Its happening in all classes to some degree. Its very evident in places like Fort Worth where the talent is recruited or attracted out to the "powerhouse" programs in the suburbs. Its more visible in 1A because you have less to pick from, sometimes barely enough. Its not coaching levels or X's and O's its literally the "Jimmy's and Joe's". The divisional split in 1A shines a glaring light on just how weak things get after the top 10 or 15 best teams in all of 1A. In six-man, if you have talent, even just one standout, you can do very well. I think its always been like this, except now when you have talent, the training, programs, diet, education, etc etc can propel a program into high caliber levels leaving everyone else in the dust. Outside of us here on this board, six-man is generally not respected out there, mostly out of ignorance but also do to the crazy lopsided scores people see and probably some of the "sandlot" things that happen in games out of desperation. There has been some press that has helped to change some opinions in more recent years a little, but you aren't going to naturally attract more talent to the sport from larger towns unless your program is established, your town is close enough to commute, there is a family connection, or your town has other qualities (businesses or recreation) that attract new blood.
Gordon is almost always good because they have the built in blood lines, a tradition and a top level program, and their proximity to DFW attracts people wanting to live in the country but still get to a city in a reasonable timeframe. Same could be said for places like Milford, Strawn, Abbott, and Jonesboro to some degree. What is going on in Gordon right now is lightening in a bottle, the likes of which 1A has never seen and they have generated an enormous amount of positive press and publicity for the sport. Despite the dominance, they have helped the sport of six-man football in a major way these couple of years.
Back to the 2 divisions... As it has been, 2 divisions has been bad for six-man in the press. The sport gets more press during the playoffs so the spotlight is there. However, the scores are a joke. I haven't done the math, but it feels like 90% or more have ended early and this does nothing for the sport's popularity. I believe 1A would benefit from a poll based playoff, much like college football. Lets get the best in the spotlight and get after it! You either do this or go back to 1 division and take the district winners and maybe 2 top at large teams from each region. I know it sounds crazy, but if we really want to help the gap this could help. Maybe, if six-man gains more respect as "real football" you could see more families (with football talent) moving to the sticks to immerse their kids in the small school environment. If they have college aspirations, maybe places like Gordon have kicked open some visibility that might not have been there a few years ago.
