Paul - I'm ignoring the previous 2 games because they are completely meaningless. Different teams, different seasons. If what happened the prior season or 2 seasons previous mattered and was an absolute indicator of future results then why do they bother to play the games? I mean, should we just assume that DLS would have lost to St. John Bosco again because they lost to them the prior year? That's just naive.
The proof is flat out in front of your face, you're just choosing not to see it for whatever reason.
There's undeniable proof -- in numbers -- that Folsom's 2014 team was vastly different (and better) than the previous 2 years.
In 2012 and 2013, they surrendered 322 points in 15 games for an average of 21.5 per game.
In 2014, despite playing 1 more game (16) they surrendered nearly half the amount of points they did previously (166) for an average of 10.4 per game. They accomplished that while playing in a better league top to bottom and slightly beefing up their preseason schedule.
Regarding your naive statement about not being able to overcome a disadvantage in one season, the above pretty much dispels it. Their defense was vastly superior in just one season - despite playing better competition. A lot of the improvement was directly due to an increase in physicality and fundamental play.
First, several key players on the team stated that the experience of facing DLS showed them how much stronger and more well-conditioned they needed to be. They focused on it the past couple off-seasons
Secondly, I seem to recall the Spartans losing a 5 star recruit along their lines while the Bulldogs added one (Jonah Williams) since the last time they played. That's a fairly big swing in Folsom's favor, don't ya think? Yeah, yeah -- I know DLS's parts are interchangeable and the loss of McKenzie didn't hurt them like it would other programs, but it's still a significant change.
Like I said: Different seasons, different teams. I didn't even mention the offense, which improved too.
They had 2 bookend tackles with size and athleticism. That wasn't the case when Austin Hooper destroyed their smallish underclassman left tackle in 2012. They flat out were able to protect Jake Browning much better than in the beat down years you keep dredging up. Not only that, they ran the ball more consistently and effectively. They averaged 57.2 PPG in 2014, 50.1 in 2013 and 44.7 in 2012.
If you really saw Folsom as much as you claim to, you should know all this.
You've established that you aren't open minded to the idea that they were a drastically different team this past Fall, so I'm sure you're not about to soften your stance at all. But how can you argue with numbers? It's clear that they were a lot better on the defensive side of the ball. You may not believe it had anything to do with drastically closing the physicality gap but it does prove that there can be a drastic change from year to year and team to team.
One final quantifiable difference between the 2014 team and the previous two is the fact that they
graduated 7 starters bound for D1 FBS programs - 3 of them played on the lines. That, of course isn't counting their 5 star recruit who is returning for 2015. So you are in essence trying to convince yourself that a team with 4 D1 FBS lineman couldn't at least compete at the same physical level as DLS and that there's no difference between seasons when that wasn't the case.
