North Augusta will travel across state lines this Friday to take on Richmond Academy. The two Class AAAA playoff-caliber teams will meet in the second part of a home-and-home agreement that started last season to fill both teams' nonregion schedule.
"ARC's a local team, and they're good competition," North Augusta head coach Dan Pippin said. "That's what we look for in a good nonregion opponent."
The success of the venture could produce more such cross-state rivalries. Richmond Academy's stadium holds 6,600 people, and Musketeers coach Chris Hughes said he's anticipating a complete sellout.
"We're expecting our biggest crowd in 25 years," he said.
While region schedules are pretty much set in stone for each team, coaches get to pick whom they wish to play in nonregion games. Different coaches take different approaches in filling their nonregion slate.
Some stay as close to home as possible, benefitting from rivalry games that often draw large crowds and big money from ticket sales.
Other coaches look for the most difficult opponents possible to test the team early. Still others seek out lesser opponents, hoping an easy win or two early in the season will help build confidence.
All three methods have their pros and cons.
"Our philosophy has always been to play the best teams you can play," Strom Thurmond coach Lee Sawyer said. "You might get a sense of false hope if you take the easy route."
The downfall to Sawyer's plan is the Rebels own a 1-2 record that hints at a down year. It takes a deeper look to see the real picture.
Strom Thurmond's losses have come at the hands of Class AAA Chapin and AAAA North Augusta, two teams stronger than any the Rebels will see in their Class AA region schedule. Sawyer said his team has been tested early, which will help in the long run.
At North Augusta, Pippin has opted for a nonregion schedule with nearby teams and money-making rivalry games. The home-and-home series, in which Richmond Academy played at North Augusta last year, has become a success for both teams.
"My feeling is, our region is so tough already," Pippin said. "We go out and schedule as many local teams as we can for our nonregion games."
But Pippin and Aiken coach Carey Johnson have to add one more factor into the mix.
An unconventional playoff system in Class AAAA requires postseason spots to be filled through a points system instead of just region wins and losses. North Augusta's nonregion games against Class AA Strom Thurmond and Class AAA South Aiken, both games the Yellow Jackets won, actually hurt their chances at a playoff spot.
"That's why we're not playing Strom Thurmond next year," Pippin said. "A win over a two-A team counts as a loss, and you only get points for a win over a three-A if they have a winning record."
Such a points system pushed Aiken to schedule out-of-state Class AAAAA Berkmar instead of one of the many nearby Class AA or A schools. It's also why North Augusta will face Richmond Academy this week. And that list of out-of-state, nonregion opponents might continue to grow.
"We want to stay local, so we're looking at some Georgia teams from our area for next year," Pippin said. "We're trying for Evans, Greenbrier, Grovetown, Hephzibah -- teams like that."
Comments
I remember when Richmond Academy was a huge rivalry game for North Augusta, "back in the day." The game was always in Augusta, never in North Augusta, which gave North Augustans some extra motivation. I think the senior classes actually received their class rings the day of the Richmond game up until about 1971, so it was a big deal.
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