I think that everyone would agree that the level of competition in 2A and 1A is not what CCES and BE could compete at. We need to also consider both boy's and girl's programs. BE girl's program got so much competition in 2A that they made numerous trips to NC and GA to find teams that coupld compete with them. The BE boys rarely lose which is evident by their overall program record, winning percentage and state titles (all of which are in the top 2 or 3).

CCES boys went 11-9-1 last year but all their losses were to 3A or 4A teams and Emerald in PKs. They outscored their opponents 15-1 in the playoffs. The only head scratcher for the BE boys was a 2-1 loss at Pinewood (who was 20-5-1). The BE girls had one of the most dominating seasons in years: 16-1-4 and cruised through the SC teams. They averaged 7 goals against teams from SC. This is "higher" competition you speak of?

Their primary advantage is not that they actively recruit players like a college team, but rather there are very loose attendance area restrictions so they can draw players from a far larger area than a public school their size. And even if they draw from a comperable area in size (which they don't), the population density of where BE and CCES draw from is far greater than say Emerald or Walhalla, for example. I am not saying they need to be in 4A, but I would like to see how they would do a level up from where they are now. BE to 3A and CCES to 2A. They should be placed in a division with schools with comparable attendance areas and comparable budgets.

With all that said, BE has lost to Emerald and Chapin the last two years. But, if you look at overall records and where these schools travel to get games, you cannot use the "competition is better in their current classification than SCISA".