MHSTigerFan

Makes perfect sense. Football is the ultimate team sport. And great teams are usually greater than the sum of their parts. Talent is never unimportant. But talent without the right chemistry, culture, and leadership will usually underperform.

Yeah, not "scared" so much. I mean, I would hope that HS football players on high quality teams wouldn't fear any opponent. But, let's face it, sometimes teams are performing at a very high level. I would've said that about our 2018 team -- which was still in 3A and lost to WL in the finals. Bully for them for beating us. But I still believe that, had we had our starting CB, that game would've turned out differently. They knew he was out and successfully went deep against his replacement twice in the opening minutes of the game. Talk about a punch in the mouth. Even then, we still came back and had a chance to win the game. I love the way the Tigers are playing right now -- especially on defense. And I definitely think we could give GS a challenge. But they're a buzzsaw right now.

I'm (obviously) a Memorial homer. But I think it's very likely that being in 4A in 2019 got us a state championship we wouldn't have gotten in 3A. Heritage Hills had a solid team that year and their state finals game against Chatard was a complete mismatch. I don't see how we could've beaten that Chatard team...despite the fact we'd beaten them the year prior. IMO, we weren't as good as we were in 2018...and Chatard was by most accounts better. Also, I love playing GS -- Nick Hart has put together an elite football program. But I wouldn't want to be standing in their way right now....I have to admit. I know that Allen gets all the attention and headlines, deservedly so. But their defense has been spectacular too. If anybody in 3A is able to beat them, my hat's off to them. I think this is their year.

This is a pretty good place. https://rzcafeandcatering.com Unfortunately, the legendary Gemeca Inn burned down a few years ago and was never rebuilt. Shame, they served a helluva steak for a little dive in Ft. Branch, IN.

That’s an incredible feat against a quality offense. It would be one thing to hold a bad team to that much yardage. But a ranked 9-1 team that pumped out 30+ a game? I’m tellin ya…Ben Johnson. Not to take anything away from the players. They have to execute on the field. But it all starts with a great DC. And he is.

I feel for the officials in games that get so overheated. Tough balance - because I’m sure they don’t want to look like they have an itchy trigger finger. Officials hate the idea of affecting the outcome of a game…especially a tournament game. But I’m with you on the early intervention. Maybe the IHSAA should give them an intermediate tool between a verbal warning and disqualification…like a 1 quarter or time-based suspension. Give them some time to cool off and the distinct feeling of consequences.

How sad and infuriating. Kids need to be taught how to manage their emotions - and how important dignity is…whether in victory or defeat (because life will bring plenty of both).

I’m curious how much total yardage NV gained before that last drive against JV. Memorial’s D showed up to play. Hope Xavier is OK.

I’m not much into explaining away losing performances. An L is an L. But those who are would probably say that MHS was missing key starters (Shea and Agler, plus Brody to early injury) against Jasper and that the Castle loss had a lot to do with weather-related TOs…a couple of which resulted in very favorable field position for the Knights. But, then, bad weather affects both teams.

Yeah, me too. But just because a team wasn’t all that great last year doesn’t mean they haven’t improved a lot. That’s not uncommon in HS football. And it’s hard to tell from a regular season, because the levels of competition aren’t always on parity. Jasper had an awfully good team. So chances are that it wasn’t a fluke.

Yeah, Ben Johnson is the best kept secret in SW Indiana football. He’s a master defensive tactician.

I guess we’ll see. On the other hand, Bosse just curb-stomped Corydon. Jasper turned the ball over 5 times. I didn’t see them, of course. So I have no idea if those were more errors on Jasper’s part or more strong D on NV’s part. But there’s a reason they play the games. And we’ll get to see how they do against Reitz next week.

I don’t disagree. But that particular sectional is the exception and not the rule. Sectional 32 usually has a couple good teams in it. But it hasn’t produced too many state championships.

It’s 50% in terms of the number of games, yes. But that’s really about it. Since all teams make the sectional field, the load to bear in the early games tends to be pretty light for the good teams (depending, of course, on the draw….since it’s a blind draw). GS really should have no difficulty winning Sectional 32. Personally, I think they have a really good shot at going all the way. And I noticed that JH has them as one of the small handful of teams with a >40% chance to do just that. CG, Cathedral, and Indy Lutheran are the others.

One of the best things about most HS stadiums getting turf is that mud-bowls are an increasingly rare thing. Glancing at the forecast, they're calling for thunderstorms on Friday evening. Maybe we'll see some/all area games moved to Saturday due to lightning?

While I expect Jasper to beat Northview, I wouldn’t consider a Northview victory to be a “crazy” upset. Northview is ranked #10 in the AP 4A poll. They’ve beaten the two 5A TH teams. Beat a good Sullivan team. Only loss is to 3A #14 Owen Valley, and it was a competitive game. If sectionals were seeded, they’d probably be 3rd seed.

LOL, indeed. Sagarin needs to figure out a way to deal with closed conferences. I wouldn’t say Reitz is a lock to win that game. But they certainly shouldn’t be 21 point dogs.

Well, I don’t know about that. But I do know that Hurley has always liked mixing things up in the post-season. A couple years ago, Brock Combs went from barely touching the ball during the regular season to ending up as the team’s leading rusher primarily from carries in the post-season. Obviously, if you can successfully pull previously unused weapons out of the arsenal, it’s hard on opposing defenses.

I’m hearing that Hurley is considering at least one possible interesting curveball, but may be saving it for the post-season.

A common refrain around Memorial circles about Brodie is “Where did this kid come from and why hasn’t he touched the ball until this year?” He played DB last year and was good, if unremarkable. And since he didn’t come up through Memorial’s feeder system, people didn’t know much about him. The plan since practice began was to have the dual threat running game. Coming into the season, most people figured it would be Tyler and Russell. Unfortunately, RB got hurt early in week 1 against Jasper and he didn’t really get a chance to shine until the Central game in week 3. And (not coincidentally, IMO) we’ve been a different team than we were those first couple games. It’s really a great story. He’s gone from virtual unknown to probably the most potent offensive threat in the conference in the course of just a few weeks. Yeah, he’s fast. But he’s also elusive, runs great off blocks, and packs a power punch too.

I’m curious what was so bad about the visitor accommodations at the Reitz Bowl. I’ve never been to a cooler HS football stadium in the state. To me, it’s like the Lambeau Field of Indiana HS football. Granted, parking can be a problem with all the houses and streets (and hills!). But the Bowl itself is iconic (I think this is its 100th anniversary). I loved playing there back in my playing days.

He looked fantastic tonight. I’ve been hard on him. But he was nearly flawless. Throws were on target and to the right receivers. He tucked and ran when nobody was open. Showed poise and patience. That drop by a wide-open Shea robbed him of about 35 extra yards, too. It was perfectly thrown.

Somebody tell me who deserves SIAC POY more than Ray Brodie.

It’s our school community’s answer to the success factor…and a big, bony bird to the IHSAA.

Sad SIAC news… Evansville football legend Bill Krietemeyer passed away last week at age 87. After starring at Central, Bill went on to become an All-American at Vanderbilt and was drafted by the Bears before seeing his career cut short by injuries. RIP