Football Fanatic

I realize ranking players across the state is not easy to do and it's not going to be perfect or please everybody, but I found myself raising one eyebrow 🤨 a lot as I looked through it. I do think it's cool that it exists, even if it costs money. Thanks for sharing!

Not only is it the 2nd time this year, the guy couldn't even resist doing it the week of semi-state with the #1 team led by his D1 bound son. He needs to be done with coaching for now and get some help. Surely he wants to watch his son in college. Feel bad for the players and community. Hopefully the interim coach handles the transition smoothly and it doesn't affect the team's performance too much.

Glad to see there's some Evansville area players on the team! On the offensive side, Mason Wunderlich gets to hand off to Chase Jones and throw to Xavier Thomas. On the defensive side, they got Kelton Farmer clogging the middle with John Purdy and Clay Conner roaming around behind. Not too shabby! Very talented players to represent the South.

Feel bad for the kids and the program overall. It's hard to blame the ones that found better homes though. Just not in a good spot right now. They went from 12-1, to 2-8, to 0-10. Hopefully they can find a coach willing to stick it out and rebuild from the bottom up. May be a while before they are competitive again but it's going to take a lot of time and effort.

I would think there is at least a greater chance that he doesn't play, whether this year or next, now that he has his future in baseball set up. I doubt IU would ask him not to play football, but nowadays you never know. I see both sides of it. I am usually a big advocate for multi-sport athletes. However, when you have a D1 commit at a Power 5 school, I certainly see the risk of injury being scary and jeopardizing your future. Selfishly, as an SIAC football fan who wants to see the conference at its best, I hope Fisher continues to be under the helm for Memorial.

Cool to see them getting some prestigious offers. Believe you gotta have close to or at least a 4.0 for them to even entertain bringing you in. Wonder if other D1s like the MAC or OVC will start offering eventually.

From my understanding, he is one of top basketball prospects in the country for his class. Would not be surprised if he doesn't play football in high school. But man would he be fun to watch if he does.

Just saw that. Also their LT Harlen Summers got one from Lindenwood too. Both big athletic linemen. I’d imagine they get even a bit bigger this season. Surely they’ll get more D1 looks. Probably a few more of their players too in that class. Love to see the SIAC players getting college looks!

I think I remember hearing that U Indy is a top option. Not sure of any others.

Been quiet in here for a bit. Any new scoops or thoughts? I see some area players have been playing together on various 7on7 travel teams which is really cool to see, despite the bad rap it gets sometimes. I also see many area players attending camps and getting extra work or exposure which is also encouraging to see.

I believe Harrison, Bosse, and Castle will all be getting turf this year. Although, I cannot confirm at this time.

I think you are correct and I don't think any changes are expected. That's great for the conference and the players. It's huge for teams to just have that commitment and stability from the head coach, at least for a few years. However, if Central has another 0-10 season, I could see their coach getting out. As far as I know they only return a few starters, but could potentially have some talented underclassmen coming up to help turn it around.

Yeah true. I figured since you had the returning starters numbers that you may be able to whip something up. Probably difficult to know what players will be coming up and stepping into starters role. You're right about the factors being involved too (transfers, kids deciding to play, kids deciding to not play, injuries, up and coming underclassmen, etc.)

I would say Reitz, North, and Memorial are my top 3 contenders. I think Vincennes will be only slightly better, but not quite good enough to take down the big dogs. Especially with the quality of SIAC coaches and now having more film and prep for defending Hunt. I believe they play at Reitz in week 2 so that will be a huge game, and although an early game, we'll find out how much of a contender they may be. To answer your question, I believe Reitz will repeat. By the way, if you get extra time and are bored, it would be cool to see a projected starters report for each team! Still lots of time to kill before the season starts 🙃

Wow. Thanks for sharing those numbers. I'm sure there's some Reitz faithful getting impatient but last season certainly gave them hope, from top to bottom. Don't think many expected them to turn it around in that fashion. Rumblings are, they will be good for a while now. As far as the sectional goes next season, they definitely have a great chance but cannot count Memorial out, or even Jasper. And maybe extra motivation, they can knock Memorial down to 3A I believe.

Looks pretty accurate as far as I know. Good work, thanks for doing that! Wild to me how good Reitz was yet they still return that much. Might finally be their year to win another sectional, not sure how long it's been. North could be dangerous if all those returning kids develop. Vincennes should be just as good or better with who they return. Bosse could be sneaky good if their returning players develop as well. Lot of question marks for the rest of the teams, but we know MD and Memorial will find a way to be competitive when it matters.

Highly anticipating your returning production report! Where's it at!? 😁

Lots of talented players returning conference-wide if I remember correctly. Looking forward to seeing how much production each team is returning. For now, here is just a "top of the head" list (probably forgot some) of best impact players returning for each team: North - Jason Rucker, Sam McKinney, Luke Grayson, Cainen Northington, Kasey Hospelhorn, Keonta Barton, Kaleb Harris, Delshan Davis, Ben Brasher, Jayden Hazelwood, Timothy Dixon Memorial - Matthew Fisher, Porter Rode, Luke Ellspermann, Brady Combs, Donavan Baker, Sam Nichols, Jeremiah McGuire, Alex Broshears, DeMarviyon Vaughn, Aiden Waller, Dasmon Johnson Jasper - Will Wallace, Griffin Hile, Max Bueltel, Mitchel Leinenbach, Carter Holsworth, Jaylon Van Slyke, Eliot Smith, Landon Fleck, Tyler Atkins Vincennes - Xander Hunt, Darrius Hill, Tate Keller, Luke Lindsey, Dusty Bilskie, Jace Kinnet, Will Hambrick, Tanner Gilbert, Daniel Nash Reitz - Ben Davies, Hayden Summers, Harlen Summers, Roland Vera Jr., Quentin Boeke, Bode Pressley, Devin Coomer, Levi Oxley, Calab Utley, Kole Brantley, Alex Sitzman, Ayden Wells, Keifer Sanderson, Troy Davis Jr. Castle - Caden Gordon, Antonio Harris, Max McCool, Quentin Wilson, Landon Holder, Jersey Wells, Cameron Russelburg, Gavin Leach, Coleton Adamson, Benny Patterson Bosse - Tizhaun Tomlinson, Elijah Wagner, Royal Elliot, Amari Hope, Adrian Jackson, Antonio Floyd Jr., Arron Finott, Lavan St. Germain, Cedric Norris, Jadrion Griffin Harrison - Myles Terry, DeShawndre Brown, Devin Heneisen, Nation Johnson, Jalen Sutton, Brooks Thomas Mater Dei - Tanner Halbig, Tate Mallory, Wyatt Stratman, Spencer Turner, Aiden Scheu, Camden Marx, Ethan Goodin, Brett Wilkey

I agree. Difficult to rank them. I could see them finishing anywhere from 3 to 7. They do return a handful of talented players and have young talent emerging. However, replacing a multi-year starting QB talent like Wunderlich is not easy - especially if it's a sophomore with no prior varsity experience. I could definitely see it being Mallory though. If so, there could be so growing pains and MD could struggle at first. However, I see them improving throughout the season like usual and at least winning their sectional.

May change as we learn more about teams but way too early prediction: 1. Reitz 2. VL 3. Memorial 4. Jasper 5. North 6. MD 7. Castle 8. Harrison 9. Bosse 10. Central

Agree with what most are saying. As far as the 4A South - East Central, Roncalli, New Pal, even Memorial and Reitz - all probably would've went to/won state in 5A. I mostly believe it, but I've heard many people echo that same belief. It's unfortunate but not sure what can be done about it. One of those things where it just is what it is. I have a feeling it will be similar next year.

They still got 9 on though, the same as Reitz who won the conference by 3 games. Rode is definitely all-conference worthy but I can't think of any reason he would not be voted on unless some coaches are bitter about how he ended up there. And I would venture to guess Reitz didn't get more love due to bitterness as well. Unfortunate for the kids who work hard and deserve it.

I agree, meant to mention that as well.

Congrats to all players and Coach Brunson on the selections! They are all very deserving of the honor. I was fairly close on my predictions. Few initial reactions: - Surprising to me that Hunt was selected as POTY even though he was an at-large. Hunt is a great player though, not trying to say he doesn't deserve it. Based on the selections, I would have thought it'd be Wunderlich, Purdy, Summers, or Vera Jr. - I feel like Harris and Bishop from Castle were both All-SIAC type players but not sure who they would have made it over. - Seems like Reitz could've gotten a bit more love, considering all-conference is awarded based on the regular season and they won it by 3 games. They have a bunch of talent and put up big numbers. - Would have liked to see Bosse or Central get at least one player each but I guess that's the unfortunate part of losing a lot of games. They both had a few talented players that could probably start on most teams, but their stats may not have been good enough. - Loaded list of talent and 18 of those players will be back. SIAC will be a lot of fun to watch again next season.

Should be a great game! Looks like it will drop to mid-low 20s during the game with a wind chill in the teens. Just a light breeze and no precipitation luckily. Sounds brutal to spectate though, you'd have to be crazy to put yourself through that. Sign me up, I'll be there.