Football Fanatic

Yeah, that's who I heard was their guy. Interesting move to say the least, but also makes sense.

I agree, I think the other Summers will get a few D1 looks as well. He was pretty incredible last season until their QB got hurt. Great size and talent. I also think Antonio Harris from Castle may get a few D1 looks. He has decent size and speed, if they can get him enough touches and figure out how to utilize his skill set, he should have a huge season. Outside of those mentioned in that class, I think there may be a few more eventually. But even if the SIAC can produce at least 4-5 D1 guys in one year, I think that’s great and it may get colleges to pay more attention to the area.

Thanks for mentioning that. I do remember seeing that and meant to add it. I would bet they put on more strength and weight this year which will probably get them more offers.

This upcoming senior class in the SIAC has some great talent overall, including some that could go D1. It seems like the Evansville area is severely overlooked when it comes to the D1 level, so this could be a huge year for the area to get more on the map. Figured it would be a good idea to keep track of all the D1 offers as they come. Just based on the internet and word of mouth, this is what I compiled so far. Feel free to add any that are missing or update the list as they come! OL/DL Jayden Hazelwood (North) - 6'3" 315 lbs Eastern Kentucky University Miami (OH) University OL/DL Harlen Summers (Reitz) - 6'4" 270 lbs Butler University University of Pennsylvania Columbia University Lindenwood University OL Quentin Boeke (Reitz) - 6'5" 265 lbs Columbia University Lindenwood University

Heard a few names. One that I think is the top candidate. Will surprise some but I know many Central people will be happy with it. Should be announced soon.

Hard to say. It truly seems like a mystery. I just think it's bold to say they will have "the best" anything considering how they have not been living up to the hype and there were other teams that handled them well up front. One example would be Reitz who has 2 OL guys that are probably D1 bound and a DL that led the state in sacks - they return almost all of their linemen both ways. And if I remember right...Castle, Mater Dei, Vincennes, and Jasper all handled North pretty well up front too and all return some key guys on the line. North definitely will have size, strength, and experience on the line. But will it result in more success for them? Personally, I think they still stay a bit run-heavy but implement the pass a little more; keep defenses honest.

Was wondering that recently as well. Interested to see how many SIAC players in this class end up playing college ball. Definitely a handful that could end up D1. While I do feel like this class has more college-level talent than a typical year, it also helps that southern Indiana has started to get a noticed a bit more. I still think it is severely underrecruited though.

Feel like we've been saying that for a while now. North definitely has size and strength returning on their lines. Sure, they "should" and "could" be really good. But I guess I'm a bit more hesitant to buy into the hype. Just pumping the brakes a bit, they did just lose 5 games for the fourth season in a row. As far as lines go, you may get away with saying they are the biggest, but seems bold to say they will have the best. By the way, do people think they will remain very run-heavy or use the QB they had at the end of the season and pass a bit more?

Exactly. They did show a lot of resiliency early in the season. Blowing out Bosse, just barely losing to Reitz, and then beating Mater Dei definitely had them carrying momentum. I think some things changed within the team dynamic and after losing some close games their confidence may have dipped a little. They will surely come out fired up this season and could finish toward the top half of the conference. We will probably find out real quick what they're made of when they travel to The Bowl in weeks 2 and 3 against Reitz and Mater Dei.

Exactly. By competitive/non-competitive I just mean good or bad. They are always good lately. But yes, they've had an impressive run of great teams. Regardless if they are supposed to be "down" or not this year or any future year, I expect them to have a winning record and compete for their sectional. That goes for if they move down to 3A as well obviously. They've done more than enough to merit that expectation. Culture and tradition go a long way.

I think HSE wins that game but expect the Chargers to be good again. They return their QB, all of their RBs, a few decent WRs, and some of their top defensive players. Not sure how their OL is shaping up. I doubt they will make another LOS appearance but do expect them to be a legit contender in the playoffs.

Agree on these points. I think there will definitely be a few teams that improve and compete for the conference title. However, I also think Reitz will be even better. Especially if their QB comes back full strength. However, last season they were coming off of 4 win seasons and were a bit of a surprise. This year they will have a huge target on their chest. Teams will be much more prepared and motivated to beat them. Would not be shocked to see some upsets, especially if their penalty proneness isn't cleaned up.

Would definitely be nice to have some more posters on here, whatever it takes to bring them out lol. It's been tough times over on the hill for a while but definitely back on the rise, so maybe more posters will come around after all!

I think if Reitz stays healthy, cleans up their penalties, and takes care of business how they should...that's what it is shaping up to be. Would be a heck of a game. I think East Central has to be the favorite in the 4A south considering they won state and return most of their guys. But if that game is at a packed Reitz Bowl and they are firing on all cylinders, never know.

Maybe so. However, with a healthy QB I think they win those games by much more. With a healthy Davies they beat Jasper 41-14 and North 38-15. Vera is definitely a weapon but teams quickly noticed how limited their offense was with him at QB. He was either running it, handing it off, or throwing "go up and get it" balls to their stud WRs. So, I guess I will agree the gap was not very big once Davies got hurt. Fortunately for them, their defense was outstanding, well up until the Boonville game. I mean, 5A semi-state Castle scored 10 and the 2A champs Mater Dei scored 7 on them. I agree. I think the gap may widen a bit this year unless some other teams surprise us. Hard to assume that Memorial and Mater Dei will be worse though. They always seem to find a way to be competitive.

As far as I know their QB was not healthy the whole 2nd half of the season and he had about half his normal arm strength. He was really good those first 4 games. Believe his shoulder will be repaired and they have high expectations for him this year. But yes, even with a healthy Davies back, I wouldn't be shocked to see them still have some sort of wildcat package for Vera. Definite impact wherever they play him.

Although, I definitely agree they were far from perfect. I still remember hearing how many penalties and - penalty yardage they had against Vincennes and being shocked they still won. Definitely had flaws that almost cost them some games and ultimately caught up to them. I guess I’m just assuming they will clean that up, but never a given with high school kids.

I haven’t conversed with you enough to know if you are trolling or not, or if you just don’t like Reitz. But nobody said best in 88 years or that they were dominate every Friday night. And I don’t like to devalue a high school team’s undefeated regular season. (It’s not easy to go undefeated in the regular season and not every win is pretty). I was just stating a fact about how big the gap was in the standings and how long it’s been that nobody had accomplished it. No matter your opinion on how dominate or not they were every game, winning the conference by that much is statistically a big gap. Sure, it has a lot to do with depth of field. But, point is, the gap was there. All I was wondering was - do you think Reitz won’t be as good this year or do you think there will be other teams that are much better and close the gap?

If they can stay healthy and clean, probably have a great shot to represent the North at LOS.

Just looked through some updated rosters after mentioning the Reitz junior class. They will have 30 or more seniors this coming season. That just seems wild to me, especially in 4A. For comparison, East Central's class that's had a lot of hype for a while is projected to have 25 seniors. 6As Center Grove and Cathedral both project to have 28 seniors, Warren Central with 24. The only schools with more projected seniors are the biggest 6As like Carmel and Ben Davis. Makes me wonder, what's the biggest senior classes you all can remember around here? Is this uncharted territory or do massive senior classes happen frequently in the SIAC and I just haven't noticed it?

Yeah, I think MD will still be solid on defense. Although they do lose guys like Adler and Martin, they return a handful of good defensive players. Their LB/DB group of Halbig, Turner, Stratman, Scheu is very good. The offense will be a huge question mark. Replacing a multi-year talent like Wunderlich is never easy. Even further, many people think they may be replacing him with an underclassmen with no varsity experience. I would bet they change their offense a bit. Typically they pass the ball quite a bit but I would guess they go more run heavy. I have heard about that young QB being a good athlete but not much of a pocket passer. I think they will struggle a bit in conference games (maybe go 5-4 or 6-3) but could still see them making a playoff run in 2A.

Just out of curiosity - if there was a big gap last season (statistically the biggest in the 88 year history of the SIAC), and they return their loaded junior class plus a healthy QB, and Memorial/MD may not be quite as good as last year - what makes you think it won't be a big gap? Is it because you think Reitz will somehow be worse, or because some other team(s) will be much better?

Exactly! Very difficult and time-consuming task I'm sure. And I know the southern Indiana area is typically overlooked or not recruited well, sadly. But just speaking on the SIAC players ranked, I see Porter Rode is ranked highly which is nice (having that Indy-area exposure probably helps), but...if Hayden Summers is only the 66th best player in the state, and Harlen Summers the 68th, Quentin Boeke the 90th, and Antonio Harris the 95th...then Indiana has the most loaded talent in the country. I mean, some or all of those mentioned SIAC guys are probably D1-bound. Not a huge deal, it's not easy like we said. Regardless, I appreciate the work they put into it and it gives the kids exposure/recognition, which is what matters most.

Exactly. Very difficult to rank that 2-7 right now so prefer to group them into a tier because it seems like they could truly finish in any order. For example, I could see Vincennes/North finishing at 2 or at 7.

Fair assessment. Tough to say. It's interesting...I think first and last are obvious by a wide margin, but there's a big group in the middle that is tough to predict. I could see Vincennes or North separating from the middle group but not confident still. North had an average season even with lots of size and talent. They return a lot of that so I think they will have high expectations. Vincennes returns a lot as well but one reason they had success was the mystery and rise of Hunt. The great coaches of the SIAC have another year to prepare for Hunt which is why I think there's a chance they don't do much better this year. Personally, it just seems easier to do tiers for now. Tier 1 Reitz (clear best going into it, only thing that would work against them is injuries or beating themselves, would be shocked if they don't win sectional) (big gap) Tier 2 North, Castle, Vincennes, Memorial, Mater Dei, Jasper (all these teams have key returners but also a lot of question marks, so hard to say right now) Tier 3 Harrison, Bosse (could see them beating some of those tier 2 teams but could also see him only winning one or two games, hard to say) (big gap) Tier 4 Central (will most likely go winless again and not have any close games, unfortunate for those kids and their community)