BTF

Gotta love Carroll's "go big or go home" approach. It's gaining them state-wide attention.

You saw the same study I did last year, driving multiple hours only gives the home team an advantage of a small fraction of a percent. You've seen enough football to know better, not having those points on the board was a significant momentum swing. I'm not saying Merrillville would have won, but you can't deny the impact it had.

Going up 14-7 is a pretty good momentum swing. I have no dog in the fight. That could have made a big difference. Discipline normally wins in the end. But it does sound like Merrillville had the talent to get it one. Coulda would shoulda. Westfield will always go down as the better team on paper.

In your opinion, why was Westfield "far better" than Merrillville. Just by reading this thread, it appears that if Merrillville scores that touchdown, then we're talking about a 41-30 or a 34-30 football game. That doesn't sound "far better" to me. I didn't see them game at all, but it does appear that that blown call may have made an impact. Scarab makes a good point about a team getting down the field and coming away with nothing, then playing deflated............happens all the time. Just wondering from your perspective what made the Rocks far better.

Snider was inches from winning in 2016 and 2022. But they didn't, so not a contender for Top 10. I've got Penn and Valpo neck and neck, but neither one in the Top 10 this past decade. I think your list looked pretty good overall.

Agree with all of that. I'd like to see how Carroll does this season before I anoint them as the new Penn of the north. They barely escaped Snider, North Side, Lafayette Jeff, and HSE last year. But they did it nonetheless. It's really going to come down to Doug Dinan's burning passion. If he wants it bad enough, he has the resources to get there.

Carmel, Warren Central, and Ben Davis were winning championships when the rest of Indianapolis was just average. Teams from the HCC were doormats during those dominating years. Penn won five state titles after rolling through one of the easiest schedules in the state.

The three largest high schools rank 1, 2, & 3 in state championships in the big school division. That's not coincidence people.

Which three 6A teams have the most state championships and what are their enrollments? I would argue that the school with 5000 students is almost twice as likely as the school with 3000 students to find a D1 quarterback or offensive lineman walking the halls.

It would take a 'less than average' coaching staff for that to happen. Guys like Moriarity and Wright proved how dominant the Greyhounds can be given the resources at their disposal. Under Hebert's guidance, they're significant in every opponent they play, just Carmel being Carmel. And when Hebert steps down, another talented coach will take over. Coaches gravitate toward programs with resources. There's no shortage of talent in a school of 5000.

I don't remember anyone canceling them. But yes, one of the better dynasties that comes to mind.

Carroll went out and scheduled some big time opponents, so kudos to them. They're serious about building their program. The big question for me last year was Carroll's collapse after beating Hamilton Southeastern. Was CG just that much better than everybody else? Was Carroll just overwhelmed by their first ever state title appearance? A combination of both?

I heard it from some at the state game last year. Maybe it was just an isolated incident.

I just don't see Center Grove being any different than some of the other dynasties I've seen throughout the years. It's hard for me to imagine a fellow 6A competitor not wanting to play them.

I'm presuming the students show up in full force during big games? If not, that's a serious problem. It's hard to not get pumped up for high school football. Too bad more people are interested in universities they have no association with and overpaid NFL franchises. Why not support the kids in their own communities? Hard to beat those Snider/Penn games for $7. Same could be said for rivalries in every area of the state.

I was going to question your #9, but npcouger15 beat me to it. I just don't see Valpo as a Top 10 program. It's sad that your top eight are from the Indy area, but it's probably the truth. Indy has been on a different level over the last decade. Also sad that a Snider, Dwenger (two state titles compared to Valpo's one), or Luers isn't in the top ten. No representation from Fort Wayne, and probably rightly so.

There's a lot of talk around the Center Grove community that "no one wants to play us because we're too good." I can't imagine that's the issue here.............any insight?

1. Clemson - Clemson runs the table with home games against Notre Dame and Florida State. They win most of their games impressive enough to earn the #1 position. 2. LSU - Huge win at Alabama, followed by the SEC Championship over Georgia. 3. Notre Dame - Big home wins vs USC and Ohio State, close loss at Clemson. 4. Ohio State - Only blemish on their schedule is a loss at Notre Dame. They go undefeated the rest of the way including a huge win in Ann Arbor.

Agree, that's the difference between now and 10 years ago..............definitely 20 & 30 years ago. Central Indiana gets stronger year after year. Too many resources for their counterparts to compete with.

There was a time when Indy metro would have been mercy ruled by the likes of Penn, Snider, Ben Davis, Carmel, and Warren Central. Balance of power has made a major shift and now it's Indy metro doing the dominating with programs like Carroll heading down that same path. Snider has slowly dropped from 2200 students to 1800 over the course of three decades while the percentage of free lunch students continue to rise. That being said, they're still a strong program with one of the better coaching staffs in the state. The 5-5 covid year was really they're only down season. Add to that the rise of Carroll and less is being said about the Panthers. They're still on solid footing and look for them to compete with Valpo and North Side for the right to represent the North at Lucas.

Hard to debate any of that.

Any idea how many starters return from Lafayette Jeff?

Very good men no doubt, but unfortunately not perfect. I'm just wondering who's pointing the finger at themselves saying "I should have done something different." Maybe it's the coaches, maybe it's not, but it's someone. Maybe the players themselves?

What were his stats last year? He hardly threw the ball in the Snider game.

Sometimes your better off being a fan of the game itself instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. I get it though, I can see Penn fans getting restless. It's like Notre Dame, fans expect a certain quality of play after decades of prosperity. Penn always had, and probably still does, have one of the best fan bases in the state. They would bring 2500 fans to Spuller Stadium.