Will Burg take the SOC title AGAIN, or can anybody pull off a surprise this year?
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Burg
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Northwest
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West
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Valley
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Waverly
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Minford
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Oak Hill
League looks about the same as last season. Don’t see anyone truly challenging Burg…they lost a lot to graduation, but have some strong classes coming up with depth. Could see them struggle nonconference early in season, but will have a bunch of juniors/sophomores on the field that will get better as year goes on.
Spots 2-5 look like they could all be interchangeable and could make a case for any of them finishing ahead of other. Really like the running back rotations at Northwest and West. Valley has alot of positions to fill, but also has the roster numbers to do it. Waverly got a solid QB/WR combo to lean on.*
No slight towards NW but new coach has me not putting them at 2. They can definitely finish there but right now I can’t say for certain. I think West will get 2nd after that you can jumble them all up and get any order other than Minford toward the bottom
No team in the soc will beat burg that’s just obvious. As for valley they lost a lot of great skill players but also return a big roster. They are fortunate enough that not everyone has to play both ways which is a huge advantage. I think they have to get back to playing some power football instead of the soft finesse that they have been. Valley has always been at their best when they had great lines and a powerful rb. Every team that beat them last year did it by running the ball right at them. That has to change.
Wheelersburg at the top, only question is how big the gap is to everyone else.
After them I think the order looks like this:
Valley
West
Northwest
Waverly
Minford versus Oak Hill. Both bringing in new coaches, hard to tell what will happen with both.
I look for Waverly to bounce back after a mess of a season in 2025. They have experienced wr returning. If there line can improve and Myer can stay healthy they may be more competitive in the league than people think.
We go there week three good to here they are gonna be back next season. Always a tuff game for us
Valley has improved numbers wise and has some good talent coming up. Probably a year or so away from competing at the championship level, but will still be no pushover
Have to give the nod to Burg, they lose a lot of talent but really they’re just reloading each year at this point. Next I’m going to go with West believe it’ll be Bishop’s senior year. Followed up by Waverly, they return everyone but the QB position is a major question mark and now one of their top OL heading to Chillicothe. Followed by Valley-Northwest-Oak Hill-Minford.
No idea how that is a better move - must be the NIL.
Lol he and his Dad were seen at a CHS practice cornered up with the HC way back during the playoffs. Wonder what took so long.
You don’t think Chillicothe will be more successful than Waverly?
Who knows what motivates a transfer. Could be as simple as the player/parents feel there is a better opportunity to develop OL skills at Chillicothe than Waverly. It is not always about chasing wins or trophies.
It’s an exposure move plain and simple, he’s with the recruiter who has multiple guys at Chillicothe and I’m sure he was told to go there get more exposure play at a bigger school plus he’s there with Ligon and the big OT they have as well who’s being heavily recruited. Be interesting to see if anyone from Waverly turns him in, playing at the convo for Waverly one week left a week or 2 later for Chillicothe.
We had same thing happen to one of our guys. Crapper is in with Daren junior.
He has been at two other schools before Waverly. Should be a red flag in general.
Minford, Valley, Oak Hill, and West will all be DVI in 2026.
Very good news for all of those programs as path to playoffs becomes a lot easier. Only downside I see is Versailles and St. Henry also in the same Region.*
Good for their playoff hopes but doesn’t help Wheelersburg and really doesn’t help Waverly. Probably won’t impact making playoffs or not but could hurt points and seeding.
I think the SOC is going to be forced to make some additions and go to three divisions to keep everyone happy.
Northwest is also.