Temp’s Top 25 (Week 8)

[BLACKGOLD2007]

1 hour ago, WestfieldRocks said:

It is now. When the conference was formed over 20 years ago, Westfield and Zionsville were the smaller schools, and took their lumps. It took quite a while, but Westfield has been full steam ahead in the development of the city since becoming a city in 2008, whereas Zionsville has preferred to keep the more smaller village feel. School enrollment has increased tremendously. They have invested in and will continue to invest in better facilities.  Families are moving here as fast as the developers can build homes.

The coaches never were fans of the old 10 school conference, since that did not allow for non conference games. Once the three Lafayette schools left, the seven remaining, now eight with the addition of Franklin Central, has allowed them to schedule some strong non conference opponents. That has also helped.

My step-mother went to Westfield when it was just the little 1A school, when we drive down by the school now, she doesn't even recognize the area. It is amazing how fast the Indy area is growing still. 

[Bullhorn99]

16 hours ago, Tippy said:

Lafayette Jeff knew the HCC would be the best conference in the state in 2004.  It has taken a few years, but that year is here.  Lafayette Jeff couldn't take the heat and had to get out of the HCC.  

As I recall (though I might be wrong) the HCC showed all three Lafayette teams the door out of the conference; it was not Jeff, McCutcheon, or Harrison wanting to leave. Though in hindsight, all three are probably better off for it.

[Muda69]

1 hour ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

My step-mother went to Westfield when it was just the little 1A school, when we drive down by the school now, she doesn't even recognize the area. It is amazing how fast the Indy area is growing still. 

I believe the World's Largest Dairy Queen was just caddy corner from the old Westfield H.S. football field.

 

[Tippy]

2 hours ago, Bullhorn99 said:

As I recall (though I might be wrong) the HCC showed all three Lafayette teams the door out of the conference; it was not Jeff, McCutcheon, or Harrison wanting to leave. Though in hindsight, all three are probably better off for it.

I think all 3 Lafayette teams were shown the door and wanted to get out all at the same time.  Jeff wanted to play in the best conference in the state and the NCC was not the best anymore.  None of the Lafayette teams could compete with most of the teams in the HCC.  Jeff went 0-10 one year.

[foxbat]

4 hours ago, Bullhorn99 said:

As I recall (though I might be wrong) the HCC showed all three Lafayette teams the door out of the conference; it was not Jeff, McCutcheon, or Harrison wanting to leave. Though in hindsight, all three are probably better off for it.

 

2 hours ago, Tippy said:

I think all 3 Lafayette teams were shown the door and wanted to get out all at the same time.  Jeff wanted to play in the best conference in the state and the NCC was not the best anymore.  None of the Lafayette teams could compete with most of the teams in the HCC.  Jeff went 0-10 one year.

Yes, the HCC voted the TippCo schools out.  While football may not have been their thing there, the schools did perform decently other areas. 

[WestfieldRocks]

On 10/10/2023 at 11:31 AM, Bullhorn99 said:

As I recall (though I might be wrong) the HCC showed all three Lafayette teams the door out of the conference; it was not Jeff, McCutcheon, or Harrison wanting to leave. Though in hindsight, all three are probably better off for it.

You are correct. Travel was mentioned as the reason. But your are right, all three have had much more success in the NCC after most of the HCC schools improved.

[WestfieldRocks]

23 hours ago, Muda69 said:

I believe the World's Largest Dairy Queen was just caddy corner from the old Westfield H.S. football field.

 

Don't you mean the World's Worst DQ.....LOL  It was billed as the largest, but after time, poor management did it in. It was remodeled into what we called a McShell, a combo McDonalds and Shell gas station.

[WestfieldRocks]

On 10/10/2023 at 11:21 AM, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

My step-mother went to Westfield when it was just the little 1A school, when we drive down by the school now, she doesn't even recognize the area. It is amazing how fast the Indy area is growing still. 

Our daughter went there when it was a 2A school. The only football success then was in 1992, when they went to the Semi State in Tell City, which was undefeated and I believe the defending 2A champs. The locals down there were shocked when the then unknown Westfield team shut them out. Of course, next week, Westfield was shut out by FW Luers. 

By the time our son graduated, Westfield had moved up to 4A. Only 5 classes then, so a quick jump.  It took them awhile to get competitive with the larger schools in the then new HCC.

[Muda69]

35 minutes ago, WestfieldRocks said:

Don't you mean the World's Worst DQ.....LOL  It was billed as the largest, but after time, poor management did it in. It was remodeled into what we called a McShell, a combo McDonalds and Shell gas station.

I don't know, I only visited it a couple of times on my way to/from Terre Haute.  Seemed ok to me.

 

[Ballhawk]

48 minutes ago, WestfieldRocks said:

Don't you mean the World's Worst DQ.....LOL  It was billed as the largest, but after time, poor management did it in. It was remodeled into what we called a McShell, a combo McDonalds and Shell gas station.

Back in the day it was pretty good, but it did go downhill over the years.

The old Westfield HS football field had a press box that it shared with the baseball field, which was directly behind the football field along SR 32.  As the school grew they moved the press box for football to the old visitor side and changed the home/visitor side of the stadium.  The football field was also one of the rare fields that went east-west and not north-south.  It made it interesting during junior high games when the sun was setting and you were looking into it.  It was bad for both teams.

I still remember how mad Coach Wright was when Coach Hoskins wouldn't turn the stadium lights on so we could take the field to warm up.  We had to sit on the bus (we dressed minus shoulder pads and helmets at home) until they finally turned them on.  I know the 50+ point beatdown they received was partly due to that stunt before the game began.

[foxbat]

14 minutes ago, Ballhawk said:

Back in the day it was pretty good, but it did go downhill over the years.

The old Westfield HS football field had a press box that it shared with the baseball field, which was directly behind the football field along SR 32.  As the school grew they moved the press box for football to the old visitor side and changed the home/visitor side of the stadium.  The football field was also one of the rare fields that went east-west and not north-south.  It made it interesting during junior high games when the sun was setting and you were looking into it.  It was bad for both teams.

 

That's LCC's LaRocca.  Definitely makes the coin flip a lot more strategic as deferring to the second half also gave you the advantage of having the sun at your back and less of an issue when you finally had to face it in the second quarter.

18 minutes ago, Ballhawk said:

I still remember how mad Coach Wright was when Coach Hoskins wouldn't turn the stadium lights on so we could take the field to warm up.  We had to sit on the bus (we dressed minus shoulder pads and helmets at home) until they finally turned them on.  I know the 50+ point beatdown they received was partly due to that stunt before the game began.

Sometimes karma needs a hand.

[BLACKGOLD2007]

23 hours ago, WestfieldRocks said:

Our daughter went there when it was a 2A school. The only football success then was in 1992, when they went to the Semi State in Tell City, which was undefeated and I believe the defending 2A champs. The locals down there were shocked when the then unknown Westfield team shut them out. Of course, next week, Westfield was shut out by FW Luers. 

By the time our son graduated, Westfield had moved up to 4A. Only 5 classes then, so a quick jump.  It took them awhile to get competitive with the larger schools in the then new HCC.

Progress is all that matters. What is so frustrating is up here, Penn is regressing faster and faster. Our record looks great, but we are paper giants. Yes we beat two top 10 5A schools, we also beat a then top 10 4A school, but those aren't accomplishments that a 6A blue blood hangs their hat on. When we play quality opponents they drop an easy 35 on us. I look back at previous scores against Carmel, Ben Davis etc, we took them to the line time and time again....now and especially in state we get beat by 50. Now, we cannot even win sectional.  in the last 5 seasons we have won 1 sectional title (because Carroll was not in it at the time).

[WestfieldRocks]

On 10/11/2023 at 1:27 PM, Muda69 said:

I don't know, I only visited it a couple of times on my way to/from Terre Haute.  Seemed ok to me.

 

It was for the first few years, then slowly went downhill.

[WestfieldRocks]

On 10/11/2023 at 1:45 PM, Ballhawk said:

Back in the day it was pretty good, but it did go downhill over the years.

The old Westfield HS football field had a press box that it shared with the baseball field, which was directly behind the football field along SR 32.  As the school grew they moved the press box for football to the old visitor side and changed the home/visitor side of the stadium.  The football field was also one of the rare fields that went east-west and not north-south.  It made it interesting during junior high games when the sun was setting and you were looking into it.  It was bad for both teams.

I still remember how mad Coach Wright was when Coach Hoskins wouldn't turn the stadium lights on so we could take the field to warm up.  We had to sit on the bus (we dressed minus shoulder pads and helmets at home) until they finally turned them on.  I know the 50+ point beatdown they received was partly due to that stunt before the game began.

;That would have been before my time in Westfield. I don't remember the press box and home stands being on the south side. They were playing on that old field up until 2016. Now the current stadium can go up against almost any other as far as size and so on.

Bud Wright was and probably still is a cantankerous coach. I remember the last time they played, I believe it was 1999, before Westfield left the old Range Line Conference to join the then new Hoosier Crossroads Conference. He was big time PO'd with that move. At that time Sherican vs. Westfield was the second oldest continuing series in the state. He showed no mercy in that last game. I can't find the score, but it was something line 51-14. There were almost always issues between the two schools about various things. Kids would transfer from one to the other, since the schools aren't that far apart.  Back in 1904, the first year of ISHAA of which Westfield was a founding member, there were accusations from Westfield about two players from Sheridan, one being that one of their players was 21 years old. The other player had been found to be playing in his 5th year of high school. The first was found to be true. The second, well the kid enrolled in the high school, dropped back to 8th grade, them moved back to the high school. So he was ruled eligible his senior season.

4 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Progress is all that matters. What is so frustrating is up here, Penn is regressing faster and faster. Our record looks great, but we are paper giants. Yes we beat two top 10 5A schools, we also beat a then top 10 4A school, but those aren't accomplishments that a 6A blue blood hangs their hat on. When we play quality opponents they drop an easy 35 on us. I look back at previous scores against Carmel, Ben Davis etc, we took them to the line time and time again....now and especially in state we get beat by 50. Now, we cannot even win sectional.  in the last 5 seasons we have won 1 sectional title (because Carroll was not in it at the time).

I remember when not only Penn, but Hobart were the beasts in that part of the state. 

[temptation]

4 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Progress is all that matters. What is so frustrating is up here, Penn is regressing faster and faster. Our record looks great, but we are paper giants. Yes we beat two top 10 5A schools, we also beat a then top 10 4A school, but those aren't accomplishments that a 6A blue blood hangs their hat on. When we play quality opponents they drop an easy 35 on us. I look back at previous scores against Carmel, Ben Davis etc, we took them to the line time and time again....now and especially in state we get beat by 50. Now, we cannot even win sectional.  in the last 5 seasons we have won 1 sectional title (because Carroll was not in it at the time).

Man.

[Ballhawk]

14 hours ago, WestfieldRocks said:

;That would have been before my time in Westfield. I don't remember the press box and home stands being on the south side. They were playing on that old field up until 2016. Now the current stadium can go up against almost any other as far as size and so on.

Bud Wright was and probably still is a cantankerous coach. I remember the last time they played, I believe it was 1999, before Westfield left the old Range Line Conference to join the then new Hoosier Crossroads Conference. He was big time PO'd with that move. At that time Sherican vs. Westfield was the second oldest continuing series in the state. He showed no mercy in that last game. I can't find the score, but it was something line 51-14. There were almost always issues between the two schools about various things. Kids would transfer from one to the other, since the schools aren't that far apart.  Back in 1904, the first year of ISHAA of which Westfield was a founding member, there were accusations from Westfield about two players from Sheridan, one being that one of their players was 21 years old. The other player had been found to be playing in his 5th year of high school. The first was found to be true. The second, well the kid enrolled in the high school, dropped back to 8th grade, them moved back to the high school. So he was ruled eligible his senior season.

I can't remember the year they switched the home side.  The last year that I played on that field was 1979.

Sheridan last played Westfield in 2004.  My son was the QB for Sheridan.  The Hawks won that game 53-7, and I remember well that the Shamrocks only score was a muffed punt returned for a TD.  The Hawks were pretty fired up since everyone knew the two sides wouldn't play again and they wanted to end the rivalry with a statement.

It was a great rivalry.  Each side trying to sneak onto the other's field and burn an "S" or "W" on it.  I don't recall it really being mean spirited though.  You pretty much knew everyone on the other team and we really got along for the most part.  You just competed hard when the whistle blew.  I would say there are very few folks in Westfield that would remember any of this now.  They just look at Sheridan as the little hick town to the north of them.

[GOLDRUSH1985]

19 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Progress is all that matters. What is so frustrating is up here, Penn is regressing faster and faster. Our record looks great, but we are paper giants. Yes we beat two top 10 5A schools, we also beat a then top 10 4A school, but those aren't accomplishments that a 6A blue blood hangs their hat on. When we play quality opponents they drop an easy 35 on us. I look back at previous scores against Carmel, Ben Davis etc, we took them to the line time and time again....now and especially in state we get beat by 50. Now, we cannot even win sectional.  in the last 5 seasons we have won 1 sectional title (because Carroll was not in it at the time).

A coaching change is long overdue . 

[Bobref]

56 minutes ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

A coaching change is long overdue . 

Of course everyone wants to win … the more, the better. But sometimes in our zeal to win, we forget that high school coaches are teachers, first. A teacher’s job is to help turn those kids into productive members of society. At the high school level, W-L record is not the most important thing. At least, it shouldn’t be.

Now, when you find a coach who does both well, you’ve got something.

[BTF]

1 hour ago, Bobref said:

Of course everyone wants to win … the more, the better. But sometimes in our zeal to win, we forget that high school coaches are teachers, first. A teacher’s job is to help turn those kids into productive members of society. At the high school level, W-L record is not the most important thing. At least, it shouldn’t be.

Now, when you find a coach who does both well, you’ve got something.

I think putting fans in the stands has to account for something. The athletic departments are dependent upon that money. I think we can all appreciate what you are saying though. Has the gate been affected much, or is Penn still packing the house?

[Boilernation]

On 10/8/2023 at 12:52 PM, scarab527 said:

Worth mentioning that Valpo’s 2nd string RB went down in the first half of their game against Portage this past week and did not return. Valpo even went to a 2 QB system in the second half seemingly because of it, using the backup QB who is a better passer than Clark. Needless to say, the Vikings look VERY vulnerable at the moment.

Is Burda also out for the year? Losing Davis was huge. Losing Davis and Burda at RB is possibly too much to overcome. Semi-State is likely the ceiling and that's just because of who they'd see in Sectionals and Regionals.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Boilernation

[scarab527]

7 minutes ago, Boilernation said:

Is Burda also out for the year? Losing Davis was huge. Losing Davis and Burda at RB is possibly too much to overcome. Semi-State is likely the ceiling and that's just because of who they'd see in Sectionals and Regionals.

Not sure on his status. But agreed if he’s out for the year I think it becomes even more of an uphill battle for them to repeat.