It is very hard to compare teams across time. Even in my adult lifetime, the game has changed markedly two or three times.

When I saw my first high school football game in 1967, there were no black kids in the game. Schools would not be integrated for another year or two in most NC systems. There is no denying the degree of speed and athleticism that was added in the next few years to the game.

In this same timeframe, a pass was something you did on third down in desparation...sometimes. Many coaches didn't see fit to throw even then. There were exceptions to this of course, occasionally a good passing QB would come along and coaches would feel confident enough to throw the ball a lot. A lot...as in 8-10 times a game!

There were certainly some big, muscular players in the late 60's and 1970's, but many of these guys were just naturally big and strong. Weight-lifting programs were out there, but in a much more limited way. Coaches hadn't really gotten on board with full-fledged weight training, and it was not the intregal part of the game it would become later. (Ironically, I think we saw the game then transition twice - from a high enphasis on bulk and strength in the 1980's, back to a leaner strength program by the mid-1990's. Go back and compare the size of your linebackers of the mid-1980's to your linebackers of 2005. It may not be true everywhere, but I think there was a definite trend. In some ways, the difference in appearance strkes me as that akin to the steroid years of MLB and the post-testing lean-down.

So there have been many changes in the game - making it hard to compare a team from 1973 to a team from 2003. That said, here are some of the top teams ( note, the most talented, perhaps not the most successful) that have been suggested for a few programs. I've added mine in parentheses:

South Rowan, 1981 (agree, with a nod to 1977)

Concord, 1991 (agree, some others close)

Kannapolis, 1980 (agree, with 1984 and 1997 close)

Here are a few others for you to mull and comment on:

Richmond...1989

Page...1980

Northern Durham...1987 (some will say, with justification, 1993)

So, what do you think? Curious to know...which Independence team has been the most talented across the board? I've not really witnessed the Indy era, having stopped covering the sport closely in 1999.

Since you added Richmond I guess this thread is for all teams. I think without question the greatest team in North Carolina is 2004 Independence High School...

Yes, I thought why limit it to 3A. I'm curious to see which Albemarle, Mooresville, etc team folks think was their best.

the 1980 Page team was definetly one of the best, but the other 3 page championship teams under marion kirby could arguably have been just as good.

I think the 1998 Kannapolis team was better than 1997.

I don't really disagree with either. Coach Kirby had several teams that might lay claim to "best." And the 1998 Wonders did lose in the 3rd round to Kings Mountain, but I could see where one could argue that it was as good or better than 1997.

OK - now lets see the wqorst of the worst. Tell me which team at your school was the least effective/worst team in the modern era. Everyone will have a different definition of what "worst" means.

For Concord, I would posit this order:

1. 1979
2. 2002
3. 1972

Some will take issue with the 2002 team, which did finish 6-6 in the end. But that was a team that, at least in the first half of the season, was the least talented and least capable squads I have seen at CHS. The 1979 Spiders went 3-7 and ushered out the brief W.A. Cline era. Another starcrossed team - they had some athletes at a few positions but the chemistry and execution was bad.

The 1972 Spiders also went 3-7, but they weren't quite as inept, as I recall.

in 2005 Page went 0-10 for the first time in school history, definetly the worst team in any era for Page. haha