Football Fanatic

You may be on to something there. The Gibson Southern @ Heritage Hills semistate game was the best 3A atmosphere I've seen. Although the Memorial @ Gibson Southern game in 2017 was very good too. Speaking on recent history anyways.

This is great news. Looking forward to checking out some games there. Especially can imagine the classic Enlow playoff atmosphere with Memorial vs. Gibson Southern, Memorial vs. Heritage Hills, or even Memorial vs. Mater Dei.

Modernized lights at the Bowl would be awesome. They replaced the lights (or at least the bulbs, not sure) before last season. People said it was a slight improvement but barely noticeable.

Wild. Spring workouts and camps will begin ramping up and summer ball will be here before we know it! Were you going to put out a '24 preview or returning player report?

DE Levi Oxley (Reitz) and DT Delshan Davis (North) were chosen to play in the North South All-Star game!

Out of the PAC...I could definitely see Heritage Hills going 9-0. State appearance and returning good amount of talent. Southridge, North Posey, and Gibson Southern would be tough roadblocks. Out of the SIAC...Reitz has went 9-0 two straight seasons but not sure they can make it three with how much they're losing. Can't rule them out though as I hear they could be reload candidates. If not them, I could see Memorial doing it as they return good talent from a sectional champ team. Out of the SWIAC...Linton was solid last year and they return some of their top players on both sides, I could see them going 9-0 especially with their schedule.

I also saw for Reitz - Hayden Summers committed to Ball State and Roland Vera Jr. committed to Kentucky Wesleyan. Two of the top receivers in their school history should shine at the next level regardless what position they play.

Big time commit. Thought he would wait a little longer but can't go wrong with NIU!

Nice! Those two are pretty darn good anchors to return on a defense. Hadn't heard much recruiting news (offers/commits) lately so that's good to hear.

I was going to say something along the lines of this. I don't expect much more than usual unless certain changes are made. And replacing a weapon like Harris will be a much bigger challenge than some may think. I think their running game will be fine with McCool back as long as he stays healthy and their front 7 on defense should be really solid. The QB spot could be a wildcard as a new guy will step into the spotlight, so we will just have to see how he adjusts.

I've been thinking about football while watching basketball games. Sometimes I imagine them playing basketball in full football pads and wonder what it would be like and how entertaining it would be.

Just helping to bridge the gap, as we eagerly await the next football season. Here is an early look at some of the top players each team has returning. 5 Key Returning Players For Each Team (ordered by final standings) Reitz QB Ben Davies (c/o '25) LB/FB AJ Coates (c/o '26) DT Will Friday (c/o '26) DB/WR Xavier Burris (c/o '25) DB/WR Nehemiah Madison (c/o '25) Memorial QB/P Matthew Fisher (c/o '25) WR/RB/QB Luke Ellspermann (c/o '25) LB Alex Broshears (c/o '25) RB Dylen Kendrick (c/o '26) WR Simon Schulz (c/o '25) North RB/KR Jason Rucker (c/o '25) RB Avier Mitchell (c/o '25) OL Ben Brasher (c/o '25) OL Brady Reeves (c/o '25) WR James Mercer (c/o '25) Vincennes WR/QB/K Luke Lindsey (c/o '25) LB Will Hambrick (c/o '25) RB BB McCrary (c/o '25) LB Blake Green (c/o '25) DE/RB Mac McCormick (c/o '26) Jasper QB Max Bueltel (c/o '26) DB/WR Caden Erny (c/o '25) FB/LB Eliot Smith (c/o '26) TE/WR Luke Heichelbech (c/o '25) RB Ross Dawkins (c/o '26) Castle RB Max McCool (c/o '25) LB Gavin Leach (c/o '25) DE Benny Patterson (c/o '25) DT Ethan Herman (c/o '26) WR Jersey Wells (c/o '25) Bosse WR Tizhaun Tomlinson (c/o '25) RB Antonio Floyd Jr. (c/o '25) DE Darion Fellows Jr. (c/o '25) TE/DB Landon Lloyd (c/o '25) OL/DL Jadrion Griffin (c/o '25) Mater Dei QB Tate Mallory (c/o '26) RB Ethan Stofleth (c/o '25) WR/DB Nolan Schickel (c/o '26) OL/LB Nate McDurmon (c/o '25) LB Noah Simmons (c/o '25) Harrison QB/FS Deshawndre Brown (c/o '25) WR/DB Kordavion Reed (c/o '25) LB/FB Jalen Sutton (c/o '25) TE Brooks Thomas (c/o '25) WR/DB Xavier Brooks (c/o '25) Central QB Hunter Broshears (c/o '26) WR/DB Elijah Pendleton (c/o '26) RB Devon DeJarnette (c/o '26) WR/DB Nate Cano (c/o '25) WR Kenyon Peoples (c/o '25)

Not sure. But after the success and enrollment factors, my early guess for the sectionals involving SIAC teams would be: The 3A "gauntlet" sectional - Heritage Hills, Memorial, Gibson Southern, Mater Dei, Southridge, Vincennes, Mt. Vernon, Princeton ---Absolutely loaded sectional. AT LEAST three of them could make a deep playoff run but only one would move on, unfortunate but fun matchups. The 4A "Reitz or Jasper" sectional - Reitz, Jasper, Bedford, Boonville, Bosse, Central, Harrison, Washington ---This sectional seems weak at this point. Hate to assume anything, but Reitz or Jasper would probably win it and then be favored in the Regional.

Just to be clear…based on the new reclassification rules and the new enrollment updates, this is what class each team will be in next season? 3A - Vincennes, Memorial, Mater Dei 4A - Jasper, Central, Reitz, Bosse, Harrison 5A - Castle, North

I wonder if there is any chance Washington could bump to 4A which would put them in sectional 24 to replace Memorial. Beyond that, I would say Chatard goes to sectional 21, which will push a team to sectional 22, which will push a team to sectional 23. Just not sure which teams.

Awesome run for the Tigers in 4A. I fully expect them to have similar or better success being back in 3A. Yes I do think GS will be a tough challenge as they are expected to still be good in the foreseeable future. Looking forward to those matchups. And there are some other great programs in the 3A south. However, I would not be surprised if we see Memorial back in 4A sooner rather than later.

Exactly. Reitz or Jasper will probably win the sectional and then be the favorite in the regional. Semi-State would probably be quite the roadblock with the winner of New Pal/Roncalli/Chatard.

Had a convo about this with somebody recently. They return 4 starters on offense (QB Davies, WR Leach, OL Thomas, OL Lopez) so obviously their offense will be a huge question mark. On defense they return 5 starters (DT Friday, LB Coates, LB Cartwright, DB Burris, DB Madison) which is a good core to return but can't really expect them to be one of the top defenses in the state again. It's never easy to replace that many starters (7 on offense, 6 on defense) and expect the same or more success. They will be asking guys to step up big time and it will take some great coaching to get them ready. This may also be the type of team that loses a few games in the regular season but then gets on a roll in the playoffs once they figure some things out. Hard to tell. Looking forward to next season being more of a mystery!

I think they will be capable of it. They do lose a lot of key players who started for 3 years, which is not easy to replace. But I think they return just enough and have talent coming up that they will still be good. I think there is a good chance Memorial takes the crown, especially if they have Fisher. However, Reitz has won 18 straight conference games and is top dog until proven otherwise. WAY too early 2024 power rankings 😆 1. Reitz 2. Memorial 3. North 4. Jasper 5. Mater Dei 6. Castle 7. Vincennes 8. Bosse 9. Harrison 10. Central

Thanks for doing these! Great info. How about Castle? Led the conference in scoring offense but gave up the most yards. Well, we know what their focus will be for next season. Fortunately for them, I believe they return a good amount of defensive players, so I think they will be improved in that regard. Another thing I noticed looking at it...Reitz had another impressive statistical season, no doubt. The one outlier for them? Rushing offense. Now, I do think they will be pretty good again next season. But they definitely need to establish some sort of rushing attack if they want to break through and get to that next level. If they want to run their perimeter screens and spread the ball downfield, they need a rushing threat to open up the field more or to fall back on at the least. Good run game seems to be a common denominator among all the teams that made deep playoff runs. Just my two pennies worth.

So with the new reclassing...any thoughts on what the sectional changes would be? In 3A, Memorial would surely go to sectional 30 with Gibson Southern. Which team gets moved out of that sectional and where? I'm guessing it would be West Vigo or Owen Valley. In 4A, who takes Memorial's spot in sectional 24? By distance, Silver Creek would be the closest but Northview has been in it before and could return? Who takes East Central's spot in sectional 23? Which sectional does Chatard go to and are they in the north or south? Just some things to think about for next season. In both 3A and 4A, they finally got all the sectionals to an even 8 teams, so I assume they will try to stick with that and avoid byes. But presumably they will have to move some teams around to make the distances make sense.

I will always choose to attend games in person over watching streams. Even if the teams I root for are out, I will typically travel to the best game in the area. Being in the Evansville area...The Jungle is the place to be tonight.

I agree. Major props to Coach Mullen for getting that program in the right direction. Deserves praise. But they won 3 games. And they won those 3 games because of the POY. I think it makes the most sense to give COY to Coach Brunson (repeat undefeated conference champ) or Coach Hurley (successful season despite losing QB1).

I noticed that. Any thought or reasoning behind that? I personally don't mind it. Should be a huge crowd and that gives everybody more time to get off work, eat, and get there.

Exactly. They showed what it looks like when their offense is healthy and clicking. Seems like people have a lot of thoughts about the only undefeated team in our area. It really doesn't matter how much they score if they keep on winning. Most teams would still love to be putting up as much points as they do, especially when you have one of the top defenses in the state. But it definitely has become evident they need Davies healthy and throwing well to really open up the field and score points. They will need more than just a great defensive effort if they are able to beat Memorial and face East Central.