23andCounting

Take your kids to a pre-season game, they won't know the difference. Then spend the rest of your money supporting your local community. The best football is being played on Friday night anyway. Free parking, $7 tickets, leave and back home in three hours.

That's why it's hard not to appreciate programs like East Noble and Adams Central up here in NE Indiana.

Good points: I don't want to underestimate the value of the CYO system. Bowen did have some pretty good offenses at Snider. Kudos to him for putting the Bruins in the position they were in last season. At the end of the day, I think my problem is with the new transfer rule. Like college, it just created one hell of a mess. Get kicked out of practice? So what, I'll transfer. Don't like the way a coach talks to me? So what, I'll transfer. The guy that spoke to me at summer camp was pretty cool? Awesome, I'll transfer. Accountability has been tossed out the window. And loyalty just doesn't exist anymore.

At the end of the day, the new transfer rules have made things pretty messy. It's a free for all out there, the wild wild west. Building a program is now more challenging than ever with other coaches out there trying to poach the players you've spent time developing. A kid goes through the Luers program, gets developed, then Northrop or North Side get to enjoy the fruits of Luers labor. It's not right. It was a brain dead decision by the IHSAA. I'm not at all impressed with what Bowen did at Northrop. He brought in some high profile players and still almost lost to Snider's worst team ever last season in the playoffs.

It's my understanding that his hire is just temporary until they find a full time replacement. I think Smiths investment in the program might change now that his cousin is out. He's a good replacement for now as I'm sure he wants to see this group of kids succeed since he probably had a lot to do with them coming to North Side. He's not going to abandon them. North Side can absolutely be competitive in 5A. There's talent in the halls even without the recruits. But it's going to take a coach who has a good grip on fundamentals, x's and o's, ability to teach leadership, and willingness to stick around more than a couple of years. Wealth isn't made overnight, it's built over time.

These polls look really good.........same for the 1A-3A poll. I've always touted TGD polls to be the most accurate available. Kudos to the posters here, they know high school football as well as anyone.........from a fans perspective.

Right now the rape accusations are factual, backed up by reliable news sources. The influx of athletes at North Side and Northrop is just speculation at the moment. I'm sure it will all come to light.

I know they have some players getting DII, DIII, & NAIA looks. Just not aware of anymore D1 offers.

Just curious. Who are the others with D1 offers? I'm just seeing Austin Phillips.

I imagine there was some tension in the program after eight D1 football players got taken to the woodshed by a bunch of kids from *Kendalltucky. *Loads of respect for the town of Kendallville.

2024 interview with WPTA-21Alive “Jaylon and I are family, we’re cousins. We’re also close like best friends as well.”

Good grief. Some tough games that could go either way. Andrean at Luers - 14+ Carroll at Center Grove - Close game............I think Decatur Central at Wayne - Blowout East Noble at Snider - Close game Concordia at Eastside - Double Digits Dwenger at St. Francis De Sales (Ohio) - Throwing darts North Side at New Haven - Double digits if the players are still in tact Northrop at Warsaw - First game as a head coach going up against "Bart Ball"? No thanks. South Side at St. Joseph - Close game Noblesville at Homestead - Close game

I thought he ended up at North Side because he and Ben Johnson are cousins.

I can help out in the higher classes.

So that applies to FWCS? The sudden surge of D1 talent at North Side seems a little fishy. Not gonna speculate though.

Does Jaylon Smith have a teaching role at North Side? I thought to be a head coach, you had to be a teacher at FWCS.

Northrop has a chance to turn some heads this week against Warsaw, then North Side the following week. Snider's schedule is rough. They could go 3-6 and still represent 5A North at Lucas Oil. Let's see if Leo puts up a fight against Chatard.

I'm not really surprised at the score. Adams Central seems to have the same level of toughness year in and year out. Had Luers returned more starters, I may have been a bit more surprised. If they continue, this series will go back and forth. It could be 5-5 after ten seasons.

I can only imagine 🙄

1. Carroll - The Chargers looked really really really good on Friday. Good enough that I started comparing them to great SAC teams of the past. But I'll pump the breaks a little bit until after I see what happens down at Center Grove on Friday. 2. Dwenger - They beat Roncalli. Enough said. If you think you're better than Dwenger, then prove it on the field. 3. East Noble - No one really knows how good their Week 1 opponent was on Friday, other than they're loaded with D1 talent. That being said.........19-0? One hell of a showing by the Kendallville kids. 4. Homestead - I'm not going to pull the plug on the Spartans just yet. They lost big to Westfield 49-21, but they were gritty enough to make it 35-21 at one point in the game. Losing big to Westfield doesn't mean you're not good, it just means that Homestead's chances of making a deep playoff run this year isn't looking that good. 5. Adams Central - These guys just continue to win. They reload better than any team in Northeast Indiana. Kudos to the coaching staff over there. They've built a machine that doesn't stop. 6. Snider - Warsaw returned several starters from last season, and some thought this team would be pretty good. Snider had them down 30-18 midway through the 4th, which tells me that Snider isn't so bad themselves. I'll take that game with a grain of salt............they always struggle against "Bart Ball" (Warsaw & Mishawaka). 7. Columbia City - Last Friday's impressive win over Northwood was an eye opener. I'm not sure how good Northwood is, but...............they're Northwood. Massive test this Friday against Northridge. 8. Leo - Nice win against Wayne, but we need to see more. We'll find out how tough this teams when they drive down to Indy this Friday to take on Chatard. 9. Dekalb - Impressive win against the Railroaders on Friday. Probably looking at 3-0 before getting into the meat of their schedule. 10. Northrop - Unfortunately the Bruins didn't get an opportunity to showcase themselves on Friday. That being said. They were good last year and return some serious talent. The drawback is the new head coach. We're not sure what he's capable of yet. I think this is a fair spot to put the Bruins.......................for now. On the outside looking in? Bishop Luers, Bluffton, North Side, South Side

Hmmmmm.............from NE 1. Dwenger over Roncalli - The Saints lost a LOT of starters 2. Carroll going up 40-0 over Hamilton Southeastern 3. East Noble shutting down the North Side All Start team 19-0 4. Concordia taking care of business against Scecina 5. South Side hammering Marion 49-6 after going 0-3 the previous three years

Good win for Warren Central, for sure. Congratulations to them. I have no doubt that WC beat a very good CG team, not a team having a "down" year. The top three is going to be tough to crack though.

I'd like to see a few more weeks first. Warsaw was down 30-18 in the 4th and we don't really know how good Snider is yet. We know both teams struggled last season. It's hard to jump to a conclusion until we see them face someone other than themselves. Still throwing darts this time of the year when it comes to polls. I'll give them HM if they beat Northrop next week. But I'd do so reluctantly. We don't know anything about Northrop right now other than they are loaded with talent. New coach, lots of questions. The Tigers need to earn their way back, last season was bad.

Nope, just a wait and see.

Carroll at Center Grove this Friday will be interesting.