This year, the Greenville Football team had a 2-8 record. That does not seem so good when compared to last year’s 3-7 team. Teams are mostly defined by wins and losses, and by that measure the Wave did not have a good a season as last year. However, a deeper dive into the season, and the previous ones, tells a much different story. Believe it or not, this year the team made progress, but not the kind most people think.
I received some statistics that Gaylen Blosser had and they are pretty eye-opening. Greenville Varsity Football went from 0-20 in 2023-2024 to 5-15 in 2025-2026 against the same 10 opponents. The MVL record went from 0-18 to 4-14. That’s progress. The Wave more than DOUBLED its scoring, allowed 7.6 fewer points per game, and cut its average scoring deficit from 34.2 to 19.1points. The Wave scored 14.9 points per game, up from 7.4, and allowed 33.9 points per game, down from 41.5. The wins and losses by 8 points or fewer went from 2 of 20 in 2023-2024 to 7 of 20 in 2025-2026, and losses by 30 or more went from 13 of 20 to 8 of 20. Here is one I think is interesting: the Average Scoring margin improved against 7 of 10 opponents!
To the average person, these are not that good of a season. But, to a team that has struggled for the last decade, this shows something we have not seen, and that is improvement. Greenville, by far, is the smallest school in the MVL. Each team is in either division 2 or 3. That is not an excuse.
For example, consider the MAC. The MAC has 3 divisions in its league. Coldwater and Versailles are in Division 5, Anna, Parkway, and St. Henry are in Division 6, and Division 7 consists of Delphos, St. Johns, Fort Recovery, Marion Local, Minster, New Bremen, and New Knoxville (they do not play football). These teams compete against each other every year. All are successful. The difference is participation. Those schools normally have 20 more young men playing football than Greenville does!
Football is a numbers game. When we compete against Troy, and they dress 70 plus men, and we are dressing 45-50, their ability to rest players, and not succumb to injury as much becomes obvious. They have replacements……we don’t. So, the answer becomes simple: GET MORE PLAYERS. Therein is the problem. We have young men who say they want to play, but then don’t show up. Why? I can’t answer that, but until it is answered, Greenville will continue to struggle. That is just a fact.
Greenville did not used to have participation problems until recently. What has changed? Parents and administrators need to find that answer. Sports participation is getting less and less every year, and when Greenville has full or near-capacity players, we win and are competitive. Just ask the Golf, Tennis, Volleyball, and Track teams!
This last part is for the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade young men and women. Being part of a team is one thing you will never forget your whole life, the friendships, victories, losses, good and bad times stay with you. You will reflect on them as you get older, so if you don’t compete, one part of your school experience is lost.
Greenville is a great small school in a big conference. If we get more people interested, and who are willing to make the sacrifice, Greenville will be as good as we used to be. It can be done, it just takes the will to do it. Do you have it? Can you get up at 6 a.m. and lift weights? Can you come to every practice? Are you really willing to sweat, run, get bruises, and find the will not to quit, to contribute to the athletic success of your school, who has an unbelievable following by its fans? Let’s see 20 more young men go out for football, and I believe you will start to see real improvement.
Who will step up?
That’s the way I see it……from the sidelines
