BDGiant93

Thanks for your service to the game and knowing when to step away. In any profession, sometimes we stick too long. Congratulations on 25 years!

Going back through this thread, and my golly my jeez... When Ben Davis played IMG, the stands were almost completely full. It was a huge crowd. BD held its own against the Ascenders. Had a couple of plays gone the other way, it would have been even closer. It was a fantastic atmosphere that was unique to any I've been around in my 40+ years of watching Indiana High School Football. I'm glad New Palestine is bringing that back to the state. Win or lose, they'll be talking about it for a long time in the community.

Yes. That's definitely possible.

Well, in that case... Guess 3 Sectional 1 Sectional 2 Sectional 3 Sectional 4 Crown Point Penn Fishers Carmel Lake Central Elkhart HSE Westfield Merrillville Valpo Carroll Harrison (WL) Portage Homestead FW Northrop Noblesville Sectional 5 Sectional 6 Sectional 7 Sectional 8 Ben Davis North Central Warren Jeffersonville Avon Zionsville FC Whiteland Brownsburg LN Perry Columbus N Pike LC Southport CG DC

Someone gets a 5th team in one of the Sectionals in 6A. Do they do it up north or down south? It's a bit messy. I could see them sending Zionsville south with Pike, BD, Brownsburg and Avon then sliding Harrison into Sectional 4. Gets really interesting between Sectionals 2 & 3. Which FW team goes to 2 as Homestead, Carroll and Northrop could all be candidates since they won't split HSE & Fishers. Guess 1 Sectional 1 Sectional 2 Sectional 3 Sectional 4 Crown Point Penn Fishers Carmel Lake Central Elkhart HSE Westfield Merrillville Valpo Carroll Zionsville Portage Homestead FW Northrop Noblesville Harrison (WL) Sectional 5 Sectional 6 Sectional 7 Sectional 8 Ben Davis North Central DC Jeffersonville Avon Warren FC Whiteland Brownsburg LN Perry Columbus N Pike LC Southport CG Guess 2 Sectional 1 Sectional 2 Sectional 3 Sectional 4 Crown Point Penn Fishers Carmel Lake Central Elkhart HSE Westfield Merrillville Valpo Carroll Harrison (WL) Portage Homestead FW Northrop Noblesville Sectional 5 Sectional 6 Sectional 7 Sectional 8 Ben Davis North Central DC Jeffersonville Avon Warren FC Whiteland Brownsburg LN Perry Columbus N Pike LC Southport CG Zionsville

La Lumiere has played Cathedral and some other schools in the past.

Given the IHSAA's history and hands off approach to the day-to-day operations of athletic department scheduling (as long as you're not going 300 miles from the state line), I don't think they would get into individual schools and who they schedule. When BD played IMG, I heard that technically you're supposed to be a member of the other state's athletic organization for the IHSAA to officially sanction the game. That was all rumor and innuendo, though. IMG is not a member of the Florida association.

New Palestine is not your normal 4A school. Coach Ralph has turned it into a powerhouse.

Our schedule is full through, I believe, 2028...I'm sure yes. There's less room on the Giants' schedule now that Weeks 2-9 are pretty set in stone. I believe Cathedral drops off after 2028.

I mean..........

Independent means travel. Travel means money. Money is something in short supply in public education these days.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/02/27/ihsaa-football-new-palestine-will-play-img-academy-in-week-8-of-2026-high-school-football-season/88903089007/ IMG Academy is coming to New Palestine!

Thanks! Coach Mann treated me well when he was here at Ben Davis. He lives and breathes the game, but he also will deeply embed himself in other things in that school. You'll see him at a lot of different events. He's a good dude. Easy to cheer for him.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/02/23/ihsaa-football-russ-mann-hired-to-lead-program-at-lawrence-central/88834038007/ Lawrence Central hires Russ Mann. Happy for Coach Mann, and I wish him the best at LC.

They tried.

This was actually a pretty hot rumor a couple of years ago.

If Brett Cooper can pull the Giants back together, Ben Davis should be strong. They have good talent returning on offense. The defense was not the Giants' strongpoint, but lots will depend on who Coach hires and puts in place. The Giants have potential to surprise some folks next year and at least get back on the other side of .500.

Here's the coaching rundown. Coach Cooper is the 17th BDHS head coach in the modern history of Ben Davis Football. (Bob Otolski was hired in 1973, but he left before coaching a game for a job as one of Lee Corso's assistants at Indiana.) Gold=Hall of Fame Purple=Ben Davis Alumnus 1 Bert "Red" Haviland 15-29-4 1937-1942 2 Leo Lentz 0-7-0 1943 3 Chuck Stuckey 1-7-0 1944 4 Ralph Crock 7-23-2 1945-1948 5 Lou Parnell 31-26-1 1949-1955 6 John Masariu 11-17-0 1956-1958 7 Woody Baker 4-14-1 1959-1960 8 Trent Gipson 2-18-0 1961-1962 9 Bill McClain 19-48-3 1963-1969 10 Bob Britt 6-23-1 1970-1972 11 Bob Wilbur 59-53 1973-1983 12 Dick Dullaghan 213-42-0 1984-2003 13 Tom Allen 25-12-0 2004-2006 14 Mike Kirschner 95-36-0 2007-2017 15 Jason Simmons 31-28-0 2018-2022 16 Russ Mann 21-14-0 2023-2025 17 Brett Cooper 0-0-0 2026-

BD hires Brett Cooper to lead the program. He's the 17th head football coach in Ben Davis history (18th if you count Bob Otolski who left for an IU assistant coaching job before ever coaching a game). https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bloomington-north-coach-brett-cooper-032957831.html

Ben Davis and Franklin Central have never played even though they were in the same Sectional for a couple of years.

Ben Davis already plays Avon week 2. Several of the other teams play HCC squads as well. BD used to open with Brownsburg and Avon until Brownsburg dropped the Giants.

It's been weird all around. I understand the reasons. There was a lot of drama when they were voted out. I guess it just took a while for everyone to realize they needed each other again. Carmel and Center Grove back in raises the level for the entire conference, and it eases the scheduling woes for CG and Carmel.

So, Carmel and Center Grove were exploring other options. The MIC voted them out. The other options fell through. They existed apart. Things changed at most of the institutions from an administrative standpoint in that some of the players moved on, got new administrators, etc. There was a mending fences period that culminated in the reunification. The MIC and Carmel and Center Grove realized they all needed each other again.

Not a new story.

Per Neddenriep, they become full members in 2026/27.