Interesting how two of the upperclassmen players parents said it was their first time playing for the blue devils.

Why do everything has to be bad about these kids that want something out of life, they all are the same age playing football. Teej find something better to do with your time.....

Janee'- I just think it's interesting how Maplewood gets a handful of new seniors and juniors every season, that's all.

Renee- Your right I do need to do something else, maybe I should go take a class and work on my grammar.

I agree 100% with teej. How do these "innercultural schools" obtain players that are primarly upperclassman from places in the city or up north. They are not bad football players. I just wonder how they do in the classroom... where it really matters

I have a family member that made All-Region and All-Conference and he wasn't recruited and he was one of their key player this year. Sometimes things happen for a reason and kids get transfer. They didn't play his mother rent, and Maplewood is not cheat. His mother wanted a better life for him, sometime you have to ask the old coaches why do kids leave in their junior year.

Mickey don't twist my words around, sometime people moved to better their child. The child that I'm talking about left a great program and that school did good with are with out him. I wish he could have stayed, but he had to go where his mother moved to. One child doesn't make a team, Maplewood had 15 seniors that camed back from last year. What if MRH would have lost all their games, will there still be talk. They had a small team, just was unbeatable until the end.......CONGRATS TO ALL MAPLEWOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER'S, keep your head up and never let anyone bring you down. My little cousin had everything going for him at the other school, but MRH ended up being great to. CONGRATS AGAIN

Thanks, Renee for standing up for the kids.

CONGRATS TO ALL MAPLEWOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER'S. I think your grammar, Renee, is a perfect example of how well MRH's academic profile is. You people are not the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm not going to mention any names of the players but i will definitly say that MRH has some students who get sent there thinking it's a great school by the parents. But the parents arent really qualified enough to make those decisions.

Let me know this juniors ACT score and then talk to me

Let me know this juniors ACT score and then talk to me? Are you serious!

You actually posted this comment, you may want to get busy with your own ACT and try to understand your purpose for posting comments.

The thing about Brentwood posters is they always have the same theme. Let's compare ACT scores, we get that you guys are the best with ACT. But, one thing is becoming quite evident they lack Self-esteem and find it easier to belittle MRH then comment about all of the great things about your community.

For future reference: Your i should be capitalized in your previous post.....and definitly is spelled definitely.

Maybe you should clean up your own house, FIRST. Your key word for today is Self-esteem.

What do you have again Maplewood? Drewbie...and I don't have any kids that go there. And I will let you know all their ACT scores ok.

Alright how about this: Let me know this students ACT score and criminal record. And talk to me 2 years from now when a good chunk of these students will be working at a near-by fast food chain. :)

Now your linking ACT score to criminal record to working at a near-by fast food chain.

How about this: You quit making stupid comments and I'll quit thinking of you as an idiot.

Remember Self-esteem is your word today. You can do a Google search and find some great resources.

How about this: I don't care what you think of me. ACT scores, criminal records, and fast food restaraunts all play a critical role in the lives of many MRH students.

I don't care how I present myself in public. (especially to someone so closed minded they just learned what the word "self-esteem" means today) rrm on the otherhand cares about how they and MRH are perceived more than anyone else I've ever met. If you care so much about what people think of you and your school district how about you take the advice I'm throwing out there for you.
p.s. White Castle or Jack in the box?

rrm- Have you ever played against your prized MRH students on the field or court? I have. They tried to talk trash every single game. Biggest trash talkers I have ever played, and I played four years of varsity sports. Let me tell you something they have vulgar mouths... In fact I was called the n word multiple times and I'm not even african american.

Drewbie I understand where you coming from. By the way I found multiple grammar mistakes in your comments as well rrm.

Good thing this aint for a grade. I funna own dose tings. I will give Maplewood the edge in two things: Recruiting and concealed weapons

I will add my two cents and then be on my way. Drew - as a fellow Brentwoodian, I have to say that your comments gave me a chuckle, but it is not polite to bash on them in such a manner. Rather than giving them stereotypes, you should ask questions. So here are a couple of questions for all of you Maplewoodians out there. Before Bryant Allen attended MRH, how were your sports programs? The answer to that is not very good. Throughout the 90's, Maplewood was lucky to score more than 6 points on Brentwood every year. Players thought playing against them as a "heavy practice". Seems to me that Maplewood was fed up with being losers for so long that they decided to go out on a limb and recruit. Once they saw how Bryant was able to turn their program around, they continued to get new kids for athletic purposes only each year. I understand that teams have up and down years, but go from being nothing from the time MRH opened to being a "dynasty" for the past half decade seems a little fishy to me. As Mark said in a previous comment, there is evidence that suggests they have in fact recruited, and if turned in to MSHAA, MRH would be in the same position that East St. Louis high school was in this past year. Wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?

I don't like football. I was raised to dislike it intensely. However, I love MRH school district. They are caring and go out of their way to help when there are problems. I don't think my child would be doing as well as she is in any other school district. Great things are expected of her but she is given the help she needs to achieve those things. Test scores are improving all the time. The curriculum is demanding and innovative. I'm not positive but I think that the improvement in football performance coincided with new coaches. It takes a while to build a program. That has now occurred. I've seen no signs of "recruiting" on the part of MRH. If people are moving here for their kids to play football, it is more likely that it is because of the education opportunities and the football program itself. I grew up in TX. I've seen the sneaky things schools do for football (holding a kid back in 8th grade so he'll be bigger in high school and still eligible to play, for example, and done with the permission of the student and parent). I've also seen the bitterness of other towns whose team wasn't as good (be it in football, basketball or even marching band...whoooweee! TX takes its marching bands seriously!) Maybe there are those posting here who should let their bitterness go. It isn't healthy.

For Pity's Sake! Comparing the MRH teams or district of the 90's to today is about as apples to oranges as you can get. It's no big secret that at that time the MRH district was failing. Do you really think the sports program received any kind of effort or support?

Bryant Allen is a very talented young man, and yes, our program benefitted having him on the football field, basketball court, and on the track. However, do you think his parents would have stayed here if he wasn't getting a quality education? How would that have benefitted him?

Improvements in the academics at MRH sparked community interest and pride in the district. That pride lead to increased support and yes, the athletic department benefitted. The entire community did. The recognition MRH received brought publicity to this little jewel of a community in many ways.

Yes, families move here. Some of them for the new state-of-the-art computer labs and some for a championship sports team. That doesn't mean they are recruited. It just means they want to be there and be a part of it. If I am a parent with an athletically talented child and I'm looking for a place to live, I am going to take all of this into consideration and make the best choice for me and my child. Simple math tells me that taking my child to a smaller school with a strong program increases their chances at playing time, which increases their level of play, which increases their chances of getting the kind of attention that can lead to college scholarships and offer my child the kind of future I may not be able to.

That's not recruitment. That's responsible parenting.

Frankly, if there is so much "evidence" of unethical practices, I wish someone would turn it over to MSHSAA. Throwing these accusations around does nothing but tarnish and belittle the hardwork these kids have put into their sport and the blood and sweat they have left on the field.

In addition, Bryant Allen graduated two years ago. He's a great athlete, but he's not on the field any more. Those athletes have earned their titles, their recognition and the pride of all their fans the right way.

Today is not about maplewood vs brentwood. Merry Christmas

Fact? Fiction?
Travis Howard: Lived in Florissant his whole career at MRH, never a Maplewood resident.
Bryant Allen: Lived in the North City area until questions about recruiting started coming up & he moved to Maplewood for his jr/sr years.
Bryton Hobbs: Lived in the Normandy district all of his four years at MRH
Calvin Belts Jr: Has never lived in Maplewood, his dad got a job in the MRH mailroom for his sons freshman year, then he quit his sons soph year, Calvin Jr has been here ever since, never a resident.
Aaron Spudich: brother of Beltz same deal.
Beltz Sr: Runs his n county AAU program out of MRH, HMM?
Hagens? Baker? I honestly dunno...
It is ironic that all of the Joes House residents are great athletes... I would also love an opportunity to look at home registered addresses of certain athletes & go knock on doors. I guarantee that 2-3 or more students don't live in Maplewood.
MRH is a great opportunity for city kids to get a great education & be in a much better learning environment. The BBALL & Football programs have two of the best coaches in the midwest at MRH. Sportsmanship isn't stressed enough, but x's/o's two of the best.
Two state bball championships/your latest trip to the dome, it's all tarnished junk if you don't follow the rules.
The rules are very simple, you must live there for it to be legit.
Basically if it looks like it, smells like it? Well... IT IS!!!
Answer: move to Maplewood quit cheating
MRH=East St Louis West

MSHSAA is too afraid of the race factor to get involved without clear evidence/video proof/ etc. Maybe if the media were to get involved & investigate it would turn up the heat on MRH & MSHSAA. Until that happens it will be swept under the rug and teams like Northwest, Brentwood, Caruthersville, & Lamar will continue to lose to these illegal MRH teams.
Like I said, it's very simple move to Maplewood. It is a great opportunity to get out of the understaffed and underfunded city schools.
Until then you can call it what u want but it's cheating.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!