Just a dad

That’s kind of how it works. North vs South. Not sure Roncalli is going to make it but I hope they do. Unfortunately 4A plays on Saturday this year and 3A plays on Friday. Looks like we are going to miss each other. I’ll promise to be sad when I look aroud and can’t find you.

Congratulations “bro”. At least you got to see some good football.

Oh, you must be in the wrong thread.. Byt to answer your question, yes, Heritage Hills and Gibson Southern both nearly lost. Unfortunately only one of them could get the upset and ruin the others season. Thanks for stopping by.

There is already a lot of excitement with regard to the freshman RB. Some are saying he could be playing on Friday nights. Chalk one up for the highly paid recruiting department (joking!!). There are also 47 other freshman on the team (they started with 52) that the coaches are talking about. Apparently they have 21 different starters. That is a deep squad.

Well it turned out to be a very close game.Chatard won in OT 13-7. BCHS lost their QB on the first drive and played a sophomore for the rest of the game. There were 2 apparent TD passes thrown to Colin Guy (recall that name from last years State Championship game and this years win over Cathedral) that were called incomplete. On at least one it looked like he had a foot in bounds and possession of the ball. They also missed a short FG, fumbled a 4th down snap inside the 5 and had a FG blocked with about 2 minutes to play. Guerin scored after a tipped pass was intercepted and returned to the Chatard 15. They also fumbled a 4th down snap at the 1 in OT (I guess that’s why you don’t put your QB under center for the first time in the entire game in that situation). Not sure what the pre game injury report looked like for Guerin but Chatard was missing their top DL who also starts at guard and their starting RB (who ran for 325 against Brebeuf). Guerin’s kids battled hard. That is life in HS football, though. Good luck to both teams goinng forward and hope everyone’s kids stayed healthy.

@DumfriesYMCA Not sure if BCHS is a “special” team this year. The defense is much better since 7 of this year’s starters return from last years defense where they also started. So senior defense but the skill positions are not as deep or talented on offense. They graduated their QB, top 2 WRs and top 2 TEs. The O line is bigger which should help them control the ball. Against Brebeuf, the BJHS coach essentially said his team wasn’t prepared and got tired. Roncalli was a close game and (as with the last two years) could have gone either way. In the Cathedral game the coaches figured out how to make O’Neil uncomfortable by disguising coverages and putting pressure in his face. They were losing that game 21-0 until the defense got it’s feet under it. They could just as easily be 1-2 in conference. That being said, they have a tremendous amount of fight in them and won’t be intimidated by anyone. They are beatable but a team will have to win in the trenches and be able to throw effectively if they get behind. From what I am seeing, there are some talented teams in 3A. As always, though, BCHS will be battle tested going into the playoffs while some teams play a much weaker schedule. A quick check of Calpreps trends says that Lincoln looks like the team that will face the toughest competition the rest of the way. Going into the playoffs after playing a bunch of teams with negative ratings is no way to prepare kids for the grind. It does make the fans of those teams feel good, though. Until they face unfamiliar pressure and typically that is when the cracks show.

Went to the GC/Roncalli game last week. If not for the occasional big passing play from GC this game could have ended 35-7. That being said, GC also had a WR drop a wide open TD pass which would have tied the game at 21 and possibly swung the momentum to GC. If BCHS can force them to drive the ball on every possession then I don’t see GC having nearly enough offense to do it consistently for a full game. As for GC’s defense, #53 is their best player. Neutralize him and they can’t stop the run. Roncalli can’t really pass so, even with a loaded box, Roncalli ran for 300+ yards. 94 is likely right in his prediction.

Referring to any kid as “dead weight” is sort of a sad thing for an adult to do. 1. Thank you for agreeing that those factors aren’t unique to private schools but they are unique to winning programs. 2. Successful programs have community sweat equity and not just individual sweat equity. Again, look inward. 3. The Al Bundy quip was clearly a shot at everyone (including me) who participates in this tired conversation annually (lighten up, Francis!) 4. Either accept it or don’t but the constant complaining about “the Catholics” is also a bigoted take (refer back to “dead weight” for other examples). It shows that your issue isn’t really with “Private” schools, just “Private” schools attached to a religion or people who don’t meet your cultured standard of being important. Feel free to agree with me or not, I really don’t care.

After reading this entire thread, and may others like it in other places, and listening to the discussion in various areas, the one thing I never see or hear is a kid complaining about the “fairness” of the system. In this thread there isn’t one and there is only one actual coach who contributed (I’d tend to apply a multiplier of 1000x to an actual coaches input). This annual argument seems to be pushed mostly by 50+ year old men with dreams of being Al Bundy (respect to Polk High). It’s actually humorous to see them reach into their bags of “butwhatabout” to justify their argument of the day. The coach in this thread was right. Size of staff, years of experience in that staff, and consistency of the staff have more to do with a programs success than anything other than the number of kids in the program. I have watched my son (in another state) play in a youth program since he was 7 years old. Those youth programs dominated the other youth programs annually due to all of the items I mentioned above. In middle school, though, those numbers started to fall off. It was so bad that as a 6A (largest class) school, they could only get 40-45 kids to come out for football. There were just as many kids in the student section on Friday nights that could have helped that team. There are 4 kids from his age group who will play D1 football and only 1 of them played more than 2 years at that high school. The coaching staff had a severe “daddy ball” tilt and the school administration didn’t care enough to fire a consistently underperforming head coach. The factors that matter: 1. Do the school Admin and community support the program. 2. Are there sufficient and qualified coaches with multiple years of tenure at that school 3. Is there a strong youth program 4. Do the kids in the school (not just the players) take pride in the product their school puts on the field weekly. (Oddly, all 4 of those have one thing in common: putting the kid first) If you don’t have those things then kids who have dreams of being more than Al Bundy will leave and seek those opportunities elsewhere. Kids who don’t care will hang out in the stands. The rich will get richer (competitively speaking) and other teams will slide into obscurity. For everyone who complains about how unfair the system is I simply ask this: What are you doing, other than complaining on a message board, to change the situation at your favorite HS? If the answer is nothing then congrats, you are earning your results. Maybe pick up the phone, call the HS or youth program, volunteer some time, rally your buddies (if you have any) and go be part of the solution. Culture is contagious. Tradition doesn’t graduate. Have a great day!

It was beneficial to one team

Shellshocked by this result. I know “”little brother” Chatard always shows up and fights with every ounce they have but that Cathedral team is massive in comparison. I guess the saying is true, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight it’s the size of fight in the dog. You could tell last night that it was getting a little mouthy between the Chatard LBs and the Cathedral lineman. Lot’s of blitzing up the middle and some grabbing to stop it but when Sam Feeney destroyed their KR and caused the fumble it seemed like the fight went out of Cathedral. As soon as they realized they weren’t going to be the bully it changed the tide. I’d love to know how many times they hit O’Neil.

Maybe Cathedral would be able to install wifi or build their own stadium if they weren’t paying all of that money to drive 15 busses all over Indiana to pick up “student athletes” every day. (I’m kidding. It’s only 8 buses). I’m just playing around here. We all know it is because of the NIL money they are paying. (Again, kidding)

WCgrad92 My point exactly. This kid playing isn’t going to make a bit of difference

The only facts that really matter are 1. that an adult was inappropriately texting an underage person in a sexually suggestive way. 2. The school fired this person (thus admitting to the situation). 3. The school administration said “hold my beer” and doubled down on the emotional abuse toward the family by denying the transfer. There is no explanation for them not doing the decent thing and allowing the kid to go. Do they fear this kid in a Greenwood uniform? Will it cause irreparable harm to the IC season by not having this kid on the team? FFS, be a decent human being and let the family make a clean break.

Can Chatard score? Can they keep it within 30? Does it even matter for either team’s season? The reality is that it probably will end up like last year’s score

Both schools will need full team efforts to win each week. Neither of them has a stud on offense that can carry the team through rough spots. That being said, tonight was another 1 score game which seems to e the norm for these two teams lately. Good luck to Roncalli for the rest of the year and go Trojans.

The story all year for Chatard will be their defense. I can’t see them giving up sustained drives. If they can minimize the big play then it will be very difficult to get 7s vs 3s against them.

Brebeuff just looked like they didn’t want to be there after the second quarter. Not sure if it was the heat or the beat. Their QB has a nice, strong arm (not a lot of touch) and they have some decent skill guys (13, 17 and 25) but not much else. Giving up 600 yards I think is more about the trenches. BCs OL is just large this year. They might run for 300 every week.

With Brebeuff and Roncalli being in 4A someone better open another 3A Catholic school quick.

I watched BCHS scrimmage HSE on Friday. I certainly hope the HSE was sitting some of their offensive and defensive players because their first team O didn’t score against the Trojan First D and their D gave up 3 scores to the Trojans first O. If HSE played their full squad then it says a whole lot about one of these two teams. Either BCHS is going to be trouble or HSE is in trouble.

Dudik (WR) and Van Vleet (QB) from Chatard and Hansen (RB) from Roncalli have committed to Dayton

@Titan32 I can agree that all schools do not put the same weight on athletics in general or specific sports. I also agree that kids don’t equally weigh their sports of choice. Maybe the answer is to let school systems decide if they want to be placed into a Competitive Division or a Participatory Division per sport. Let each have their own championships, playoffs and awards. This might limit the number of teams in the Competitive Division and will then reduce the number of Classes and consolidate the power. For example allow for 128 (or 256 I don’t really care) schools to choose Competitive. Divide them into 4 classes based on enrollment initially. Divide each class into a North/South/East/West division. Give -2 points for wins against lower classified teams and +3 for wins agains higher classified teams. Hold an “All in” playoff each year and seed the teams based on rotating division pairings (One year East plays South in the first round. The next year East plays West). Division winners (based on earned competitive points) earn a first round bye and home field advantage. Utilize relegation (or SF) in conjunction with these annual “Dynasty” points to move teams up and down every 2-4 years. Let teams opt in or out every decade as long as the brackets work out.

Catholics have more “athletes per capita” due to all of the calisthenics they do in mass. Stand, sit, kneel, sit, stand, walk to the alter, genuflect, walk back, turn and shake hands, sit, stand…Did I miss any? Now we know the real secret to their success.

@BTF I agree. One of the things that people miss in this entire discussion is that there is a difference between public school education in the city vs rural public schools. There are a lot of parents within the city that choose private school, and make the financial sacrifices, because they want to be free of the agendas of the public school system school boards and also give their kids the best education. If the experience was similar between public vs private in the city I know I would have chosen to send my kid to public school. Unfortunately, given the level of academic performance of most of the local public schools, sending a kid with college aspirations there would be akin to child neglect. I attended a rural public school and my wife attended an urban public school (Both 40 years ago). Our choice, all things being equal, would have been to send our kids to public school. The education, though, has no comparison. With education being the primary driver of parental decision, extracurricular activities become a bonus. If parents are already choosing to put their kids into a new school should they be faulted for choosing the one that will also give their kid the best athletic experience as well? i would propose that private schools don’t recruit but they do benefit greatly from such a poor private school experience that drives some parents/kids to the private system. Maybe, if public schools should be bumped up a classification, city schools should be bumped down one. After all, they are losing the talent so maybe it would allow them to also be competitive. Maybe there should be a component that also takes into consideration kids that transfer into or out of a school district. A big problem with this issue, and one that limits creative solutions is that private school parents are made out to be championship trophy chasers. Acknowledging that both sides have valid issues would go a long way toward resolving this issue. That being said, the whole system stinks. There is no good solution. Someone will always be unhappy. Competitive balance will never exist. My opinion is worthless. I hope this whole issue is a minor one in everyone’s life and that the kids all grow up to be happy, healthy adults who get to make these choices and participate in these discussions for their own children. Until then lets revisit it every year. We can make it a holiday tradition. After all, tradition never graduates.

Since all of the good players are recruited to Private schools does that mean that the All-State teams are full of Private School kids? Should there be a Mr. Private Football and a Mr. Public Football?