Leaderboard

Welcome to The Gridiron Digest Indiana Football Report. This weekly feature will run throughout the season and highlight big games and big storylines throughout Indiana. This brings us back to the roots Tim Adams began this site with, as a place to bring together and presenting news from around the state. "Battle of Broadway" a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 1 By Andrew Smith The Gridiron Digest One and a half miles of Broadway is all that physically separates Merrillville and Andrean High Schools. But when the two meet up in the aptly-named “Battle of Broadway” matchup Friday night at Merrillville’s Demaree Stadium, the matchup won’t just pit neighbors against each other. It will also pit No. 1 vs. No. 1. Merrillville begins the year as the No. 1 team in Class 5A after winning three straight regional titles in Class 6A, while Andrean begins atop the 2A poll as the defending state champion. “There will be a lot of excitement for the ‘Battle of Broadway’ as expectations are high for both programs. It's always a fun physical game where both teams play hard,” Merrillville coach Brad Seiss said. “We both have a lot of respect for each other's football teams.” Andrean ran the table in Class 2A last season, ending with a 21-9 victory over Evansville Mater Dei in the State Finals. But the 59ers have quickly turned the page. “We haven't talked about last year much except maybe in the context of prepping the body for the grind of a season,” Andrean coach Chris Skinner said. “The seniors are motivated to leave their own unique mark on the program. Everyone is stepping into at least a slightly different role compared to last season. It's a new team with a new leadership group.” Merrillville moved to 5A during the summer’s reclassification due to the school’s enrollment. The Pirates have had recent success, going 33-5 over the last three seasons and advancing to the semistate each year, but falling one step short of Lucas Oil Stadium. “Everyone wants to talk about us going into 5A because of the success that we've had over the last few years in 6A,” Merrillville coach Brad Seiss said. “We aren't really concerned about that until we get to the tournament. We've got the same 2 non-conference games in Andrean and Hobart then we get into DAC play. Getting better weeks 1-9 is the most important thing we can do as we prepare for the tournament in October.” Meanwhile, the entirety of Andrean’s schedule consists of teams in the top three classes. Merrillville is a premier opponent to begin the year. “I love competition. It doesn't matter if it's competition within our program or against competitive opponents,” Skinner said. “I believe in the ‘iron sharpens iron’ mantra. There are certainly challenges in playing a schedule like ours in which every opponent is at least two classes higher than us, but our players accept those challenges. We will certainly be exposed in certain areas by playing that level of competition, but it allows us to make adjustments that end up in growth down the road. I have a lot of respect for Merrillville specifically. Coach Seiss has been able to reload year after year. It's a fantastic Week 1 game that typically draws a good crowd and gets the attention of college coaches and scouts as well.” The scouts will have plenty of top players to see - Merrillville sports two of the top seniors in Indiana in Colorado State commit Justin Marshall - who had 1,088 receiving yards a year ago - and safety Phillip Roche. Andrean features Notre Dame commit Drayk Bowen, who had 965 rushing yards, 105 tackles and three interceptions a year ago. Andrean also has junior QB Scott Ballentine returning after completing 68 percent of his passes for 2,860 yards and junior WR Patrick Clacks, who had 753 yards last year. “Drayk is an amazing talent and certainly one that does a lot for us,” Skinner said. “He rarely comes off the field. He's also a great role model for how to train, how to prep, how to take care of the body.” Opening the year in Indy Another cross-town rivalry will kick off 2022 - but 70 miles down the road at Lucas Oil Stadium. For the first time since 2004, Harrison and West Lafayette - two schools less than five miles apart - will meet on the gridiron. The 6 p.m. kickoff will begin the IHSAA football season at the annual Horseshoe Classic. Beginning the season at Lucas Oil Stadium is always a treat, but both programs have designs on finishing it there, too. “We are excited to start the season in Lucas Oil Stadium,” said West Lafayette coach Shane Fry, whose teams are 94-18 in nine seasons. “This is the first time we have played Harrison since 2004. It is a fierce rivalry in other sports, and most of the players know each other. It is a unique situation with our football fields being two miles apart and us traveling 65 miles to play on the big stage and kickoff the 2022 season. This is a great opportunity for our program, both to play at Lucas Oil and to matchup against Harrison.” Fry’s squad won the 2018 state title and was the 2015 3A runner-up. The Red Devils posted a 9-1 record last season and have won at least seven games in each of the last nine years. Harrison is coming off an 8-2 season. The Raiders won sectional titles in 2018 and 2019, but fell to eventual 5A state runner-up Zionsville in the sectional each of the last two years. The second game will be another marquee matchup, as last year’s 3A runner-up Brebeuf Jesuit faces 3A No. 1 Bishop Chatard in a matchup of top teams from the Circle City Conference. Chatard, which has won 15 state championships, returns to 3A after spending a year in Class 4A due to the Tournament Success Factor. The two squads have been frequent sectional foes, but they will not meet in the tourney this year, as Brebeuf has moved to Class 4A and begins the season ranked No. 5 New coach in Columbus One of the most high-profile coaching changes over the offseason came in Columbus, where Tim Bless retired after 22 years at the helm of the Columbus North Bull Dogs. Logan Haston, a former standout quarterback at Avon and Manchester University, takes over. It’s Haston’s first head coaching position, but he had previously been on staff at Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and his college alma mater, Manchester. “I am very thankful to be taking over such a well-established program,” Haston said. “Coach Bless has built a strong reputation at Columbus North with tough, hard-working athletes who play the game the right way. I am excited to build upon the tradition & success that has come before me, while also implementing my own cultural identity that meshes with the players & coaching staff.” Haston played for two standout coaches at Avon - Dave Shelbourne and Mark Bless - Tim’s brother - before matriculating to Manchester, where he played for Shannon Griffith. “I'm not sure if I'd be where I am today without my experience at Avon,” Haston said. “Between two years with Dave Shelbourne, to my final two years under Mark Bless, I was mentored by some incredible coaches. I learned what the standard of excellence looks like, and how to compete in a first class manner. I will forever be grateful for my time as an Oriole.” Haston takes over a squad that went 6-4 last season and won its second straight Conference Indiana title. It has a strong non-conference schedule, beginning with a Week 1 matchup at Decatur Central. “I'm very pleased with our growth this summer as a team,” Haston said. “Our players have really bought in to what we're trying to accomplish, particularly the seniors. Their leadership has thoroughly impressed me, and we're going to lean on it during the season. Decatur Central is well-coached and will be a very tough Week 1 opponent, but we're excited for the challenge.” Marauders building off a title Another defending champion is Mt. Vernon (Fortville), where first-year coach Vince Lidy led the Marauders to a 14-1 record and the Class 4A title. It was the Marauders’ first football State Finals appearance after advancing to the regional and semistate the two years prior. MV graduated several key players, but has a pair of building blocks in WR George Burhenn - a Purdue commit - and QB/WR Eli Bridenthal to lead the way. The duo combined for 1,064 receiving yards a year ago. Burhenn and senior linebacker Kellen La Belle are the top returning tacklers, each with 44. La Belle also had eight tackles for loss. “The success of last year is a result of great work and weekly improvement from the players and coaches as we worked through each week,” Lidy said, noting the Marauders’ 37 wins over the last three seasons are third-most in the state behind Center Grove and Cathedral. That has built as the Marauders have more than 110 players in four grades on the roster this fall. “A huge benefit of playing so long in the postseason is the amount of reps and practice our younger players were able to experience as we moved through the tournament. The success was also a great springboard into winter training. Excitement has stayed at an elevated level and this next group of players wants to continue to build on the success of the past three seasons and add to their legacy in the MV football program.” The Marauders open the season at Noblesville, which gave them their lone blemish last season, a 57-36 defeat in Week 1. It will be the first game in the Millers’ new stadium. Lidy said the Millers will bring a challenge with their power running game and large offensive line. “We always aim to play the 'perfect' game each Friday, but the most important thing in Indiana high school football is to find ways to get a little better each week and be playing your best football towards the end of the season. “I feel as though you don't win the state championship based on the result of Week 1. Our program lived through that in 2021. Before we can worry about conference championships, sectional and playoff championships, we have to take care of ourselves and focus on week 1 first.” Other key games 6A No. 5 Warren Central at 6A No. 1 Center Grove 6A No. 4 Brownsburg at 6A No. 7 Ben Davis 6A No. 6 Westfield at 4A No. 2 New Palestine 5A No. 8 Mishawaka at 3A No. 5 Mishawaka Marian 4A No. 6 Evansville Memorial at Jasper 3A No. 3 GIbson Southern at Terre Haute South 6A No. 2 Cathedral at Lafayette Jeff 1A No. 1 Lutheran at Beech Grove 2A No. 2 Evansville Mater Dei at Evansville Central Louisville Trinity at 6A No. 3 Carmel Elkhart at 5A No. 9 Concord 3A No. 6 Lawrenceburg at 4A No. 7 East Central

Hey Friends and maybe a couple of Foes out there (ducks away from some Eastbrook heaters) Long long time, but had a moment before I rest my head for the evening, these days of Elementary PE and then time with Bombers after school certainly does take its Tolle (still got it) on this 20 yr veteran of the Bombers staff!! yes, 20th year, MERCY, can I officially be one of the "old" guys in the game now?? If you count my film engineering when Coach Meeks took over in 1999, this will be my 24th year, also in his 24th year (181-95), our DC's 24th year at RCHS (but a few more other places right out of school as well before back in R) Coach Stevens, hell, he one of my coaches when I played 95-97 for the Bombers. While I am at it, Bombers welcoming Coach Wes Radtke to staff, our Girls Bball coach, former NS All Star from our friends in Starke Co, NJSP, along with Austin Metgzer, who was an All State 2 way player for West Central in the mid 2000's, I want to say under Brad Urban years, he had been with our Middle School staff past few years and now up with high school crew. Returning also is Doug Hannon, who was our OL line coach back in early 2010's, and our OL coach in 2014 state run. Bombers are playing in our 125th season this year, we are excited as always, as Coach Meeks has said in a couple of media spots already, we will be young but experienced, playing a 4-5 freshman last year who are now obviously Sophomores. Jordan Cree, who was named small school defensive player of the year for the Journal Courier returns for his SR year and is a 3 year starter. Jordan was state qualifier in Wrestling and Shot Putt in 2021 as well. GREAT to see a 3 way athlete have success !! Annual Cracker Barrel game is upon us, gets a little more juice as they say with return of Region Royalty ( I say that will upmost legitimate respect) in Kirk Kennedy along with his long time friend and DC Brad Stewart. Not sure when I will have a moment to stop by for an extended period of time, but as always, I want to wish all my Hoosier Conference the absolute best except on weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. and possible weeks, 10, 11, or 12 too (Hoosier Conf vs Region in Section 25 !!!). Cheers Coach Nowlin P.S. I really thought the Freshman QB from LCC JV last year was very good and talented along with the rest of their team, lots of good looking yutes (did you say YUTE?) so assuming that was the Metzger kid. P.S.S. West Lafayette until someone in the West says otherwise P.S.S.S.: I have a couple C(k)atalina's on my rosters: I have dropped the required POW POW P.S.S.S. S Sorry Kokomo area Hoosier Conf peeps: ONE EYE JACKS (Winamac, IN) destroyed my Tenderloin experiences over the years in your neck of the woods. P.S.S.S.S.S Local sadness, @CoachDurham , assuming he heard, but Rex Marskamp passed away last Tuesday, he was LEGEND in our area and NWI, sometimes ornery, but always REX P.S.S.S.S.S.S Really, cannot believe I am in year 20 for Bomber Football, its a very special program with my coaching brothers and all our hard working kids this year and previous years, I am very blessed!!

I did a long time ago, but I realized being able to afford to eat was important :).

There is quite a bit of history of between us and Jasper....there aren't too many teams that have the dislike for each other than we do. We both hated that we had to quit playing. The series between us is 11-10 (HH has one game on them), so they may be salty about that. They look like they normally do. Impressively big, disciplined. Talk funny. Same ol, same ol.

@temptationkeep CG and Carmel in the weekly MIC posts. I like your input on all the games

Didn’t realize Westfield and New Pal played. Honestly might be the best game in Central Indiana.

Indiana and Missouri are the only states in the country that have an all-in format.

For the record I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with the messaging at all...just saying it has been very consistent in the media. All that typically means is that the staff has done a good job setting expectations with the kids.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trans-totalitarianism-time-for-moral-panic/\ (Note: Images disturbing to some follow) More: Do you get what they're doing here? Major hospitals and liberal states are making it possible for minor children to choose to have hormone therapy and other interventions to change their sex without their parents consent, or even knowledge! If you aren't morally panicked by this, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Here is what the policy-setting elites of medicalized transgenderism are now saying: Ross Douthat's column on Sunday was about how the politicized Covid response, and now monkeypox, has destroyed his faith in public health authorities ("I can never trust anything these people say again."). The way the entire medical field has surrendered to gender ideology now makes trusting your doctor dangerous. You see this kind of thing more and more: Take a look at what Boston Children's Hospital is so proud of that they've made a series of videos promoting their standard of "care". For example: Billboard Chris, Matt Walsh, and LOTT have been sending around Boston Children's Hospital's own promotional videos, which are predictably outraging normal people. So now the libs are accusing these three of terrorism. This is standard operating procedure for the Left today: if you think something controversial they do or promote is good, then you're fine, and a glorious Ally™ -- but if you notice it and object, then you are a bigot and a terrorist who must be shut down. It's not just Boston Children's, not by a mile. And when caught out, they lie: When I was reporting Live Not By Lies, I talked to a senior physician at a major US hospital in a conservative state. The man only talked to me if I agreed not to use his name. His family emigrated to the West from the USSR when he was a child. Now, he said, he is seeing things that didn't even exist in the Soviet Union. He told me that at his hospital, the management instructed all the physicians to give to any patient, including children, any gender-transition assistance they asked for -- even if it violated the physician's best judgment about that particular patient. There was no other health care issue in which doctors were told by the hospital to suspend their medical judgment to give a patient what he or she wants. Why do you think that is, reader? When the lawsuits begin, I wonder if "just following orders" will protect doctors? By the way, this particular physician told me that the HR department at his hospital monitored their social media accounts, looking for wrongthink. He said that if he didn't have a social media account, that would cause HR to flag him as a potential problem. So he kept his account up, but only put happy-clappy "wellness" things on it. This man is a top doctor at one of the country's biggest hospitals, and he has to live in that kind of fear. Why doesn't he quit? Because he has a family, and tuition to pay, and all the usual reasons. The other day in Vienna, I talked to a young Muslim from Canada, a man who works in IT. We agreed that the Canadian government is insane, and that trans ideology is destroying children and families. "Why don't people stand up?" he said. I asked him if he would stand up, knowing that it would probably cost him his job. He thought for a second, and said, no, he guesses that he wouldn't. I understood. This is the condition most people are in. You maybe start to see why there were so few dissidents in the Communist world. It really and truly cost you a lot. Everybody likes to think that they would stand up, but when it comes right down to it, almost everybody conforms. In Live Not By Lies, Czech dissident Kamila Bendova, a strict Catholic, explained to me why she and her late husband had no problem at all being close friends and allies with the free-love hippies of the anti-communist dissident movement. She said that when you are in a totalitarian situation, the rarest quality to find is courage. The hippies had it; most Christians, she said, did not; they conformed like everybody else. Kamila said she and her husband knew that they had to stand with the few and the brave, whatever else those people believed. Let this be a lesson to us all. Your pastor and best friends in your church might be too afraid of being thought bigoted to raise their voices against this demonic evil. Better get it clear in your head right now: when the persecutors come for you, these people will keep their heads down and say nothing; the atheist liberals like Peter Boghossian, on the other hand, will have your back. You think this couldn't happen to you and your family? If you click on this link, the second tweet in the thread contains video of a speech Martinez gave telling her story: Matt Walsh has been leading the charge lately against Eli Erlick, a transgender who has publicly bragged about sending unused hormones to anyone who wants them -- this, as a way to violate state laws against giving trans treatment to minors. Erlick has apparently set up a network to traffick prescription drugs to minors. Walsh correctly points out that Erlick has confessed to criminal activity, and has been demanding that authorities do something about it. So far, nothing has happened. But Erlick seems to be covering her tracks. Why haven't you read about this stuff in the media? Well, why do you think? Ideological capture by the illiberal Left in the USA is all but total. And children are being heavily propagandized in some classrooms, from the earliest age, to doubt that their body tells them anything meaningful about their sex. One of the most frequent kinds of posts on LOTT are of teachers who brag about how they're queering their classrooms, and introducing doubt about gender categories into the minds of their captive child audiences. Here are just a couple of examples, but if you follow LOTT, you'll see stuff like this every day: Believe me, I could go on. They are castrating boys. They are chopping the breasts off of girls. They are mutilating young women to create pseudo-phalluses. They cover it all up in Orwellian neologisms like "gender affirmation surgery," but here is the reality, from a medical site's photo of what surgeons do to a woman's forearm to get the tissue they need to make her a Frankenpenis: "Oh, Rod, why did you have to gross me out with these pictures?" you might be saying. Well, maybe your complacent self needs to be grossed out. The answer is because I am sick and tired of these Mengeles hiding behind euphemism. You have to see this stuff to believe how horrible it is. This is what they are setting children up for. This. Once again: you are not going to learn about this stuff in our mainstream media. Even Fox News uses the loaded term "gender affirmation" to describe this stuff. Thank God for people like Matt Walsh, Billboard Chris, Libs of TikTok, Christina Buttons, Chris Rufo, and others who are taking the lead, and taking a hell of a lot of heat for it. What can we do? First, spread the word. Educate yourselves and others. Your family is not safe, and if you think it is, you are lying to yourself. Last summer, a Slovenian Catholic father told me his 12-year-old daughter was mired in severe depression over her gender identity. The year before, he and his wife got her a smartphone, like all the other kids in her class had. The girl made contact online with some older American teenagers, who convinced her that she might not be a girl. The dad was gobsmacked. He had thought they were safe in little Slovenia. There are no safe places. If you buy your kid a smartphone, you are opening up doors for them that should not be opened. And it's beyond smartphones. It's in the classroom. Did you know that more and more schools are installing "gender affirmation closets," in which clothing is stored for kids who believe they are transgender, so they can change into cross-sex clothing when they get to school, then get back into their normal clothes before going home -- this, to keep mom and dad in the dark. Do you know what your kids' teachers are saying in the classroom? Do you know what your kids' school's policies are regarding transgender identity and the parents' right to know? Do you know what your family doctor's practices are on this front? You had better! Second, pressure leaders to get active. Are your pastors or bishops staying silent? Ask them why. What about your school board member? We have to elect politicians who have been red-pilled on the issue, and who are willing to use the power given to them by the people in our democracy to fight this tooth and nail. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been a good example, but we need much, much more of this from Republicans. Do not listen to normie Republicans who blather on, like sweet summer children, about "small government" and "free markets". The only power capable of stopping this monstrous exploitation of children is the State. The Left has captured every major institution in America now with its insane gender ideology (DEI too, but that's another story). This is what soft totalitarianism is: the implementation of a single illiberal ideology within a society within a liberal, free-market society, through total capture of its institutions. As I explain in Live Not By Lies, you don't need to threaten people with the gulag when the schools, big business, the media, academia, medicine, law, the military, and everyone else are all on the same ideological page. We still, for now, have the power to fight this, if we can gain political power, and are not too squeamish to use it. But trust me, we would be total fools to put all our trust in political victory. The political scientist Eric Kaufmann has shown using survey data that Americans under the age of 30 prize cancel culture's values more than liberty. Either we are going to have to see a massive generational shift in attitudes, and soon, or the window is closing on traditional American liberties -- and that means they will be able to come after your kids, permanently. If that's not worth panicking over, what is? I am quite pessimistic about the long term, because of the woke ideological takeover of all of society's institutions, especially its culture-forming ones. I hope I am wrong, but I don't see middle-class culture ever rising up meaningfully against this stuff. Few people overall are going to risk their status in bourgeois society to stand against this evil. People just don't want to think about it. Back in 2005 and thereabouts, I was writing about how resisting same-sex marriage was a lost cause, and that we social conservatives ought to marshal our resources behind laws that protect religious liberty. I was piled on by my ideological allies, who accused me of premature surrender, given that back then, democratic majorities were still against SSM. It gave me no pleasure to be proved right in time; popular resistance to SSM collapsed like a house of cards. Why did I see it coming? Because SSM built on what most Americans already believed about what marriage is (an expression of romantic affection between people, not anything rooted firmly in fixed transcendent values), and because SSM activists were appropriating the civil rights paradigm for their cause. There has so far been no possible resistance to the civil rights paradigm in American life. You could yell until you were blue in the face that race is not the same thing as sexuality, and make those arguments; nobody cared. Back then, normies often said, objecting to people like me, "What does my neighbors' gay marriage have to do with me? How does it harm me?" You could explain to the point of exhaustion how marriage is such a fundamental part of law and culture that radically changing the norms would bring about transitions that ordinary people would not like. Nobody cared. If you said those things, you were "fearmongering," engaging in "moral panic" and "homophobia." Now we are hearing some more conservative gay people objecting to how transgender activists have done with the gay rights cause. I understand their objection -- they say, plausibly, that gay rights do not entail transgender rights -- but I don't feel sorry for them. They brought this onto us all. Never did anybody from that side object to the "T" squad in "LGBT". It was sold as part of the same package, fundamentally based on the radically individualistic idea that we have a right to fulfill our sexual desires -- and that society must accommodate that. Had gay rights activists made an issue of separating out the biological claims undergirding the transgender movement, and pointed out that one does not have to accept such anti-scientific ideological claptrap in order to support gay rights, we might not be at this point. But they did not. We have been told for twenty years, at least, that if you want to affirm the LGB, you must also affirm the T. Anything else is a violation of civil rights, and the sacrosanct right to self-definition. So here we are today, with minors who don't conform to rigid gender stereotypes, and who would almost certainly grow up to be gay, being told that they must actually be the opposite sex (research shows that the overwhelming majority of dysphoric minors resolve their condition by age 20 by accepting that they are gay -- then put on a regimen of chemical treatments, and even surgery, to permanently alter their bodies, and make them dependent on the pharmaceutical industry and the broader medical-industrial complex, for the rest of their lives. The latest piece of insanity is the claim made by trans advocates that very small children "know" that they are trans, and show it by playing with toys associated with the opposite sex. Once again, these claims are not being made by a loony-left fringe: they are endorsed by the top medical authorities in the field: Here's a crude meme going around that contains more truth about this issue than you will find anywhere in the mainstream media discourse: Finally, we absolutely have to start preparing for the long resistance to this totalitarianism. For example, forming an underground railroad for parents to protect their children from these ghouls, and get them out of states where Child Protective Services can legally seize the kids and administer hormones. There seems to be a misunderstanding among some conservatives, who think that preparing for resistance in defeat undercuts our commitment to fighting trans totalitarianism politically. This is dangerously wrong. To repeat: we absolutely should throw ourselves passionately into fighting this child-abusing madness! But we should also be working on a Plan B, in case we lose this fight, which, I regret to say, is likely. I dedicated Live Not By Lies to the memory of the late Catholic priest Tomislav Kolakovic, who in 1943 escaped the Nazis and hid out in his mother's homeland, Slovakia, teaching in the Catholic university in Bratislava. The good news, he told his students, is that Nazi totalitarianism was going to be defeated. The bad news, though, is that Soviet totalitarianism was going to be ruling over them when the war ended -- and that the first thing the Communists would do is to persecute the Church. As I explain in the book, Father Kolakovic knew he had no time to waste to prepare the unready Catholics of Slovakia for the coming persecution. Excerpt from the book: I should add here that Father Kolakovic faced initial opposition from his own bishops, who accused him of what we now call "moral panic." They could not see, and they did not want to see, the dangers that lay ahead. They thought everything would be fine if Catholics simply kept quite still and waited. That kind of complacency was deadly -- and Father Kolakovic knew it. The people who escaped Communism to the West, who talked to me for the book, know it too. That's why they are trying hard to warn us about what we are living in, and what's to come. It is not hard to find these people. If you know someone in your own life who emigrated from a Communist country -- not only the Soviet bloc, but also China, Cuba, or Venezuela -- ask them what they think of what's going on in America today. Live Not By Lies has become a bestseller since its initial publication in September 2020. Last week, we crossed the 170,000 sales mark in the US; it is now either in print, or soon will be in print, in ten other languages. It has been by far the biggest seller of my career, selling almost twice as many copies as my next biggest book, The Benedict Option. This has been a heavily word of mouth success story, because the mainstream media, which covered The Benedict Option heavily, has totally ignored this one. It's a word of mouth success story because a lot of people know what time it is, and they know that the ideologically-captured media are lying to us all. They also know that most religious leaders are like the fraidy-cat 1940s bishops of Slovakia: afraid to face the reality of what's happening around them, and to jeopardize their respectability by actually protecting their flocks from the gathering wolfpacks. In the year 2000, I wrote a piece for The Weekly Standard about the courageous stand two Massachusetts parents, Brian Camenker and Scott Whiteman, took against the stealth introduction of radical sexuality into the lives of public school students in that state. What we now know is that gay activists had already captured the educational bureaucracy in Massachusetts, as well as the media and other institutions. Here's what the men documented in a state-sponsored educational seminar: When the men made the tape public, they became instant pariahs in Boston. The media and the legal establishment turned on them as alarmist bigots. I wrote at the time in that piece: And so it has. What are you doing to prepare yourself, your family, and your church, synagogue, or mosque community? (By the way, though Live Not By Lies is written from a religious perspective, it has been embraced and promoted by left-wing atheists like Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, who understand that its anti-totalitarianism message and advice are universal.) Here's some good news, maybe: Live Not By Lies will finally be out in paperback on October 11 -- you can preorder it here. This will make the book more affordable for group study. I hope you won't simply read the book, but will act on the advice the anti-communist dissidents give for how to prepare for resistance. For those who have bought the book, or who intend to do so, here is a link to a free, downloadable study guide I prepared to help guide group discussion. I am perhaps more sensitive to this than most because I am extremely focused on child protection. As longtime readers know, I became so engrossed in writing about the systematic sexual abuse of children within Catholic clerical circles, and the systematic cover-up of same, that I burned out, and lost my ability to believe as a Catholic. I am grateful to be an Orthodox Christian now, but I wish I had managed my anger better. But I don't regret my outrage itself, because it was entirely appropriate to the scale of the moral horror. Part of what drove me over the falls with anger was the obstinate complacency of so many in the Catholic laity, in the face of revelations of what some priests did to children, and what many bishops did to keep the public from finding out about it. Far too many lay Catholics preferred to keep their peace of mind, even though it was based on sheer denial of the reality of evil in their midst, than to take a stand. We are at this place again, except the monstrous child abuse is not happening behind closed doors. It's happening out in the open, in major hospitals, schools, and other institutions. Like eugenics in the early 20th century, it is celebrated by all the most progressive institutions in our society. All of us are propagandized daily to accept and affirm it. What the criminals in clerical collars who violated the innocence of children never dared to do openly, the trans-totalitarians in doctor's coats and other symbols of authority now shout from the rooftops. As Chris Rufo recently documented, these activists have infiltrated schools with an army of sex-and-gender radicals. Meanwhile, from the rest of us? Aside from resistance here and there, nothing. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to tell your children one day? Chris Rufo, Matt Walsh, Christina Buttons, Chaya Raichik, and Billboard Chris Elston will be able to hold their heads up in honor, if they will have been allowed to keep their heads, that is. How about you, pastor? How about you, doctor? How about you, Mom and Dad? This is truly insidious, and will the downfall of America if not stopped.

No. Maybe? I don't know?

Hey do you know Reb08? No big deal just thought you may have crossed paths.

If you want to participate, go the page posted above and make your picks in the Pick 'Em week 1 thread. Everyone is welcome!

As you would expect, the message was vague and underwhelming.

?????

Totally sickening......(part of SF's "degradation of society" warning about a decade ago that I was told is a "conspiracy theory")

Too bad on Avery Davis, think this was his 6th year after tearing his other ACL last year. Leaves the Irish with 4 scholarship WR, that can't be good. Also heard the Irish practiced at SB St. Joe HS last week and may practice at Penn HS as well as some other local high schools in the future. Marcus Freeman doing his best Hoosiers impersonation and trying to stress that the playing field is the same no matter what stadium you're playing inside of. Hopefully he has an ace up his sleeve to help them prepare for the 100k + fans who will be in attendance in Columbus.

Get rid of the all-in. Add a tenth regular season game, create a formula that effectively cuts the field in half after the 10th regular season game, send 16 teams north and 16 south and seed them accordingly in a single elimination bracket that allows for a championship game to still be played at LOS Stadium Thanksgiving Weekend.

Temp taking the township schools over the suburban ones? Are pigs finally flying?

I understand, and it was a bit of a joke. But on paper it does look like a good thing, but with the finals being on 12/2, I see many basketball coaches not being all that enthused.

One of the coaches on here messaged me and clarified why maxpreps is like this. apparently maxpreps is often linked with hudl and even if a kid leaves the team and is removed from hudl, maxpreps won’t recognize it and will keep them on the roster. That + maxpreps will carry kids over who might have even graduated already from my understanding of what they clarified, unless a coach/whoever goes out of their way to make sure maxpreps matches their hudl, then it’s going to be inflated some….and that makes a lot more sense

donated

Merrillville looks more loaded than last seasons. They have 5 running backs that they will rotate around in backfield. Defense is undersize but they are extremely strong and fast. Secondary week 1 will have 4 players with D1 offers (transfers that came in with offers) crown point has a great running back and a big line. Defense is questionable. Ground and pound should be crown point style this year. Valpo is young across the board. A lot of potential but early on could struggle. Michigan city running back and QB look good. Tall athletic WRs but are young and have to become proven. Jaden hart RB is ginna be there X factor lake central has a great QB but really nothing else worthy. that's about all I know.

DT started them before he vacated the area.

That is why we play the games. Wheeler was given no shot agains Andrean in 2011. They pulled it off. If anyone can do it, I like this LaVille teams shot. All 11 starters back on defense, makes this Lancer team tough to score on.

The expectation obviously must be set, but this seems to be different. It's all good and my opinion doesn't matter....we will see where we are Friday night. No doubt he is excellent. I was surprised to learn his age last year.

You are a talented writer. Have you ever considered it as a career?

It does seem to be a consistent theme. I always thought it was better to under promise and over deliver. It does seem to shift the pressure to HH a bit. In Channel 44 preview, and in the Evansville Courier preview, they specifically mentioned Mt. Vernon twice. I know the Mt. Vernon kids are taking this as a snub. With that being said, that is what happens when one program has been good for many years, and the other has not. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what happened 10 years ago, or the last two years with MV winning. It matters who is the better team this year. I did think we looked good in the scrimmage against Tell City. However, Tell City ain't HH. Speaking with the kids and coaches, there was some concern about practice not being consistent. With this team being so young, think you could see some flashes of brilliance, and some inconsistent play as well, which is most high school teams. It always helps to have a kid like Nicot Burnett at QB. Whatever happens on Friday, the MV program is in good shape for a few years to come.

I haven't been for a while. Too many good places nearby and the BH isn't worth the 75-minute drive. I like to make the trip to Michigantown to the Angry Donkey.

Of note, any newspaper or website who wishes to use the TGD Indiana Football Report may do so free of charge. Just make sure to credit the writer & website.

I say get rid of the scrimmage and go straight into week 1. This could allow for a bye week during the season or the playoffs.

I say go a week later like Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois and get rid of the scrimmage. We already scrimmage in the summer. Can still have State on Thanksgiving weekend.

Week 1 polls are of a reflection of what your team did last year. Nothing more in my opinion. It will sort itself out in three or four weeks. As for thoughts on 1A: Judson is dangerous, might be the only team who can contend with Laville in their conference, and in my opinion, the team that will represent the North on Thanksgiving weekend. I watched Adams Central down the stretch last year and they are a well coached and disciplined team, but Judson is going to be the full package this year: Size, Speed, Strength, and Physical at every position. Goodluck if you're on their schedule this year.

Leave it. If you start a week earlier, you are stealing a week of summer, that is already short. If you go a week longer, you lose the state games on Thanksgiving weekend, and also would require pushing the basketball season back another week. It is just my opinion, I could be swayed.

To Everyone: This is just a public service announcement! Please consider making a donation to Gridiron Digest for all the work these boys put in to keep GID up and running! I am not a part of the 'Committee' and do not get a kick back from the boys for mentioning this information. They have bills to pay to keep us up and running. If you clik on the 2022-23 Budget at the top of this page or the homepage, it is an easy few clicks to help the cause. Please consider becomming a Booster for 2022-23! I have made my donation. Please join me! as always, the game is better from_the_sidelines007

I believe we come out on top. The scrimmage like all scrimmages didn't show anything. I think our running game will be solid from the backs and the QB. 2-10 and 26 are beast. I'm looking forward to a little smash mouth FB. Jack would be proud.

Bremen @ LaVille- Lancers Caston @ WC- Comets Pioneer @ Lewis Cass- Panthers Culver @ NJSP- Jays Knox @ Winamac- Knox Football Team Triton @ SCUM- Trojans

I’m tired of the ads already, I swear to God I am. I’ll borrow some money from my mom Phyllis and pay tomorrow. Be careful, they might all be sticky singles. I gotta go

Honest question: Do you NEED to throw the ball to win in high school football? I’m fully prepared to defend my stance of “not really”.