Tippy

When the cluster system went in effect in 1983, the state's 319 football teams were divided by enrollment into 4 classes.  The 4 classes were based on male enrollment in grades 10-12.  The 80 largest schools, all of which were Class AAA in 1982 were now AAAA.  The next 79, more than 50 of which were Class AA in 1982 were now AAA.  The next 80 schools, consisting mainly of former Class A and AA teams but also with a number of parochial schools that were AAA, were in the new Class AA.  The 80 with the smallest enrollment-including one former AAA team, Mishawaka Marian, and one AA team, Lafayette Central Catholic- were in the new Class A.  It looks like LCC was in Class 2A in 1981 and 1982. LCC didn't make the playoffs during those years, so it didn't make that much difference.  

1 hour ago, foxbat said:

Interesting.  Is that part of the old cluster system ... the points per class?

The biggest inequity before 1983 was that an unbeaten team could miss the playoffs because of the format for selecting district champions.  It was based on a point system with more points awarded for beating schools in higher enrollment classes.

Under the Cluster System, each school was required to play every school in its cluster- and only those games would count toward qualifying for the playoffs.  Thus if a team beat every opponent in its cluster, it automatically got into the playoffs.  You could go 4-6 and still get in the playoffs.  LCC didn't have to worry about the Cluster System because they didn't beat anybody in 1983 and 1984.

50 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Interesting.  Is that part of the old cluster system ... the points per class?

No, they only used the cluster system in 1983 and 1984.  Most people didn't know that LCC was very close to being moved up a class in 1980.

LCC was readmitted to the Hoosier conference in 1980 after a 4-year stint as an independent.  One of the criteria the conference set for LCC being readmitted to the conference was that it change its football status from Class A to Class AA.  LCC applied to the IHSAA for the change in status, but it was learned early in October 1980 that LCC was still on record as being a Class A School.  The IHSAA allowed a status change only in odd-numbered years, thus LCC's opponents in 1980 received 1 playoff point for a victory over the Knights instead of 2 had the Knights been a Class AA school.  It was the Conference's opinion that LCC made a legitimate mistake, and they understood.

The Sectional Championship game of November 5, 1993 at LCC.

The Knights are playing North Miami.  LCC it up 20-0 at the half and everything looks good.  North Miami returned an LCC fumble 45 yards for a td in the 3rd to make the score 20-14.  LCC had the ball at the NM 16 yard line with 2:59 left, but did not score. North Miami won the game 22-20, and went on to win the 1A State Championship 37-16 over West Washington.  LCC was left thinking about what might have been.

LCC  0-20-0-0

NM  0-0-14-8

Central Catholic Broke the Law on Friday November 3, 1989.  The Knights shutdown Brett Law (Indiana's leading rusher) and beat Sheridan for the Sectional Championship 17-7.  LCC's first sectional Championship since 1976.  Sheridan was ranked #1 in Class A at the time.  LCC went 4-4 during the regular season.

LCC  0-10-7-0

Sheridan  7-0-0-0

Sheridan scored on their first possession of the game.  LCC blocked a punt with 4:39 left in the first half and Scott Ebershoff picked the ball up and scored to tie the game at 7.  Knights QB Craig Ebershoff was taken to the hospital with a shoulder injury in the 3rd Q and Ed Bogan took over for the rest of the game.

LCC Football Captains for the 1971 Football Season!

Rob Reuzenaar

Mark Stodgell

Chico Hatke

Mitch Clayton rushed for 2473 yards and scored 49 td's to help LCC win state in 1999.  Eric Anthrop was the QB on that 1999 team.

Central Catholic dropped out of the Hoosier Conference after the 1975 season, and rejoined the Hoosier in 1980.  The Knights severed ties with the conference due to the fact the other schools were all Class AA in football and wanted the Knights to declare as Class AA

24 minutes ago, PDB26 said:

Unless the determinative characteristic is Catholic faith, the ridiculously homogenous standard probably applies to most school districts, don't you think?

I know one public school that has a homogenous student population

1 hour ago, foxbat said:

How about FW Blackhawk?  They've been good in baseball historically, but after their first season in football have discovered that p/p success in one sport may not be nearly as transferable to other p/p sports.

They might win 5 years from now, so to be on the safe side, they will have to move up.  🙂

42 minutes ago, Titan32 said:

Georgia uses “school zones” with a per student multiplier for students who come in from outside the zone.  P/Ps also have to establish reasonable zones around their feeders.

https://outsidethehuddle.net/2023/11/27/blitz-the-eternal-public-vs-private-debate-and-what-should-change-if-anything/?fbclid=IwAR0Q78ZTExHYdHUjv1C85DBaPfyIFddb_3EqshR-GiVDlvZGXLaMEzCGhdU

 

Should South Bend St. Joseph's, Mishawaka Marian, Hammond Bishop Noll, and Indy Ritter have to do that?  Those teams were good at one time, but they don't win many football games anymore.

Central Catholic football talk in September 1989!

Rick George became the head Coach at LCC in 1989.  LaRocca retired after the 1976 season, and 6 men have coached the Knights since.  LCC's varsity football record from 1980 through 1988 was 32-60.  The talk included questions like, Yes, LCC is good this year, but will they have enough numbers to field a team in 1990?  The 1989 roster had 28 players of which 10 were Seniors.  There were 4 juniors, 6 sophomores  and 8 freshmen on the 89 team.  One of the freshmen was 5 foot 4 and 140 pounds.  There were six 8th graders playing junior high football in 1989, there was no freshman team at LCC, and the JV had a 5 game schedule.  The 7th and 8th graders combined on one team.  Athletic director Dave Worland said LCC had 19 7th graders playing football and that its Little Gridiron program for 5th and 6th graders soon would make it possible for the Knights to field a 7th grade team, an 8th grade team, a freshman team and a JV team.

Tim Brewster was Head Coach at LCC for the 1987 and 1988 football seasons.  I thought he did a good job of getting the LCC football program back on the right track.  6 of those 11 losses were to West Lafayette, McCutcheon and Harrison.  I wonder if what happened at Seeger in 1988 was one of the reasons he left LCC?

LCC 1987 Football Season

Friday Aug. 28, at LCC

LCC  33    0-13-7-13

Benton Central  7    0-7-0-0

Friday September 4, at West Lafayette

West Lafayette  31    13-0-15-3

LCC 13    0-0-13-0

Friday September 11, at LCC

McCutcheon  20    7-0-6-7

LCC  19    7-12-0-0

Friday September 18, at Twin Lakes

LCC  28    8-8-0-12

Twin Lakes  27    7-8-6-6

Friday September 25, at LCC

LCC  50    14-20 -8-8

Seeger  26    8-0-12-6

Friday October 2, at Delphi

LCC  18    0-12-6-0

Delphi  14    0-14-0-0

Friday October 9, at Riverton Parke

LCC  58    12-30-16-0

Riverton Parke  0    0-0-0-0

Friday October 16, at LCC

LCC  8    8-0-0-0

Harrison (wL)  34    0-14-13-7

Friday October 23, at Caston (Sectional)

LCC  44    14-18-0-12

Caston  14    0-0-7-7

Friday October 30, at LCC (Sectional)

LCC  44    16-14-0-14

Tri-County  22    0-8-8-6

Friday November 6, at LCC (Sectional Final)

LCC  0    0-0-0-0

Frontier  42    7-13-15-7  (Frontier was 10-0 when they played LCC)

Central Catholic in 1983!

Some members of the 83 team

Steve Hannon QB 

Tige Smith

Mike Dimmitt

Jeff Garrity

Doug Elming

Jeff Brose

Paul Hunckler

Andy Dudzinski (now Fr. Dudzinski-Pastor at St. Lawrence Church)

Jim Riehle

Lee Bruce

Sean Reidy

Paul Sullivan

Jeff Fassnacht

Tony Pounds

Darren Hicks

Head Coach -Dennis Metzger (Had never been a head high school football coach before)

Assistant Coaches - Jim Croussore, Pete Weiand

In 1983 LCC had 290 students at the school.  In 1982 LCC was the 9th smallest football-playing high school in Indiana.

They were using the Cluster System in 1983.  LCC was in Cluster 56 with Attica, Clinton Prairie and Seeger.  In 1983 LCC went 0-10  

The South Bend Snow Debacle of 1962!

The 1962 Football Season was going great for LCC, they were 7-1, their only loss 6-0 to Lebanon. On Thursday October 25 LCC went up to South Bend to play SB St. Joseph.  SB St. Joe was ranked number 3 in the state in some polls.  The game was played on a muddy field.  They had cleared 4 inches of snow from the field.  Most of the game was played in a light snowstorm driven before a strong wind.  LCC had 7 turnovers in the game.  The LCC QB threw 5 interceptions.  LCC only had 31 yards rushing and 18 yards passing in the game.  SB St. Joe had 233 yards rushing and 233 yards passing.  SB St. Joe won the game 45-0.  It must have been a long trip back to Lafayette.

LCC 0-0-0-0

St. Joe 12-20-0-13 

This is one of Muda's favorite LCC football games.  LCC played Klondike on October 11, 1960.  LCC won the game 71-0 at West Lafayette's Leslie field.

LCC 19-21-13-18

Klon 0-0-0-0

Klondike was playing its first full season of 11 man football.

33 minutes ago, hhpatriot04 said:

@Rudy, perhaps for your interests!

 

@Tippy Did the city ever have a University High School for children of faculty and the like? 

No, Lafayette never did, but I think Bloomington had something like that.  Lafayette Jeff played Bloomington University in the 1960's.

The big WL/LCC fight of 1960!

On October 21, 1960, Gordon Straley's WL team played Paul LaRocca's LCC's team.  LCC was 6-2 before the WL game.  LCC led 14-6 at the half.  Early in the 4th, WL's Hadley missed a 30 yard FG, but the ref said LCC was offsides on the play.  Hadley got a 2nd chance and made the 25 yard FG.  WL was up 16-14 at that point, and went on to win the game 23-21.

LCC  7-7-0-7

WL   6-0-7-10

The game, 2nd in history between the schools, ended on a sour note with rival players trading punches at the finish.  

Central Catholic's 2nd game in school history didn't go very well.  LCC played the Klondike Nuggets on Tuesday September 23, 1958 at Lafayette Jeff field.  LCC was butcher-ed by the power running of Klondike's Gordon Butcher and beat LCC 30-0.

LCC 0-0-0-0

Klon 6-6-12-6

This was Klondike's 2nd 11 man football game of the season.  Klondike had also won two 6 man football games to make them 4-0.  A school consolidation project merged Klondike, Battle Ground, and East Tipp High schools to establish Harrison (WL) High school in 1970.

8 minutes ago, BendNotBreak said:

Tippy... R u asserting that there was no youth program before 85 or so?  Coach LaRocca won a State Title without the support of countless hours of those dedicated to a youth program? ... If your saying that Lcc's success has been directly tied to the Strength of it's youth program... id agree... jus sayin....

I didn't say there was no youth program before 85.  Foxbat said the development of the youth program started after 1983.  

Lafayette Central Catholic started playing football in 1958.  Their first game in school history was Monday September 15, 1958.  They were playing the Indy Scecina B team at Scecina.  John Jardine was the coach at LCC.  Offensive starters for LCC were Paul Sanders, Walt Anthrop, Reno Rizzo, Ed Hickner, Joe Metzinger, Ron Edmundson, Dave Klinker, Jack Hubertz, Jim Lamb, Tom Moser, and Dick Isbell.  Danny Metzinger, Danny McGuire, Ken Ross and Jim Courter were starters on defense.  LCC won the game 12-11.

LCC  6-0-6-0

Scecina  0-2-7-2

Nobody should be surprised that an Anthrop scored the first td for LCC.  Tom Moser threw a long pass to Walt Anthrop for the very first td in school history.

2 minutes ago, foxbat said:

@Tippy Not a great picture, but thought that you'd enjoy ... 1999 team.  About three seasons before I got involved coaching the youth guys.

Thank You!

Complete 1961 LCC Football Roster

Jim Lamb

Norm Sanders

Henry Ebershoff

Ken Morrison

Mike Croussore

Mike Rausch

Dick Edmundson

Mike Fleming

Bernie Conrad

Mike Henning

Ken McDowell

Dominic Oliverio

Lou Hatke

Jim Metzinger

Pete Halsmer

Pat Finley

Bernie Hickner

Tim Statton

Dave Manley

Jim Halsema

Jerry Rund

Jim Croussore

Mike Hansberger

Tom Scanlon

Tom Peters

Steve Harris

Tom Thomes

Bob Castor

Dave Cain

Phil Rothrock

Jim Rothrock

Ed Enochs

Pat Noonan

All 33 of them were under 200 pounds.  The tallest player was 6 foot 1

Seniors on the 1959 LCC Football team!

Jack Morrison

Paul Sanders

Dan McGuire

Ron Edmundson

Don Rowland

Jack Hubertz

There was a Moser, Anthrop, Metzinger, Schrader, Mugg, and Conrad on that 1959 team.  There was an Anthrop and a Schrader on many LCC football teams.

1 hour ago, First_Backer_Inside said:

But they aren't, they are winning the state championship in 1A, 2A, and 3A for the last 3 years...

Some people on here won't be happy until all the P/P's do go 0-10.  Do you think Hammond Noll should be moved up?  

29 minutes ago, cloudofdust said:

It's obvious they fare better at the 1A-3A level because they can control their enrollment. The quality of student/athlete is just different.

The solution is to move them all up a class. No P/P should ever be competing at a 1A level and it's been proven through SF that they can compete at higher levels.

The problem is, the powers that be don't care because the big schools don't care. They have the enrollment numbers and funds to overcome.

Move them all up a class?  Should Hammond Noll be moved up?  If the P/P's all went 0-10 every year in football, I'm sure you would think the system was just fine.