dbsmith,
I realize you may have little or no knowledge about football programming, and I know you have absolutely no knowledge about the specifics of our program; however, the reality is our numbers this year would not have come close to allowing us to play a varsity 11-man schedule. At the state game, our roster included
3 seniors
5 juniors, one of whom only kicks extra points and another who did not play a game this season b/c injury
5 sophomores, one of whom had a season ending injury
9 freshmen, two of whom play with regularity
These numbers are not 11-man numbers.
As for disparity or an advantage in our games, even the one last night, while the big number of freshmen made for better practices (scout team) and a stronger program, when we line up on the field, we play about 10 boys and our opponents generally do the same; however, most of our opponents were playing many more juniors and seniors. And this is D1 six-man, the schools are bigger. TAPPS expanded this group to allow schools like Emory-Weiner, Ovilla, and Katy Faith West that were too big to play six-man last classification. Also, I know Logos Prep, Emory-Weiner, Midland Trinity, Baytown, and probably several other had as many if not more players than us on their sideline. So if you have any issue, it may be with dropping Watauga down a level than that the teams they are playing have too many people.
One thing I will agree with you about is that the Harvest kids were a classy group of athletic kids. But for the unfortunate incident of a Harvest parent videoing our semi-final playoff game and it being uploaded on the Harvest HUDL account for coaches to see in violation of TAPPS rules, the Harvest program seemed to be very respectable. I judge a program almost exclusively on what our boys say about the other team and how they played on the field, and our boys said, to a man, that the Harvest players were a really good group of kids.
I congratulate the Harvest kids and coaching staff on a great year, and their fans for bringing a lot of spirit and support to the state game. HCASaints, I am very happy for you and what you got to experience this year. You are right to be very proud of your boys and program.