MHSTigerFan

I agree on neutral sites for SS. Seems like they could either just settle on what those sites are in advance or roughly split the difference between the teams playing once that’s determined. Is there a downside to this? A long trip like that is absolutely a disadvantage for whichever team has to make it.

Heh...didn’t have HB in mind when I wrote that. But I should have. Introducing our new IHSAA Handicapper General: Diana Moon Glampers.

I don’t this game will be very close. That said, Castle’s pretty young and they’ve improved a lot over the course of the year. Impressive game by Tilly last night.

Well, I’d sooner support that than I would all this athletic welfare nonsense. I always liked single-class sports - basketball, in particular. I miss that tournament. And it was awesome when a small school beat a big school. But the general notion here is: if you can’t beat ‘em, rig the rules against ‘em.

Some other ideas. - PP teams play with 10 players and lose one more with every state title they win. - PP teams must have at least one biologically female student on the offensive line - Make PP receivers wear jerseys made of varying amounts of lead...the more they win, the more weight...ya know, like they do horses - PP teams have at least one starter be an alum from the previous decade. Each regional win, go one decade farther back. Shoot that gap, pops! Whaddaya mean your knees hurt?!? - PP teams, no buses. Pack lightly and get walking early. You know, being from the southwestern part of the state, we could probably make the case that Indy area teams have certain advantages. Media exposure, money, etc. I would imagine rural area teams might say the same about an opposing team from any larger city or town. But it would never occur to me to suggest monkeying with the rules to try to counter these supposed advantages. You know what makes a “level playing field” for two teams taking the gridiron? The rules of football do. Go play the game and do your level best within those rules. And, for God’s sake, don’t try to change the rules to give yourself an advantage if you aren’t successful in doing that.

Offensively, Central is not real big up front. But they’re effective enough in run blocking to do what they need to create space for their backs. The problem for defenses is how they can kill you both up the gut and around the ends. They often put Evans in motion and use a lot of misdirection.

Maybe. I’ve said this before, but Mooresville was awfully good last year. Easily the best team we played all year. Elite up front, very well-coached and disciplined. And it certainly looks like they’re back in the mix this season. For a team to beat Ev. Central, they’re (obviously) going to have to find a way to contain that 3-headed monster of a ground game. Madison is a beast of a power back. He just can’t be tackled the way a HS back is typically tackled. He’s not only huge, he’s pretty nimble for his size and he has great leg drive. If he’s able to get even a tiny head of steam, he’s going to gain some positive yardage. And the more steam he gets, the harder he is to get down. And, of course, he’s complemented by the elusive and lightning quick Evans and the combo threat of Boberg. Choose your poison, defenses. Offensively, Central’s Achilles heel is their passing game. If that was even just a bit better, they’d be almost impossible to stop on that side of the ball.

What a great football game that was! Both teams fought hard from the opening kickoff to the final horn. Both teams also played pretty well, I thought. Not too many penalties, solid execution. And nobody left anything out there on the field. Loved the sportsmanship from some of the Central players at the end. Best of luck to the Bears the rest of the way!

Central is a much, much better team with Madison healthy and playing. I don’t want to take anything away from Boberg - who will and should be high in the running for POY in the SIAC. But Madison just brings the Bears to an even higher level on both sides of the ball. The Jasper team they just thumped was no slouch. And look at the difference in scores with Madison playing vs sitting. Assuming Central wins the sectional - which they should - the regional is shaping up to be an epic game.

I don’t have a very well-informed opinion. I haven’t seen either team play this year. But if Mooresville is anywhere near as good as they were last year, I’m going with them - both in this game and in the regional. Last year, Mooresville seemed solid at pretty much every position. Very stingy defense. Guys seemed to be properly positioned more often than not. Executed well offensively as well. O-line was not only massive, but had very good athleticism and footwork. I have no idea how much they lost from that team. And I can’t express any thoughts on EC, though they’re obviously really good too. But it was easy to tell both how talented and well-coached Mooresville was.

We were lucky to beat Mooresville last year with a much better team. They outplayed us - other than the Pick 6 and the kickoff return fumble. Tough team. Huge up front. Them and EC will be a heckuva matchup.

Yeah, me too. But it wasn’t pretty for either team. Lots of bad penalties and huge loss plays. Seemed like both teams had a bunch of 3rd and 30s. But you have to figure out a way to win and congrats to Hurley for doing it without his senior QB. What happened on Castle’s last play? It was a complete pass...but I guess he never got it across? BTW, what the hell has happened to North? I mean, congrats to Sean Coultis and Central on the shutout and the 9-0 record. I don’t want to take anything away from the Bears. But the Huskies have had an epic collapse the 2nd half of the season. They looked fantastic early on.

I’m going: Castle - tough to win against a quality opponent in HS with a sophomore backup QB Bosse - having seen them both, Bosse is the better winless team. MD - Goebel has his young team playing very well. Reitz looked really out of sync against MHS last week. Jasper - been playing the conference’s best very well. Central - early in the season, I thought North was the class of the SIAC. But they’ve stumbled pretty badly of late and Coultis has the Bears playing at a high level.

I agree - they were. Very tough last year.

I think several teams have a realistic chance at this sectional. But I don’t think any of them have much of a chance against EC - who has to be a heavy favorite in S23.

Tory is a senior, still playing and doing pretty well this season. Pretty sure he’s leading Central in rushing. Tre’jon and Tor’jon are both gone. Tor’jon was dismissed from the Bears during the season last year.

If Hurley can find a QB, I like my Tigers’ chances to be competing for that title. Between DL and OL, I think we have 5 sophomores starting or getting significant reps. And they’ve been holding their own, even in the 3 games we’ve lost. Several other sophs in skill positions playing too. Leo Collins has emerged as a weapon at receiver. And I think he’s already about 6’3”. Probably the best player in the class (DC Ben Johnson’s son Carac) is out for the season with a PCL. Hopefully he’ll be fully recovered next season. I’m keeping an eye on Matthew Fisher, the 8th grade QB this year. He’s old enough to be a freshman now. He’s already about 6’1” or so. Strong arm, terrific athlete. I’m guessing the plan is to move Russell to QB next year. But I wouldn’t totally discount the possibility of Fisher starting as a freshman.

I agree. If they get to .500 being light on seniors and heavy on sophomores, that would be pretty impressive....depending how the rest of the conference looks, of course. That said, I think Brunson is an excellent coach and if anybody could do it, it’s him. But, given how weak Reitz looked the other night, if their freshmen are that good, why aren’t some of them playing now? At least get them some V level experience. Or maybe they are and I didn’t know.

There was a skirmish on the field. Harrison player threw a punch at a Memorial player while they were tangled up on the ground. Flag was thrown. After the Harrison player got up, a different Memorial player intervened and shoved him. Another flag was thrown. Harrison player was ejected, Memorial player was not. Andre Thomas — who is both AD and PA voice for Harrison — took exception to this and started in on the officials over the PA.

No discussion about Harrison AD Andre Thomas jawboning the officials over the PA at the Memorial@Harrison game? Never seen that one before. He even invited them to come up to the booth and say it to his face. Shortly after, there was nobody on the mic at Romain Stadium for the rest of the game.

Man, Nick Hart doesn’t mess around. I love that about him. Win or lose, competition like that will do wonders for the Titans in the tournament.

As much as I wish it weren’t the case for my beloved Tigers, it is the case. I think we’ll do well to be above .500 this year. I think we have some good young talent in grades 9 and 10. But...well, they’re in grades 9 and 10. The senior class is small and one of the weaker classes in recent times. I don’t know who all Mooresville has back, but they were pretty dang good. So my early money is on them.

I haven’t heard anything. But, honestly, I’d say Bosse might be a better job right now. You’re right that Harrison has more history. But they only had like 28 kids come out this year. Maybe that had something to do with the coach, but who knows. It would be hard to win with that. Good luck to whoever they hire.

That's a good list. To it, I'd add a couple names: Julian Edelman. A HS QB, he struggled to find interest from many colleges coming out of high school. He played for a year at the College of San Mateo, then transferred to Kent State -- playing QB at both schools. Bill Belichick knew he'd never be an NFL quarterback. But he saw enough athletic potential in him to take him with the 232nd pick of the draft, despite his being undersized for just about any NFL position that doesn't involve kicking a ball....at 5'10"/195. Jerry Rice recently called Edelman the best receiver currently in the NFL. Kenny Moore Every place he's been, he's been told he was too small. He didn't even play until his senior year of high school because of this. He played at Valdosta State -- most scouts who looked at him had the predictable opinion: too small. He's now the highest paid slot corner in the NFL. Switching sports, I also remember when Bob Knight was putting together a very talented recruiting class back in the late 80s. It included very heralded recruits like Lawrence Funderburke, Chris Lawson, Greg Graham, Pat Graham, and Chris Reynolds. One of Knight's assistants (Dakich, maybe?) saw a kid at a summer tournament that they had looked at once, but decided not to offer. The player looked better than they had remembered. They had one remaining scholarship and this assistant begged Knight to offer it to him, which he did. That player -- the least heralded in the bunch -- ended up becoming the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten history. His name was Calbert Cheaney. I know that scouts and other talent evaluators for college and pro teams are good at what they do. They weren't just hired off the street. I know that they're right far more often than they're wrong. But they're wrong enough that, if I was a coach, I'd probably put a high degree of value on checking in to prospects who, for whatever reason, didn't register high on the recruiting world's radar but are nonetheless highly touted by coaches and others who know the game....*especially* if I was coaching at a place like IU that almost never gets anybody above a 3-star and has to rely on the leftovers of the elite programs. I flat guarantee there are gobs of diamonds in the rough out there who could be fine FBS-level players, if only given the chance. But they just have this or that flaw -- a couple inches too short, a couple steps too slow, etc. I understand why scouts put such a premium on these measurables. But it's so myopic, isn't it? It's almost....lazy.

OK. Was just confused by the past tense.