Over the years that I covered high school football, there have always been teams that mystified me. One was Kings Mountain, pre-Ron Massey. You never knew which team would show up, the talented one or the undisciplined one. Many years, the Mountaineers could beat any school in their league, or they could lose to any school in their league. Rocky Mount, Hoke County, Southern Durham...these were some of the other schools in the '80's and 90's that usually had the players, ability, and expectations, but were wildly inconsistent.
Another school that fits that mold for me now are the Bearcats of Anson.
Please know that I am not singling Anson out of some malice. I truly just do not understand the program.
Read the following article from the Anson Record (http://www.ansonrecord.com/articles/2007/03/01/sports/sports01.txt ), that contains this statement:
Barquell Rivers, Michael Bowman, Nelson Rushing, Morris Gatewood and Roderick Sturdivant were honored with a reception at the school Feb. 7 prior to the signing ceremonies.
The quintet of Bearcat signees brings to six the number of AHS players committed to college teams for next year. Offensive lineman Trinton Sturdivant committed early to the University of Georgia and is already enrolled there.
Anyone who followed Anson football in the late 1990's must have expected big things when the Bearcats dropped to 3A level again in 2001. After all, Anson had been a major player in 4A in the preceding years. The Beacats lost the 4A regional final 30-28 to Independence just the year before in 2000, and the program had been built into a power by Ed Emory and other over the years. Playing at Anson was considered one of the toughest challenges in the state.
Thus, it has been a bit of a mystery why the Bearcats have struggled so in the 3A ranks the last 6 years. I don't know what to attribute this to - dropoff in athletes? Coaching changes and instability? Other reasons? All of the above?
The Bearcats did post a successful season in 2005, and after an up-and-down campaign in 2006 managed to reach the third round of the playoffs. But still, it has not been what many observers expected.
Again, I write this not to pick on the Anson program, and I decided on the topic before Coach Jody Grooms announced he was leaving a few days ago. Perhaps some of the Anson fans will be able to answer the questions posed herein, because I honestly don't know how a program that has six D1 football players the last few years struggled to win so many games and failed to meet expectations.
Perhaps the expectations were too high. Perhaps this is another indication that individual athletes do not a team make. But as for now, I file Anson into the category of mystery programs that could be great, but are often inconsistent.
Thoughts and ideas from those closer to the action welcome!