Azi

Cathedral 7 yd TD pass on quick slant. 7-7, 3:24 to go in Q1. 

6 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Tanona is a beast!

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. 

14 minutes ago, dazed and confused said:

Hopefully Zville will keep me awake tonight !

I’m counting on it! 👏 

3 minutes ago, Bobref said:

So, I’m sitting here watching the teams warm up. I saw Zionsville in person last week and was tremendously impressed. They are really skilled. The teams took the field and my very first thought was, “My God, Cathedral looks big!”

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. 

1 minute ago, TigerFan20 said:

Over 540 combined total offensive yards this game

In a half. Lol that’s crazy. 

Sheesh. What a game! 😮 

10 minutes ago, 1911Warfare said:

So who won the game? final score?

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

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

23 hours ago, PHJIrish said:

Honestly, it's flattering that a lot of threads turn into Cathedral bashing.  It's strange that the same wasn't true when Sheridan was stringing those state banners back in the day.  I do realize that there wasn't as much internet access in those days, but not much outrage when they were not "moving up."

Good luck to all who make it up or down to LOS this weekend.  It will be good to get back to normal, and to be able to watch other games during the day.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day.  We do have a lot to be thankful for.

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." 🤦‍♂️)

On 11/20/2021 at 6:48 AM, Dave007 said:

While  Zionsville offense is better than last year, it is a proven fact (look at stats this year) Cathedrals defense is ridiculously better than last year.  We just are not giving up many points with the exception  when the second and third units are on the field in the second half (most notable in playoffs thus far).  

Irish 24

Zionsville 10

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. 😮😱)

3 minutes ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Friendly reminders for those that have not yet - you can still donate to the GID this year! Even though we hit the goal of $3,300 - every dollar counts! It is a constant, revolving cost year in and year out. A surplus is ALWAYS good.

To make things interesting, if anyone is willing to take me up on a friendly wager for a donation, I'll take the 6 North teams this weekend and you can take the 6 South teams this weekend. For each South team that wins, I'll donate $5. For every North team that wins, you donate $5. If the South or the North teams SWEEP, lets add another $5.

Any takers?

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?  🤝

35 minutes ago, IndianaWrestlingGuy said:

Will the IHSAA put the Irish in 6A? If so, that will change this convo. 

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.  🤷‍♂️

On 11/20/2021 at 8:20 AM, Bobref said:

I’d like to see him play against the Grant kid at Merrillville … who is going to Michigan. City didn’t have anyone who could challenge him.

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! 

On 11/20/2021 at 3:24 AM, FastpacedO said:

Just to clarify I don't say that in a negative light about Zionsville. They usually get overshadowed by Brownsburg, Avon (even though this was a down year for them), HSE, and Westfield (as of late). However the Eagles may come out of conference with a few losses, but they always tend to get better through the year and are always competitive with some fight.

I have much respect for the Eagles DC Larry McWhorter (former Z-ville HC and Convenant Christian HC). During my broadcast/webcast days. He was the only Head Coach I knew that preferred to be in the press box  during games. Honestly a gem at calling a defense and an even better person to talk to.

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.  👍

On 11/15/2021 at 8:37 AM, Irishman said:

I took some time to think about this one as it has been a couple years since these happened. The 1984 title games were the first ones to be held in the dome. We took a trip to the Colts temporary practice facility to practice on the turf that Tuesday. It was the Colts first season in Indianapolis, and they were still practicing when we were. It was REALLY cold that day and snowing. Hitting the turf REALLY hurt lol. Some of the Colts players came up to chat; most of them wanted to see Jeff George to help their alma maters do some "recruiting" 🙂 . Wednesday morning, we got to practice in the dome. Coaches told us all week to wear old tennis shoes, but even with them, guess who did the first face plant into the turf as we jogged out for warm ups? 😄 The problem was they rolled the turf up when it was not being used, and the adhesive from the bottom side would get on the surface of the turf. But the whole experience of playing there was really cool. The coolest thing from the week, next to winning was practicing Thanksgiving morning. It was a gorgeous day with frost on our practice field. 

During 2 a days as we brought the 5 man sled from storage, we were banging it into so many things. Our o line coach, Coach Lee Dilk, is yelling at us each time we hit something, and finally says ok, if you guys go undefeated, I will put this away by myself.............he lived up to his word. It took him a while 🙂

One of my best friends on the team, who left us WAY too early in 2000, would look for a 4 leaf clover on the practice field during warm ups, and was able to find one each week of our season....14 4 leaf clovers. 

As a coach, there have been a LOT of great memories. Being a part of a championship team as a coach was more rewarding than as a player IMO. I stood back to watch the kids celebrate, and it was cool to just take that in. 

Having a few teams win sectional titles was actually just as rewarding as the State title; especially when we beat teams that had been a thorn in our side for so many years. Beating Dwenger in 2016 stands out among those. Regardless of what kind of lead you build up, those teams were never out of a game. A pick in the end zone saved the game. 

As there are many great memories, a wise coaching friend once said, your greatest wins will never outweigh your toughest loss, and that has remained true throughout my time as a coach. 

 

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. 

On 11/13/2021 at 9:21 AM, FastpacedO said:

The Irish need to get better offensively. Won't effect this game in particular. They will likely win this game. They have to get better if they want to beat Michigan City or Zionsville come Thanksgiving weekend.  Defense looks good but offense needs to get better. Just an outside prospective

I think the Irish offense rebounded quite nicely this week lol. But that DEFENSE… 😮… 

Any updated thoughts now?

17 minutes ago, Staxawax said:

ooooooo k. 
 

You are ignoring how good Center Grove really is. And probably don’t understand that they are bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced than they were 12 months ago. Westfield is better than last year. And they were pretty dog gone  good in 2020. But you can play them tough for a half. Ben Davis could very well have led at halftime. But CG blew their doors off in the 2nd half. 
 

I’m thinking I’ll put up the 1st score prediction for next week.

Center Grove 27  Westfield 13.

I’ll be cheering for the Rocks. I hope it’s a great game.

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. 

On 11/17/2021 at 11:18 AM, FastpacedO said:

The Eagles don't get a lot of notice honestly. They have been steady and fly under the radar. I felt they gave Cathedral's defense quite a battle last year, just couldn't come up with stops defensively in the end. Won't be easy going up to Michigan City, I will take Zionsville by a FG because it is a road game and MC has some solid players offensively.

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.