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Indiana High School Football Top 25 Rankings: Carmel, Carroll Surge After Week 1 1. Brownsburg Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 1 Last Week: Brownsburg 48, Lawrence North 25 Outlook: Brownsburg got the season started with a comfortable 48-25 win over Lawrence North, and now the Bulldogs turn their attention to their home game against Rabun Gap-Nacoochee of Georgia. The visiting Eagles compete in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA), and they are coming off a hard-fought 42-40 loss to Venice, one of the top programs in Florida. It’s a good test for the Bulldogs to measure themselves against a quality program from Georgia. 2. New Palestine Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 2 Last Week: New Palestine 28, St. Francis (Ill.) 17 Outlook: New Palestine defeated a St. Francis squad that was ranked No. 11 in High School On SI’s Illinois Preseason High School Football Top 25. It’s a sign that the Dragons are ready for the rigors of a tough nine-game schedule that includes a late-season matchup with the national No. 1 IMG Academy of Florida. They’ll take on another Top 25 foe from the Hoosier State this Friday when No. 25 East Central pays a visit. 3. Westfield Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 3 Last Week: Westfield 49, Homestead 21 Outlook: Westfield looked every bit like a top-three team in a 49-21 opening-night win over Homestead of Fort Wayne. It was a good warmup for this week’s contest against No. 5 Carmel, the first of six games against teams currently ranked in Indiana’s top 25. The Shamrocks now host No. 5 Carmel in one of Indiana's biggest Week 2 matchups. 4. Warren Central Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 4 Last Week: Warren Central 20, Center Grove 14 Outlook: Warren Central backed up its preseason No. 4 ranking with a 20-14 victory over No. 5 Center Grove in one of the state's marquee opening-week matchups. The game went according to the rankings, with Warren Central winning 20-14, and the Warriors get a bit of a break this weekend when they visit unranked Elkhart, which edged Concord 22-20. 5. Carmel Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 7 Last Week: Carmel 47, Fishers 0 Outlook: Carmel was ranked No. 7 heading into its game against No. 6 Fishers, and unlike the Top 5 battle between Warren Central and Center Grove, it turned out to be a one-sided affair. Carmel moves up two spots just in time for its trip to face No. 3 Westfield Friday night. 6. Center Grove Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 5 Last Week: Warren Central 20, Center Grove 14 Outlook: Center Grove came up short in its game against No. 4 Warren Central, but it has another chance this Friday to make a statement against No. 7 Carroll at home in Greenwood. 7. Carroll Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 10 Last Week: Carroll 54, Hamilton Southeastern 23 Outlook: Carroll walloped a Hamilton Southeastern squad that was ranked No. 11 to open the season, but it’s immediately back to business in Fort Wayne for the Chargers. They’ll have what could prove to be an even stiffer challenge Friday when they hit the road to face Center Grove. 8. Ben Davis Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 13 Last Week: Ben Davis 33, Cathedral 27 Outlook: Ben Davis got a giant win against a Cathedral squad ranked No. 8 to open the season. Now, the Giants inhabit that No. 8 position as they look to build on their momentum with a trek to No. 10 Avon this Friday night. 9. Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 12 Last Week: Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 15, Roncalli 14 Outlook: Bishop Dwenger got the season started with a heart-stopping 15-14 overtime win against previous No. 14 Roncalli. They’ll step across the state line Friday for an interstate battle against St. Francis de Sales of Toledo, Ohio. 10. Avon Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 17 Last Week: Avon 31, Decatur Central 6 Outlook: Avon beat the previous No. 9 Decatur Central 31-6 to start the season in top form, and it gets a crack at moving up again this week if it can beat No. 8 Ben Davis at home Friday night. 11. Fishers Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 6 Last Week: Carmel 47, Fishers 0 Outlook: As noted above, Fishers was overwhelmed by Carmel on opening night, and the Tigers don’t have much time to figure out what went wrong. A date with No. 20 Lawrence North looms this Friday, but at least they get the Wildcats at home. 12. Hamilton Southeastern Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 11 Last Week: Carroll 54, Hamilton Southeastern 23 Outlook: Hamilton Southeastern was pummeled in a 54-23 loss to Carroll of Fort Wayne, but the Royals get a chance to work out the kinks this week at home against unranked North Central. The Royals will need to regroup quickly with an upcoming gauntlet against Avon, Fishers and Westfield during the first three weeks of September. 13. Cathedral Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 8 Last Week: Ben Davis 33, Cathedral 27 Outlook: Cathedral fell in a close game to Ben Davis in the opener, and it won’t get any easier for the Fighting Irish in Week 2 when they host Loyola Academy of Illinois. The visiting Ramblers are currently ranked No. 3 in the Illinois High School Football Top 25. 14. Merrillville Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 15 Last Week: Merrillville 27, Andrean 21 Outlook: Merrillville beat a solid Andrean squad to get the campaign underway, and it’ll look to build on that win in a Friday visit to Lafayette Jefferson. It’s the last tuneup before facing a Crown Point squad on Sept. 4 that is currently ranked No. 24 on this list. 15. Decatur Central Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 9 Last Week: Avon 31, Decatur Central 6 Outlook: Decatur Central's 31-6 loss to Avon cost the Hawks their spot in the top 10, dropping them six places to No. 15. A Friday visit to Wayne of Fort Wayne gives them an opportunity to rebound before league play begins next week. 16. Indianapolis Bishop Chatard Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 16 Last Week: Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 35, Lafayette Jefferson 7 Outlook: Bishop Chatard picked up an easy win on the road at Lafayette Jefferson to kick off the season, and now the Trojans will host Leo in a final prep before facing No. 18 Roncalli and No. 13 Cathedral in consecutive weeks. 17. Bloomington South Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 18 Last Week: Bloomington South 44, Bloomington North 6 Outlook: Bloomington South crushed its rival Bloomington North in a satisfying start to the season, and it’ll look to build on that Friday at Martinsville. 18. Roncalli Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 14 Last Week: Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 15, Roncalli 14 Outlook: Roncalli drops four spots this week after losing 15-14 to Bishop Dwenger in overtime. It doesn't have much time to regroup with No. 22 Franklin Central coming to town this week. 19. Lawrence Central Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 19 Last Week: Lawrence Central 67, Jeffersonville 20 Outlook: Lawrence Central rolled to a big 67-20 win over Jeffersonville last Friday, and now the Bears look to build on their big start Friday at Zionsville. They’ll face five ranked opponents in their final seven games, so they can’t afford any stumbles. 20. Lawrence North Record: 0-1 Previous Rank: 20 Last Week: Brownsburg 48, Lawrence North 25 Outlook: Lawrence North is navigating a brutal opening stretch against three consecutive opponents ranked higher on this list. After falling to No. 1 Brownsburg, the Wildcats visit No. 11 Fishers this week before facing No. 19 Lawrence Central. 21. Heritage Hills Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 21 Last Week: Heritage Hills 49, South Spencer 13 Outlook: Heritage Hills got the season started in grand fashion, steamrolling South Spencer in a 49-13 rout. Next up for the Patriots is a Friday night contest at Apollo. 22. Franklin Central Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 22 Last Week: Franklin Central 31, Plainfield 7 Outlook: Franklin Central eased into its campaign with a 31-7 win over Plainfield, but there isn’t anything easy about the rest of the Flashes’ schedule, with six opponents currently ranked over the final eight weeks of the regular season. That gauntlet begins this Friday with a road trip to face Roncalli. 23. Penn Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 23 Last Week: Penn 49, Valparaiso 24 Outlook: Penn encountered few difficulties in its 49-24 win over Valparaiso last week, and now the Kingsmen will face their crosstown rivals from Mishawaka Friday evening, looking to add another quality win. 24. Crown Point Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 24 Last Week: Crown Point 42, Lowell 0 Outlook: Crown Point dominated its opening-week matchup with a shutout victory over Lowell. The Bulldogs will look to maintain their momentum this Friday when they host unranked Chicago Taft (Ill.) before their highly anticipated September 4 showdown against No. 14 Merrillville. 25. East Central Record: 1-0 Previous Rank: 25 Last Week: East Central 38, Lawrenceburg 3 Outlook: East Central started its season strong with a decisive win over Lawrenceburg. The Trojans face an immediate, massive test this Friday night when they travel to face No. 2 New Palestine in one of the state's premier Week 2 matchups.

Rome wasn't built in a day. If you are going to have high school tackle football you might as well do what you need to do to have the superior product. And that is 11-man tackle football. And if all may be a moot point anyway in the next 20 years or so with U.S. and Worldwide populations on the decline..................

yet you've advocated for getting rid of football because its not worth its resources..... yet Co Op is better option vs 8 man. Got it without having to look up anything, I know that LB and RB both ended up in college and NFL: Chad Greenway and Rashad Sallom. just to name 2 off top of my head, with Sallom winning a Heisman

NJSP wins handily over Laville. Might start the season with 2 shutouts Pulling for our friends from Union Mills. I’m thinking they can win a tight one Taylor can hang with North Miami. Warriors seemed a little banged up. Hoping they come out on top this week. Tough time for the Cavs to catch a focused West Central ball club. Trojans handily Bremen over Triton by 3, maybe 4 scores. Interested in seeing how Triton develops through the season Game of the week in the HNAC is probably in Chalmers. I can see a 1 score game either way. I’ll say the Warriors have more points on the board at the end. Pioneer by 12-16 points over Knox. Redskins will get it figured out, but in week 2, they’re still figuring out an identity post-Myles. Glad they still wanted Pioneer on the schedule after leaving the conference. Works well for both sides

https://reason.com/2026/08/24/forget-the-population-bomb-the-new-fear-is-a-population-implosion/ Assuming a 2.5 percent annual growth rate U.S. GDP in 2100 would rise to more than $200 trillion which divvied up among 350 million Americans would yield nearly $600,000 per capita GDP. With that amount of income, most Americans should be able to afford the luxury of a whole staff of robots to do chores and take care of any number of children. Finally, recall Ehrlich's prediction: "The birth rate must be brought into balance with the death rate or mankind will breed itself into oblivion." If the trends identified by Fernández-Villaverde and Norrick are sustained, Ehrlich might have been right after all, but for the opposite reason: Oblivion would be achieved through the failure to breed. Hmm. It sounds like the world portrayed in the excellent movie Children of Men may truly come to pass...........

Cass 41-16 over Northfield Maconaquah 34-14 over Carroll Madison Grant 26-6 over Southwood Eastern 28-20 over Northwestern Peru 40-20 over Whitko Is this the year Rochester reclaims the bell?? I think so. Z over Vikes 28-26 Tipton over Manchester 30-22

Cass at Northfield ©, 7 pm Maconaquah at Carroll, 7 pm Madison-Grant at Southwood, 7 pm Northwestern at Eastern, 7 pm Peru at Whitko ©, 7 pm Rochester at Tippecanoe Valley, 7 pm Tipton at Manchester, 7 pm

Dang. I thought I gave North enough points against Memorial. Also, how close do you think Mater Dei-Castle will be?

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49721908/sources-big-ten-allow-players-return-nfl Good. At least an appearance of a spine from the Big Ten.

Gibson Southern (-19.5) Heritage Hills South Spencer Tell City (-14.5) Tri-West (+6.5) Mater Dei (0) Central Memorial Linton (0) Vincennes

Week 2 Schedule Bloomington North (0-1) at BNL (1-0) Columbus East (0-1) at Columbus North (1-0) Jeffersonville (0-1) at Seymour (0-1) New Albany (1-0) at 2A #3/#5 Indianapolis Lutheran (1-0) Whiteland (0-1) at 5A #6/#7 Floyd Central (1-0)

That's also because there are almost twice as many football playing high schools in Michigan as there are in Indiana:

Do 8-man players get recruited by colleges? (honest question)

Attica @ Tri County- Thought Attica would pull one out last week, I think this is their week to get a non-conference win. Give me the Ramblers. Covington @ Englewoods- If Covington wants to be competitive in the WRC they better beef up their non-conference schedule a bit. This is going to be another stat padding game for the Trojans. Rubbers by as many as they want. FC @ Crawfordsville- Crawfordsville pulled one off against what I thought was a much improved PH team. I don't think FC is better than PH at the moment. Earl may have to wait another week to get his first career win. I'll take the Athenians winning this in a close one. Paris @ NV- NV played a lot better than I thought they would against the TBirds. I don't think they have what it takes to get a win this week. Paris is a decent program, gimme the Tigers. Seeger @ Herbs- Although Herb is a HOF coach I think his alma mater gets the best of him this week. Not sure the Bison are going to out last the Patriots this time. SV @ Sullivan- Golden arrows by as many as they want WV @ PH- PH lost a close one last week. Crabtree is a great coach that has already planned for this offense. I think Crabtree will have the Viks ready to roll in Rockvllle. I'm taking the Vikings in another close one. Riverton Parkes @ Tri- This is another good non-conference game for the Panthers. Some polls have Tri in the top 10 and others within the top 15. Heard the running back over there is a stud. Was last week a fluke for the Panthers or are they really what they think they are? Guess we will find out this week. I'll take the Tenderloins winning a close one.

Stuffed twice at the goaline with QB2... tough sledding for Stinktown. Hoping to right the ship this week... Not a big fan of the ole EIAC page getting pushed back off the front page back to back weeks... where's everyone at?

Thanks, good luck against St. Pius on Saturday.

-Gibson Southern all-sports passes are not able to be used for this event. -Admission is $10 and is good for both games. -Streaming PPV video will be available on IHSAATV. $9.99 per game or $15 for both games. - Radio (free) at https://gssn.mixlr.com/events/5222949 for both games.

Will both games be streamed on Saturday?

There's no agenda behind the polls other than to reflect popular opinion and generate a little discussion. I hope GIbson wins every game except against HH and most HH fans probably feel that way. I assume the same is true vice versa. It's going to be hard to knock off Memorial if they run the table and HH or GS have one in the L column. This is all subjective, which makes it fun. I guess.

St. Pius X Lancers (0-0) at Gibson Southern Titans (0-1) Saturday, August 29 – 6:00 PM Central United Fidelity Bank Bowl – Jack Jewell Memorial Field Reitz will play Tri-West in Game one at 3:00PM If you're unfamiliar with St. Pius X out of Festus, Missouri, don't let the words "Class 2" fool you. This is a serious football team. St. Pius made the first trip to the Show-Me Bowl in program history last December, finishing as Missouri's Class 2 state runner-up. Normally that's where I'd tell you about everything the Lancers lost to graduation. Except they didn't lose much. St. Pius returns its starting quarterback, its record-breaking running back, most of its offensive line and five players who earned Class 2 All-State recognition in 2025. Their expectation isn't simply to have another winning season. They expect to go back. Start with Cody Shaver. The senior RB/LB is 5-11, 205 pounds, and he broke the St. Pius single-season rushing record last year, eventually becoming the first runner in school history to top 2,000 yards. He did a lot of that damage with a broken thumb, playing in a cast that limited his ability to stiff-arm defenders and largely took him out of the passing game — and he still broke the record. He also played linebacker, then turned around and qualified for Missouri's Class 1 state wrestling championships at 190 pounds after the season ended. Coach Frank Ray says we'll see more of Shaver's complete skill set this year, especially his ability to catch the ball and make plays outside the tackles. He won't have to carry the load by himself, either. Senior Brody Ervin is 6-3, 215 pounds, and Ray says Ervin averaged around 10 yards a carry over the back half of last season. Both backs reportedly added about 20 pounds in the offseason, and Ray plans to use them together frequently. That's a substantial two-back set to have to deal with. At quarterback, junior Evan Eckrich isn't the same guy Gibson Southern would have faced early last year. He took his lumps as a first-year sophomore starter, but by November something had changed. He finished with more than 2,000 passing yards, and his breakout came during the postseason run — in the state semifinal against Monroe City he threw for around 240 yards and three touchdowns and helped engineer the comeback that sent St. Pius to the state championship. Ray has said that last season Eckrich could lean on the older players around him. This year, it needs to be his offense. Then there's junior WR/CB Harrison Ray, who's about 6-2½, 175 pounds. Last season he averaged roughly 26 yards every time he caught the ball, reached double-digit receiving touchdowns, and earned Honorable Mention All-State. Then he flips over to defense and picked off six passes as a sophomore, one of the leading ballhawks in the St. Louis area. That's about as good a two-way weapon as you'll find. Honestly, the defense might be the real story here. One Missouri preseason analysis is exceptionally bullish on this unit and believes the Lancers have the size, speed, experience and depth you'd normally associate with much bigger schools. It's easy to see why. All-State junior Hunter Hylton returns after making his mark as an edge defender. Senior All-State lineman Jackson Jercinovic is about 6-2, 265. And senior nose tackle David Schulte is 6-foot-7, 320 pounds. Behind that front you've got athletes like Shaver, Dawson Litterall and a secondary that includes Harrison Ray. This isn't what most Indiana fans are going to picture when someone tells them a Missouri "Class 2" school is coming to town. And they've already shown they can handle adversity. St. Pius didn't cruise through 2025 — playing as an independent against a schedule that regularly included bigger schools, they started 0-3 and still had a losing record heading into district play. Then they won five straight in the postseason and were playing for a state championship before the run ended against undefeated Blair Oaks in the Show-Me Bowl. Rather than soften the schedule for 2026, St. Pius prepared for another hard one by scheduling much larger Missouri programs — St. Louis University High, Timberland, Pattonville. One of the games specifically mentioned when explaining why that kind of preparation was necessary was the season opener at Gibson Southern. As for Gibson Southern, the Titans enter Saturday 0-1 after a 31-24 loss to Class 5A Floyd Central, but the final score doesn't tell the whole story. GS produced 507 yards of offense — 261 rushing, 254 passing — and racked up 29 first downs. Caden Rochleau accounted for 454 yards himself, 200 rushing and 254 passing. Peyton Johnson caught seven passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Eli Foster added 61 yards and a touchdown on the ground. And Gibson Southern led 24-17 entering the fourth quarter. The problem was giving away possessions and points — three turnovers and a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown. Those are the mistakes the Titans have to clean up against St. Pius, because this opponent has enough weapons to make them pay. What makes the matchup especially interesting is what the computer models say. For all the talent St. Pius brings back from a Missouri state-finalist team, the projections still strongly favor Gibson Southern. Massey has it Gibson Southern 38, St. Pius X 20, a 78% GS win probability. CalPreps has it Gibson Southern 35, St. Pius X 14, a 90% GS win probability. That's remarkable when you consider what's walking in the door — a state runner-up, a 2,000-yard quarterback, a record-setting 2,000-yard running back, a second 215-pound back, an explosive All-State WR/CB, most of the offensive line, multiple All-State linemen, and a defense some people around that program think could be even better than the offense. And the computers still see Gibson Southern as a substantial favorite. Maybe they're right. Maybe Missouri brings us a surprise. That's why they play the game. But one thing seems pretty clear: this isn't a cupcake scheduled to get Gibson Southern back to .500. It's a matchup between an Indiana 3A regional champion and a Missouri state runner-up, two programs willing to find out how good they really are before the games that decide conference and postseason championships begin.

8 man football is huge in Michigan. Here is a link to see how many schools play it... This is going to be a good thing for Indiana to keep kids playing the game! 8pfb.pdf

Can you blame us though?

I've been around here long enough to know how the first few weeks of these rankings work for those looking to influence public naratives and future polls. We have very little actual evidence, so one result can move a team several spots. But that's also why who you played has to matter. Memorial deserves credit for beating Jasper 48-14. That's a legitimate opening-night result. Heritage Hills did exactly what it should have done against South Spencer, winning 49-13. Gibson Southern lost 31-24. If we're just sorting teams by 1-0 and 0-1, that's easy. But I don't think that's how we should evaluate good football teams. GS opened against a ranked Class 5A Floyd Central team. And despite losing, Gibson Southern outgained Floyd 507-365, had 29 first downs to 17, rushed for 261 yards, threw for 254 and led 24-17 entering the fourth quarter. Caden Rochleau ran for 200 yards and threw for 254. What killed GS? Three turnovers and a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Floyd Central has now moved up to No. 6 in Class 5A. That's considerably different context than simply saying "Gibson Southern is 0-1." And before we're too quick to rearrange the Southwestern Indiana pecking order after one Friday in August, there's a pretty substantial body of evidence from the Nick Hart era. Hart and Todd Wilkerson both became head coaches in 2012. Hart's Gibson Southern teams own the winning head-to-head record against Heritage Hills during that era. GS also owns a winning record against Evansville Memorial in its meetings since Hart took over. And most importantly, we don't have to go back very far at all: Gibson Southern beat both Heritage Hills and Memorial last season. Heritage Hills entered that sectional meeting ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, and GS beat them anyway. Then came the win over Memorial, 28-21, then a win over Mater Dei, a regional championship and a trip to the south semi-state. So Memorial deserves its flowers. Heritage Hills deserves some dandelions. They're outstanding programs. But I'm not ready to decide Gibson Southern suddenly belongs behind everybody because GS chose to open its season against a ranked 5A opponent and lost by seven. Especially when you look at what comes next. Saturday Gibson Southern doesn't get an easy rebound game. They get St. Pius X from Missouri, the defending Class 2 state runner-up. And this isn't a state-finalist roster that graduated everybody. St. Pius returns its starting quarterback, school-record-setting running back, most of its offensive line and five All-State players. The Lancers believe they're capable of going right back to the Show-Me Bowl. So Gibson Southern's first two games are Week 1 against ranked Class 5A Floyd Central, and Week 2 against defending Missouri Class 2 state runner-up St. Pius X. That's intentional scheduling. If we're going to encourage programs to challenge themselves outside conference play, strength of schedule has to mean something when we evaluate them. Those who have the balls shoudl be rewarded in my view. If Gibson Southern gets completely handled Saturday, then we'll have some new information and can adjust accordingly. But if GS beats St. Pius, or we get another high-level, competitive game against an excellent opponent, I'm not sure an 0-1 or even potentially 0-2 record tells us nearly as much as who they played and how they played them. It's August. Let's collect some evidence before we rewrite the hierarchy and a over a decade of current coaching history.

Week 2 Matchups St. Pius at Gibson Southern (-19.5) Heritage Hills at Owensboro Apollo (+10.5) South Spencer at Eminence (-2.5) West Washington at Tell City (-14.5) Reitz vs. Tri-West (+6.5) Castle at Mater Dei (0) Central at Bosse (+7.5) Memorial at North (+17.5) Monrovia at Linton (0) Vincennes at Northview (-6.5) --- Week 1 Standings gonzoron - 8 Cappy - 7 IUFAN - 7 SPARKS - 6 JQWL - 5

Also love how they just wear Indiana on most of their uniforms.