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My role as Direct elect of IFCA Region 4 and 16 years as Assistant Coach rep is to promote opportunities for School Communities who wish to participate in football, 11 man or 8 man. I understand anything new creates uneasy or in your case your next crusade to opin YOUR views on a situation that you have very little knowledge of clearly . Thats ok. Rensselaer has a roster of 42, we are not in the bucket that would be considered, however, If I coached at South Newton, I would have been all about it. You've really come full circle over the years here: From the boogey man of football too dangerous for our poor children to play a game meant for kids.... to bemoaning schools who go to 8 man since they do not have the numbers for classic 11 man... Wild Message Board Arc for you my man , Pure entertainment for me really

A move that was LONG overdue.

He he he. Somebody didn't like my little truth bomb about Memorial definitely being better this year than last year. I get it. Where do we even start with all of this? First, you're mixing two completely different uses of history. When I say past success doesn't mean much, I'm talking about players and coaches who aren't part of the current team anymore. Herman Byers isn't winning any games for Reitz in 2026. But Cory Brunson's track record absolutely has relevance when we're trying to figure out what a current Cory Brunson team might become. Same thing at Gibson Southern. Yes, Gibson Southern was the best team in the area last season. They beat everybody around here they played. Does that mean they're automatically the best team in 2026? No. But in Week 1 and Week 2, when we have almost no current-season evidence, what exactly do you think pollsters are supposed to use? Returning personnel. Program reputation. Last season. Coaching. Players moving into larger roles. And the tiny amount of 2026 evidence we actually have. That's basically how preseason and early-season polls work. Now, let me help you with Floyd Central. You're treating them like some giant unknown because they graduated players from last year's team. This wasn't some one-year wonder that got gutted. Floyd Central went 10-2 last year, won a 5A sectional and beat Evansville North in the sectional championship. And Friday night at Gibson Southern, Floyd Central had 18 seniors on the field. Eighteen. That's not a young team trying to figure out how to replace everybody. That's a veteran football team with athletes all over the field. Dudes everywhere. And I'll tell you from seeing them firsthand: they were considerably more athletic than Memorial was when Gibson Southern played Memorial last year. Yet I keep hearing how high everybody is on North this season and how North probably should have beaten Castle. Okay. If North is that good, and Floyd Central beat North for a sectional championship last year, brought 18 seniors on the field to Fort Branch Friday night and just beat Gibson Southern, at what point are we allowed to consider the possibility that Floyd Central is actually pretty good, especially by SIAC standards? We'll learn more as their season plays out. I'd love to have the luxury of playing Floyd Central later in the year after everybody has figured out exactly how good they are and after we get the kinks worked out. But that wasn't the point of scheduling them. The mission was accomplished: go find competition better than what you can find locally, expose your weaknesses, and get better because of it. That's one of the reasons Gibson Southern was the best team in this area last season. How quickly we forget. Now let's get to St. Pius X, because calling them essentially an Indiana 1A team because their school has around 300 students may be one of the more uninformed arguments you've made in this thread. You're a Memorial guy. You should understand better than anybody that raw enrollment doesn't always tell you the quality of a private-school athletic program. P&Ps have a disproportionately high number of success-driven student athletes per capita. That's the business model. Attract families who are willing to pay to be around like-minded individuals. For years we've heard how difficult it is for Memorial, with an enrollment around 600, to compete against much larger schools. Fair enough. But then you can't turn around and reduce another successful private-school program to "they've only got 300 kids, so Gibson Southern should beat them like a 1A school." You guys can't have it both ways. In fact, here's the funny part: Missouri has a Championship Factor specifically for successful non-public schools. St. Pius accumulated enough success points that, after finishing as the Class 2 state runner-up last year, they're being bumped up to Class 3. So much for the "they're basically a 1A school" argument. Apparently Missouri looked at what St. Pius has accomplished and decided enrollment alone wasn't a particularly good way to classify them either. And look at the actual football team instead of the number of kids walking the hallways. St. Pius just played for a Missouri state championship. They return all but four players from that team. They return their starting quarterback. Their running back rushed for around 3,000 yards and scored 32 touchdowns. They've got another senior back who's now around 6-3, 215. They return a big-play receiver who caught 10 touchdowns and intercepted six passes. Most of the offensive line is back. Five returning players earned All-State recognition. And one Missouri preseason analysis says at least 15 St. Pius players received interest from NCAA or NAIA scouts this offseason. That's your Indiana 1A team? Do better man. They're also preparing against Class 5 and Class 6 Missouri programs because that's the level of competition they expect to face. Does any of that guarantee they're going to come to Fort Branch and beat Gibson Southern? Absolutely not. That's the entire point. We don't know yet. Just like you don't know yet how good Floyd Central is. Just like I don't know yet exactly how good Gibson Southern is. And just like you don't know yet exactly how good Memorial is. Which brings me to my favorite part of your post. Let's try this: I appreciate all of OlMarksmanTiger's points to be optimistic about Memorial, and I agree with them. I expect Memorial to reload to some extent every year and be a formidable opponent. The question is how formidable? I thought going into this season it would be difficult to replace their defense from last year. Regarding the Jasper game, considering Jasper had a breakout season under a new coach last year, I personally have my doubts whether Jasper has truly reloaded. So the Memorial/Jasper game is still a question mark for me. We'll see how Jasper does against Reitz. I'm not sure what Memorial's Week 2 game against North will tell us unless Memorial handles North convincingly. I appreciate all the excitement over beating Jasper 48-14, but historically I'd expect Memorial to beat Jasper more often than not anyway. See how easy that is? It's your argument. I just changed the names. And for the record, I think Memorial's 48-14 win over Jasper was impressive. I think Memorial probably is good this year. But that's based on the evidence we have right now — exactly the same kind of limited early-season evidence you're telling everyone else not to put too much stock into. That's what makes August football fun. We all have opinions. Then eventually they make us play the games. Time will tell.

A man once said football is like the stock market....it's silly to talk about past success. A man then also used a lot past history of players and teams now gone to make a point. A man then rightly suggested letting current evidence direct the opinions, but while also referencing coach's past football success. At the end of the day, these early starting rankings are mostly smoke and mirrors of last years success and program reputation, with just a hint of knowledge about returning players, next in line players, and early results. Week 2 may help us a little. I have a lot of question marks relative to my opinions of the area teams from years of first hand observation of this age group, especially SIAC. Question Marks for me: Castle: Genuinely I don't understand the high ranking in this poll or others. Wasn't expecting a strong returning group from a 6-4 team and haven't seen anything otherwise yet. The North game doesn't do it for me and I am not sure enough about MD yet to know if this week will tell us anything, but I think it will. North: Knowing what personnel coming up this year for North, I already had doubts they would repeat last years success. So the Castle game just confirms that for me if my doubts about Castle are confirmed. We will see how it plays out against Memorial this week. Will they be able to keep Memorial offense off the field with 88% run play ball control or change their previous game plan. Gibson Southern: I appreciate all of Titan32's points to be optimistic and I agree with them. I expect them to reload to some extent every year and be a formidable opponent. The question is how formidable. I thought going into this year it would be tough to replace their defense from last year. Regarding the FC game and considering FC having a break out year with a veteran group last year, I personally have my doubts if FC has been able to truly reload, in spite of their current ranking. So the GS/FC game is a question mark for me and I think the FC ranking is based on last years results and the bump up winning against Gibson Southern reputation. We will see how FC does against Whiteland this week. I am not sure what the Week 2 game against St. Pius X with tell us, unless they beat GS handily. I appreciate the hyperbole of accolades to the returning St. Pius X team and players, but they would be a 1A school in Indiana with only 300 students. I would expect GS to be able to beat the Indiana 1A state champion year in and year out. Time will tell.

Just a reminder that this is a 7:30 start.

lol

This guy seems like with far fewer rules than there ever were, he still finds ways to bend them. The Browns coach the other day even said Kiffin contacted him a couple weeks ago about Wright’s status. Willing to bet he was encouraging Monken to cut him asap.

I am not, but my point is that, in the hypothetical of Rossville, or any other community, pursuing the idea of a football program should have the opportunity to decide for themselves, under the "marketplace of ideas" theory, to make that decision for themselves without the input of you, me, the man on the moon or anyone else for that matter. I guess ultimately my thought is this: it seems like the battle lines are pretty clearly drawn, so what exactly os there left to discuss? I'm sure the coop proposal will come up again, likely next summer, but in the meantime there's actual football, 11 and 8 man, to discuss.

Well done, OlMarksmenTiger and Titan32! Excellent points made by both.

You got the colors right.

I don't know much about them but it's a large Catholic high school with about 2000 co-ed students! Most of the Irish schedule this season is a mystery since losing Brownsburg, Center Grove and Warren Central from their schedule. It should be fun to find out!

The state of journalism in the State. I give you the Harvard-Texan author's bio: By Kendall Webb Joined: Jul 30, 2026 Kendall began covering high school sports in East Texas as a high school student in the late 1980s. He served as the sports editor for the Gladewater Mirror early in his career while attending Kilgore College where he received an Associate of Arts with a major in journalism. He later completed his Bachelor of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. Webb later founded the College Football America Yearbook, publishing an annual edition every year from 2011 through 2022. Webb added a Master of Liberal Arts with a major in journalism from Harvard University in 2023, simultaneously completing a Graduate Certificate in Digital Storytelling. He has also written for The Sporting News and remains a passionate fan of sports at all levels. He began contributing to High School On SI in 2026. https://www.facebook.com/roadtripsports/ x.com They all can't be Kyle Neddenrieps!

Oh, they bat eyes. I'm 100% sure that I was teaching at Harding and know why Jaylon didn't go there.

I don't like any ranking that puts Penn and Crown Point behind Merrillville. And their info on Crown Point is wrong. They beat Lowell 42-7 and played Chicago Taft 3 years ago. The Pike Red Devils will be visiting Crown Point on Friday night.

I feel like this might be better thought out than whatever maxpreps puts out. However, I am still struggling with this Franklin Central being ranked ahead of Penn nonsense..... but whatever.

Bloomington North at BNL 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)

HH/Apollo could be a good game this year....the fact that we graduated entire O and D lines along with all our linebackers could expose a weakness, or 10. They went into 2 OT with Murray last week, Murray is always good. Dunno what to think of this game this year.

Yes The other side of the helmet is white. And they put stickers on it like Ohio State does but only on that side.

Better coaching this year!

Reminds me of the old Anderson Highland Fighting Scots. (Which makes sense given the nickname similarity.)

That’s not Floyd Centrals helmet.

I was always a Jordan fan myself!! I agree with you!!

That's why it's hard not to appreciate programs like East Noble and Adams Central up here in NE Indiana.

Easy now: He has partnered with the PGA TOUR.

and I support as well as you know:

I watched professional wrestling as a child, but quickly lost interest in it. No, I am not a gimmick. Somebody here needs to challenge the status quo/groupthink that tends to permeate forums such as these, or it quickly becomes stale and dies. If that makes me a contrarian then so be it. The late Tim Adams, founder of the GID, recognized this and championed it.

From their Actual IHSA website. There are 35 Teams F

@Muda69 I’ve got a question for you. As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, I’m curious about something. Are you a gimmick? Specifically, are you a schtick whose whole purpose for being on this site is to be a contrarian and challenge the status quo/groupthink, or do you really believe the things you say on here? I’ll hang up and listen.

Only Sport I know that has allowed it is Girls Gymnastics. There have been individuals who have been granted an opportunity to join say Valpo from Rensselaer but rep Rensselaer under Valpo program and competes under Rensselaer name but thru Valpo Gymnastics program. Proposal submitted by Ryan Chiddister, Principal, Union High School. 9-6.1 Cooperative Agreements Page 42 9-6.1 Cooperative Agreements With the approval of the IHSAA Board of Directors, students from two (2) Member Schools may be combined to cooperatively sponsor interscholastic activities provided such is necessary to either have a sufficient number of students to support a program or will result in increased opportunities for students to participate. The following terms and conditions govern all high school cooperative sponsorships: a. The IHSAA Board of Directors may approve the establishment of a cooperative agreement if both Member Schools can demonstrate a need. Need includes, but is not limited to: (1.) Insufficient enrollment numbers; (2.) Insufficient staff; (3.) Absence of a program at one or both schools; and (4.) Absence of facilities. b. Member Schools may only form a cooperative agreement (co-op) for team sports. c. A Member School with an enrollment of fewer than 300 students may form a cooperative agreement. d. At the time of the application, one of the participating Member Schools shall be designated to administer the program. Students shall participate and compete only as representatives of the Member School that administers the athletic program or sponsors the team sport. e. The Member Schools must be proximate or adjacent to form a cooperative agreement. f. When a non-public school seeks to partner with a public school, the boundaries of the public school will be used to assess the contiguity necessary for a cooperative agreement with the non-public school. Non-contiguous or non-adjoining Member Schools that are isolated from a specific team sport may request approval from the IHSAA Board of Directors to form a cooperative agreement if it will increase the opportunities for students to participate.Page 7 of 35g. The cooperative agreement must be for two (2) years, running concurrently with the reclassification cycle for team sports. The cooperative agreement may be voided at any time by mutual agreement of all co-oping Member Schools with the approval of the IHSAA Board of Directors. No other cooperative agreement in the same team sport may be entered into with another Member School until the original two-year period elapses. h. A Member School may not have a cooperative agreement with one school in a particular team sport and with another school in a different team sport. i. In multi-school districts, the school board must designate the school(s) that may request permission to cooperatively sponsor programs in a particular team sport. j. If a Member School (a contiguous public school or a non-public school) wishes to co-op with a school in a multi-school district, the superintendent of that multi-school district will determine which of his/her schools will form the co-op with the non- district school. When co-oping in this manner, all team sports must be cooperatively sponsored with the same school. k. Applications for a cooperative agreement must be made jointly by the boards of education of the involved Member Schools, signed by the board president, superintendent, and principal, and submitted to the IHSAA by September 1 of a reclassification year. l. Member Schools in a cooperative agreement shall be classified and re-classified according to rule 2, including: (1.) The determination on whether the team sport(s) shall have Two (2), Three (3), or Four (4) classes under rule 2-1; (2.) The division of participating Member Schools into Classes under Rule 2-2; (3.) The enrollment figures and optional move-up elections under rule 2-3; (4.) The sport-by-sport reclassification cycle under rule 2-4; and (5.) The success factor under rule 2-5. Proposed Addition of section 9-6.1 to the Contests rule, rule 9, which outlines the conditions under which member schools can form cooperative agreements for team sports, including enrollment limits, proximity requirements, and application processes. Motion: Motion moved by Jim Brown and motion seconded by Tim Grove. Failed 8-10.

I think this point of accountability holds true in this era of transferring. It's just too easy to do now with open enrollment/vouchers/etc. It just seem to have gotten even bigger on the Public->Public and Private->Public transfer side. The big issue in my opinion are the adults in the situation. Coaches do what they have to do to try and build their programs whether I agree with that or not, its what they need to do to compete. Its the outside voices/trainers/advisors who get in the mix that I don't like.

See I was in the meeting... where CO OP were talked about and discussed at length..... I have been in same meetings where 8 man has been. Sorry your opinion of CO OP failed so miserably at the level of IHSAA executive board, I believe the vote was 19-0 in favor or NO CO OP from the IHSAA executive board..... Your axe is with them it seems not me nor iFCA who has been successfully for now going on I believe the 4th year of 8 man in our state, could be 3rd year.

I'll give you that. I never thought I'd see the day so many kids would be allowed to transfer. Neighborhood kids enjoyed creating rivalries with surrounding neighborhoods or having a cross town rival..now they all go workout together during the off-season and speak of creating super teams..Loyalty has been left behind..

Good points: I don't want to underestimate the value of the CYO system. Bowen did have some pretty good offenses at Snider. Kudos to him for putting the Bruins in the position they were in last season. At the end of the day, I think my problem is with the new transfer rule. Like college, it just created one hell of a mess. Get kicked out of practice? So what, I'll transfer. Don't like the way a coach talks to me? So what, I'll transfer. The guy that spoke to me at summer camp was pretty cool? Awesome, I'll transfer. Accountability has been tossed out the window. And loyalty just doesn't exist anymore.

North Judson @ LaVille Boone Grove @ South Central Taylor @ North Miami West Central @ Culver Triton @ Bremen Winamac @ Frontier North White @ Caston Pioneer @ Knox

Zebras getting that Bell back this week! Gonna be a tough fight!

Sorry, meant Mauck

Lots of love for Luers yet no one bats an eye when a kid shows up freshman year that didn't go through the cyo ranks..talent development just doesn't start at the high school level..are these new coaches promising starting spots and exposure, probably. Bowen helped shape the new offense Snider ran when they started making runs with Tippman, his scheme catered to the strengths of the offense at Northrop. Those players could have went anywhere, can't blame him..Dwenger backup qb transfers from Luers and ends up playing against roncalli..it happens. Bowen n those Bruins beat Snider twice and it could have been 1 point both times..still hadn't been done in over 2 decades.

After just one game, that is difficult to determine. They ran & passed well vs Central but I would expect Castle to present a different challenge on both sides of the ball. Defense was adequate vs Bears but, again, the Knights will present a completely different challenge.

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)

The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again. When NIL came to be, no one foresaw borderline NFL players going back to college … because the NIL $$ exceed the NFL’s rookie pay scale. I sincerely hope this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back … and causes someone to grab college football by the throat and shake some common sense into it. As many have observed, the current model is unsustainable.

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://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.

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.

The TE is 35 Point difference maker?????

Yeah, we are. And the local Indy stations, primarily Fox 59, have this annoying habit of if the Colts have a home game being shown on the CBS affiliate they will not broadcast a regional game (like Bears vs. X) in that same time slot. Instead they will broadcast insipid tripe like reruns of Modern Family.

I'll give this top 10 list a shot: 1. Memorial 2. Castle 3. North 4. Reitz 5. Heritage Hills 6. Gibson Southern 7. Mater Dei 8. Jasper 9. North Posey 10. Boonville

Floyd has won like 4 sectionals and I believe has never won a regional. They are average at best YOY and probably overrated this year. Class doesn’t mean anything…they couldn’t win 3A or 4A sectionals over here.

After week 1 I'm curious on official's opinions on the new mechanics, specifically kickoffs and scoring kicks.