Salem 2011

• QuakerOats

  As we leave the All-American conference and the Trent Toothman era, what does it look like for the Quakers next season?
• LocoEngineer66

  

  I do not know much about your Quakers but I can say ....
  
  Welcome to the NBC!!!!
• LRB54

  I think the move to the NBC is a dumb one for the quakers. they finally have a coach and team that is making strides. Now they have to play a tougher schedule without as many horses..... DUMB MOVE BY ADMINISTRATION.:rolleyes:
• LocoEngineer66

  

  LRB54;572304 wrote:I think the move to the NBC is a dumb one for the quakers. they finally have a coach and team that is making strides. Now they have to play a tougher schedule without as many horses..... DUMB MOVE BY ADMINISTRATION.:rolleyes:

  It will make them better.
• Thinthickbigred

  Who are in those two confrences ?
  Who all switched from where to where? and Why?
• ts1227

  

  Thinthickbigred;574071 wrote:Who are in those two confrences ?
  Who all switched from where to where? and Why?

  
  AAC is Mahoning and Trumbull counties (Salem's division was Liberty, Struthers, Hubbard, Lakeview), NBC is Stark County (West Branch, Marlington, Canton South, Louisville, Minerva, Alliance, Carrollton).
  
  Salem's super has ties to Canton South, and also the fate of the AAC has been shaky at best since it's inception. It's still together, but I don't think anyone is convinced it has a long-term future.
  
  In terms of the division we were in in the AAC, we severed a lot of rivalries from the MAC (most schools we played were in the higher tier) but the schedule strength/school sizes were more on par with what we needed. We gain our archrival in West Branch back in the NBC, but will be the smallest enrollment like we were in the latter years of the MAC (usually us or Struthers). In terms of travel it's pretty much a wash. Some of the NBC schools are far, but half of the conference is closer to Salem than the closest AAC White Tier school (Struthers) is.
• sonofsam

  

  The Salem move to the NBC will benefit them significantly. They are a team on the verge and this will get them over that hump.
• GoPens

  

  The addition of Jefferson and possibly another Ashtabula area school was the final nail in the coffin for Salem leaving the AAC. WAAAY to much travel. I honestly don't see Salem in the NBC long-term. Just waiting for another Y-town area option to open up down the road.
• ts1227

  

  GoPens;575353 wrote:The addition of Jefferson and possibly another Ashtabula area school was the final nail in the coffin for Salem leaving the AAC. WAAAY to much travel. I honestly don't see Salem in the NBC long-term. Just waiting for another Y-town area option to open up down the road.

  
  I don't know how anything else in the Youngstown area would shake out. The ITCL schools are all D5/6 and seem happy as they are anyway, and no one wants the D1 or Catholic schools. Unless the AAC shakes back out into the MAC and TAC (roughly) again, what else could happen? If it would shake back out, then we go back to saving on travel while getting smoked by the big MAC schools (lateral move if the big NBC schools end up smoking us), or traveling forever to go play our similar size/skill friends in Trumbull and Ashtabula County.
• LocoEngineer66

  

  If I am not mistaken I thought I read somewhere that Fitch was joining the AAC this year.
• ts1227

  

  LocoEngineer66;575612 wrote:If I am not mistaken I thought I read somewhere that Fitch was joining the AAC this year.

  
  All but football. Boardman tried to join too but they were never even voted on because they wanted in for all sports.
• GoPens

  

  Struthers isn't happy being put in the big tier of the AAC, so they could be talked out of it. Beaver in a worse situation than Salem regarding possible travel to Ashtabula County and I sense they're not happy being with the big boys of the AAC. Since Salem was just 4 boys over D-III level these last 2 years, there is a good chance they could be a D-IV next year. A good start would be Salem, Struthers, Beaver, Liverpool. Maybe create a third tier of the ITCL possibly add United....see if Campbell might be interested...maybe Niles?? There is a sense that the AAC, as is, still is on shaky ground. Be a little creative here...
• ts1227

  

  GoPens;575656 wrote:Struthers isn't happy being put in the big tier of the AAC, so they could be talked out of it. Beaver in a worse situation than Salem regarding possible travel to Ashtabula County and I sense they're not happy being with the big boys of the AAC. Since Salem was just 4 boys over D-III level these last 2 years, there is a good chance they could be a D-IV next year. A good start would be Salem, Struthers, Beaver, Liverpool. Maybe create a third tier of the ITCL possibly add United....see if Campbell might be interested...maybe Niles?? There is a sense that the AAC, as is, still is on shaky ground. Be a little creative here...

  
  The only thing I worry about with the ITCL is that there are no other D4 teams anymore, they all dropped to 5 and 6. Even if Salem falls to D4, would they want that much of a small school schedule. Even if they brought a few teams with them in some sort of third tier format, would the schedules just be too weak because of the smaller schools? Let's say they did make a 5 team D3/4 tier, they would still probably have to play a few games down a tier. I know when I was at OU, Athens High pulled a similar conference change and in 2009 they went 9-1 and weren't even close to making the playoffs. They would have just snuck in at 10-0.
• lets_go_devils

  

  Were gonna miss playing you guys. We had some great games in the past. Good luck to you guys...#12 isn't an easy set of shoes to fill.
• LocoEngineer66

  

  ts1227;575652 wrote:All but football. Boardman tried to join too but they were never even voted on because they wanted in for all sports.

  
  Where they going for football? It was an article about Federal League football that said they were leaving the Fed. They voted to leave out Massillon again who wanted in Fitch's vacancy.
  
  I think Salem will be fine in the NBC if they continue on the track they are on now. They have had some really nice teams these last few years.
• ts1227

  

  LocoEngineer66;575800 wrote:Where they going for football? It was an article about Federal League football that said they were leaving the Fed. They voted to leave out Massillon again who wanted in Fitch's vacancy.

  They're going independent. The Massillon/Fed stuff is most likely just political BS as usual.
• Gardens35

  LocoEngineer66;575800 wrote:Where they going for football? It was an article about Federal League football that said they were leaving the Fed. They voted to leave out Massillon again who wanted in Fitch's vacancy.
  
  I think Salem will be fine in the NBC if they continue on the track they are on now. They have had some really nice teams these last few years.

  
  Loco, As of "NOW" Fitch is going to fulfill it's obligation to the FED schedule for 2011. Fitch's schedule is Warren G Harding, Poland, some BS Canadian Team, and then the 7 Feds. They are not eligible for the League Championship or any individual awards.
• Gardens35

  Do any of you Salem guys know if Hubbard will remain on the schedule?
• ts1227

  

  Gardens35;576085 wrote:Do any of you Salem guys know if Hubbard will remain on the schedule?

  Not in 2011. Next year OOC is Labrae, United, and Niles, to what I understand. I assume the priority will be to get East Liverpool back on the schedule before anyone else (probably replacing LaBrae)
• Gardens35

  Thanks for the info.
• LocoEngineer66

  

  We open the NBC against the Quakers next season @ Carrollton week 4. Gonna be interesting.
• TheQ

  With the loss of two all-state athletes (Toothman, King) and several seniors and lettermen, the talent level will probably be down. This will be a very tough year for Salem to enter the NBC and will test the coaching abilities of Kopachy (if he stays at Salem). Jake Carner (sophomore) had few very few snaps at QB, so that position is probably a question mark. I heard somebody say that Zach Penick (WR/DB) can play QB, but I have no idea how true that is. The O and D lines will also be severly impacted by graduation. There were some young players that developed nicely throughout last season, but they are still a bit inexperienced. Can they become leaders? With the 8th and 9th graders only winning one game each, and the 7th graders going 7-1, the future looks a bit cloudy. Will Kopachy stick around to see if some players develop for the future, or will he move on to bigger and better things?
• QuakerOats

  TheQ;577387 wrote:With the loss of two all-state athletes (Toothman, King) and several seniors and lettermen, the talent level will probably be down. This will be a very tough year for Salem to enter the NBC and will test the coaching abilities of Kopachy (if he stays at Salem). Jake Carner (sophomore) had few very few snaps at QB, so that position is probably a question mark. I heard somebody say that Zach Penick (WR/DB) can play QB, but I have no idea how true that is. The O and D lines will also be severly impacted by graduation. There were some young players that developed nicely throughout last season, but they are still a bit inexperienced. Can they become leaders? With the 8th and 9th graders only winning one game each, and the 7th graders going 7-1, the future looks a bit cloudy. Will Kopachy stick around to see if some players develop for the future, or will he move on to bigger and better things?

  
  All valid observations. It will be interesting to see what happens.
• pooter

  I'd like to see Salem, Struthers, Beaver, EL, Niles and possibly the 2 YTown City teams...
• TheQ

  pooter;582992 wrote:I'd like to see Salem, Struthers, Beaver, EL, Niles and possibly the 2 YTown City teams...

  That looks interesting, but Salem is probably commited to the NBC for the forseeable future. Salem is not unfamiliar with a few of the teams in the NBC, but it's going to seem strange that their league opponents are located near the Canton area instead of familiar foes from the Y-town area. It's definitely going to be a new experience. I'm surprised that Beaver Local isn't associated with the OVAC (or are they already?); wouldn't there be a lot of local teams that they could schedule? I know that many teams are concerned with travel time to games for all sports.