A reader writes to ask why Highland finished ahead of Geneva in Division II, Region 5 despite losing two more games (it had a 6-4 record as compared to the Eagles’ 8-2) and losing their regular-season finale, while Geneva won its last game.
This is an excellent question, and is also a good way to lead into our annual season wrapup concerning how area teams fared in computer-points races.
This was not a good year for area schools as far as actually making the playoffs was concerned, which can be explained simply by saying that none of the area’s 10 squads qualified for the postseason. The Eagles and Perry were the two that came the closest, with both having a chance entering the season’s final weekend. Today’s analysis will focus solely on those two teams.
So what about Geneva, which finished 10th in the region with 18.95 points, exactly two behind the lowest qualifier and 2.85 in arrears of seventh-place Highland?
As we have mentioned here, the ranking system used in Ohio is based on two levels — one being associated with the schools that a team beats during the course of a season, and one associated with the teams its victims beat. Points are awarded according to school size.
The Eagles, as we have noted, won eight games this season. Those eight victims combined to win a total of 31 games. The Highland Hornets won six times, but their six victims combined for 35 victories.
So right there, even before considering school size, the Hornets are ahead; they have 41 first- and second-level wins combined, as compared to 39 for Geneva. When you throw in the average size of the victims, Highland has an advantage there too, so when everything is added up, it comes out with more computer points.
The Eagles’ two most valuable wins in terms of points came against Edgewood (3.7) and Kirtland (3.4). An additional victory against either school to which they lost — Lakeview or Kenston — would have put them into the postseason. The other thing that cost Geneva was the fact that the opposition in the region was stronger than usual. Geneva’s 18.95 points would have been enough to qualify in the same region in five of the prior eight years. In Region 8 this season, it would have been good enough for fifth place.
Perry finished in 10th place in Division IV, Region 13 with 11.0 points. In an unusually weak year for the region, at least as far as computer points is concerned, eighth-place Campbell Memorial qualified with 12.3 points.
The Pirates were hurt by the fact they didn’t win as many games as in other recent seasons, and that every school that they did defeat finished with a losing record. Their most valuable win came against Madison, and provided 2.85 points. They didn’t have another victory that was worth as many as two points.
Not surprisingly, if Perry had beaten any of the four teams to which it in fact lost — Chagrin Falls, West Geauga, Aurora or Kenston — it would have been in the postseason.
Goldman is a freelance writer from South Euclid. Reach him at steve558@roadrunner.com.
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STEVE GOLDMAN
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A Steve Goldman column: Eagles were one victory from playoffs
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