Titan32

Calpreps:

He he he. Somebody didn't like my little truth bomb about Memorial definitely being better this year than last year. I get it. Where do we even start with all of this? First, you're mixing two completely different uses of history. When I say past success doesn't mean much, I'm talking about players and coaches who aren't part of the current team anymore. Herman Byers isn't winning any games for Reitz in 2026. But Cory Brunson's track record absolutely has relevance when we're trying to figure out what a current Cory Brunson team might become. Same thing at Gibson Southern. Yes, Gibson Southern was the best team in the area last season. They beat everybody around here they played. Does that mean they're automatically the best team in 2026? No. But in Week 1 and Week 2, when we have almost no current-season evidence, what exactly do you think pollsters are supposed to use? Returning personnel. Program reputation. Last season. Coaching. Players moving into larger roles. And the tiny amount of 2026 evidence we actually have. That's basically how preseason and early-season polls work. Now, let me help you with Floyd Central. You're treating them like some giant unknown because they graduated players from last year's team. This wasn't some one-year wonder that got gutted. Floyd Central went 10-2 last year, won a 5A sectional and beat Evansville North in the sectional championship. And Friday night at Gibson Southern, Floyd Central had 18 seniors on the field. Eighteen. That's not a young team trying to figure out how to replace everybody. That's a veteran football team with athletes all over the field. Dudes everywhere. And I'll tell you from seeing them firsthand: they were considerably more athletic than Memorial was when Gibson Southern played Memorial last year. Yet I keep hearing how high everybody is on North this season and how North probably should have beaten Castle. Okay. If North is that good, and Floyd Central beat North for a sectional championship last year, brought 18 seniors on the field to Fort Branch Friday night and just beat Gibson Southern, at what point are we allowed to consider the possibility that Floyd Central is actually pretty good, especially by SIAC standards? We'll learn more as their season plays out. I'd love to have the luxury of playing Floyd Central later in the year after everybody has figured out exactly how good they are and after we get the kinks worked out. But that wasn't the point of scheduling them. The mission was accomplished: go find competition better than what you can find locally, expose your weaknesses, and get better because of it. That's one of the reasons Gibson Southern was the best team in this area last season. How quickly we forget. Now let's get to St. Pius X, because calling them essentially an Indiana 1A team because their school has around 300 students may be one of the more uninformed arguments you've made in this thread. You're a Memorial guy. You should understand better than anybody that raw enrollment doesn't always tell you the quality of a private-school athletic program. P&Ps have a disproportionately high number of success-driven student athletes per capita. That's the business model. Attract families who are willing to pay to be around like-minded individuals. For years we've heard how difficult it is for Memorial, with an enrollment around 600, to compete against much larger schools. Fair enough. But then you can't turn around and reduce another successful private-school program to "they've only got 300 kids, so Gibson Southern should beat them like a 1A school." You guys can't have it both ways. In fact, here's the funny part: Missouri has a Championship Factor specifically for successful non-public schools. St. Pius accumulated enough success points that, after finishing as the Class 2 state runner-up last year, they're being bumped up to Class 3. So much for the "they're basically a 1A school" argument. Apparently Missouri looked at what St. Pius has accomplished and decided enrollment alone wasn't a particularly good way to classify them either. And look at the actual football team instead of the number of kids walking the hallways. St. Pius just played for a Missouri state championship. They return all but four players from that team. They return their starting quarterback. Their running back rushed for around 3,000 yards and scored 32 touchdowns. They've got another senior back who's now around 6-3, 215. They return a big-play receiver who caught 10 touchdowns and intercepted six passes. Most of the offensive line is back. Five returning players earned All-State recognition. And one Missouri preseason analysis says at least 15 St. Pius players received interest from NCAA or NAIA scouts this offseason. That's your Indiana 1A team? Do better man. They're also preparing against Class 5 and Class 6 Missouri programs because that's the level of competition they expect to face. Does any of that guarantee they're going to come to Fort Branch and beat Gibson Southern? Absolutely not. That's the entire point. We don't know yet. Just like you don't know yet how good Floyd Central is. Just like I don't know yet exactly how good Gibson Southern is. And just like you don't know yet exactly how good Memorial is. Which brings me to my favorite part of your post. Let's try this: I appreciate all of OlMarksmanTiger's points to be optimistic about Memorial, and I agree with them. I expect Memorial to reload to some extent every year and be a formidable opponent. The question is how formidable? I thought going into this season it would be difficult to replace their defense from last year. Regarding the Jasper game, considering Jasper had a breakout season under a new coach last year, I personally have my doubts whether Jasper has truly reloaded. So the Memorial/Jasper game is still a question mark for me. We'll see how Jasper does against Reitz. I'm not sure what Memorial's Week 2 game against North will tell us unless Memorial handles North convincingly. I appreciate all the excitement over beating Jasper 48-14, but historically I'd expect Memorial to beat Jasper more often than not anyway. See how easy that is? It's your argument. I just changed the names. And for the record, I think Memorial's 48-14 win over Jasper was impressive. I think Memorial probably is good this year. But that's based on the evidence we have right now — exactly the same kind of limited early-season evidence you're telling everyone else not to put too much stock into. That's what makes August football fun. We all have opinions. Then eventually they make us play the games. Time will tell.

Maybe 3 or 4 competitive games?

Thanks for the guidance.

-Gibson Southern all-sports passes are not able to be used for this event. -Admission is $10 and is good for both games. -Streaming PPV video will be available on IHSAATV. $9.99 per game or $15 for both games. - Radio (free) at https://gssn.mixlr.com/events/5222949 for both games.

St. Pius X Lancers (0-0) at Gibson Southern Titans (0-1) Saturday, August 29 – 6:00 PM Central United Fidelity Bank Bowl – Jack Jewell Memorial Field Reitz will play Tri-West in Game one at 3:00PM If you're unfamiliar with St. Pius X out of Festus, Missouri, don't let the words "Class 2" fool you. This is a serious football team. St. Pius made the first trip to the Show-Me Bowl in program history last December, finishing as Missouri's Class 2 state runner-up. Normally that's where I'd tell you about everything the Lancers lost to graduation. Except they didn't lose much. St. Pius returns its starting quarterback, its record-breaking running back, most of its offensive line and five players who earned Class 2 All-State recognition in 2025. Their expectation isn't simply to have another winning season. They expect to go back. Start with Cody Shaver. The senior RB/LB is 5-11, 205 pounds, and he broke the St. Pius single-season rushing record last year, eventually becoming the first runner in school history to top 2,000 yards. He did a lot of that damage with a broken thumb, playing in a cast that limited his ability to stiff-arm defenders and largely took him out of the passing game — and he still broke the record. He also played linebacker, then turned around and qualified for Missouri's Class 1 state wrestling championships at 190 pounds after the season ended. Coach Frank Ray says we'll see more of Shaver's complete skill set this year, especially his ability to catch the ball and make plays outside the tackles. He won't have to carry the load by himself, either. Senior Brody Ervin is 6-3, 215 pounds, and Ray says Ervin averaged around 10 yards a carry over the back half of last season. Both backs reportedly added about 20 pounds in the offseason, and Ray plans to use them together frequently. That's a substantial two-back set to have to deal with. At quarterback, junior Evan Eckrich isn't the same guy Gibson Southern would have faced early last year. He took his lumps as a first-year sophomore starter, but by November something had changed. He finished with more than 2,000 passing yards, and his breakout came during the postseason run — in the state semifinal against Monroe City he threw for around 240 yards and three touchdowns and helped engineer the comeback that sent St. Pius to the state championship. Ray has said that last season Eckrich could lean on the older players around him. This year, it needs to be his offense. Then there's junior WR/CB Harrison Ray, who's about 6-2½, 175 pounds. Last season he averaged roughly 26 yards every time he caught the ball, reached double-digit receiving touchdowns, and earned Honorable Mention All-State. Then he flips over to defense and picked off six passes as a sophomore, one of the leading ballhawks in the St. Louis area. That's about as good a two-way weapon as you'll find. Honestly, the defense might be the real story here. One Missouri preseason analysis is exceptionally bullish on this unit and believes the Lancers have the size, speed, experience and depth you'd normally associate with much bigger schools. It's easy to see why. All-State junior Hunter Hylton returns after making his mark as an edge defender. Senior All-State lineman Jackson Jercinovic is about 6-2, 265. And senior nose tackle David Schulte is 6-foot-7, 320 pounds. Behind that front you've got athletes like Shaver, Dawson Litterall and a secondary that includes Harrison Ray. This isn't what most Indiana fans are going to picture when someone tells them a Missouri "Class 2" school is coming to town. And they've already shown they can handle adversity. St. Pius didn't cruise through 2025 — playing as an independent against a schedule that regularly included bigger schools, they started 0-3 and still had a losing record heading into district play. Then they won five straight in the postseason and were playing for a state championship before the run ended against undefeated Blair Oaks in the Show-Me Bowl. Rather than soften the schedule for 2026, St. Pius prepared for another hard one by scheduling much larger Missouri programs — St. Louis University High, Timberland, Pattonville. One of the games specifically mentioned when explaining why that kind of preparation was necessary was the season opener at Gibson Southern. As for Gibson Southern, the Titans enter Saturday 0-1 after a 31-24 loss to Class 5A Floyd Central, but the final score doesn't tell the whole story. GS produced 507 yards of offense — 261 rushing, 254 passing — and racked up 29 first downs. Caden Rochleau accounted for 454 yards himself, 200 rushing and 254 passing. Peyton Johnson caught seven passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Eli Foster added 61 yards and a touchdown on the ground. And Gibson Southern led 24-17 entering the fourth quarter. The problem was giving away possessions and points — three turnovers and a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown. Those are the mistakes the Titans have to clean up against St. Pius, because this opponent has enough weapons to make them pay. What makes the matchup especially interesting is what the computer models say. For all the talent St. Pius brings back from a Missouri state-finalist team, the projections still strongly favor Gibson Southern. Massey has it Gibson Southern 38, St. Pius X 20, a 78% GS win probability. CalPreps has it Gibson Southern 35, St. Pius X 14, a 90% GS win probability. That's remarkable when you consider what's walking in the door — a state runner-up, a 2,000-yard quarterback, a record-setting 2,000-yard running back, a second 215-pound back, an explosive All-State WR/CB, most of the offensive line, multiple All-State linemen, and a defense some people around that program think could be even better than the offense. And the computers still see Gibson Southern as a substantial favorite. Maybe they're right. Maybe Missouri brings us a surprise. That's why they play the game. But one thing seems pretty clear: this isn't a cupcake scheduled to get Gibson Southern back to .500. It's a matchup between an Indiana 3A regional champion and a Missouri state runner-up, two programs willing to find out how good they really are before the games that decide conference and postseason championships begin.

I've been around here long enough to know how the first few weeks of these rankings work for those looking to influence public naratives and future polls. We have very little actual evidence, so one result can move a team several spots. But that's also why who you played has to matter. Memorial deserves credit for beating Jasper 48-14. That's a legitimate opening-night result. Heritage Hills did exactly what it should have done against South Spencer, winning 49-13. Gibson Southern lost 31-24. If we're just sorting teams by 1-0 and 0-1, that's easy. But I don't think that's how we should evaluate good football teams. GS opened against a ranked Class 5A Floyd Central team. And despite losing, Gibson Southern outgained Floyd 507-365, had 29 first downs to 17, rushed for 261 yards, threw for 254 and led 24-17 entering the fourth quarter. Caden Rochleau ran for 200 yards and threw for 254. What killed GS? Three turnovers and a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Floyd Central has now moved up to No. 6 in Class 5A. That's considerably different context than simply saying "Gibson Southern is 0-1." And before we're too quick to rearrange the Southwestern Indiana pecking order after one Friday in August, there's a pretty substantial body of evidence from the Nick Hart era. Hart and Todd Wilkerson both became head coaches in 2012. Hart's Gibson Southern teams own the winning head-to-head record against Heritage Hills during that era. GS also owns a winning record against Evansville Memorial in its meetings since Hart took over. And most importantly, we don't have to go back very far at all: Gibson Southern beat both Heritage Hills and Memorial last season. Heritage Hills entered that sectional meeting ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, and GS beat them anyway. Then came the win over Memorial, 28-21, then a win over Mater Dei, a regional championship and a trip to the south semi-state. So Memorial deserves its flowers. Heritage Hills deserves some dandelions. They're outstanding programs. But I'm not ready to decide Gibson Southern suddenly belongs behind everybody because GS chose to open its season against a ranked 5A opponent and lost by seven. Especially when you look at what comes next. Saturday Gibson Southern doesn't get an easy rebound game. They get St. Pius X from Missouri, the defending Class 2 state runner-up. And this isn't a state-finalist roster that graduated everybody. St. Pius returns its starting quarterback, school-record-setting running back, most of its offensive line and five All-State players. The Lancers believe they're capable of going right back to the Show-Me Bowl. So Gibson Southern's first two games are Week 1 against ranked Class 5A Floyd Central, and Week 2 against defending Missouri Class 2 state runner-up St. Pius X. That's intentional scheduling. If we're going to encourage programs to challenge themselves outside conference play, strength of schedule has to mean something when we evaluate them. Those who have the balls shoudl be rewarded in my view. If Gibson Southern gets completely handled Saturday, then we'll have some new information and can adjust accordingly. But if GS beats St. Pius, or we get another high-level, competitive game against an excellent opponent, I'm not sure an 0-1 or even potentially 0-2 record tells us nearly as much as who they played and how they played them. It's August. Let's collect some evidence before we rewrite the hierarchy and a over a decade of current coaching history.

2026 Indiana Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll 6A 1 Brownsburg (10) 1-0 100 2 Carmel 1-0 88 3 Westfield 1-0 79 4 Warren Central 1-0 60 5 Carroll (Allen) 1-0 50 6 Center Grove 0-1 40 7 Lawrence North 0-1 37 8 Crown Point 1-0 30 9 Penn 1-0 20 10 Avon 1-0 16 Others receiving votes: Ben Davis 1-0 (15), Columbus North 1-0 (5), Fishers 0-1 (4), Franklin Central 1-0 (3), Elkhart 1-0 (2), Merillville 1-0 (1) 5A 1 New Palestine (10) 1-0 100 2 Ind. Cathedral 0-1 78 3 Bloomington South 1-0 77 4 Castle 1-0 54 5 Warsaw 1-0 51 6 Floyd Central 1-0 45 7 Lafayette Jeff 0-1 39 8 Concord. 0-1 36 9 Snider 0-1 32 10 Plainfield 0-1 15 Others receiving votes: Pendleton Heights 1-0 (14), Greenfield Central 1-0 (4), Huntington North 1-0 (2), Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 1-0 (2), Evan. North 0-1 (1) 4A 1 East Central (6). 1-0 94 2 FW Dwenger (3) 1-0 91 3 Ind. Chatard (1) 1-0 82 4 East Noble 1-0 64 5 Ind. Roncalli 0-1 63 6 Mishawaka 1-0 44 7 Yorktown 1-0 36 8 Hobart 1-0 29 9 SB St. Joseph 0-0 16 10 Columbia City 1-0 11 Others receiving votes: Heritage Hills 1-0 (10), Leo 1-0 (5), FW Luers 0-1 (2), Northview 1-0 (2), Evan. Reitz 1-0 (1) 2026 Indiana Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll (Pre-season) 3A 1 Evan. Memorial (8) 1-0 97 2 Andrean 0-1 78 3 Adams Central (2) 1-0 77 4 Lawrenceburg. 1-0 58 5 Gibson Southern 0-1 53 6 Evan. Mater Dei 1-0 49 7 Tr-West Hendricks 1-0 41 8 Indian Creek 1-0 30 9 Twin Lakes 1-0 23 10 Maconaquah 1-0 15 Others receiving votes: Bluffton 1-0 (12), Griffith 1-0 (8), John Glenn 1-0 (4), Mississenewa 0-1 (2), Angola 1-0 (1), Sullivan 1-0 (1), Tippecanoe Valley 1-0 (1) 2A 1 Brownstown Central (5) 1-0 86 2 Cascade (2) 1-0 84 3 Lapel (1) 1-0 75 South Putnam (2) 1-0 75 5 Ind. Lutheran 1-0 74 6 Eastern (Greentown) 1-0 35 7 Rensselaer Central 1-0 26 8 Eastside 1-0 21 9 Rochester 1-0 15 10 North Posey 1-0 14 Others receiving votes: Eastern Hancock 1-0 (9), Linton Stockton 0-1 (9), Southmont 1-0 (7), Knox 0-1 (6), Providence 0-1 (4), Triton Central 0-1 (4), Breman 1-0 (3), Oak Hill 0-1 (2), Tipton 1-0 (1) 1A 1 Riverton Parke (6) 1-0 95 2 Pioneer (4) 1-0 93 3 Milan 0-0 76 North Judson 1-0 76 5 South Adams 0-1 44 6 Laf. Central Catholic 1-0 40 7 North Decatur 1-0 39 8 Carroll (Flora) 1-0 32 9 North Daviess 1-0 17 10 Sheridan 0-1 15 Others receiving votes: Springs Valley 0-1 (12), West Washington 1-0 (4), Tri 1-0 (3), Clinton Prairie 1-0 (2), Madison-Grant 1-0 (1), Tecumseh 1-0 (1)

Football is kind of like the stock market....it's silly to talk about past success. You should know that in your position. I can tell you who is probably over rated.

I try not to let my dashing good looks be a factor.

Gibson Southern (0-1) vs. St. Pius X (MO) (0-0) Saturday, August 29 | 6:00 PM CT Jack Jewell Stadium – Fort Branch The United Fidelity Bowl Think Gibson Southern is looking for an easy way to bounce back from a Week 1 loss? Think again. After opening the season against Class 5A Floyd Central, Gibson Southern's non-conference schedule gets no easier Saturday night when the Titans welcome 2025 Missouri Class 2 state runner-up St. Pius X to Fort Branch. And this isn't a state finalist that graduated everyone responsible for getting them there. The Lancers are loaded. St. Pius returns its starting quarterback, its school-record-setting running back, most of its offensive line and five players who earned Class 2 All-State recognition last season. Junior QB Evan Eckrich threw for more than 2,000 yards as a sophomore. Senior RB Cody Shaver broke the school's rushing record despite playing much of the season with a broken thumb. Fellow senior Brody Ervin averaged roughly 10 yards per carry over the second half of last season. Then there's 6-foot-2½ junior WR/CB Harrison Ray, who caught 10 TD passes while averaging 26 yards per reception — and intercepted six passes on defense. St. Pius also returns two All-State linemen and enough experience that head coach Frank Ray says the expectation is another trip to Missouri's Show-Me Bowl. So what does Gibson Southern do after a heartbreaking loss in its season opener? Schedule these guys. That's becoming part of the identity of the Gibson Southern program. Rather than use the non-conference portion of the schedule to collect wins, the Titans continue to seek out opponents capable of exposing weaknesses and preparing them for championship football later in the season. And Gibson Southern showed plenty in its 31-24 loss to Floyd Central. The Titans piled up 507 yards of offense, including 261 rushing and 254 passing, and produced 29 first downs despite the seven-point loss. QB Caden Rochleau was spectacular on the ground, rushing for 200 yards on 20 carries, while also throwing for 254 yards. Peyton Johnson caught seven passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. The difference? Gibson Southern turned it over three times, surrendered a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and couldn't protect a 24-17 fourth-quarter lead. Despite the pedigree St. Pius brings to Indiana, the computer models still like Gibson Southern — by a lot. Massey Ratings: Gibson Southern 38, St. Pius X 20 — 78% GS win probability CalPreps: Gibson Southern 35, St. Pius X 14 — 90% GS win probability Consider what that says about this matchup. A returning Missouri state finalist with five All-State players, a record-setting running back, a 2,000-yard quarterback and most of its offensive line coming back — and Gibson Southern is still projected as an 18-to-21-point favorite. If you're looking for an area program willing to test itself before conference play, it's difficult to find a tougher opening two-game non-conference stretch: Class 5A Floyd Central, and Missouri Class 2 state runner-up St. Pius X. No cupcakes. No easy wins. Just two weeks of finding out exactly what needs work. Gibson Southern vs. St. Pius X. Saturday night in Fort Branch. Audacity is great...I'm just old and dumb and slow.

I don't think that speeds me up much in finding where to place adds etc.

If AI will edit my audio via audacity....point me in the right direction. I am lost on the Reitz thing....I have no clue what you are talking about at this point.

You know how long it takes me to edit that audio?

General PAC discussion here....weekly predicions in the weekly threads. Or at least that is how it's been done for the last 10 years or so.

Yeah....was cringy seeing folks post that play on twitter....I had to look away.

Need a new thread every week....appears as if we have more content LOL

Not on ours. Although Memorial's roster has a distinct Bosse flair in the TD column this week. Not the mention the southern accent in Northern Spencer county.

Massey: Boonville 31 Mt. Vermon 14 81% Forest park 36 Perry Central 14 89% Heritage Hills 42 Owensboro Appolo 34 64% Pike Central 20 Princeton 40 81% South Spencer 27 Eminence KY 28 50% Techumseh 14 North Posey 36 88% Washington 14 Southridge 38 87% West Washington 20 Tell City 34 73% St. Pius (Mo) 20 Gibson Southern 38 78%

Friday, Aug. 28 Boonville at Mount Vernon ©, 7 pm Forest Park at Perry Central, 6:30 pm Heritage Hills at Owensboro Apollo (Ky.), 7 pm Pike Central at Princeton, 6:30 pm South Spencer at Eminence (Ky.), 7 pm Tecumseh at North Posey ©, 7 pm Washington at Southridge ©, 6 pm West Washington at Tell City, 6:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 29 St. Pius (Mo.) at Gibson Southern, 6 pm

I am hearing HH wouldn't have beaten Reitz in the scrimmage...anyone else get that kind of input? Better team won last season....we beat teams with "recruits" every year. I know from experience how much sagairn likes when you hang a zero on bad teams....also too bad it doesn't look at out of state games. Some of us work hard to find competition.

If you factored in last years success....GS was the #1 team in the area last year right? I can't believe I'm being rage bated by your simple tactics. LOL