BTF

Anytime Homestead has ever had a D1 quarterback, they've been in the conversation for some kind of title contention. I still think Homestead and Carroll are on a level playing field regarding strength of program. Homestead has the history with three decades of success. Whereas Carroll is trending up fast as a new power program. But to answer your question, I would say yes. A guy like that is a game changer.

Was wondering when your Top 10's were coming. Transfer portal..............hilarious and out of hand.

Homestead is on a current two year slide. Before that they were back to back SAC champs and a big injury away from a deeper post season run. I'm not ready to right them off just yet. Snider had a three year run of mediocrity before being last years favorite to win the 5A title. Spartans will be back. Same coach, same community.

So you have HSE at #4 and Carroll at #8? We'll find out real quick in Week 1.

It's really hard to conclude anything by the score of one game. If you consider only the following games in bold, one could conclude that Valpo was better than Penn last season. Week 1 Penn 35, Valpo 6 Week 2 Carroll 28, Snider 21 Week 3 Carroll 28, North Side 20 Week 10 Carroll 35, Penn 7 Week 13 Carroll 21, HSE 15 Week 13 Valpo 22, Snider 21

Valpo didn't hit on all cylinders until the end of the season. No offense, but I don't think how Valpo played in Week 1 of last season has any bearing on them potentially being one of the Top 10 teams in the entire state this year.

Beating the likes of Center Grove, Brownsburg, Warren Central, Hamilton Southeastern, or Carroll would be a chore............I wouldn't bet on that. I don't think placing them somewhere between 6-10 is unrealistic. Nineteen returning starters, big line, good runners, solid defense. Very realistic to me.

2023 looks to be stacked at the top with at least four teams. It’s looking like the usual suspects once again. 1. Valparaiso – With 19 starters returning from last years state title team, this is a pretty easy pick at the #1 position. They would easily qualify as a Top 10 team in 6A this year. They’ll get their opportunity in 2024 after graduating most of the guys who made the prior two years successful. This is a major glitch in how the success factor works. 2. Snider – The panthers return half their team and will have a chip on their shoulder after missing a golden opportunity last year to win their third state title. Look for Snider to be as good as they were last year and make another run at the title. 3. Merrillville – The Pirates are another team that felt they had a good shot in 2022. They just happened to be the victim of a team hitting on all cylinders at the right time. We might as well get used to the fact that Merrillville will be in the conversation every year, they just seem to reload. 4. North Side – The Legend’s coach feels that his team is stronger and faster than a year before. If that’s the case, they’ll be a dangerous team to face for any team at any level. It doesn’t hurt to have, arguably, the best player in the state of Indiana and half their starters back from a team last year that was one play away from taking out Snider in the sectionals and a touchdown behind a very good Carroll team. 5. Decatur Central – It’s been said by the Indy fan base that this growing community will produce solid football teams for years to come. It appears they lose too much from a year ago for me to have them any higher than the 5 spot. I have a hard time creating a complete list not knowing much about what the south has to offer this year. I just know that the north is stacked at the top. Would love to see some opinions from all parts of the state. Honorable Mention: Dwenger – It’s hard to leave a program like this out the conversation. They have a coach going into his fifth season. His first two years were very successful with an enormous amount of talent at his disposal. The past two seasons have been average at best. I’m betting on an uptick this season. Dwenger is a machine that rebuilds from within. Off years are an anomaly for the Saints. Up next: Brownsburg…….good luck, God strength, and God speed.

Or not, best just to put this to rest for now.

No inside ties to the program. Last year's backup was a quick footed junior. Running attack should be solid .

Saw that one coming. He'll go to the Division I school of his choosing in wresting. Too much to lose with a football related injury.

I could see Blackhawk vs AC being a highly anticipated matchup a few years down they road, but they have a long way to go to reach AC status.

Good observation regarding Homestead. I agree that playing a brutal schedule isn't the end all be all for a long tournament run. Personally, I think it helps though. Penn won 5 state titles after blowing through one of the weaker regular season schedules in the state. Snider's reached state 7 or 8 times playing in a conference that features several schools in the 2A-4A range. Not sure what Warsaw's schedule was like back in 1999 or 2000, but those teams were arguably one of the top three teams in the state. So there is some evidence out there that you don't need to beat yourself up by playing schools with 2500+ enrollments all season long in order to have a deep run. However, on the flip side of the coin, the high school football landscape is a bit different now than it was when the forementioned teams were making their runs. Kudos for the Tigers for scheduling a program like Warren Central. I think Bart Curtis is a "go big or go home" kind of guy. I also see that Warsaw has Snider inked for '25 & '26.

That would be dangerous. I imagine they'd give most 3A and 4A teams a run for their money.

Football in Northeast Indiana is alive and well. Looking forward to seeing out 2023 plays out. The following are some of the bigger topics this summer heading toward a new season. 1. Eastside has some huge shoes to fill with the loss of Todd Mason. He built a machine up there in Butler. Expectations will be pretty high for the new guy. The fans up there are used to winning. 2. East Noble starts the season off with a bang as they go head to head with the SAC. Bishop Luers in 2A and Snider in 5A. Two great pickups for a Knight's program that has tasted a high level of success over the past decade. I love the "go big or go home" approach when it comes to scheduling. 3. Carroll set a new bar for their program in 2022. They have the resources to become Northern Indiana's premier program. With half their team returning from last years state runners up and a rising star at quarterback, look for more of the same from the Chargers in 2023. Speaking of "go big or go home," no team north of Indy suburbia boasts a more impressive schedule than Carroll. Six teams have the potential to take them out.............. Hamilton Southeastern, Warren Central, Dwenger, Snider, Homestead, and North Side. 4. How good will Concordia be in Tim Mannigel's second season back at the helm? Are they back to being a contender in 3A and a thorn in the side of their SAC foes? History tells us that his teams are a coin toss when they play Luers and a formidable challenge for the big schools of the conference. 5. I can't imagine anyone's expecting much out of Blackhawk Christian in their inaugural season for 11 man football. But we all know how these private schools can come onto the scene and quickly make an impact. I think it will take three or four years. By 2026, I think they'll be serious contenders in 1A. 6. Snider and North Side have their hands full in 5A this year. Not playing one another in the regular season will make their sectional game a highly anticipated one. The winner, given they get by Dwenger and Mishawaka, get to square up against Valpo and their NINETEEN returning starters. That's not a typo. 7. Dwenger and Homestead have fallen back to a severe case of mediocrity over the past two seasons. I'd be surprised if either one makes it three seasons in a row. Both have a good core of guys returning to stay among the elite of the SAC. But let's be honest here, does finishing in the 4 or 5 spot in the SAC make you average? Hardly. Both teams better be ready though, because they open with Brownsburg and Carmel to start the season. They'll quickly find out if they are among the states elite or if they have some serious work to do. 8. Who wins the battle of Adams County this year? South Adams is knocking on the door, but Adams Central is always the safe bet. I'll say it again and I hope it comes to fruition. Both teams need to tap into the SAC's open conference by going after Luers, South Side, Concordia, and Wayne. 9. Warsaw doesn't have a single 6A team on their schedule this year. That could mean trouble once the tournament gets here. Playing top notch competition in the regular season isn't the end all be all (see Penn in the 90's), but having some good teams on your schedule definitely prepares you. Mishawaka and Northwood are formidable foes, but not enough to prepare them for Carroll or Homestead. 10. How about two Northeast 8 programs I haven't mentioned yet? Was Columbia City a one time wonder last year? Are 10 win seasons the new norm for Josh Gerber's Norwell Knights?

A better metric for the success factor, Pierce said, would be to use a larger window of historical data to predict future success. That would help eliminate cases where a talented group of athletes achieves success and then graduates, leaving a team to compete above its weight without the same level of talent. Hit the nail on the head. Many of us saw this from the beginning. Bump it to 9 points over a 3 or 4 year period.

I've always been an advocate of positive reinforcement and personal improvement. Stripping you of your momentum was just plain wrong by the GID.

Probably not "rest" games. "Preseason" maybe?

Penn vs Snider needs to resume at some point. They had a nice rivalry spanning two decades as the north's two premier teams.

They return half their starters from last season and the student body keeps getting stronger. They might be the north's best team this year even if they start the season 0-2. HSE will be hungry when they host Carroll at Lucas Oil. And I'm making a semi-bold prediction that WC will be one of the top three teams in the state this year .

Snider's Mac Hippenhammer just signed with the Bengals.

I thought it was 10,000,003?

Correction.........meant to say Elmhurst, not South Side. And they only dropped one team..........Snider. In 2003 they picked up Coldwater lost at home 60-7. They picked up Lima Senior in 2004 and lost 20-6. They resumed their series with Snider in 2005.

That's serious. When Coldwater played Elmhurst several years back, they were offended that the Trojans dropped a couple of the bigger SAC schools for "relief" on their brutal schedule and picked up Coldwater. I think South Side assumed Coldwater would be "relief" being a small school. Mercy rule would have taken affect early second quarter. That's a true story. I remember someone on from the Coldwater program using the word "offended."

Couldn't we say the same thing about the SAC with 22 state titles by six different schools? I do understand what you're saying though. Pound for pound, the Ohio schools appear to be way ahead of Indiana in the smaller divisions. Either way, I would be fun to see some border wars between Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio.