I wouldn't go as far as to say 1a was better than 2a this year because 2a is deeper and has more quality teams after the Top 10, whereas 1a doesn't have alot to offer after the Top 10. In saying this, if you look at games where a ranked 1a team played a ranked 2a team, the 1a teams had more success. Here's some examples:

 

Mayfield 28 Murray 18

Caldwell Co 48 Mayfield 41

Pikeville 37 Prestonsburg 20

Pikeville 77 M'Boro 46

Hazard 32 Somerset 28

Hazard 24 Prestonsburg 14

Frankfort 51 Danville 24

NCC 34 Beechwood 31

 

These were the matchups of some of the better 1a teams vs some of the better 2a teams. 1a held a 6-2 advantage. Maybe this was a better than average 1a group of teams or maybe it was a worse than average 2a group of teams. Not sure. Not too sure I'd place P"Burg in the Top 10 of 2a either, but, at the end of the year, they most likely were and not sure Danville would have been a Top 10 2a team at the end of the year, but, they were pretty much the entire year, thus I included those games.

 

Like I said, 2A has 7-8 other teams outside of the Top 10 that would be considered better than any 1a team outside the Top 10, but, I am curious what peoples thoughts are on 1a vs 2a at the top this year.

 

Thoughts?

I think it's a really hard year to compare scores, but I think the top 2/3 in 1A could compete, with Mayfield being the one who could legitimately challenge in the finals. Desales/Mayfield would have been a great game, although I would have favored Desales.

I would favor Desales, as well, but, they did have some defensive issues and I'm sure Coach Morris and the rest of the staff would find a way to exploit it if anyone could.

In most years I would pick Mayfield to win 1A through 3A. They would face some stiff competition, but because of their style of play, and ability to score, I just feel like they would be a tough team for any of the lower half of the classes to beat.

I think the top 10 teams this year in 1A could compete in 2A this season. It's not always the case. 2A is deeper when it comes to quality teams.

If you look at the 1a top teams : Mayfield, Russellville, Frankfort, Beechwood, Pikeville, Wburg, Raceland, Fairview, Hazard, Bellevue... Those 10 teams match up with 2a very well. I could see the majority of these being in the Top 10 or close in the 2a rankings.

 

Top 10 2a teams : Desales, NCC, CAL, Caldwell Co, Glasgow, Murray, Somerset, Bardstown, PBurg, Middlesboro. But, after those 10, you still have Danville, OB Catholic, Union Co, W.Verona, Gallatin Co, B.Layne that could all be Top 10 teams in 1a.

 

The depth is the difference, but, from 1-10, not much difference, maybe even a little advantage to 1a.

Some of the top 2A teams do not play many 1A teams so it is kind of hard to tell. And you would also have to look at games involving top teams versus the non-top teams in the other class. For example, Bellevue (Top 10 in 1A) lost to 2A non-Top 10 Gallatin Co and Walton Verona and beat Owen Co. Meanwhile Beechwood (Top 10 in 1A) beat non-top 10 2A Holy Cross.

You guys are all spot on in my opinion

Caldwell County won 48-41 against 1A State Champion Mayfield, and was taking a knee at the 1 yard line with 1:20 left in the game. It was a great game, but I would definitely think that DeSales, Glasgow, NCC, and Somerset would have all been in the same boat, and I believe Mayfield was head and shoulders above everybody else in 1A this year. Mayfield's weakest point this year was their defense. Having seen them give up 600 yards to Caldwell and then only allow 1 TD in 5 playoff games gives me the idea that any of the 2A top 10 could have won 1A this year had they traded places with Mayfield, and not had to face them.

 

BTW, not a nicer bunch of guys than the Mayfield crew that I have met and talked to.

Caldwell County won 48-41 against 1A State Champion Mayfield, and was taking a knee at the 1 yard line with 1:20 left in the game. It was a great game, but I would definitely think that DeSales, Glasgow, NCC, and Somerset would have all been in the same boat, and I believe Mayfield was head and shoulders above everybody else in 1A this year. Mayfield's weakest point this year was their defense. Having seen them give up 600 yards to Caldwell and then only allow 1 TD in 5 playoff games gives me the idea that any of the 2A top 10 could have won 1A this year had they traded places with Mayfield, and not had to face them.

 

BTW, not a nicer bunch of guys than the Mayfield crew that I have met and talked to.

 

Not sure I would count Somerset in that group, since they did lose to Hazard, who, at the very best, was maybe 7th or 8th in 1a. That same Somerset team made it to the Final 4 in 2a. Hazard didn't make it that far in 1a. NCC beat Beechwood 34-31 and Frankfort beat Beechwood 33-21. Again, this same NCC team made the 2a finals, while Frankfort was eliminated in the Final 4 of 1a. I 100% agree with you on Caldwell, Desales and CAL. Even though Caldwell was upset in the regional playoff round as well as CAL, those 2 teams could have won 1a, although the way Mayfield was playing in the playoffs, it wouldn't have been an easy task. In watching Desales, they were also a very solid team, especially offensively, but, there D was a little suspect, imo, but, impressive nonetheless. While those teams were strong, I do think if WBurg, Frankfort, Pikeville, Hazard, Raceland, Russellville and Beechwood would have been on the east side of the 2a bracket, they all would have had a very good chance of being in the finals. 2a had 3 or 4 really good teams, but, they were all on 1 side of the bracket. NCC was good, as well, but, they really didn't have alot of competition in getting to the title game.

The top 5 in 1A and top 5 in 2A are pretty great matchups. If you go past that, I think 2A starts getting an advantage. Obviously, it will deviate from this in certain years, but Mayfield and Beechwood can compete with the top 2A teams in any year

Caldwell County won 48-41 against 1A State Champion Mayfield, and was taking a knee at the 1 yard line with 1:20 left in the game. It was a great game, but I would definitely think that DeSales, Glasgow, NCC, and Somerset would have all been in the same boat, and I believe Mayfield was head and shoulders above everybody else in 1A this year. Mayfield's weakest point this year was their defense. Having seen them give up 600 yards to Caldwell and then only allow 1 TD in 5 playoff games gives me the idea that any of the 2A top 10 could have won 1A this year had they traded places with Mayfield, and not had to face them.

 

BTW, not a nicer bunch of guys than the Mayfield crew that I have met and talked to.

 

It is difficult to play the comparing scores game with any certainty. NCC and Beechwood were essentially even this year. Mayfield beat the team that knocked Beechwood out of the playoffs by 4 touchdowns. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you can usually manipulate the scores to prove whatever point you want to make.

I can't believe that many think there is so much difference between 1A and 2A, as a whole. Heck, there is not that much difference between 1A and 4A, as a whole. The big difference is when you place a non-platooning team versus a platooning team.

I would take the top five teams in 2A and throw Mayfield right in with them (DeSales, CAL, Glasgow, NCC, and Caldwell). Any of those would dominate 1A just like Mayfield did. I believe the next five teams in 2A (Murray, Somerset, OCath, Bardstown, and Union Co) would have had a pretty easy time in 1A themselves. You could probably throw Beechwood and Frankfort in with them, but they would struggle. Just not much comparison between these two classes. Mayfield is the exception to the rule (GREAT program). To say that anyone else in 1A could compete in the top ten of 2A is a stretch at best. I think you could do this same thing between 2A and 3A, and probably every class the rest of the way up.

It is difficult to play the comparing scores game with any certainty. NCC and Beechwood were essentially even this year. Mayfield beat the team that knocked Beechwood out of the playoffs by 4 touchdowns. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you can usually manipulate the scores to prove whatever point you want to make.

 

Just a heads up, NCC and BW were not even... NCC spotted Beechwood 21 points in the 1st half (may have even been the first quarter) virtue of turnovers, and NCC went on and dominated the rest of the game. This year was not your typical BW team at all.