The start of July last week didn’t just mean fireworks and the celebration of America’s 250th Independence Day celebration. It also served as a sign that fall sports are fast approaching, with the first contests being played starting in less than a month.
And more than ever before, every single game will have ramifications of meaning.
In previous seasons, the path of a state tournament spot for team sports was simple. All a team had to do was finish in the top four of its region.
That changes this year, as the GHSA will move to a power-ranking system across all of its classifications. What it all adds up to is that starting this fall in the sports of football, softball and volleyball, having a PSR rating in the top 32 of all teams in AAAAA classification — of which JCHS will be a part — will qualify teams for the postseason.
The same formula will be used for other team sports throughout the year such as basketball, baseball, soccer and tennis.
“The biggest thing has been just going out to see which teams were going to help your PSR,” Jones County Director of Athletics Charles David said. “With a lot of it, you had to factor in their win percentage, plus our win percentage, plus their opponents’ win percentage. That was the biggest thing.”
The Greyhounds’ non-region football schedule has been shaped in part by the PSR system, one that can reward teams’ overall rating if it’s a loss to a strongly-rated team.
“PSR is a factor that you have to hone in on,” Greyhounds head football coach Justin Montgomery said.
Jones County will host Valdosta, a semifinal team in the state’s largest classification last year as well as Peach County, a second-round team last year. The gauntlet hardly stops there with a road game at Houston County, a second-round team as well last year in AAAAA in addition to Burke County, a AA semifinalist last year and runner-up the season before.
“We took on some pretty big heavy hitters,” David said.
In doing so, Jones County has adjusted to a landscape in which just wins are not enough. More wins against weaker opponents, for example, may not be as beneficial as more losses if those came against stronger competition.
“There are certain teams you could get wins against, but it may not help your PSR,” David said.
Yes, PSR is a consideration when it comes to football scheduling, but there are other expecting trickle-down impacts, too.
“We’re trying to build a program. We’re not just looking at one season or two seasons; we’re looking at a 20-year program and building a dynasty,” Montgomery said. “To do that, you have to generate excitement. One thing I wanted to do with our scheduling is have opponents that would generate excitement for Friday nights in Jones County. I want our Friday night experience to be unlike anything we’ve ever had in Jones County.”
Regardless, the PSR formula could produce different results than in previous years.
Had the new formula been used last year, it would have changed postseason fates for JCHS in fall sports. Instead of missing the postseason in football, the Greyhounds would have been in the state playoffs, one of six teams from their four-team region that would have qualified. In volleyball, the Lady Hounds would have made the playoffs for the first time. In softball, the Lady Greyhounds would have been 11th overall rather than last fall where they had to play on the road at Cambridge, one of the state’s top ranked teams.
