I come from Morgan Park High School in Chicago, which, at my time of graduation, held more than 2,000 students.

The football program was the best in the city at the time, because of great recruiting, speed and coaching.

Yet, schools larger than ours within the city, within close proximity to Morgan Park, had very poor teams.

There is no way to gauge talent based on enrollment.

There are plenty of enormous schools from the Chicagoland area that would stand no chance against the Charleston Trojans simply because of very poor coaching/recruiting efforts.

In high school, individual size, speed and proper technique will usually outshine a greater talent, unless that opposite individual has received the same quality coaching and is backed up by teammates who follow suit in respect to their coaches.

Here is a suggestion.

Ranking from top to bottom should be the means for scheduling and playoff class pairings.

If I were downstate, and knew I played on a quality team, I’d love to have a shot at the big schools who receive more media coverage and attention from college coaches.

It could open up a huge realm of possibilities for a kid who, at first, wouldn’t get a look from big schools because he or she was not able to take on the bigger schools with larger pools of ‘talent’ to draw from.

It would create a Cinderella story element similar to what you see in the NCAA basketball tourney, which launches ratings through the roof.

In every state across the U.S., enrollment is the determining factor for the class of competition that the school will engage in.

Yet, I’m sure we’ve all heard the story of a small-town kid who made it to the big leagues and put their home on the map. Imagine the Charleston Trojans taking on a perennial Chicagoland football powerhouse like Mount Carmel or Maine South.

It would take the town by storm like nothing we’ve ever seen.

And it would be a great story to tell.

The season’s best record holders and conference winners would receive playoff points in this fashion, along with margin of victory/defeat, with strength of schedule determined by all three of those factors to divide the state into classes that way.

Would there be some epic beat downs handed out by the bigger schools?

Oh yes.

But you never know what could happen.

Many in the past have argued that state champions in classes as low as 5A could take down the 8A (top class) champ with ease, and with good reason.

Wouldn’t you like to see?

Yes!

Does size equal power?

Not always.

Joshua Bryant is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].