foxbat

Might as well just toss Jeff into the mix as it's halfway between the two and you've got a school to rival Carmel.

Come on man, you know it was a fluke. Just like them other two times too. You guys are just "lucky" that Eastbrook didn't score another 15 points in 2018 and don't even get me started on the "luck" you guys needed to escape the possible 38 extra second half points that could have been snuck in on you. 😀 Lord, I apologize for that.

Same thing goes for Harrison. Just as they've started climbing and making inroads and would have been pretty competitive in 5A moving forward, it looks like they are going to be the newest member of the 6A club maybe as early as this cycle.

Based on YOUR premise, the schools don't have to be mega school enrollment to be in the top 24 ... they just have to be one of the 24 largest in the state. Your topic is "Reduce 6A to 24 Schools." Jeff is likely to be passed by Harrison in the next couple of years if not in the next year based on two new subdivisions that are in the leveling stage as we speak within a mile of the school on the campus's northern boundary ... word on the wind is that a minimum of 300 new households will go in those subdivisions alone. What's clearly obvious is that Jeff and Harrison are both candidates for 24 or higher. While 5A would be great for both schools, that hasn't mattered to the IHSAA who has placed them in 6A. Even cutting the lower boundary to 24 might not help these two schools escape 6A eventually. And by your statement they don't belong there from their play ... but the numbers, say they are more likely to get to your 24 lower boundary than not eventually. I don't disagree at all, but the numbers are the numbers and you play where they fall. And, to Jeff's credit, they've played the hand that they've been dealt.

Just asked a simple question. But OK, the same thing that "supposedly" is why the top 24 thrive ... your statement about rich and suburban is also the same environment that others are in that pushes them out. Lafayette Jeff would be pushed out of the top 24 and, based on the their F/RL numbers, that falls into the narrative. On the other hand, Harrison is likely to also be pushed out as well as they will likely be in 6A this cycle or the next and they look like Penn and Lake Central who you called out by name. Well that was what the premise was based on wasn't it?

Couldn't the same arguments be made for rural vs. metropolitan-type schools in the lower classes? I mean, if you look at socioeconomic status, there are some 3A public schools that have much better advantages than their 3A public brethren.

LCC's somewhat the same with regard to youth program, but with some differences. Don't have a CYO league. Play against the other public schools in the area. Some seasons that's been more 1A/3A type schools and in other seasons, it's been mixed in with some 5A. Just recently looked at playing with 6A just for travel ease. Don't have to be at the schools to play, but can't come from another school unless 1) it's a Catholic/Christian school that doesn't have a program or 2) the kid is a legacy kid or will be coming to the school. Homeschoolers welcome because most other programs don't consider them. We sometimes get Catholic kids who are at the public schools because of gifted-and-talented programs in elementary, but that will be coming to LCSS in junior high or late-grade school. Have three elementary schools represented, but not enough kids or mix of schools to have their own teams. St. Mary goes K-3, St. Boniface is 4-6, and St. Lawrence is K-6. Kids gets all mixed together. Have been lucky enough to have several long-term coaches, for several different reasons. In one case, the guy had kids that spanned a five-year period or so. The other guy had no boys, but had been attached to the football program for a long time. I coached there for 18 seasons, but had a full decade before any of my kids were actually on my teams. The new guy who's heading things up has three boys and is there for a while. We also get some dads who just stick around. My offensive coordinator started coaching when his boys played and just stuck around after they moved up. We didn't have a season this year due to COVID.

Am I covered now?

The brush is a bit broad if 1A is getting drawn into that. I've pointed out before that LCC has been around for about 60+ years. They have a total of 8 state titles, which is less than Sheridan's 9. Also, since 2013 and through 2020, when SF started, here's what 1A looks like in terms of multiple LOS appearances: LCC 2 times - 2015 and 2019 - two wins Linton 2 times - 2015 and 2016 - one win (lost to PP) North Vermillion 2 times - 2014 and 2018 - one win (lost to public) Pioneer 4 times - 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 - two wins (two losses to publics) Sectional wins, where it all starts, in 1A since SF ... minimum 3? Lutheran - 6 Pioneer - 6 Adams Central - 4 LCC - 4 Linton - 4 North Vermillion - 4 South Adams - 4 South Putnam - 3 Southwood - 3 West Washington - 3 Winamac - 3 For all the mystique, I'm not seeing the dominance outside of Lutheran with 6 sections ... and, for all the good it got them was one trip to LOS. Pioneer had just as many and finished with 2 blue and 2 red rings for their efforts.

After almost 20 years of watching Indiana high school football, watching LOTS of the kids that I've coached over 18 seasons make their way to and through the high school field, and even a season of watching one of my daughter's perform at high school games as a member of the dance team, I finally got to see my oldest son play high school football and score his first high school points this season. Probably the least number of high school games that I've seen in a season for the last 15 years, but one that's going to be in my top football memories because of my son.

Can teams overcome them by having night games instead of trying to corral them with the SF? 😀

One thing that I've seen in some public school systems that I hadn't really seen in Catholic feeder programs was the competition/animosity between the feeders that sometimes continues into the high school. Don't get me wrong, I've been in Catholic school feeders where the stadium has confessionals at the exits for fans to atone for behavior when St. X CYO plays St. Y CYO, but by the time they get to Pope Z High School, it's one big happy family. LCC's youth program, while it has three elementary schools, merges everyone together early due to the size so there isn't really fracturing. It's not unusual early on to have a St. Boniface center snapping to St. Mary QB who hands the ball off to a St. Lawrence back who gets sprung by blocks from St. Mary, St. Boniface, and St. Lawrence linemen.

It's them Amish. 😀 Lord, I apologize for that.

I like this idea more than doing category checks because it's not something that you have to categorize or label a kid based on socioeconomic status, number of kids, disability or accommodation although I could see someone saying that might still not directly hit the mark because of the difference between physical EC and non-physical EC. For example, I went to school with a kid who was in a leg and back brace for the better part of five years. He was involved in all of the academic teams like quiz bowl, chess club, and even drama and would even throw the football with us at recess, but couldn't play sports. Nonetheless, I think it's a good starting point for discussion.

Heck, similar stuff like that happens all the time WITH "the faithful."

I've always been surprised that this hasn't been a consideration for calculating the classification numbers. My guess is that it is likely the same reason that there isn't a reverse Success Factor in place. I'm sure that the numbers exist because I suspect that schools are eligible for additional or special funding based on students who occupy specific categories, so those numbers are already known and utilized albeit in a different way. There's potentially that argument that some districts also have facilities for some students who struggle in mainstream public schools. Some kids with addiction issues or other non-traditional student issues attend a school in the district that is specially-geared to supporting these students while other districts don't necessarily have that option; however, that's not uniform across even public schools in an area much less across the state. I'd have to think out the details a bit more, but you could also potentially have a situation where you have adjustments for grades as well ... a kid who's failing 5 of 6 classes isn't likely doing much of anything at that school. The issue at play here would be to what extent do you take pressure off of the football classification, if any, due to the failure of kids in a classroom. We certainly have a pass/play rule for athletes, but this would extend further than that because it would include non-athletes. On the original idea of folks out of consideration for the denominator ... I'm just spitballing here as a general example so don't attack. A kid in high school with twins is probably not going to play on the football or volleyball team, so you remove that student from the denominator/count. Now I know folks may say something like, "You don't know that person won't play and they might be able to balance twins, their schoolwork, and a post-season tourney run" and that's very true, but I expect that's not going to be a situation that tips the scales for any school and isn't going to be seen in enough numbers to be "exploited" by schools ... hopefully not that it would even cross their minds. If it happens, then it happens. You don't preclude the person from playing, but they don't count against the numbers. Just some thoughts off the top of the head.

Is this @LCCAlum's first or second Caddy?

I didn't see it either until the replay. I was so focused on the back just waltzing in and even the announcers stating how he went in pretty much untouched. You see that reply and you almost wonder how that kid got up from the jolt. That's one of those plays that you get on tape and put it in your playbook and show every kid who carries the ball. Not to take anything away from the runner, but that block made sure that the runner's uniform was going to be clean on that play. Definitely goes to show that this is a game of teammates.

There's less risk and real uprooting that's necessary in the Indy area when you move schools. You can often "make that drive" to make it work. It's a bit tougher the more spread out you get, so there has to often be "more on the table." I don't have an issue with folks having less incentive to move, but let's call it that. Complacency tends to be a character attack whereas "needs more incentive to uproot" is a different storyline. Hard to do much with complacency in a coach, but plenty to do with needs more incentive to uproot. Just like football players. It's one thing to have a kind who can't make a good tackle because they haven't learned technique ... it's quite another to have a kid who knows the technique, but is a lazy tackler.

In 2A, I think Luers brings back a decent amount from what I understand, but I think Pioneer will graduate off a sizeable chunk of talent that will make it harder for them to derail Luers. WeBo finally moves up out of 2A after what I believe is the only three-peat in the SF era in the same class. In addition, Southridge will remain in 3A for another cycle having pulled a Pioneer where they failed to pick up points in the first year of their SF exile and then won a regional in the second year of the cycle. 1A will see LCC moving up to 2A. Winamac and Southwood would be the folks that I wouldn't sleep on in 1A. I think CC could be in the mix, but again, but there's always the potential for Lutheran to rise up and play spoiler. I thought I heard in the wings somewhere that enrollment number could see Seeger lurking close to 1A. If that's the case, I think that definitely throws a wrinkle in things.

Come on @Bobref, you know there's plenty of planning that goes into selecting the vendor for those ping pong balls. People had to be physically restrained during those meetings. 😀

There were a lot of really good plays on both sides of the ball by both teams. The one thing that I saw that stuck out with me, besides that long run winding run by Micah at the very end of the game after SA had scored their last go ahead TD, was on SA's very last TD. I didn't catch the number, but the back got into the end zone almost unscathed ... but right before he got in, someone going through that hole first made a jarring contact with the defender. Like I said, I didn't catch the number and the kid's build looked more like a QB than a lineman, but the contact looked like it was all line. Those are the kinds of things that get lost in the highlight reels, but that speak to your observation.

This is kind of like TPCS. The previous two seasons they had a pretty good run making it to the sectional championship games, but getting bounced by South Putnam and LCC respectively. They didn't have big numbers, but they had a really good class that kept the fabric tight ... but enough of those kids graduated. This season they went 4-4, but you could see the fabric was looser as they eeked out a 13-12 win against a 2-5 Tri-Central team in the first round of sectionals and were supposed to face Clinton Prairie in the second round of sections, before COVID took that game away ... and TPCS only pulled off a 21-18 win earlier against the Gophers.