crimsonace1

Depends. About half of our opponents play JV/frosh on Monday nights (mostly, a few in our conference) and the other half play Saturday mornings. Seems the early part of the schedule is mostly played on Saturdays and the latter half is played on Mondays.

Still listing Carmel with the MIC squads. Love it.

Every school in the state is guaranteed 10 games (which is how it was prior to the all-in playoff). A team that gets to Lucas Oil plays 14 (6A/5A) or 15 (1A-4A) games. The format is just fine. We can't add onto the end of the season because it has to end Thanksgiving weekend to make the State Finals work without pulling kids out of class (as well as the Big Ten championship game is the following week so LOS is not available). Any addition would be at the front end and the season already starts pretty early.

New Pal has 30+ freshmen and has more than 90 in the program, enough for three teams. They'll have V/JV/frosh. The HHC has a few programs that only field a varsity and a "C" team and a couple others who do varsity/JV.

Former East Central coach Justin Roden running the show there. He & New Pal's Kyle Ralph were on the same staff as assistants at Oak Hills before Roden returned as head coach.

Greenfield-Central at Plainfield, 7 p.m.: G-C had a turnaround year last season - winning 7 games last season. They lost QB Rashawn Street and a handful of critical players to the diploma, but return two of their top rushers in Andy Zellers and Brayden Herrell and a really good defender in Brad Allen. Last year's meeting was a one-touchdown game. This will be a good measuring-stick game for G-C. Greensburg at Shelbyville, 7 p.m.: Shelbyville has lost four straight to Greensburg but took some big strides under Brian Glesing last year, including snapping a 26-game losing streak in Week 2. Interestingly, the Golden Bears scored 24 points a game in three non-conference games last year but were scoreless against four conference foes in a COVID-shortened year. Eli Chappalew was solid at QB and Shelby returns its top two rushers, Cael Lux and Axel Conover, as well as top receiver Jackson Parker. Mt. Vernon at Noblesville, 7 p.m.: Noblesville handed the Marauders their only loss last season, as MV then ripped off 14 straight wins and a state title. Mt. Vernon has won back-to-back conference titles and kept the HHC trophy in western Hancock County, where the Marauders and New Palestine have been the lone teams to hold it since 2010. MV was hit hard by graduation, but receivers George Burhenn and Eli Bridenthal are pretty good building blocks. Burhenn is also the top returning tackler. New Castle at Franklin County, 7 p.m.: Injuries decimated the Trojans last year, who went 2-8, but QB Tyson Lewis - who took over after an injury last season and had to learn on the job - returns. He has three of his top four receivers back from the "Air Raid" attack. New Castle was very underclass-heavy last season and three of their losses were by a touchdown or less. One of New Castle's losses was a 44-34 defeat to Franklin County in Week 1. The two teams have played in Week 1 every year but one since 2014, with New Castle's lone win coming in 2018. Pendleton Heights at Lebanon, 7 p.m.: PH was *very* young last year and had a 3-0 start before suffering a couple of close losses to G-C and Yorktown and struggling against Mt. Vernon and New Palestine. This is a new series for the Arabians. PH will have to replace QB Luke Candiano, but I like RBs James Malone and Dresden Roberts. The top three receviers return, led by Caden Sims. Roberts is also the top returning tackler. Three of the top four tacklers for the Arabians were sophomores. This won't be a make-or-break game for PH, but it's a really good matchup for a well-coached team from a community with a good football tradition that's looking to hit its stride. Yorktown at Anderson, 7 p.m.: Yorktown has won 10 consecutive games against non-conference teams in the regular season, with Anderson and Muncie Central their annual tune-ups. The HHC usually fares well against the NCC, and this was a 46-6 win for the Tigers last season. They were *really* young last year and went 5-5, winning three conference games despite being the smallest school in the league. QB Mason Moulton is back after throwing for 1,868 yards last year. The Tigers return all but 13 yards of their rushing offense and top receiver Kolten Nanko, who had 725 yards last season. Westfield at New Palestine, 7 p.m.: This will be one of the marquee Week 1 matchups in Indiana, with the Dragons moving back to 4A and facing a team that has finished the last two seasons playing Center Grove in Lucas Oil Stadium. The Dragons challenge themselves in the non-conference schedule - many of their pre-conference opponents in the Kyle Ralph era have found their way to Lucas Oil Stadium in November, and the Shamrocks are no exception. Dragons are senior-heavy and return nine offensive and eight defensive starters from last year's 5A sectional championship squad. Two-time 1,000-yard rusher Grayson Thomas and top returning receiver Isaiah Thacker, a two-time all-state selection, pace the offense, with two high-level collegiate prospects - Luke Burgess and Ian Moore - anchor the line. The Dragons return their top three tacklers, including senior LB Eli Hook and sophomore DL Michael Thacker. Westfield suffered heavy graduation losses but Jake Gilbert has a tremendous program and a lot of depth that reloads. Delta at Muncie Central, 7:30 p.m.: A young Eagles squad suffered its first sub-.500 season since 1995 last year, going 5-6. Delta downed its county rival 49-6 in the opener and started 3-0 before dropping five of its six conference games. QB Kaiden Bond threw for 1,000+ yards as a sophomore, and Delta returns *all* of its rushing yards, including senior Abram Stitt (844 yards) and sophomore Nolan Carpenter (597 yards). Stitt was also the team's top receiver. Expect the Eagles to get off to another strong start after a rebuilding year.

Remember those days well. My first year in media, I was told of a local coach who apparently had a reputation for ordering uniforms that were intentionally difficult to see on film ... so he started putting his two-deep in with the films, which was apparently uncommon at the time. I see it more in basketball - the same coaches whose uniforms are almost impossible to see on film (usually, because they have the soon-to-be-illegal "outline numbers" where the numbers are the same color as the jersey, with only an outline; but less common, a dark number on a dark jersey - even red/blue combos are hard to see on film) are 99.9999% likely to *not* put their stats on MaxPreps.

There is an expectation from the IHSAA that schools post stats on MaxPreps. Don't post stats to MaxPreps, your players don't get listed in the state leaders, et al. It seems most coaches in our area (Central Indiana) use them. Some schools guard their statistics like state secrets because making them public might aid opponents in scouting (even though *every single opponent* likely has most, if not all, of your games on film, has run them through Hudl Assist and not only do they know your stats, they know all of your formations, tendencies, et al). Prior to a tournament game a few years ago, the visiting coach sent me his stats - likely in part because he trusted me because of a mutual friend in the media (and I did not break that trust - I did not share them with anyone prior to gameday). An hour or so before the game, I had them at my broadcast position in the press box and virtually media member from that team's region came over and started taking photos of them because they had never seen that team's stats and they were useful to help determine all-county/region status.

The benefit of an overnight team camp is the "overnight" part - your team is together basically 24/7 for a couple of days. You have a lot of time to do team-building stuff without a whole lot of outside distractions (and a lot of informal team bonding takes place as players have all their meals together, stay together on a dorm floor, et al). For the college, it's basically a PR pitch and a recruiting tool to try to get kids on campus (and maybe possibly ID a diamond in the rough that nobody else is recruiting) and to develop relationships with the coaches so they have an "in" when you do have a prospect they're interested in.

I'm glad the gyms are still there, because the old HH/Jackson Central gym was one of my favorite ones to coach in when I coached middle school hoops.

Basically, the old HHHS (or Jackson Central HS).

New Pal is hosting Scecina in their annual scrimmage.

Illinois applies the multiplier to what it terms "non-boundaried schools," so charter schools also.

Illinois, which has a multiplier (1.65x) actually has an "anti-success factor" where the multiplier is waived if you haven't won the equivalent of a sectional in something like the last four years. The multiplier is also applied to charter schools, not just p/ps.

In a lot of ways, Burris (and when they existed, Bloomington University and Terre Haute State) were the state's first charter schools. Burris says it is a public school whose boundaries are the state borders.

I know the AD's answer will be to have a patch crew for one game. There's a LOT of revenue in Friday night, and canceling the game (or moving it to Thursday/Saturday) is really disruptive.

Preseason computer rankings are about as accurate as me throwing at a dartboard blindfolded (and I have terrible aim even when I can see the board).

Let's be honest - the primary reasons the Success Factor exists are Cathedral/Chatard football and Muncie Burris volleyball (and to a lesser degree, Providence, which at least once used the voluntary class bump to avoid Burris in VB). I wonder if Heritage Christian/Luers GBB and Park Tudor BBB in the Ferrell/Bleuitt eras might have also been factors. One could argue Burris might have been the primary driver in the SF, although they've lost their luster a bit since Steve Shondell retired.

We have posters from throughout Indiana. What are the top storylines in your conference, your area of the state, et al. In Central Indiana ... reclassification has really shaken things up. Cathedral in 6A - they won a sectional the last time but ultimately didn't stay up. This time, they're in a very winnable sectional with the Lawrence schools and North Central. Will this tour be different and lead to a potentially deep tournament run? Who else in the Indy area - traditional powers Carmel, CG, BD & WC or emerging programs like Brownsburg & Zionsville - will make a run? Obviously, the other big 6A storyline is the MIC shedding Carmel & CG and those two programs operating as independents. Can Decatur Central or Whiteland finally break through in 5A with Cathedral and New Pal out of the way? 4A looks loaded with Brebeuf, Roncalli, New Pal & Mt. Vernon all in the mix. Brebeuf, Roncalli & Mt. Vernon all experienced significant graduation losses, but have a lot of talented players returning, while New Pal won a sectional in 5A and has several key players returning, especially in the trenches. 3A - Chatard is back. When they've been in 3A, they've been dominant. There aren't quite as many schools in Central Indiana in 2A & 1A, especially with WeBo moving up to 3A. Lutheran & Covenant Christian have had great runs the last couple of years. Who becomes that team this year? Can Tim Able get Triton Central through the regional/semistate hump and to Lucas Oil in 2A?

Usually the Monday or Tuesday prior to Week 1.

Finding officials for one or two games is a lot easier than finding officials for 12, 24 or 48 games being played on Saturdays.

Two questions: Isn't WWE all scripted entertainment ... how could she be upset about "losing" a match that was completely choreographed? ... and two, Rudy is a pro wrestling official? That's awesome.

It's no secret the participation numbers are greater at p/ps than public schools (and the former AD at Cathedral has pointed that out to me in conversation more than once) and that's largely due to the fact that because your pool of students is people who are willing to pay tuition, they've already self-screened and are from the population of students/families that is *much* more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities (whether sports, band, choir, theater, clubs ...). The kids who just show up, go to class and then go home at the end of the day aren't as likely to have families who seek out a private-school alternative. In a system where schools are classified by enrollment, having a higher percentage of your student body available to play football (or any other sport) *is* an advantage. It's difficult to quantify how much of one it is, but it definitely is one. And once that advantage leads to a few titles, now the program sells itself to eighth-graders and their parents (which happens not just at p/p but also some public schools with strong programs).

2012: New Pal was 3-7 2013 (Ralph's first year): New Pal was 13-1, won a regional and went on a six-year regular-season winning streak. 2014: New Pal went 15-0 and obliterated the state scoring & yardage records. 2015: New Pal went 13-1 and was 5A runner-up to Snider in the craziest State Finals game ever played. They're *very* well-coached. Kyle Ralph sees the game incredibly well, teaches it well and has a system that's implemented all the way through the junior high. The football culture here is incredible - we have 30-40 kids a class playing in our elementary league all the way down to kindergarten. In their early era (the 2013-14-15 teams), they didn't have any Div. I recruits. Lots of talent, but they fit together very well and had a solid QB in Zach Neligh. The 2015 team basically played 14 guys, including some guys who had solid careers at St. Francis, Marian & UIndy. The later run - the 2018-19 titles - had some Div. I talent, and there's more high-level recruits walking the halls now than ever. So it's been built and now talent is cycling through, but part of that is the culture that was first born nearly a decade ago.

They're in Marion County. That's as "Indy area" as it gets. They're as much Indy-area as Snider is Fort Wayne-area.