PhilLee

And which administrators are on the committees that decide

Was the QB hurt or sick or something? He put up some serious numbers this year and he was thoroughly unimpressive all day. Didn't look athletic at all and had no zip on the ball. Was expecting much, much more from the EN offense.

There's nothing that can be done to fix 6A. It will and likely always remain a class where the same 4 schools are going to win every year no matter what you do. I do think the thought of making class A the 32 team class and 5A a 64 team class makes a lot of sense. If there are teams in Indiana who desperately need a bye before the playoffs start its the class A schools, who normally have fewer numbers and many players playing iron man football.

Except when you go to that well way too often, which Valpo did. No deception to it and New Pal eventually stuffed it.

Yes I'm sure Ralph envisioned his starting QB getting hurt and a guy who had thrown 1 pass all year playing 3 quarters at QB to win a state championship. Just shows you how much poise Roudebush has to go in there and still run the offense and not "look" like a typical high school backup QB. Many teams would have been done against a high quality team like Valpo and New Pal was not. Valpo screwed up with all of the dumb direct snaps to their RB's. Cost them big-time at the end of the 1st half, when they had a chance to go into half with the lead. That and their passing game just looked like the QB was going to keep throwing it long and hoping for something good to happen. New Pal looked very vulnerable trying to cover receivers and RB's in the flat and on crossing routes. Then again, the QB lacked accuracy to make those throws a few times they tried them. Valpo had stretches of that game where they looked like the better team. Just too long a drought in the 3rd quarter to beat a team like New Pal, who always makes teams pay for mistakes.

The game stayed close, but you could tell watching it that they were going to need some serious help to hang in there for 4 quarters. Playing a day extra rest/prep on Friday at home with the 3 hour drive that HH had helped Danville stay in it longer then they should have. Along with all the holding calls that kept stopping drives from ending in scores. The final score was actually very indicative of the game. Teams like Heritage Hills with their methodical physical style are used to wearing teams out over the course of the game. And that's what happened. They wore out Southridge and Lawrenceburg the same way. If it wasn't for a miracle conversion on 4th and 21 with 2 minutes to go, the final would have been 33-10 and that's about the kind of game most with a rational knowledge of football thought it would be. HH could have easily had 4 INT's, as they flat out dropped one that was thrown right to the DB. Its also that methodical physical style that gives them a chance to hang in there against Chatard, when some think they have little chance. Danville doesn't lose much (although they were playing about 6 or 7 guys both ways ) and its likely a few additions from other school systems will magically appear to help improve the roster, if recent history holds form.

One of them will win but 6A was way, way down this year. I guess it will be CG but who knows. Rally could care less. Only 4 or 5 teams in 6A are going to win a state championship and its the same 4 or 5 every year. Carmel, Warren, BD and Center Grove. Rinse and repeat. Its the most predictable and dull class in football.

Heritage Hills offensive approach gives them a fighting chance. Difficult to simulate what HH does and they do it with good lineman, good backs and a QB who knows what he's doing. Plus a coaching staff that can make adjustments. Think it could be if not the best game of the weekend, at least the 2nd best game.

Congrats to the Pats! A job well done all year and despite being screwed by only having 1 home game in the entire playoffs (which is ridiculous, btw) and traveling over 300 miles for the regional and semi-state, getting to Indy as they should have. They looked a bit flat-footed and sluggish (especially up front) in the 1st half. That very long trip on a school day can be a issue for the lineman in particular. But they got their energy back in the 2nd half and took over. The holding penalties were really the only thing stopping them tonight on offense in the 1st half. Once the penalties stopped (although that crew was flag happy all night), they dominated the game as most expected them to. Sigler the QB was the best player on the field and it wasn't even close for 2nd. Some really subtle adjustments on offense and defense at halftime by the HH staff. A staff that obviously knows what they are doing. Chatard is a completely different animal (especially this year) then anything HH has seen but their offensive approach could give them a fighting chance. Should be a fun game to watch.

Because in the IHSAA committee's infinite wisdom, they decided to put 4 of the best 10 teams in the class in one sectional (Chatard, WL, Brebeuf and Guerin Catholic) and 3 of the best teams in the class in 32 (Heritage Hills, Gibson S and Southridge). Leaving a lot of mediocrity in the other 6 sectionals. Thank goodness the best team in the south and the best team in the north (although Chatard never should have been in the north to begin with) are playing in the finals.

A lot of idiocy in this thread, but here a few facts to actually ponder as we have reached semi-state Friday across the state: 1. There are 16 teams left in the state of Indiana in 3A-6A. Of those 16, only 1 did not have to beat a single team during their playoff run with a Sagarin rating better then 100. That one team is Danville. Doesn't mean they cannot and/or could not have done so and doesn't mean much once the game kicks off tonight. But the simple reality is they won a sectional with a few average (at best) teams and beat arguably the worst 3A sectional winner in the past 20 years (if you go off the Sagarin ratings) in the regional last week against Vincennes. 2. Have seen the usual and tiring jabs at certain P/P schools (in this case Chatard was brought up) about being "dirty" and certain assertions about undue influence. For fun, why not go back in the last 4 years and look at every starter who has played at Danville and check where they attended middle school and then compare that with Chatard and their feeder perishes. Might be very enlightening. Of the last 4 Danville QB's, only 1 played middle school football at Danville. Their QB this year miraculously showed up this summer as a sophomore from Avon, where a returning JR starter at QB was ahead of him on the depth chart. If that would have happened at a Chatard or Mishawaka Marian (just using them as they are 2 teams still playing), we know what the calls from many on this board would be. 3. Heritage Hills has already beaten 3 teams during their playoff run better (according to the Sagarins) then Danville. Again does not mean anything as tonight's outcome, but HH has seen better outfits then what Danville brings to the table. Danville's best win on the year was at Tri-West in the sectional (after losing to them in the regular season). HH has 5 or 6 wins this year better then anything Danville has done. Hence why many who think this game, at least on paper, will not be all that competitive if both teams play at similar levels as we've seen throughout the season. Hopefully we some great games across the state tonight. Something we've haven't seen a ton of at the sectional and regional final levels to this point. Too many bad matchups and bad games in the 6 classes.

Considering he lives in Mooresville and is retired, I don't think he's going anywhere until he decides to hang it up for good. Plus, Noblesville is going to have a really hard time competing against Avon and Brownsburg's athletes, let alone Zionsville, Fishers, HSE and Westfield. All of of whom have better football traditions and cultures then Noblesville. In other words, this is a really, really tough job and going to be hard for anyone to get it to midpack in the HCC, let alone the top. Roden had the right idea of putting a hard-nosed offense and defensive philosophy in place. In a conference full of spread teams, that should be the niche they go with to try to compete. But now, they'll probably wander back into the shotgun/spread world again to look like everyone else and others will play that game better with better athletes then they do. Year in and year out.