Fkfootball

FC loses 49-0. This is getting ridiculous. It’s time for FC to stop playing a D-1 College team disguised as a High School team. We never once crossed the 50 in this game. The kids looked like they wanted to go home from the start. They don’t want this game and Floyd Central is ridiculous for continuing to force them to play this game.

New Albany Preview NEW ALBANY — New Albany enters this season with high hopes, and rightfully so. The Bulldogs return a great deal from last year’s 6-3 squad that lost 35-25 to Jeffersonville in the sectional championship game. This year New Albany has its sights set on the program’s first sectional title since 2002. “Our main goal this year is to win the sectional,” senior lineman Sabastian Landon said. “I think we were overconfident last year in not being too prepared for that sectional game. Our goal right now is to get that sectional title.” “We probably have the most experienced team back in the area. Whether we have the best team or not we have to find out,” Bulldogs head coach Steve Cooley added. It’s no secret that New Albany should be able to score points. The Bulldogs return pretty much every key skill-position player off an offense that averaged 39.5 points per game in 2020. “We’ve got over 4,000 yards on offense returning. So we’ve got a chance to score some points,” said Cooley. “We should be fun to watch. We’ve got some experience up front and we’ll be physical. I think we’ve got some athletes that we’re going to try and utilize them the best we can. Triggering the offense once again will be Derell Simmons. The senior completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 1,115 yards and 13 touchdowns, while also running for 498 yards and seven TDs, last year. Also back from last season are running backs Myles Johnson (1,378 yards, 12 TDs) and Kyondre Winford (920 yards, eight TDs), who combined for nearly 2,300 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in 2020. The Bulldogs also bring back their top two receivers from last year in seniors Ja’Raylan Johnson (27 catches for 713 yards and nine TDs) and DeJon Winburn (17 receptions for 295 yards and three TDs). Winburn moves to the outside this year while DaQuan High will take his old spot in the slot. “Our quarterback Derell Simmons has improved a lot from last season,” Landon said. “He wants to lead this team. Our receivers DeJon Winburn and Ja’Raylan Johnson, who just went off in the sectional, will try to get us back to the position we were last year.” Landon will anchor things up front, along with 6-foot-4, 305-pound Blake Osborne. The biggest question for the Bulldogs is, can they stop anyone? Last year New Albany’s defense allowed 33.7 points per game and gave up more than 40 four times. “Last year we couldn’t stop the run,” Landon said. “The offense was able to keep us in games because we scored a lot of points. We feel like we’ll be a more balanced team.” The Bulldogs made some adjusts on defense in the offseason. This year they’ll use four down linemen instead of three. “We’re trying to change things on defense and get better,” Cooley said. “We were young on defense and gave up way too many points (last year). We’ve got to play better defensively and be sound on special teams and the kicking game.” Landon and Osborne will both also see action on the defensive line as the ‘Dogs utilize several two-way players. The linebacking corps will be led by junior Avarion Chambers. He topped the team in tackles (93) last year in spite of playing only seven games due to injury. “He’s phenomenal off the edge. He’s really talented,” Cooley said. Another outside linebacker, junior Elijah Jennings, has drawn praise from Cooley after missing last season because of injury. “He’s really, really done a nice job for us,” the coach said. “He’s a real physical kid.” Returnees J’sean Groves, Myles Johnson and Dakota Johnson will bolster the linebacker position. “We’ve got some depth. So we just have to go play,” Cooley said. The secondary should be led by junior Darrius Lewis Hickenbottom. The safety earned All-Hoosier Hills Conference accolades last year, when he tallied 89 tackles and five interceptions. The Winburns (DeJon and Tyeese), as well as High, round out the secondary. Sophomore Zach Fleming, a member of the boys’ soccer team, will handle kickoff and field goal duties. He saw limited action last season. “His leg is a lot stronger now. We just may be able to kick more field goals,” Cooley said. “He’s done a nice job.” The Bulldogs begin their season with a huge test at Bloomington South tonight. The Panthers are led by the McCullough brothers, Dasan and Daeh, whose father, Deland, was hired as the associate head coach and running backs coach at Indiana University in the spring. Next Friday the ‘Dogs will host Gibson Southern, which features Purdue recruit Brady Allen at quarterback, before they begin HHC play Sept. 3 against Jennings County. “We did good last year, but it wasn’t where it could have been,” Osborne said. “This can be even better than last year. If we put some pieces together on the line it will be a smooth road.” New Albany will close out its regular season Oct. 15 against archrival Floyd Central. “We’ve got T-shirts that say, ‘Time for talk is over,’” Cooley said. “Everybody is talking about how good we are going to be. We’ve been building for this for three years.”

Floyd Central Preview from the Tribune. I’ll post the New Albany and Jeffersonville previews as well, as soon as they come out. FLOYDS KNOBS — For Floyd Central, there’s good news and bad news. First the good news. Just about everyone is back on defense. By all parameters, it should be the strength of the team. Now the bad news. Just about everyone is gone from an outstanding offense that averaged 37.2 points per game last year. “We’re replacing a three-year starting quarterback, a three-year starting tailback, the entire offensive line that graduated is playing college football this year — basically, it’s the entire offense," Highlanders head coach James Bragg said. Gone from last season's 7-3 squad are, among others, offensive tackle Zen Michalski, now a freshman working his way up the depth chart at Ohio State; running back Wenkers Wright, an Illinois State frosh who ran for over 3,300 yards and 42 touchdowns the past two seasons and quarterback Tristan Polk, who threw for over 3,300 yards and 31 TDs as a junior and senior before heading to Marian University. In all, nine off last year's roster are playing college football. In short, the Highlanders have some big cleats to fill. Among those ready to step into the starting lineup is junior Cody Bibelhauser, who'll take over for Polk at QB. The 5-foot-7, 160-pounder will trigger a revamped offense. “He’s small and quick,” Bragg said of Bibelhauser. “(The offense) will be a little different for us." Bibelhauser completed his only varsity pass, for 11 yards, last season. “He’s got a beautiful ball, he’s just young," Bragg said. "He hasn’t had a lot of (varsity) experience yet. He’s gotten better every day at practice. That’s all we can ask for.” Bibelhauser’s backup will be sophomore Tristan Robertson. The Highlanders hope to replace Wright with not one, not two but three players. The projected starter is junior Jake Hausz, who was a slot receiver last year, when he had eight catches for 87 yards and two TDs. He'll platoon with sophomores Grant Popp and Mitch Bernardi. Bragg said Popp is a "speed demon" who reminds him a little bit of Wright when he was a sophomore. Junior Eli Branham (17 receptions for 403 yards and two TDs) and senior Zac Hutslar (nine catches for 219 yards and two scores) are the team's top-returning receivers. That group will also feature Jaxon Farley, a senior who has missed nearly two years with a knee and shoulder issues. Farley said he’s nearly 100 percent now. “I feel good,” he said. “It’s good to be back out here.” Up front senior Brandon Fessel is the lone returning starter. He'll be joined on the offensive line by classmates Jacobi Walker, Gavin Harvey and Lucas Schneider, who'll play tight end. On the flip side, Fessel and Harvey are returning starters on the defensive line, as is Nate Ripley. Harvey is the team's top-returning tackler. He recorded 42 stops, including a pair of quarterback sacks last year. The secondary should also be a strength for Floyd. Several with starting experience return there. They include Hutslar (36 tackles in 2020), Hausz, Branham and Jordan Fonda, a junior. “We’ll ride our defense to the grave,” said Bragg, who is 21-11 as head coach of the Highlanders. ”We’ll be alright this year." Floyd starts its season tonight at Louisville Male, which could be the best team in Kentucky this year. The Highlanders then host Louisville's DuPont Manual, another one of the top squads across the river, next Friday night and Silver Creek on Sept. 3. Floyd Central will close the season with six straight Hoosier Hills Conference contests beginning with Seymour on Sept. 10 and ending at New Albany on Oct. 15. The Highlanders, who are 16-6 over the past two seasons, still have a few players who were on the field for their 31-7 win over Jeffersonville in the sectional final in 2019. One of those is Hausz, who has lofty goals for this year. “My expectations are pretty high,” he said. “I want to win the regional. I don’t want to win just the sectional. I want to be the first to win the regional.”

You guys would definitely hang with those Louisville teams a lot better than we do. We beat Male once, back in 2011, but it was one of their worst teams.

I hear yah there. But I’d trade you in a heartbeat. I’d rather play Whiteland than the #1 team in Kentucky and probably a top 25 team Nationally. I think they said they have “7” D-1 kids in their starting lineup.

Columbus East at Whiteland Floyd Central at Louisville Male Jennings County vs. Norwell New Albany at Bloomington South Seymour at South Dearborn Same for me. I ask my fellow HHC fans not to judge my Highlanders too harshly on Friday. That game is not going to be pretty.

1. East-It’s East. When someone gets close to them, I’ll consider a different outcome, 2. FC- A little bias here for sure. I just feel their defense and O-line will be a lot better than NAs. NA really has a hard time with Floyd even when they have the more talented team. 3. NA-They’ll score a bunch. And they’ll give up a bunch. After this season they will be absolutely gutted by graduation. 4. Jeffersonville-Coach Parker is a great man. So much respect for him. They did upset a FC team that admitted this winter that they basically were looking ahead a week. And then Jeff was shake to dispatch a NA team that was struggling. 5.BNL-I’ve always felt they should be as good as FC. A lot of decent athletes there. Close to Bloomington and IU. 6. Seymour-They’re here by default. 7. JC-I find myself rooting for these guys. I want them to become good so bad. To be honest, I want all these teams to become good. This conference would be so much more fun if we had a bunch of parity and a bunch of conference champions. The East fans won’t agree but their dominance just makes the Fall in Southeastern Indiana, very boring.

They don’t play any defense though. Never have. That’s always going to be their issue.

I’m just keeping my expectations in check. I expect that they’ll get better as the season goes on. I think they have a good shot at 2nd or 3rd in the HHC. But I can definitely say for sure, they will once again have a lot of trouble against East.

Well, we didn’t have all of our pieces. A lot of guys haven’t practiced much yet. Charlestown is a pretty solid 3A program. They’re comparable to the rest of the HHC outside of East. The thinking is that we will probably struggle pretty bad against Male, Manual, and East. But could win the other games. We just lost 23 Seniors from one of the best classes we’ve had in years, so im not expecting to hang the moon. Their Sophomore class is really good though.

I attended Floyd Central vs Charlestown tonight. Pretty even scrimmage, which is actually a good sign for both programs since both programs typically finish top 2 or 3 in their conferences. After watching the scrimmage, I have slightly raised my bar for FC Football this season. I still don’t think they have any chance of defeating Male. Defeating Manual or East is probably far out of reach as well. But I do think they’ll be in every other game including New Albany. Their Senior Class is a little better than I expected. And their starting QB and a couple of their top RBs and some other key guys didn’t play due to sitting out. It looks like their QB will be JR Cody Bibelhauser. I’ve been told he’s more of a running threat and an accurate passer. Tristan Robertson was the starter tonight and he’s a SO. Tall kid with a big arm. Will probably play some too. Their RB was a SO transfer from Florida. His name was Mitch Bernardi and he was pretty impressive. Reminded me of a Columbus East tailback. Strong, good vision, and probably a 4.7 guy. Their O-line doesn’t have a lot of experience but they’re pretty big kids and they played pretty well. One of their guards is a Sophomore and he’s easily about 300 lbs. The older Bernardi kid, also a transfer from Florida, is another big kid playing DT and on the O-line as well. Should be a decent season for us once we get past weeks 1 and 2. They look better on the lines than what I thought they’d be. Should have a chance to fight for that #2 spot in the HHC again.

Yes sir. FC vs Charlestown scrimmage. Good opponents for both teams.

I don’t think we’ll get you guys in Football. 😆. I’d honestly love to see us just score 3 TDs against your #1 defense. That would be a start. Oh, basketball wise, we are loaded. We have a 7 footer and like 5 guys that are 6”5 or taller. I wish we could get that kind of football talent.

Good luck to everyone’s teams this weekend if they’re in a scrimmage. Hope everyone stays healthy.

First Off. My prayers go out to coach Sharp. There is nothing better than being a father and being able to be there for your children. I pray for the health of his baby girl. For Football. I’m still not sure that East goes down this season. I’m sure it will happen. And there is always a drop off from the retirement of a Legendary coach, but it usually takes years to happen. His replacement could be the worst HC in Columbus East history? Or, he could be the next Bob Gaddis? You just never know. New Albany should be pretty solid. They have a ton of experience and skill players and Cooley can draw up some stuff. Could see them with 7 wins. I really can’t make much of a prediction for my Highlanders. They come out of the gate with two of the best teams in the State of Kentucky and arguably their two toughest games on their schedule. They could be a suprise after what will probably be an 0-2 start. We lost some good players. Some High Major D-1 guys. But the cupboard isn’t bare. Tristan Robertson should probably start at QB as a SO. He’s as good of a QB prospect as we’ve ever had. Has the chance to be pretty special. Dangerous runner and has a really good arm. We have a SO RB named Darius Atkins who is another speed guy that should work his way in as well as a couple SR RBs. FC is pretty deep at WR/DB with Srs/Jrs. Zac Hutsler and Jake Huasz are pretty good along with their RB/Slot guy Eli Branham. Their O-line is replacing some guys but has a couple guys back. They have a SO OT, Justin Brown, that is MASSIVE and athletic. He could definitely start on their team. So I expect them to be a in a rebuilding phase but they have plenty in the cupboard to be tough by the end of the season.

I selfishly want Silver Creek to join the HHC. Good rival with the 3 River Schools.

My HHC 2021 season Spring Outlook and Predictions. 1. Columbus East-It would be an absolute oversight for me to put anyone else here as they’ve earned this respect. The big question mark, is no Bob Gaddis. It could be different. The loss of Mark McDonald and Malachi Parks will be huge as well. I would expect rising Senior Tryce Villarreal to be their star and be one of the top HHC players as well. 2. New Albany-They will most definitely be the best threat to East. They have a ton of rising Seniors. Derrell Simmons, Kyondre Winford, JaRaylan Johnson, Dejon Winburn, Myles Johnson. They have a ton of athletes and skill players with 3-4 years experience. They could be scary good if they put it together. 3. Floyd Central-I’m hesitantly going with my Highlanders here. I have a lot of faith in Coach Bragg and his staff. It’s going to look a lot like a rebuilding year with all the Seniors they lost and all the College players they lost but fortunately the cupboard isn’t bare. They’ll find a RB because they always seem to do so, and their rising SO QB Tristan Robertson is a really impressive and talented kid. Watching him grow will be the most exciting thing with that program next season. He does have some good skill guys around him in Zak Hutslar, Eli Branham, Jake Hausz, Jaxon Farley, and Cody Bibelhauser. If I keep going I might talk myself into the #2 spot but I think they have a lot more question marks on the line of scrimmage than New Albany does. Their first 2 games are against Louisville Male and Louisville Manuel. So an 0-2 start really won’t be a tremendous suprise. 4. Jeffersonville-I kind of thought about putting them at #3, but I felt that one upset victory doesn’t make up for the last 5 years. Coach Parker has built a much more disciplined program but they still need to prove that they can put together a winning season. Their Tailback Jordan Ferguson has graduated but they return a pretty good QB in Cole Phillips who played well in the Sectional last year. 5. BNL-I have them here for no other reason other than I absolutely like their QB Bryne Lewis. The kid is tough as nails, and a big time playmaker. He will make new coach Derrick Barkers life a lot easier. It’s going to take some time for them to get back to where they want to be. 6. Seymour-They got off to a decent start last season and then the wheels came off. Their QB Ruble has graduated, they’ll be in for a rebuild next season as it seems almost every HHC team is. 7. Jennings County-Well, it’s Jennings County. They were kind of fun to watch a few years ago with the QB/WR duo they had. I was hoping they’d start becoming competitive but I just don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon.

Officially? No. But that’s kind of what I’ve heard from their fans.

Silver Creek won’t go to the HHC. They like being the big fish in a little pond.

Tom Allen on another walk-on, BNL product McCall Ray: "McCall Ray is going to play for us in the fall." #iufb

Well this is cool! IU receivers coach Grant Heard brought up former BNL athlete and walk-on WR McCall Ray as someone who has progressed a ton: "It seems like he's a whole different person which is awesome. He's out there making plays, and he has a chance to contribute to this team."

You’re not wrong there. Everytime one of these teams plays a team like Castle, they get beat pretty easily.

Floyd Central plays the two hardest opponents in this conference. Louisville Male and Louisville Manuel. I really have no idea why they want those matchups, but I guess they have their reasons.

It’s going to be a real interesting fall in the HHC. The obvious big change will be Gaddis not being on the sideline. There is no doubt that East will still continue to be pretty strong as Gaddis left a good program behind. There are a lot of teams with question marks. TBH, I’m pretty excited about the young Floyd Central team we will have next season. I’m not sure that’s going to translate into 7+ wins or anything like that, but it will be fun for me to watch them hopefully improve through the year. Definitely going to be growing pains. Coach Bragg has a very talente, next season Sophomore QB in Tristan Robertson to build around. He has HUDL tape. The kid is big and athletic. I would venture to say he’ll be a star in the conference at some point. New Albany definitely has a good team coming back. They’re pretty athletic and should have a tremendous running game this year. You definitely have to like what Jeffersonville did at the end of the year. Coach Parker did a good job really getting that team to play more disciplined. They should be competitive as well. I will for sure be willing to watch BNL because I love their QB. He may be the best in the conference next season. JC and Seymour, I would guess we should expect more of the same, granted I don’t really know much about them. I’d say East finishes at the top again and New Albany will be the first bridesmaid. It really wouldn’t shock me to see FC finish 2nd yet again, but I just think we lost too many good Seniors to go there yet.

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure what to think of him. I watched Floyd Central beat them twice handily and figured they would do it again easily. But Jeffersonville came well prepared and played pretty tough and Floyds offense was never the same when they lost Quenichet for the season. Coach Parker has definitely got Jeffersonville to a better level of discipline than what I’ve seen the past several years. He did a good job in that Sectional.