9 replies to this topic

[oberhaus]

By Kevin Oberhaus
https://twitter.com/KevinOberhaus

Have you ever wanted something so badly and one of your friends got it first? Then to make things worse, you never got it and said friend wouldn't let you play with it? I bet you have. It might have been with a sibling but you get where I'm coming from.

Every team in high school sports is ultimately playing for a State Title. Now whether or not its a realistic goal each season remains to be seen but each team at least starts off with a chance.

MAC, MAC, MAC. We've all heard the chants or even been part of them. For those of you on my side of the field/court it usually means you are getting beat yet again. For those on the participating side, its become a right of passage. It drives most of us crazy. We hate hearing it. Why? Because we are jealous. Yes, jealous.

The Midwest Athletic Conference, MAC, is no doubt the best small school conference in the state. Arguments can be made for best conference regardless of side. All of us are just hoping to get a little taste of what they have come to expect. We want to have the athletic success that the MAC has enjoyed. 105 State titles as a conference. This coming from schools with less then 400 students total. Schools that only offer the basic sports (Football, basketball, baseball, cross country, track, golf, volleyball, softball). Its just incredible what they produce year in and year out. The MAC has won at least one State Title in every year since 1982.

Now let me talk about one particular MAC school.

So I was driving home from the Delphos St Johns-Leipsic game Saturday when I thought about writing this and I will tell you why.

DSJ has been anything but consistent all thru the season. They needed a win and a Mohawk loss in week 10 to sneak in to the playoffs in the #8 spot. At that point we all knew that region 24 was not safe. We all knew that Leipsic was on notice. There was almost a consensus that DSJ is the favorite to win the region.

The second play from scrimmage pretty much wrapped up the idea of DSJ as a player. I stood on the Leipsic sideline with my camera. I looked across the way at a familiar uniform. I've covered many DSJ games and took in more as a fan of the opposition (PH). But the team I was looking at was unfamiliar to me.

I'm used to seeing DSJ as a larger then life team. 6'2 220 is they way I've so often described them. 100 guys on the sidelines, or so it seemed. This team is different. They aren't physically imposing. Their roster does not cover the page from top to bottom in tiny size 8 print. The boys don't stretch from 25 to 25 to try to catch a glimpse of the action.

There are 54 on the roster. 18 of them are Freshmen. 36 upperclassmen. 9 are over 200lbs. Aside from the interlocked SJ on one side of the helmet and the crowd cladded in blue, there is nothing that strikes fear into the opposition. But this is a team that I am most impressed with.

If there was ever a year when Leipsic was going to knock off the Jays, this was it. Did it happen? No. A 15 point win was never in doubt. I found myself being awed by this Blue Jay team. They are disciplined. They tackle true. They execute on every play. The coaching is just phenomenal.

So let me say this. Hats off the the Delphos St John's Blue Jays. I am a fan. Coach Schulte is one of the best around. For him to take this group of kids from their early season troubles to Region 24 favorite is remarkable. Keep up the hard work young men. You deserve every MAC, MAC chant that you get. Let us not be jealous but let us strive to emulate what the MAC does.

[calvert_alum]

This was a great article! Keep up the good work.

[flounder]

Obie......

One of the best articles ever!!!!!!!

[ADog]

Very good article

[BlueJay]

Great read

[slice slice baby]

Awesome, Obie!

[Common Sense]

Credit do DSJ, and thank goodness they were able to squeak in the playoffs, imagine now, in a 7 division, 8 team per region format where one of the better teams in the region doesn't get in the playoffs?? But before we get too giddy, we all have to admit region 24 is very weak this year. The Vikings were hardly a dominant #1 seed going into the playoffs, although they were playing their best football of the season. They only had a opening season 33-20 win over a 5-5 Hopewell Louden team, and a win over McComb in week 9 as their only significant wins of the season, while getting by a 4-6 Van Buren team 26-20, and a 6-4 Pandora team 26-21. Interesting the numbers and size being down at St. John's. With Jefferson's success, are some of the locals moving the Wildcat way? The other thing to look at with the MAC is you have a lot of those small communities with good family structures, few move away so success literally breeds success. Also look that many of the small schools today have instituted soccer programs, a football/ volleyball killer in the fall. Hats off to the MAC, I'm sure you'll continue to see them win.

[Rocketman]

Nice article Obie .......thank you

[RWB 71]

Well written and with nothing left to dispute.

[slice slice baby]

RWB 71, on 14 November 2013 - 06:45 AM, said:

Well written and with nothing left to dispute.

You have a PM waiting on you that's prolly at least a wk old.