Azi

Cathedral 7 yd TD pass on quick slant. 7-7, 3:24 to go in Q1. He needs to keep movin’ them feet downfield!

Zionsville up 7-0 on a 17 yd post to Firestone. Two 15-yd penalties on Cathedral d (PI & RTP) helped.

Zionsville gets opening kickoff, convert a 3rd & 10 on QB scramble, but failed on next 3rd attempt. Vinatieri booms a 50 yd punt. Irish go 3 & out first possession. I’m counting on it! 👏

Well good. A big team & an impressive team. Maybe the 5A contest won’t be a snooze-fest like those last two games. 😂

GS interception. 1:50 to go, B with 2 timeouts remaining, but that’s basically going to do it.

Brebeuf unsuccessful on 4th down, GS running to keep the clock going. GS with ball at B’s 24, 3:53 to go.

In a half. Lol that’s crazy.

Sheesh. What a game! 😮

Yeah that’s kinda mean, isn’t it lol? To be giving minute-by-minute updates & exciting plays… but then be all like “phew great game. Moving on.” 😂 Lutheran won 34-28. Deets here: https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/11/26/ihsaa-football-finals-live-updates-scores-highlights-schedule-2021-indiana-photos/8765693002/

Ok, so it's a little late to celebrate the best fan-made videos of the entire season, but can we take a look at the best for the 12 schools leading into this weekend's games?... and if they're really good from regular season or pre-Semis (but still fan-made; can we agree maxpreps "highlight" films need not apply lol?), feel free to share the fully-edited, fan-derived compilations here. To get us started: GS (tonight): https://fb.watch/9w4tCKGELD/ Lutheran: https://youtu.be/4sx_eJHoIDM Zionsville: https://fb.watch/9w7B0HmZww/ #2 bc elected get to support too and posted tonight: https://fb.watch/9w4x_9G3i1/ A few (desired) ground rules / acknowledgements: * none of the above reels are my own; the credits go to those cited in the videos shared to various public social media platforms; let's be sure we give the credits to those that deserve them, as best we can. Now is your chance to show your big-hitter or game-breaking play. * at the end of the day, each of us have cheered / continue cheering FOR (or AGAINST, because that's ok too) certain 15-18 yr old young men and the schools they rep; indeed, some might call them "boys", right? Meaning, who really knows What.Will.Happen after kickoff, so let's just keep it clean. The vitriol we felt when we were their age is best left out of this thread and the reason I mention this is because... * ...even if the video shared "clearly shows" the ref missed a holding penalty on the big play or whatever, I think it would still be neat to see what reels are being produced in support of the schools we cheer for and the players that suit up. * finally, yes... yes, yes, yes... we all know private schools recruit their players, but can we puhlease refrain from "school X clearly recruited their A/V department too" levels of comments on video takes lol? Bc I'm aware Cathedral won a newscast's recent "best student section" award, but a) I nearly can't be convinced WISH8 was recruited to gift them this award lol, so please knock that baloney off 🤦‍♂️ and 2) that award is more a testament FOR the school's achievement this season than anything against the rest of us lol. Thanks in advance for not going there. 😆

Not knowing this tradition you speak - sounds great, does it come in Eye of the Tiger fabric? 😎👍

Ooooohhh there was plenty of Blackhawk-bashing back in the day lol. We just didn't have the tech to be so loud about it. Heck, now that you point it out, I've got some catching up to get going on........ 😝 Nah, I won't do that*. I dunno how this will fly, but I'd kind of like to think of it as a badge of honor: I don't hear as much bashing about the Patriots these days as just 3 short years ago, nor the Bulls of the 90s, nor the Yankees of, well lots of times... and best I can tell is it's because what each team has in common now is they're not winning like they were during the more "bashful" days. So it seems to come with the turf when other teams' fans are looking up at a single school, year after year. A "they hate us cuz they ain't us" sort of thing, right? So far as I have been able to tell, at least most Irish faithful have some class to dealing with constantly carrying Target #1 on their heads; heavy weighs the crown... *(Not that I would, but I could... "What did you all think about how the Sheridan PA man called play-by-play when Blackhawks were on defense? Telling the home team what the opposing offense was doing in real time." 🤦‍♂️)

It’s obvious enough to call Cathedral by 2 or more scores and idk if it’ll be this close, but I’ve got it on good faith Z-ville linemen are working together this week. At this stage, it’s only a matter if they go quick to go along with the communication to pick up those fast movers on the other side. LBs with fast eyes & DBs with fast feet remain the continued focus for the next 96 hours. (Yup, we’re inside of that short duration to ‘keep it going’ to finish the thing. 😮😱)

I'll take you up on that. Not to bet, per se, but to chip into the forum, come what may. My only caveat: I'll take Zionsville in 5A. 😉 Plz lmk if we have an accord? 🤝

I don't know the precise IHSAA formulary, but given what has been shared publicly, I don't know how they couldn't (wouldn't?) send Cathedral up a class at the next (mathematical) roundtable. Regardless of fan interpretation (us), I don't think we would grow very old as to CG-Cathedral matchups... but if we did, it would only be a mere matter of time before the balance reset on its own.

I guess I could also take a shot at answering OP's question while I'm here: for me, it was Z-ville-Roncalli sectional champ 1993; wasn't cold, no major injuries kept any P1 players out, nothing like that. The Rebels came in dominating; something like 36-6 was their average margin, so they were doing it on both sides of the ball. Mike Bohn was the nation's leading rusher and he was only playing ~60-75% of most games. Things were so one-sided for that Roncalli team, they had never even been trailing in a game, routinely going up 21 points before the other team could muster a score. And, as noted, that frequently was the last score the Rebel opponent achieved. The Star was littered with comments like "Zionsville doesn't play our schedule" and "they're not used to 'inner-city speed'" (whatever that is), so another blowout was clearly in the making. Well, Zionsville scored first on the opening possession. Then Roncalli scored to tie it on their first chance with the ball. Then Zionsville scored again, going up 14-7. This was a little unusual, at least based on how Dave Calabro & Scott Soren (? - the one from ABC-6 affiliate) expected it to go. Unusual enough 13 flew the helicopter back to Zionsville to catch the end of the game, which turned out to be a clean, well-fought contest... that ended regulation tied at 21. (Whichever 13 producer green-lit sending the chopper back that night... good call. 👏) OT1 ended with both teams scoring, so OT2 started 28-28. The Eagles went first, were unsuccessful on 4th down (what's the point in kicking 3 against that line + that back?) and Roncalli pushed in one of their 12-man 28 sweeps (they only had 11 on the field; it just always seemed like they had a +1 on those power plays - ugh), winning 34-28 in a thrilling double OT. Roncalli proceeded to resume their season-long demonstration the following 2 weeks by blowouts and then tidied up business with a close game @ the Dome. (This last game is the only one I've found to watch & if memory serves, Roncalli were off their game somehow... I don't think the state opponent was any stronger than previous schools... rather, it was an issue of Roncalli getting in their own way vs. what had worked the previous 13 weeks; just my 2c & I haven't revisited that state game for several years, so I'm pleased for a correction if anyone feels I'm wrong). Notwithstanding the close final game, I always thought the 3A state championship game was played in Boone County that year. 🤷‍♂️

I rather think you're going to get to see him go up against some first-rate competition this week. I'd like to think the line is coming together with lots of chats about assignments & communication long before kickoff... because the speed & packages this week are going to be unlike most anything Z-ville has seen this year (and in any rate, haven't seen for many weeks). Back to the thread topic: was a hard-fought game and enjoyed seeing this stadium that sounds so great to catch a game. Congrats MC on a stellar season!

No worries & didn't feel any negativity... that's not what this thread is about, else I wouldn't bother posting in it lol. It is a little bit crazy to see such poor regular season records, only to then kick it into high gear for the playoffs. In my mind, I see Z-ville coaches doing the Jim Mora thing inside the locker room & away from cameras come, oh say, week 8 or 9 [[[every season]].] 😝 I was on the Z-ville team that Coach Mac went up into the booth. There's a few good stories (plus one "bet") related to starting that phenomenon lol. 🤐 One thing I won't be quiet about is his approachability + sound mind, to which you allude. 👍

I can't take the easy way out by clicking like... guess I'm too new & there's a cap on salutations?... so I will quote it instead to say there's a lot of good memories & solid karma rolled up in this kind of post. A lot that I am confident reverberates across each school & team over their many individual seasons of Indiana HS football. Well-said, @Irishman.

It’s worth noting how last year’s game went, but the teams were ready for each other. I just don’t know how they’ll respond this time. The Irish WRs aren’t going to miss catches like MC did. Indeed, I see MC’s big plays being rather routine for Cathedral. So while I still chalk this up to a battle of linemen, Cathedral’s hands are going to be stickier than Zville is used to defending.

Well there we have it at this early stage of the discourse: the north bracket doesn’t have the same level of competition as the south. I won’t disagree. Also, H2H matchups may illustrate a vast disparity between the teams. As for my own take, it remains to be seen how the lines play. Zville was all up in FWD’s backfield @ regionals… but had to fight to spend any time there this week. Fighting to the next level on line & being greedy to the ball on D is going to go a long way.

Watched several games tonight, but focused on the big schools to see if we’d be looking at 2020 rematches in 5 & 6A. Paused the NA-Cathedral game to bop around to Westfield-Merrillville & MC-Zionsville. Just now resuming the 5A South contest and wonder… is there any school not named CG that can compete with Cathedral this season? I don’t do scores & spreads (you all are better at that), but short of a major amount of all-team focus from Zionsville this week, I see Cathedral being a tough road to hoe.

I think the Irish offense rebounded quite nicely this week lol. But that DEFENSE… 😮… Any updated thoughts now?

Idk if it’ll be that close… would love to see Hauser go OFF again… but CG-W likely won’t be the biggest spread next week. Both teams earned the right to go compete for it next week, that’s for darn sure.

4-5 doesn’t earn much credit, you’re right there. Regardless of a tough conference, that’s fair enough. Tonight’s effort was a solid (def not a standout) game. Watching the NA-Cathedral game now… and unless Zionsville has a very focused week to get 75 individuals on the same page… oh the humanity.