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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.

Orioles is the mascot. Deaf Hoosiers is the nickname.

CLASS 6A Brownsburg (10) (1-0) 100 Carmel (1-0) 88 Westfield (1-0) 79 Warren Central (1-0) 60 Carroll (Allen) (1-0) 50 Center Grove (0-1) 40 Lawrence North (0-1) 37 Crown Point (1-0) 30 Penn (1-0) 20 Avon (1-0) 16 Others receiving votes: Ben Davis 1-0 (15), Columbus North 1-0 (5), Fishers 0-1 (4), Franklin Central 1-0 (3), Elkhart 1-0 (2), Merillville 1-0 (1) CLASS 5A New Palestine (10) (1-0) 100 Ind. Cathedral (0-1) 78 Bloomington South (1-0) 77 Castle (1-0) 54 Warsaw (1-0) 51 Floyd Central (1-0) 45 Lafayette Jeff (0-1) 39 Concord (0-1) 36 Snider (0-1) 32 Plainfield (0-1) 15 Others receiving votes: Pendleton Heights 1-0 (14), Greenfield Central 1-0 (4), Huntington North 1-0 (2), Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 1-0 (2), Evan. North 0-1 (1) CLASS 4A East Central (6) (1-0) 94 FW Dwenger (3) (1-0) 91 Ind. Chatard (1) (1-0) 82 East Noble (1-0) 64 Ind. Roncalli (0-1) 63 Mishawaka (1-0) 44 Yorktown (1-0) 36 Hobart (1-0) 29 SB St. Joseph (0-0) 16 Columbia City (1-0) 11 Others receiving votes: Heritage Hills 1-0 (10), Leo 1-0 (5), FW Luers 0-1 (2), Northview 1-0 (2), Evan. Reitz 1-0 (1) CLASS 3A Evan. Memorial (8) (1-0) 97 Andrean (0-1) 78 Adams Central (2) (1-0) 77 Lawrenceburg (1-0) 58 Gibson Southern (0-1) 53 Evan. Mater Dei (1-0) 49 Tri-West Hendricks (1-0) 41 Indian Creek (1-0) 30 Twin Lakes (1-0) 23 Maconaquah (1-0) 15 Others receiving votes: Bluffton 1-0 (12), Griffith 1-0 (8), John Glenn 1-0 (4), Mississinewa 0-1 (2), Angola 1-0 (1), Sullivan 1-0 (1), Tippecanoe Valley 1-0 (1) CLASS 2A Brownstown Central (5) (1-0) 86 Cascade (2) (1-0) 84 Lapel (1) (1-0) 75 South Putnam (2) (1-0) 75 Ind. Lutheran (1-0) 74 Eastern (Greentown) (1-0) 35 Rensselaer Central (1-0) 26 Eastside (1-0) 21 Rochester (1-0) 15 North Posey (1-0) 14 Others receiving votes: Eastern Hancock 1-0 (9), Linton Stockton 0-1 (9), Southmont 1-0 (7), Knox 0-1 (6), Providence 0-1 (4), Triton Central 0-1 (4), Bremen 1-0 (3), Oak Hill 0-1 (2), Tipton 1-0 (1) CLASS 1A Riverton Parke (6) (1-0) 95 Pioneer (4) (1-0) 93 Milan (0-0) 76 North Judson (1-0) 76 South Adams (0-1) 44 Laf. Central Catholic (1-0) 40 North Decatur (1-0) 39 Carroll (Flora) (1-0) 32 North Daviess (1-0) 17 Sheridan (0-1) 15 Others receiving votes: Springs Valley 0-1 (12), West Washington 1-0 (4), Tri 1-0 (3), Clinton Prairie 1-0 (2), Madison-Grant 1-0 (1), Tecumseh 1-0 (1)

Before the recent defections of a handful of IHSAA schools I was really worried about the future of 8 man, and now it looks better than it ever has.

We didn’t have enough faith in the HHC! I think that game comes down to the wire. I think BNL is pretty good and that’s not an easy place to win.

2026 Indiana Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll 6A 1 Brownsburg (10) 1-0 100 2 Carmel 1-0 88 3 Westfield 1-0 79 4 Warren Central 1-0 60 5 Carroll (Allen) 1-0 50 6 Center Grove 0-1 40 7 Lawrence North 0-1 37 8 Crown Point 1-0 30 9 Penn 1-0 20 10 Avon 1-0 16 Others receiving votes: Ben Davis 1-0 (15), Columbus North 1-0 (5), Fishers 0-1 (4), Franklin Central 1-0 (3), Elkhart 1-0 (2), Merillville 1-0 (1) 5A 1 New Palestine (10) 1-0 100 2 Ind. Cathedral 0-1 78 3 Bloomington South 1-0 77 4 Castle 1-0 54 5 Warsaw 1-0 51 6 Floyd Central 1-0 45 7 Lafayette Jeff 0-1 39 8 Concord. 0-1 36 9 Snider 0-1 32 10 Plainfield 0-1 15 Others receiving votes: Pendleton Heights 1-0 (14), Greenfield Central 1-0 (4), Huntington North 1-0 (2), Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 1-0 (2), Evan. North 0-1 (1) 4A 1 East Central (6). 1-0 94 2 FW Dwenger (3) 1-0 91 3 Ind. Chatard (1) 1-0 82 4 East Noble 1-0 64 5 Ind. Roncalli 0-1 63 6 Mishawaka 1-0 44 7 Yorktown 1-0 36 8 Hobart 1-0 29 9 SB St. Joseph 0-0 16 10 Columbia City 1-0 11 Others receiving votes: Heritage Hills 1-0 (10), Leo 1-0 (5), FW Luers 0-1 (2), Northview 1-0 (2), Evan. Reitz 1-0 (1) 2026 Indiana Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll (Pre-season) 3A 1 Evan. Memorial (8) 1-0 97 2 Andrean 0-1 78 3 Adams Central (2) 1-0 77 4 Lawrenceburg. 1-0 58 5 Gibson Southern 0-1 53 6 Evan. Mater Dei 1-0 49 7 Tr-West Hendricks 1-0 41 8 Indian Creek 1-0 30 9 Twin Lakes 1-0 23 10 Maconaquah 1-0 15 Others receiving votes: Bluffton 1-0 (12), Griffith 1-0 (8), John Glenn 1-0 (4), Mississenewa 0-1 (2), Angola 1-0 (1), Sullivan 1-0 (1), Tippecanoe Valley 1-0 (1) 2A 1 Brownstown Central (5) 1-0 86 2 Cascade (2) 1-0 84 3 Lapel (1) 1-0 75 South Putnam (2) 1-0 75 5 Ind. Lutheran 1-0 74 6 Eastern (Greentown) 1-0 35 7 Rensselaer Central 1-0 26 8 Eastside 1-0 21 9 Rochester 1-0 15 10 North Posey 1-0 14 Others receiving votes: Eastern Hancock 1-0 (9), Linton Stockton 0-1 (9), Southmont 1-0 (7), Knox 0-1 (6), Providence 0-1 (4), Triton Central 0-1 (4), Breman 1-0 (3), Oak Hill 0-1 (2), Tipton 1-0 (1) 1A 1 Riverton Parke (6) 1-0 95 2 Pioneer (4) 1-0 93 3 Milan 0-0 76 North Judson 1-0 76 5 South Adams 0-1 44 6 Laf. Central Catholic 1-0 40 7 North Decatur 1-0 39 8 Carroll (Flora) 1-0 32 9 North Daviess 1-0 17 10 Sheridan 0-1 15 Others receiving votes: Springs Valley 0-1 (12), West Washington 1-0 (4), Tri 1-0 (3), Clinton Prairie 1-0 (2), Madison-Grant 1-0 (1), Tecumseh 1-0 (1)

My latest blog. Long time high school football coach who has transitioned into authorship. Blessed that the Gridirondigest.net Forum allows me to share my writings and my blogs. This piece discusses a long stretch of my career that I thought would never end. I hope you enjoy. https://www.ronglodich.com/author-blog/maybe-next-year

I doubt it. In fact I bet the shut New Haven out.

Good to know. I had seen the Orioles listed as their nickname someplace else before as well. However, most sources I had seen said they were the Deaf Hoosiers. If both are used, I wonder how we’re to determine when to use them. For instance, Columbus East are the Olympians and Columbus North are the Bull Dogs. However, in swimming, Columbus East are the H2Olympians (or H2Os for short) and Columbus North are the Bull Frogs. For Indiana Deaf, are the Orioles and Deaf Hoosiers nicknames sport-specific or are they just interchangeable?

Class 6A football top 10 Ranking Team Record Votes Prev. ranking 1. Brownsburg (16) 1-0 160 1 2. Westfield 1-0 137 2 3. Carmel 1-0 127 3 4. Warren Central 1-0 112 5 5. Fort Wayne Carroll 1-0 87 8 6. Center Grove 0-1 59 6 7. Crown Point 1-0 55 7 8. Lawrence North 0-1 49 4 9. Penn 1-0 43 9 10. Ben Davis 1-0 26 NR Dropped out: Hamilton Southeastern (10) Others receiving votes: Merrillville 15. Avon 7. Columbus North 2. Elkhart 1. Class 5A football top 10 Ranking Team Record Votes Prev. ranking 1. New Palestine (16) 1-0 160 1 2. Bloomington South 1-0 138 3 3. Cathedral 0-1 122 2 4. Castle 1-0 83 8 5. Pendleton Heights 1-0 76 9 6. Warsaw 1-0 70 NR 7. Floyd Central 1-0 65 10 8. Lafayette Jeff 0-1 44 4 9. Concord 0-1 42 6 10. Fort Wayne Snider 0-1 31 7 Dropped out: Plainfield (5) Others receiving votes: Franklin 26. Plainfield 19. Evansville North 3. Huntington North 2. Class 4A football top 10 Ranking Team Record Votes Prev. ranking 1. Bishop Chatard (8) 1-0 140 3 2. FW Dwenger (3) 1-0 137 4 3. East Central (4) 1-0 135 2 4. Roncalli (1) 0-1 117 1 5. Mishawaka 1-0 82 5 6. Yorktown 1-0 70 6 7. East Noble 1-0 65 7 8. SB St. Joseph 1-0 56 8 9. Hobart 1-0 30 9 10. Heritage Hills 1-0 16 NR Dropped out: Fort Wayne Luers (10) Others receiving votes: Evansville Reitz 13. Muncie Central 8. Jasper 3. Guerin Catholic 2. DeKalb 2. Fort Wayne Luers 1. Class 3A football top 10 Ranking Team Record Votes Prev. ranking 1. Evansville Memorial (9) 1-0 144 3 2. Andrean (3) 0-1 124 1 3. Adams Central (3) 1-0 123 5 4. (tie) Tri-West (1) 1-0 104 6 4. (tie) Gibson Southern 0-1 104 2 6. Lawrenceburg 0-1 65 4 7. Evansville Mater Dei 1-0 56 7 8. Twin Lakes 1-0 53 9 9. Indian Creek 1-0 46 NR 10. Maconaquah 1-0 23 NR Dropped out: Mississinewa (8), Eastbrook (10) Others receiving votes: Fairfield 6. Eastbrook 5. Mississinewa 5. Griffith 4. Norwell 3. Bluffton 2. Heritage Christian 2. Tippecanoe Valley 1. West Lafayette 1. Class 2A football top 10 Ranking Team Record Votes Prev. ranking 1. Lapel (6) 1-0 150 2 2. Brownstown Central (6) 1-0 147 1 3. Lutheran (2) 1-0 124 3 4. Cascade (2) 1-0 117 4 5. South Putnam 1-0 99 5 6. Eastside 1-0 70 9 7. Eastern (Greentown) 1-0 67 6 (tie) 8. North Posey 1-0 39 NR 9. Linton-Stockton 0-1 24 6 (tie) 10. Eastern Hancock 1-0 18 NR Dropped out: Providence (8), Knox (10) Others receiving votes: Providence 12. Rochester 9. Bremen 1. Southmont 1. Centerville 1. Class 1A football top 10 Ranking Team Record Votes Prev. ranking 1. Riverton Parke (8) 1-0 150 2 2. Pioneer (6) 1-0 146 1 3. North Judson (1) 1-0 126 4 (tie) 4. Milan 1-0 110 4 (tie) 5. South Adams 0-1 79 3 6. North Decatur 1-0 65 9 7. Lafayette Central Cath. 1-0 60 10 8. North Daviess 1-0 38 NR 9. Springs Valley 0-1 20 6 10. Tri 1-0 19 NR Dropped out: Frontier (7), Sheridan (8) Others receiving votes: Clinton Prairie 17. Sheridan 16. Tecumseh 10. Carroll (Flora) 9. Frontier 3. West Washington 3. Cloverdale 1. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Four new No. 1 teams USA TODAY Network Indiana high school football state poll

Yes. Because 11-man is the superior product/game. How non-PC of them. Celebrating their deafness like that. Shame! Of course they had to change the name.

Attica at Tri County Covington at Englewoods Fountain Central at Crawfordsville Paris, Il. at North Vermillions Seegers at Benton Central South Vermillions at Sullivan West Vigos at The Woofs Riverton Parkes at Tri on Saturday

That's dumb. Especially if the Colts games is sold out.

Ever since I remember. And that's a long time. Hamilton Heights used to play them in basketball when I was in Junior HIgh. "The Indiana School for the Deaf mascot, the Orioles (also known as the Deaf Hoosiers), has been associated with the school's athletic tradition alongside its founding year of 1843 "

Do you happen to know when Indiana Deaf started going by the Orioles nickname? Everything I had always seen said they were called the Deaf Hoosiers.