Football Fanatic

Bad news for some: The state football tournament will not be cancelled. And let's just say, I trust my sources. Unless football players start dropping like flies all of a sudden (which will not happen). From what I know, majority of schools and counties have handled outbreaks fairly well. If teams have to forfeit, so be it, the healthy teams move on and props to them. While serious and unfortunate, the big bad virus that results in an extremely high survival chance does not mean we have to give up, give in and cancel life.

Any word if Pence will be back at QB for all or any of the sectional games? I feel like Memorial would still get to the sectional championship without him but they could definitely use him in the potential sectional championship game.

Late to the discussion. My opinion - I don't like seniors playing JV. I guess my idea of "junior varsity" does not include seniors, going by the literal term. Let's call it "reserve varsity" or something like that and it would make more sense. However, I think it should be allowed in special circumstances where the head coach deems it essential and fair. For example - senior who shows up every day and works hard but is simply not good enough to get any varsity time. 

1 hour ago, Titan32 said:

Are any of the Reitz freshman playing up (ie not playing freshman football at all)?

I think they have a couple really good freshmen that recently began playing varsity but nothing further than that. Based on their updated roster, it looks like it's just Roland Vera and Hayden Summers, both of which I've heard really good things about. If I had to guess, they are probably still playing in the remaining freshmen games.

On 10/2/2020 at 10:12 AM, Esso Ayche said:

Gibson Southern Fr 54

Boonville Fr 0

GS offense ran 11 plays from scrimmage and saw 3rd down once.

Insane stat if true. GS freshmen seem to be on a roll, I think they will be in good hands in the coming years as well. Last I heard, Reitz freshmen will have MD this Thursday and then GS next week. Real chance for them to win city and go undefeated in doing so, but those will be two tall tasks remaining. Not sure on the location of either game. 

17 minutes ago, Spitting Llamas said:

I'll take MD over all of them. Current sophomore class was undefeated and not really challenged as 8th graders and freshman. Starting quarterback, running back, center and safety are sophomores and several others playing varsity as well. Sounds like the next few years in the SIAC are going to be fun. 

Reitz freshman play MD freshmen this week so we will have a better sense of how each team will be in 2-3 years. But yeah I would say there will be 4-5 top tier teams in the SIAC by then.

13 minutes ago, MHSTigerFan said:

If Hurley can find a QB, I like my Tigers’ chances to be competing for that title.

I think North and Castle will be very solid in 2-3 years as well.

On 10/4/2020 at 9:53 AM, Spitting Llamas said:

Teams with very few senior and very many sophomore starters struggle. Six wins will be a tall task if what you are saying is true. 

Very true but their freshman class is loaded. They have MD and GS left in their quest to stay undefeated if I heard correctly. I think they already have a few in that group getting varsity time, but mixing the best of that class in with the best juniors and seniors next season may not be a bad recipe for them. But I do agree, next year may still be a youth movement/rebuilding situation. However, in 2-3 years I would not be shocked if they're the best team in the city.

Thanks for sharing. Gotta love hearing stories like that. Amid all the gloom and doom during covid season, persevering efforts and success stories are much needed. 

Word on the west side is that the Reitz JV used their freshmen and beat previously unbeaten Castle JV last night. Impressive if so. Can anybody confirm? I've heard nothing but good things about their freshmen class.

I saw that the Reitz freshmen beat Castle last night 38-16 to remain undefeated. Talented group. I was told they will have a week off before they will play GS freshmen, which will be another good matchup.

1 minute ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Don't know if they are the best all time , but I am very impressed at what they do for a public school of 2500 students.

Agreed. I think if they go undefeated and win the state title without a single close game, they have a legit argument for being the best.

20 minutes ago, Reb08 said:

Hearing that Mt. Vernon could be getting ripped by contact tracing.   As a whole, tough to put much stock in scores/results this year.  As a HH fan, probably aware of that as any. 

Yeah it sounds like they may be without their QB and some others this week. I think Boonville would probably beat them regardless.

19 hours ago, tango said:

Both have lots of talent.  Central has the bruising FB Madison (who looks like a completely different player now than when he was at Bosse).   Central has a brash attitude and can get themselves into problems with penalties at times.  

I agree. Side note, I was told by a Central fan that Madison broke his foot against Reitz. I cannot confirm if that is true or how long he is expected to miss. Would be unfortunate for Central on both sides of the ball if true.

18 hours ago, Staxawax said:

I assume you are referring to Kevin Wright at IMG. He is now on the IU staff in Bloomington.

Oh that's right. I know Tardy is still with IMG and that's why he originally went there, but I had forgotten that Wright left. Still surprised he left after going 44-2 in five years there.

58 minutes ago, MSG_C said:

The second group is Memorial, Mater Dei, Vincennes Lincoln, and Castle.  This group relies on their defense first and hopes the offense can score enough points to win.  Each of these teams are a toss up when they play.  The bottom grouping is Reitz, Bosse, and Harrison.  I am not sure what to think about Reitz.  They do have a last second win against Vincennes and a win against Harrison. But the team on the hill is struggling on both sides of the ball.  They do have a chance to move up into the middle grouping.  All of the bottom teams have new coaches/staff and this is probably causing their struggles.

Nice report, I agree with most of it. It's obviously your personal analysis, but I mean, Reitz beat VL at their place in only the 2nd game with the new offense/defense system. Switching those would be the only thing I would change. Neither team has looked great at most times. I would say VL has the better defense. Reitz probably has more playmaking athletes and speed. I think they're close but personally, I'm in no position to say VL is better than Reitz. The only common opponent so far is Central (Reitz lost 57-20, VL lost 55-7), which is basically a wash. Also can't forget Reitz was in the game with Jasper, only down 21-14 through the third quarter. We will find out a bit more after Reitz plays Castle and VL plays Harrison. Also excited to see how Central/North/Jasper play out in the standings, as I still can't decide how I think they will finish.

If I had to guess, it goes Central, North, Jasper. However, Jasper is physical enough and has the ideal offense to speed up games and stay in good position. I just think Central and North have too many athletes and too much speed.

20 minutes ago, hhpatriot04 said:

Not even sure if he was the best player in Marion County that year. Dray Mason at Chatard was just a junior and averaged 170 YPG. Tim Sergi at Roncalli averaged 167 YPG -- also a junior. Both won state championships and didn't have cakewalks for schedules. Mason went to Purdue and was moved to CB, Sergi had a good career at IU as a RB.

2003 IHSAA Rushing Stats

Stats wise, yeah. To be fair to Tardy, he was the QB in the wing-T and two of their RBs had 1000+ yards as well. In the state title game, Tardy had 317 yards and 4 TDs at half.

3 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Didn’t they play him at WR at Purdue?

Correct. He was recruited as an athlete since he ran QB in the wing-T at WC. Purdue moved him to WR but he did not have much action until he broke out in his senior year there. Did not last in the NFL, so then he went to Alaska to play for Nick Hart in the IFL. During that time he also coached for John Hart as WR coach at WC, then moved on to Butler, and now at IMG with his former coach. Quite an interesting path.

33 minutes ago, Bobref said:

It was Desmond Tardy. As I said, I have a very clear mental image of it.

An interesting side note, I believe he is now the WR coach at IMG.

On 9/20/2020 at 3:54 PM, Lysander said:

I’m not sure either that scoring spreads season long (or, more specifically, only in playoffs are that relevant either).  I’m thinking there was a Reitz team MANY years ago that might have shut out everyone in the season (maybe I recall incorrectly).

Correct. The 1961 Reitz team did not allow a single point. They outscored their opponents 368-0. They only allowed an average of 72 yards per game. They were led by FB/LB Don Hansen, who played along with Butkus at UofI and played 11 seasons in the NFL. In week 8, they played unbeaten Memorial, which people called the game of the century. Apparently there was 14,000 stacked in The Bowl. Reitz obviously shut them out and won 33-0. However, I know there are people who still say that the 1960 Reitz team (allowed 15 points) was better due to more size and speed. Those teams will live on forever in southern Indiana, and especially on the west side of Evansville. However, being realistic, are those teams even better than the '07 and '09 Reitz teams? And especially any of the post-2000 BD, WC, CG teams? Hard to say. Talent, physicality, coaching, playbooks, rules, etc. are just so different and more advanced now.

Boonville @ Mt. Vernon - Both teams want to run the ball, game will go quick. Although MV did win this game last year, I think Mockobee is too much of a difference maker this season. Pioneers by 2 scores.

Forest Park @ South Spencer - Tight one here. Rangers by 1 score.

Gibson Southern @ Heritage Hills - I think the Titans right the ship but still struggle a bit against the run. Titans by 2 scores.

North Knox @ Pike Central - All road teams so far. Warriors roll by 3 scores.

Tecumseh @ North Posey - Vikings by running clock.

Washington @ Princeton - Could go either way. I will take the home team. Tigers by 2 scores.

Game of the week:

Southridge @ Tell City - I just realized how many teams have red in this conference, so Southridge gets black. Tell City can stay in any game with their defense but I think Taylor, Gasser, and Co. are too much business to handle. Raiders by 2 scores.

Some good matchups this week in the SIAC. I'm predicting all the home teams win.

Castle @ Reitz  - Reitz is struggling. This could go either way but I'll say Reitz beats the cake eaters this year. Panthers by 1 score.

Bosse @ Memorial - Memorial on a winning streak and figuring some things out. Tigers by 4 scores.

Harrison @ VL - Harrison may hang around for a half but just not enough. Alices by 3 scores.

Mater Dei @ North - In my opinion, North is the 2nd best team in the SIAC and MD will struggle to score. Huskies by 3 scores.

Game of the week:

Jasper @ Central - Jasper could win if they have zero turnovers, but I think Central has too many game-changing players to stop. Bears by 2 scores.

23 minutes ago, South Paw said:

Wow! Castle by 4 scores. Is that 4 field goals? They're having a hard time finding the end zone, and VL isn't bad against the run. Castle has struggled to throw consistently with their young QB. Castle might wear them down eventually and open it up a little late, but 4 scores is a big margin. I can see a 17-7 or 20-7 type of final, but it could be closer than that.

Very true. I failed to consider Castle's offensive struggles. And I am aware that VL has a solid defense. But I simply considered the long bus ride and the amount of kids that go both ways for them, so I think Castle pulls away in the 2nd half. I could see 17-7 at half and then Castle may add a few scores in the 2nd half.

Just realized the gauntlet of a schedule that Jasper will have to finish up their regular season with. They have MD at home this week, then they go on the road to face Central, Castle, and North before ending their season at home against VL. This is their opportunity to prove whether they are a top tier team in the conference or not. I think they will prove it.

Central has definitely benefited from transfers in recent years. Reitz, Bosse, Harrison, and probably more have lost notable players to Central. Reitz used to be the school that would get the transfers from all those schools. Where that change came from, I won't/can't really say for sure. May have to do with coaching preferences, friends, or chasing more success. However, with the growth of the North side, North has also started benefiting from transfers, even down at the lower levels. North also has a young, energetic coaching staff like someone mentioned, which definitely helps. Reitz has a really good freshmen class and a new coaching staff, so I am sure they will be back near the top within the next few years after a culture has been re-established. North will be good these next few years, then may hit a brief rebuild, but they definitely have talent down in the lower levels. I have not heard much about the lower levels of MD, Central, Memorial, or Castle. Jasper is typically always good at all levels and Lewis is great at instilling culture from the bottom up. Other question, how does VL, Bosse, and Harrison get to the point of being competitive in a tough week-to-week conference. It will be interesting to see how the year finishes out, but I am more interested to see how the next few years will be when (hopefully) everything is back to normal and these programs all get an actual off-season+summer.