines; I just don't think the athletes are there like back in the day. (Nor is Bob Howard).

Not sure why Madrid has fallen off some from their peak - I have no explanation.

My two cents ...

 

[cidhawkeye]

Just messing with you a bit Blame, Giese is a nice pickup for the Bears. I agree with the concept that it will be difficult to win at the top levels with that heavy of a run emphasis, one of the problems I have seen is that teams have so much success with their key core plays that they don't get any practice running anything else until they need to in a big game.

 

[PNation]

Couple of things I see

1. Dike will be better than some on here think, good tradition, good coaching, good athletes, and something that is overlooked good participation, if you look at quikstats they could have 60 10-12 graders which any football coach will tell you at the small school level is huge. Probably the second place team in the district but with the new playoff rules could find there way to the dome.

2. I agree with Sigourney being alright, yes there enrollment is down, but always have kids who know how to play. I also think the class of 16 for them is really good.

Teams not to forget about

St. Ansgar
AHST
IKM-M

 

[CraigsNews]

Can't argue with your rankings too much Blame. I would agree with PNation not to overlook Dike-NH and I like that you put Sumner-Fred in your rankings.

D4 is going to be such a dogfight. South Winn is the clear favorite; DNH and SF have already been mentioned, but do not sleep on Clayton Ridge.

They return five all district players in Ryan Moser, Colten Rastetter, Jared Gerner, Thomas Meyer, and Andrew Burgin. I've also heard that they may have Kody Cummer returning this year. Cummer lived with his dad during his freshman and sophomore campaigns at CR, moved to Cascade to live with his mom for his junior year, and is supposedly back in Guttenberg for his senior year. I'm sure he'll have to miss some games due to the move, but he, along with Moser, Gerner, and Meyer will make for quite a defensive line. The new QB should be an athletic 6'3" sophomore.

Really, really looking forward to the upcoming year.

P.S. It's Regina and everybody else in 1A.

 

[Vroom_C14]

Originally posted by CraigsNews:
Can't argue with your rankings too much Blame. I would agree with PNation not to overlook Dike-NH and I like that you put Sumner-Fred in your rankings.

D4 is going to be such a dogfight. South Winn is the clear favorite; DNH and SF have already been mentioned, but do not sleep on Clayton Ridge.

They return five all district players in Ryan Moser, Colten Rastetter, Jared Gerner, Thomas Meyer, and Andrew Burgin. I've also heard that they may have Kody Cummer returning this year. Cummer lived with his dad during his freshman and sophomore campaigns at CR, moved to Cascade to live with his mom for his junior year, and is supposedly back in Guttenberg for his senior year. I'm sure he'll have to miss some games due to the move, but he, along with Moser, Gerner, and Meyer will make for quite a defensive line. The new QB should be an athletic 6'3" sophomore.

Really, really looking forward to the upcoming year.

P.S. It's Regina and everybody else in 1A, 2A, 3A.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Originally posted by Vroom_C14:

Originally posted by CraigsNews:


P.S. It's Regina and everybody else in 1A, 2A, 3A.

There's probably only 10-15 4A programs in each of the last 5 years (including 2014 because it's a foregone conclusion and what not........) that could've even had a chance to possibly beat Regina.

I wouldn't put money on Fort Dodge staying within 14 pts of Regina if they played and they were in the middle third of 4A teams last year. That's not a slight on Fort Dodge. That's just how good Regina is compared to everyone else, and they get to play in 1A every year.