Bulldog15

HH wins. Strength of schedule.

I think Martinsville will walk the dog with BNL. Martinsville has been tested against some very strong teams.

The Kessinger's play. Vince Kessinger was a semi-state qualifier in wrestling last year. Not sure if he plays varsity or JV though. Little brother Tony is an 8th grader that plays football and wrestles. They are hard nosed kids. I've found that most football programs we have been to didn't like sharing football players with the wrestling team. That should change some at Columbus North as the new HC has a step-son that wrestles. My son went to Fargo (Freestyle Nationals) in July and they didn't give him any grief, which we really appreciated. I like seeing football and wrestling working together. The off-season can be challenging because they share, essentially, the same off-season.

Dusty works with my son. The Kiels are top notch. I haven't met Drew. 3 brothers who were all D1 QB's. That's really rare and impressive. A friend of mine that coaches at Floyd Central says that the Freshman team is really good. If the MS has some good kids, then Floyd could be a team to watch in a few years.

As a new person to Columbus, I too thought that the best move for East would have been to hire a prospective, younger coach to take the program to the next level. It's hard to fill the shoes of such an accomplished coach as Gaddis. Bringing a new coach into the program may have given hope for a rebuild? North has won the hearts and minds of young/talented players who have bought into a program on the rise, playing a tough schedule in the biggest class of Indiana football. Logan Haston has brought some energy and renewed vision to the program at North as well. This being on a firm foundation built by Tim Bless.

North has had 20+ football players in the past 3 years go on to play college football from NAIA to D1. I am sure that has had something to do with it. Plus the last 6 of 7 games in the rivalry series have been won by North. I would rather win a state championship but it puts in perspective how big that game is to those in the town. In the past North's academics were definitely better than East's. Now there isn't much difference as far as a whole. North's advanced education opportunities are probably what set's the schools apart.