First_Backer_Inside

This is why I'll forever have mad respect for Saquon Barkley. New he was an early Round 1 pick. Went out in a nonplayoff bowl game and balled out for his university one last time. I understand both decisions, play or don't play. A lot of respect for the guys that suit up one last time for the university they committed to.

Are the hot a$$ chicks with the big personalities in the ads coming back, if so I might end up regretting this? Thanks fellas for keeping this site goin!

As a coach, you never really know what you have until full pads are on, the coaches aren't in the huddles, you have to play a full 48 minute game, and the kids execute or don't execute the game plan put in place. It usually is week 3 or 4 when all the teams in the state are up to full speed with things. Nothing will drive a coordinator crazy like a 7 on 7 or an 11 on 11. No game plan, don't know what the team is going to lineup in and do. Really its just an opportunity for coaches to see who can play and who can't play at the varsity level in my opinion. "Iron sharpens Iron" The kid has two choices. You can complain about the situation you are in all year and waste your last year of playing football you might have, or you can go out and get better everyday competing for that spot to create competition and better play. Its not easy for a young man to keep a level head about and do no doubt. A few buddies of mine and myself were in a similar situation in college. We played at a college in Indy that was pretty good. We were on scout team for a lot of our career. We would get after it with our starting defense everyday trying to get noticed ourselves. The week after a game our defense would tell us we were better than the offense they just faced on Saturday. At the end of the first year, we had one guy transfer to another school. He had great stats for his position at a middle of the road D2 program that went .500 on the year every year he was there. The rest of us stayed and continued playing scout team for a team that won multiple conference championships and never was out of the top 15 in D2. It was hard to do as a college kid and I'm sure it is even harder for high school athletes to have that attitude. But to be apart of something great is worth it to me. Tough situation at Warren and lots of pressure, but pressure does produce diamonds. Maybe this will be the year for them.

Rochester scrimmaged Knox, John Glenn, and Bremen this summer in different 11 on 11's. All three teams are going to be very solid this year. Was very impressed with the improvement of Bremen from last year to this year. Obviously things can change good or bad with putting on the full pads and getting after it but keep an eye on the Bremen Lions. I think they will be more than competitive. John Glenn has some good size and speed on their team. The offense seemed to be running smoothly and effectively considering they just got a new coach not too long ago. And then Knox definitely has the best player in the conference if I had to guess in Mclaughlin. Might even have the second best player in the league in Conroy. They combined for 500 carries last year. A bigger and faster conference this year. Hopefully they can hold up the entire season with that many carries. Its too bad Knox and Valley couldn't have matched up last year would have been a heck of a game. I'm sure this years matchup will be a good one as well.

Those numbers are low at Rochester as well. Could be a contributing factor at other schools though. Haven't heard enough from other coaches to confirm that. Some smaller schools don't play soccer at their school, like Lewis Cass, and still don't have the numbers they used to have in past years.

From a coaches stand point, idk what it is about the sport, but in a lot of public schools right now it feels like fewer and fewer kids are coming out for football, regardless of the class or success. Rochester has been very successful the last couple of years, and yet coaches fight tooth and nail to get 35 kids through 4 classes to come out for the team. Gone are the days of a freshman team, JV team, and Varsity team for most public 3A teams and down, maybe even some 4A. I'd like to blame baseball for it, but I don't know enough about travel ball and haven't researched enough to really know for sure if that is the reason or not. It just feels like in our area we have a lot of kids playing baseball all year long. It is a headache though trying to get the numbers on a football team we would have seen 10-15 years ago.

I'd like to vote for the first four classes. This is awesome, thank for doing it.

LET'S GO MONROVIA BULLDOGS!!!

Rensselaer coming back down in 2A taking the place of Laville in that sectional will keep it more competitive. The Bombers have always been very competitive in 2A, are well coached, and I expect they will be again this year being back down. We always scrimmage them at Manchester camp and are always impressed with a lot of their guys.

Never know what you can put together with 4 different classes of kids. Some groups can fill the holes others lack to turn out very good teams. I have no doubt Adams Central will be a threat in 2A no matter who they put on the field. Hopefully 2A can provide better competition and closer games than a lot of the ones AC played the last couple of years in 1A. Not a knock on 1A North either. Some great teams, the last couple of AC teams have just been special. Which makes those Lutheran teams even more special. Anyone got any predictions on the South or what some teams bring pack. Did North Posey graduate a lot? Stockton, Triton Central, and Brownstown Central had some good teams last year. Returning any talent from those teams?

One heck of a football player. Got to play with a few of his teammates at Uindy the year after they won the state championship with ease.

Who was the 2009 QB for West Lafayette? Won Mr. Indiana Football if I remember right. Just remember watching him on film the week before our high school played him with my dad when I was a bit younger and knowing we were in trouble.

According to maxpreps a lot of skilled guys coming back with some decent stats. Would need to see them have regular season success against a schedule that isn't anything to write home about. Not saying you don't have a point. Just hard to put a team that went 2-8 last year in the conversation with some of the others.

Could you give examples? Just as an outsider of their schedule it looks pretty beefy to me. I'm also not familiar with some of the teams they play on their schedule but a third of it is Bishop Chatard, Merrillville, and Valpo. All very top notch teams. Hanover Central seems to be a program on the rise and Lowell is always tough with good athletes from the games I've seen.

3 and a third yards a carry is our motto. If you can get that every play who needs a passing game! I hate when the true freshman is better than the guy you redshirted the year before, but you don't see too many redshirt freshman these days in high school football. (just yankin your chain, couldn't resist 😉 haha)

Saw someone wanted this topic, so here we go. Obviously some new faces coming up in Adams Central and Lutheran. Could make a very strong case for both being able to represent the North and South in 2A if they were there the last two years. Interesting to see how they fair this year. Plenty of representatives from both schools on here, so I'll let them talk about what they have returning. As far as the North goes, I like Bluffton, LCC, and you can't ever rule out Andrean for the North. Obviously not sure what Adams Central has, but they should be in that mix as well just because of what they have been able to accomplish the last two years. If I had to pick dark horses, I'd go with Eastside, Eastbrook, and Rochester in the North. All run offenses that seem to fair well no matter the conditions and always have solid defenses to go with it. Maybe someone can chime in on the South favorites or teams to watch. No Mater Dei in the South takes a huge contender out of the mix down there. What do y'all think?

Every public school in the state is in your corner. Go get'em!

That will be a sad day for you. In most apocalypse themed movies and books, all the grass is gone. Everything sports related will have to be done on one of @Muda69 most hated things on this Earth, dare I say it, ARTIFICIAL TURF!

Kokomo has multiple high schools(Kokomo, Western, Northwestern, Taylor), but yet there is just one with the name Kokomo. It is interesting how some have the city name and some do not.

Isn't their QB going to Iowa?

Give me Warsaw in the North. Don't know enough about the South. Warsaw plays the type of football Merrillville wants nothing to do with. I don't care how many future hall of famers they have, I'm taking Warsaw all day!

Probably shouldn't have even listed them in the first place. They weren't really on the level the other four schools were on.

First, I want to say I agree with you completely, seed them all. But we won't ever do that because if you seed them all you might as well just take that first week of the playoffs out. Just going to be a bunch of blowouts. Even the sectional of death this last year with Chatard, Guerin, Peru, Tippy, Mac would have only had one competitive game in it maybe. The rest still would have been blowouts. So if you have a bunch of blowouts no one will go to the game or say we just shouldn't have it. Which means less money the IHSAA makes, so I don't think we will ever see everyone seeded. I agree that we should, just probably won't ever get to see it happen unless we just end up having a qualifier.

Laptops* No one uses textbooks anymore And I'll side with you on how great playing on a nice natural field is in in August and September, and my buddies and I still talk about the fun games in the rain when the field was completely trashed, jerseys stained, and mud just about anywhere there's a crack. But... You gotta face the facts. A turf field is better for all athletics at a school. In the long run, you definitely cut down on a lot of expenses outside of the field, not just maintaining it. Turf doesn't stain jerseys as much if at all. Don't have to buy new jerseys as often. It also doesn't limit you. I know a lot of schools don't have white pants because you can't keep them completely stain free on a natural field. You can on a turf field a little better(not saying they will stay perfect). I hope one day Rochester can get added to this list.

This last years playoff committee begs to differ!