BigTimeDB

Agree. Webo is rural enough that we burned a 30’ wooden boat beside SR32 as the team drove by this morning. #burntheships

I’m not basing this statement on just the loss to Sheridan, but I think Webo has their work cut out for them to place 4th or higher in conference this year (let alone come out as the champions). Yes Robbie Taylor looked good last year but he had a fantastic line in front of him.

My understanding of IFCA awards, like coach's association awards for other sports, is that it starts with the players' own coaches. If they don't put your name in the hat, you're not going to be one of the candidates. I firmly believe that my son would not have received his all-state honors if I had not asked one of the coaches if his stats made him worthy of submission. I could tell that they had not put much thought into submitting his name until I asked the question. Knowing this and then also seeing kids who had lackluster stats (in various positions) make the lists, likely because more names were not brought forward, devalued the awards in my mind. The same thing happened in volleyball this year when I saw that a mid-tier volleyball program in our conference had two girls that received coach's association all-state honors. Both girls were okay players but not all-state caliber. Their coach did a great job of getting them exposure.

Regarding recruitment at the next level, there are always examples of 1A-3A standouts who get few if any looks by D1 or even decent D2 programs. My assumption is, yes he is a stud...a 1A (or 2A or 3A) stud. Is this a correct assumption? Of course there are certain players like Jack Kiser or guys who are physical specimens who get recruited but those situations don’t appear to be typical. Do mid-tier and higher D1 coaches focus most of their effort searching for talent in 6A programs?

I thought it might be because the IHSAA assumed that large gaps in competitiveness diminish somewhat after sectionals.

I agree that there is potential here. If you are a parent that is willing to send your child to a private school, I would assume that your willingness to spend time and money on out of season club sports or individual lessons might be higher than average. That is unless you’re a volleyball parent in Delaware Co because that is the bar over in the volleyball hot-bed.

Not every public school accepts out of boundary kids (was told Zionsville is an example), however many do. Webo as an example is open enrollment and actively advertises positive qualities of the school. Do they do it for sports recruiting? No, they do it because of state funding. Moving from 3A to 2A might be a nice benefit for sports, but administrators know exactly what each headcount is worth.

I’m not going to argue if it provides an advantage with sports, but I would have to assume many parents do it for the education. Especially if they live in areas of cities that fall short on academic excellence. When my son went to Cathedral for a non-affiliated sports club, I remember seeing a poster that said the avg GPA of all their student athletes was crazy high. If they attract good students who are also good athletes, win-win for them. Others might go for religious reasons. Another group might be the ones that live in a 5/6A school district with extracurricular programs that are ultra competitive and/or they just don’t like the big school feel. My heathen kids all went the public route.

Maybe WEBO was making up for the late hit made on Wright while he was on the ground at 3 mins-ish in the 1st quarter. Regardless of potential missed penalties (on either team), Webo owned the first half.

I thought I saw a late hit from EB while Wright was laying on the ground but I’ll let it pass.

No guarantee on the outcome of the game but one thing is guaranteed, the Webo nation will show up in force. As big or bigger than any other school on Friday or Saturday.

An even bigger debate...will any school, regardless of size, be able to top Webo’s fan-base at state? Last year’s tailgate and 2A game attendance was very impressive.

Congrats Stars!

This thread is a hoot. It’s like watching the news crew fights in Anchorman. Everyone has a weapon and is ready to use it.

I am impressed by Danville's play lately. It's not a shock that Webo might make it this far again but who knew that the Warriors would be competing for a shot to play the week of Thanksgiving also.