2-Minute Drill Podcast for March 13, 2014

 
by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

Today's High School Football America 2-Minute Drill podcast looks at the latest from Allen, Texas and a report that says they made need to do a "partial teardown" of the Eagles' 2-year old, $60 million stadium.  I also talk about the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's decision to delay a vote on splitting public and private schools in athletics.

Final 2013 High School Football America Top 25

by Jeff Fisher
Follow @HSFBamerica

It's official - the Allen Eagles not only won their second straight Texas 5A Division I title yesterday with an easy victory over Pearland, but today it can lay claim to our mythical national championship.  The Eagles ran the table to finish the season where they began it - atop our Power Rankings.

It's the second straight year that Allen finished at the top of our poll. Last year, the Eagles shared the crown with John Curtis (Louisiana).

This year it looked liked the crown would be split again with Allen, #2 St. John Bosco (California) and #3 Booker T. Washington finishing within a whisker of each other in our rankings that are based on a formula - not on opinion.  There are 12 factors that go into our rankings.

How close were the top three teams?  Check-out the table below that looks at several of our formula factors:

 

	Opp. Overall Win Pct.	Opp. Playoff Win Pct.	Margin of Victory	Win vs. State Champs	Wins vs. Opp. with 10+ victories	Wins vs. Opp. with sub .500 record
Allen	70%	80%	31.8	1	6	3
St. John Bosco	70%	77%	30.7	0	8	2
Booker T. Washington	64%	71%	31.5	3	6	3

1. (1) Allen (Texas)

Overall Record: 16-0

Rewind: began season #1
 

2. (8) St. John Bosco (California)

Overall Record: 16-0

Rewind: began season #9
 

3. (2) Booker T. Washington (Florida)

Overall: 14-0

Rewind: began season #6

 

4. (7) Miami Central (Florida)

Overall Record: 13-1

Rewind: began season #8

 

5. (5) DeSoto (Texas)

Overall: 14-1

Rewind: began season #20
6. (NR) Archbishop Moeller (Ohio)

Overall Record: 14-1

Rewind: began season unranked
 

7. (NR) Cedar Hill (Texas)

Overall Record: 14-2

Rewind: began season unranked

8. (11) Northwestern (South Carolina)

Overall Record: 15-0

Rewind: began season unranked

9. (6) De La Salle (California)

Overall Record: 14-1

Rewind: began season #2
 

10. (10) Hoover (Alabama)

Overall: 15-0

Rewind: began season #18

11. (9) St. Joseph Regional (New Jersey)

Overall Record: 10-1

Rewind: began seson unranked
 

12. (12) Bellevue (Washington)

Overall Record: 14-0

Rewind: began season #24
 

13. (19) Jenks (Oklahoma)

Overall: 14-0

Rewind: began season unranked
 

14. (18) Mountain Pointe (Arizona)

Overall: 14-0

Rewind: began season unranked

15. (17) Mallard Creek (North Carolina)

Overall Record: 16-0

Rewind: began season unranked

 

16. (NR) Dwyer (Florida)

Overall: 15-0

Rewind: began season unranked

 

17. (20) Brother Rice (Michigan)

Overall: 14-0

Rewind: began season unranked

 

18. (NR) Aledo (Texas)

Overall: 16-0

Rewind: began season unranked
19. (NR) Chaminade (California)

Overall: 14-2

Rewind: began season unranked
 

20. (NR) American Heritage (Plantation, Florida)

Overall: 14-0

Rewind: began season unranked
 

21. (NR) Blue Springs (Missouri)

Overall: 14-0

Rewind: began season unranked

22. (3) Katy (Texas)

Overall: 15-1

Rewind: began season #7
 

23. (NR) Bishop Gorman (Nevada)

Overall: 13-2

Rewind: began season #13

 

24. (NR) Norcross (Georgia)

Overall: 13-2

Rewind: began season #4
 

25. (NR) St. Joseph's Prep (Pennsylvania)

Overall: 12-3

Rewind: began season unranked

Two New Teams Enter MaxPreps' Xcellent 25

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

After  a couple of tough close battles had some thinking that Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ) may not have been worthy of its #1 ranking.  That all changed Saturday when the top-ranked Ironmen dismantled St. Edward 38-7 in a battle of unbeatens at Fordham University in the Bronx in New York City.

As a result of the solid win over the defending Ohio Division I champs, DBP sits solidly atop the latest MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 this week.  St. Ed fell-out of the Top 25 as a result of the loss that snapped its 21-game win streak.  Bosco's win streak is now at 40.

For the first time in a long time, there are changes in the Top 5.  Miramar's 27-20 overtime win over former #5 St. Thomas Aquinas shuffles the Florida powers.  Miramar moves into the #5 slot, while the Raiders fall to #11 this week.

Former #4 Allen (Texas) falls five spots to #9 after a hard fought 42-38 win over Plano East.

Entering the poll this week at #24 and #25 respectively: #24 Daphne (Alabama) and #25 Hamilton (Chandler, AZ).

Hamilton owns the nation's second longest active win streak at 47 straight.  Not bad for a team that many felt was rebuilding in 2011.

Earlier this year on the NHSCA Sports Hour, I spoke to Husky head coach Steve Belles.  You can listen to that interview by clicking here.

MaxPreps Xcellent 25
1. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 5-0, LW: #1
2. Armwood (FL) 6-0, LW: #2
3. Trinity (KY) 7-0, LW: #3
4. DeSoto (TX) 6-0, LW: #6
5. Miramar (FL) 5-0, LW: #24
6. Katy (TX) 6-0, LW: #7
7. Gaffney (SC) 7-0, LW: #8
8. Good Counsel (MD) 6-0, LW: #10
9. Allen (TX) 6-0, LW: #4
10. Bishop Gorman (NV) 7-1, LW: #11
11. St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) 4-1, LW: #5
12. Mallard Creek (NC) 7-0, LW: #12
13. Buford (GA) 8-0, LW: #13
14. Grayson (GA) 6-0, LW: #14
15. Archbishop Moeller (OH) 7-0, LW: #15
16. Trinity (TX) 7-0, LW: #16
17. Warren Central (IN), LW: #19
18. Bellevue (WA) 6-0, LW: 17
19. Harrison Hills Harrison (MI) 7-0, LW: #18
20. Central Miami (FL) 5-0, LW: #20
21. Lake Travis (TX) 6-0, LW: #21
22. Camden County (GA) 6-0, LW: #23
23. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (PA) 6-0, LW: #25
24. Daphne (AL) 7-0, LW: NR
25. Hamilton (AZ) 7-0, LW: NR

NY Times Examines Allen, Texas' $60-million High School Football Stadium

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

It isn't new news, but the NY Times has pushed Allen (Texas) High School's $60-million dollar football stadium back to the front pages. The story by writer Greg Bishop appeared on the front page of Sports Sunday.

What I find interesting about the story is the fact that school athletic director Steve Williams decided to talk very publicly about the 18,000 seat stadium that will be ready for the 2012 season. When I contacted him in September of last year about appearing with me on CNBC to talk about the stadium and the big business of high school football, a person in Williams' office turned down the offer, because the school wanted to keep things "low key".

I don't know about you, but I don't think the front page of the NY Times is very low key??

So with the "can of worms" re-opened, I ask you, my readers, what do you think of a school district building a $60-million football Taj Mahal during this recession?  Of course, I must point out that 63-percent of Allen resident voted in favor of the bond issue to build the stadium.

Recession? Allen High School (TX) to Build $60 Million Stadium

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

America's economic woes  are not affecting things in Allen, Texas where residents have voted in favor of building a new $59.6 million high school football stadium.

The new Allen Eagle Stadium, which will be ready for the 2012 season, will feature 18,000 seats, a video scoreboard and an artificial-surface field.  The Eagles, who currently play in a 7,200 seat stadium, won Texas' 5A Division I title in 2008.

Check-out a conceptual drawing of what the Eagles' new digs will look like.