CoachMack219

On 11/22/2023 at 7:58 AM, RegionFBFan said:

BD by 28

Perfection! 

36 minutes ago, BTF said:

think of the financial ramifications. Bowing out in Round 1 or collecting gate money for four more games. It's no fun to think of it that way, but I think it's the unfortunate reality. I will say, that as a fan, I'd love to see a mandatory format like that. 

I'm totally with you on the financial aspect as well as the lack of desire for teams who are not the heavy hitters to partake in the Open endeavor. Definitely a buzz kill to think of it from either of those stand points but solid and fair points for sure. 

27 minutes ago, BTF said:

Thanks for the information. I think we can all appreciate why Arizona went to that format. 

In my opinion, the only teams that would accept are 6A teams, they have nothing to lose. For levels 1A through 5A, I think financial matters come into play. 

For the record, as a fan, I would LOVE to watch this play out. I just don't see anyone lower than 6A jumping on board. 

I feel like there's a few teams (the heavy hitters of 5A-3A) that would like the opportunity to show they're the best of the best in the state that year. I do see your point that not many teams in 5A on down would be interested but more likely than not, those aren't the folks the Open Division was created for. It's there for the 2023 East Central's, the Cathedral's, great New Pal team's, 2020 Roncalli, and other programs that are interested in competing at an ELITE level doing just that. As a fan of football, I am with you 100% that I would LOVE to watch this play out. With the matchups I gave, the first round of the 2023 Indiana Open Division would've been...

Ben Davis vs Westfield

Center Grove vs Fort Wayne Snider

Brownsburg vs Crown Point

East Central vs Indianapolis Chatard 

Probably plays out to semi final matchups of Ben Davis vs Center Grove and Brownsburg vs the winner of a game EVERYONE would love to see and then there's the chance to prove if the "little guy" belongs. The winner of that beats Brownsburg and you got a shot at BD or CG to be the state's best. By the chatter I've seen on this board throughout the year, there's PLENTY of people on here who think Chatard and East Central can play with the big boys. This would allow that chance to happen, which I guess is what bothers me when this is dismissed as an ignorant solution (like the IHSAA State football tournament is the best of the bunch 🙄). 

Just now, hhpatriot04 said:

This is horrible. It's like trying to put a bandaid on a bleeding artery.

You're right, it's more fun to talk/ whine about solutions (crowning a Champion of Champions) than implement/ try them. You the same grouch running the Champions Network's account? Maybe we should just go back to the Mythical State Championships? 

2 hours ago, jets said:

Dumbest.Idea.Ever. I can't believe a State actually does that. I mean, it makes sense for the biggest schools ...what you are describing is essentially their State tournament anyway. 

But let's say you are a once-in-a-lifetime class and you have a chance to win your 4A title - but then the State elects you to play up against Center Grove. That is suppose to be rewarding?!?

Arizona began this idea because of a 4A team's (Saguaro HS) dominance of the 4A division in Arizona from 2006 to 2018 where they won 11 out of 13 state championships including a run of 6 in a row from 2013-2018. There was the possibility for the first 2-3 years of "The Open Division" for the "once-in-a-lifetime class" to have to play in the Open but they have since tried to account for that by adding a multiplier to their formula that increases the chances 5 and 6A teams are selected instead of 4A teams who, unlike Saguaro, don't have as much of a chance against the big dogs. This is FAR from the dumbest idea ever. For the record, Saguaro won the Open division in 2021 as well becoming the first 4A to do so in Arizona knocking off some heavy hitters along the way much like some believe East Central can do to some of our heavy hitters. I think this would be a pretty awesome concept to see in Indiana. I do like the idea someone mentioned above about having to "accept" the invite to play in "The Open Division" especially if they're from a class below 5A. And based on final records after the regular season, their current postseason finishes, and the good ole eye test, my Open Division this year if I had a seat on the committee would have been... 

1. Ben Davis 6A

2. Center Grove 6A

3. Brownsburg 6A

4. East Central 4A

5. Indianapolis Chatard 3A

6. Crown Point 6A

7. Fort Wayne Snider 5A

8. Westfield 6A

20 minutes ago, BDGiant93 said:

Ben Davis has an almost completely new coaching staff since the last state run. Pretty much everyone left when Kirschner left or was gone within a couple of years. The only constant is Kevin Vanderbush, and he's been there for all of them. I think Mark Zackery is about the only holdover otherwise. The rest were Simmons or Mann hires (I think). There were some guys who played for Coach Dullaghan on the staff in state games. But, you're right. This is largely a new staff and, obviously, team.

New staff or not, it's hard to not love the Giants in this one. Although, coach Buzz and the boys have made me eat crow with @temptation each of the past two Saturday's, I think the Giants will be too much for the 6A Northern Champions. I will, however, not be surprised anymore if Crown Point can hang with the Giants based on how they've played in back to back games where not many people (me included) gave them a shot to win one of those games let alone both. I didn't think Crown Point's O-Line could impress me anymore than they already had after Penn, and then they played Westfield... If they can find a way to control the line of scrimmage, again, they'll have a shot to win, again. If not, then the Giants roll as many are predicting already. 

Ben Davis 31

Crown Point 21

On 11/17/2023 at 9:10 PM, Komets2727 said:

28-0 Snider win, Panthers defense completely dominated this game. You could have played 8 quarters and Merrillville wasn’t scoring.

These two sentences sum up the game perfectly. The Snider defense was OUTSTANDING and that might be putting it mildly. I was extremely impressed with that unit. Thought the Pirates battled and fought hard but Snider was the better team and showed it for 48 minutes. Merrillville will be back, no doubt! 

1 minute ago, BTF said:

I was thinking whoever scores 28 wins it. 

That seems reasonable. I've made a few predictions on this one and they range in the 24-17 neighborhood. The closer we get to kickoff my Region heart says Merrillville 24-17 (or 21-17) but my head/ brain says Snider by either of those same scores. Really excited for this one. Merrillville's improvement throughout the year makes this one a fun watch, for me. 

8 minutes ago, RegionFBFan said:

Loads of talent and they have improved a ton since beginning of the year especially offensive line.

The improvement factor is why you truly can't count them out. This is not the same Merrillville team from weeks 1-5 that struggled a little bit early on in conference play (bad loss to CP and had two not so great performances vs City and Portage). The O-Line improvement and development has been the biggest reason for their improved play IMO. Definitely think this one will be a good one. I'll be shocked if Merrillville gives up 38 in this one. 

11 hours ago, Rodney said:

I really like the part where  we just declare

 

That mville CP would have been a 3 point game if not for injuries

 

Saw this one on RSN about 10 minutes ago and it made me LOL for sure! I know the 'ville was banged up then but idk if the missing pieces close a 33 point gap by 26-30 points. As I said previously, Merrillville is much improved from early in the season but idk if they've closed the gap with the Bulldogs THAT much. Excited for the Snider matchup. 

19 hours ago, Boilernation said:

Merrillville doesn't have a JoJo Johnson or Justin Marshall this year that can take any carry/reception to the EZ, but they still have speed and lots of it at RB and WR. The Pirate Offense is much more efficient in the run game and short passing game. Their QB has zero downfield accuracy. Logan's eyes will probably pop open when he sees some of the downfield pass attempts against Valpo last week. 

18 hours ago, RegionFBFan said:

Merrillville has a legit shot in this one. Good football team with speed everywhere. Their strength is their defense specifically the front 4. All four are good players.

Merrillville offensively will come down to how well their qb plays. He is a much better runner. As mentioned below, his vertical passing is more of throw and hope style. His receivers made some of those catches to beat a good Valpo defense.

Merrillville can not let this become a high scoring affair. If it’s low scoring, Merrillville has real shot on the road. 

Both of these assessments on the 2023 Merrillville Pirates I would describe as accurate. My only add on (although elementary) would be that they truly are better in person than they are on film. May sound silly but when watching their game film, they didn't impress me much on offense, and defensively other than Stephens and the 4 D-linemen, I wasn't utterly impressed. But after seeing them play a few times in person, the defense is legit and the offensive line is much better than they get credit for. Looking forward to a great game, I'm taking the Pirates, 21-17. 

Westfield 31 Crown Point 23. I hope I'm wrong and the Bulldogs pull off the upset needed to get to LOS, but we've tended to struggle up here with the likes of the Indy 'burbs. 

On 11/11/2023 at 8:47 PM, Bobref said:

I have seen the Hudl video. Sorry to have to say, but the play by that DB was actually a foul for unnecessary roughness against a defenseless receiver. Since time expired during the down, there should have been an untimed down after half the distance enforcement.

Watching it live, I felt that should have and would have been called given how the last drive was officiated (3 holds on Valpo during the game winning drive attempt). I truly don't know if all of those were holds or not, I'm not going back to find out either, but it seemed to me that the crew was not afraid to throw a flag in a big moment which is why I thought the flag was coming for unnecessary roughness. I was about as shocked as the Merrillville players. Helluva game, and a well officiated one (when I was watching), just tough to not get that call there (if you're a Vikings fan). 

16 minutes ago, RegionFBFan said:

Right off the top of my head, Matt DeSomer.

Now THERE's a Dual Threat/ Running type guy. In a two year career had like 3,100 rushing and 3,900 passing, I believe. DeSomer was and is a freak but that's the type of guy I envision that you want to keep in the pocket as a DC, not the guy who has thrown for 5,300 and ran for about 900 in 3 years. DeSomer is the only name I would entertain (for the record) for this "name someone better" discussion. 

You haven't watched him for 4 years unless you were attending Hobart Middle School games 4 years ago. Lol he is a Junior (2 years at Hobart and 1 at CP), those are his numbers through 3 seasons and I'd say those are far from "pedestrian." I wouldn't say the word elite (yet) either because elite is what Brady Allen and Danny O'Neil are, in comparison, but if you don't think he's the most elite region QB in (at least) the last 15 years, then idk what players you've been watching but I sure would like to see 'em. Lol 

1 hour ago, jets said:

Bottom line, until the IHSAA really wants to take a hardline stance (which they won't) - it will still go on. Get better or get used to it. 

"Get better or get used to it." AMEN jets, AMEN! 

19 hours ago, temptation said:

Still can't make my mind up about this one...heart says CP, head says Penn.

Been a tough one to decide all week. I think I like the 'Dogs 24-17 but if Penn won, in any manner, I wouldn't be surprised either. 

On 11/8/2023 at 12:50 PM, RegionFBFan said:

QB is a good player but has had a tendency to play tight in big games at least in the past. In my opinion, he’s more dangerous as a runner not a thrower.

The first part of your statement, I can (sort of) get behind although I will say it wasn't even close to his fault that Hobart lost the 2021 and 2022 Sectional Championships nor did his play severely impact the result. Now, the part after "in my opinion" is blasphemous. He threw for 3,500 Yards in 2 years at Hobart and ran for less than 400 and at Crown Point has thrown for over 1800 this year already and despite his increased usage in the run game by CP, I would bet he still hasn't rushed for over 500 yards this year. Idk if I would call a career 5.300 yard passer (through almost 3 seasons) with about 800-900 career rushing yards "more dangerous as a runner not a thrower." He IS dangerous at extending plays with his feet and finding guys down field but that doesn't make him a "runner."