BTF

15 hours ago, crimsonace1 said:

They're in Marion County. That's as "Indy area" as it gets. They're as much Indy-area as Snider is Fort Wayne-area. 

Good to know. Good to have that Indy representation. 

Wayne. Don't sleep on the Generals. They have a good coach who is entering his third season. Wayne has some history of some very good teams with the right leadership in place. They will be battle tested playing in the SAC. They won't be ranked by season's end because the AP is mostly concerned with record and not SOS. But they very well may be one of the Top 10 teams in 4A. 

6 hours ago, Boilernation said:

A starter from Bishop Dwenger transferred to North for presumably football related reasons. Never thought I would hear that. 

Might be a first. 

2 minutes ago, Justasportsfan said:

Offense could have one of those seasons thats needed now a days...a few burners with size sprinkled in...not dbl digit D1 players..still talented tho😁

Agree. The potential is there. This team could be good. But I've seen teams with "potential" fall flat on their faces. Week 1 will be a good test. 

1 hour ago, Boilernation said:

Or we could be seeing a repeat of 2020. 5-6 with a very potent offense. That Team: 

• Beat Snider by 30
• Lost to Dwenger by 13
• Scored 48 points in a loss to Carroll
• Scored 46 points in a loss to Luers
• Scored 36 points in a loss to Homestead
• Scored 27 points in a loss to Northrop
• Lost to Dwenger by 8 in Sectionals

Could very well happen. Different coach this time. North Side is a wild card. Hard to predict. Week 1 will be a good one in the SAC.

22 hours ago, Boilernation said:

How about Fort Wayne North? They may have the state's best skill player (regardless of class) at WR. I think I read a QB from Dwenger or Snider transferred in. Is North a true threat to Snider and Dwenger in Sectional 12 or just a decent team that will have an explosive offense?

Transfer came from Dwenger. Unsure if was the Saints first or second string though. There is a lot of hype surrounding North Side this year. Last year they started strong with a 2pt loss to Snider and ended strong with a 3pt loss to Dwenger, but everything in between was a train wreck as they finished the season 2-7. Are they a contender? I would say yes since they lost to the Panthers and Saints last year by a combined *5pts. 

*Regular season game was a 26pt whipping delivered by the Saints

2 minutes ago, temptation said:

Maybe its just one I am creating.  After an era of domination, New Pal came back to earth and is now playing in its class on a consistent basis.  

Wondering if Ralph's magic was due more so to a solid group coming through or if he can repeat that success.

Sorry for my lack of clarity.

I always thought his magic came from getting the most out of his top athletes by having them play both sides of the ball. Think about the math. If your best players are playing on both sides of the ball, then you are probably playing the quality of football that a school double your size plays with............for at least a half anyway. Most teams that do that tend to wear down in the second half, but NP never seemed to. 

You could be on point regarding a run in talent. A good program remains good if they are playing within their weight class. But if you are playing teams that have clear advantages like enrollment or socioeconomic advantages, then you are probably at the mercy of that talent "run" just to stay towards the top. 

Case in point: For decades Snider managed to to be a Top 5 program every 4-5 years.........like clockwork. That was due to them playing schools twice their enrollment. Every 4-5 years they had that talent run that could compete with the mega schools. 

1 minute ago, foxbat said:

True, but Harrison got eliminated two years straight by Zionsville in sectionals, eliminating the probability of a pair of sectional titles ... and last year had a halftime lead over Zionsville before succumbing.  Even if Cathedral won it all, I would have liked to have seen Harrison face off against Dwenger and possibly MC before the Peebles brothers met up in LOS.

Zionsville barely survived the North the past two seasons, for sure. 

4 minutes ago, Piratefan101 said:

They are a too 5 in 5A but rumblings say this is a building year for them. I hope not. We need competition. After week 1 I feel we will coast to semi

Speaking of rumblings, you'll probably coast through semi-state as well. The consensus seems to be that 2022 will be the Decatur Central/Merrillville show. 

4 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Zionsville belonged in 6A a couple of years ago based on enrollment ... they were actually #30 in the 2019 series and #31 in the 2020 series of 32, after adjusting for SF bumps, but somehow ended up playing in 5A in the 2020 and 2021 seasons despite playing 6A in 2019.

Good information. It really didn't affect much though. Cathedral was winning the title those years regardless. 

2 minutes ago, temptation said:

New Pal/Ralph is a fascinating storyline for me this fall.  Will be interested to see how they progress.

Unfamiliar with the storyline.

4 minutes ago, Boilernation said:

That's a shame. Was thinking they were in Sectional 14. Definately makes 5A a little weaker. Sectional 22 has the potential for a series of Hoosier Heritage rematches.

Agree with New Pal. Zionsville? No, they belong in 6A. 

Zionsville belongs in 6A based on enrollment. Not sure New Pal "belongs" in 6A. My point was..........the more competition the better in 5A.

4 minutes ago, TigerFan20 said:

How are they projected this year? They were very dominant last year from what I remember 

I'm just looking at trends. And the trend is at minimum a 10 win season. Mason is 2-1 versus Bishop Luers over the last three seasons. And if the Knights couldn't beat him and his Blazers last season, I'm not sure when they can ever beat them again. 

Can't have a discussion about 2A anymore without the mention of Eastside. Todd Mason and the Blazers own Northeast Indiana.

10 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

New Pal is in 4A so you won’t be seeing them winning 5A

It's a shame New Pal is 4A now. Would love to see them and Zionsville remain in 5A. 

55 minutes ago, temptation said:

I could be wrong but I’ll guess…”the Indy factor.”

Until non-central Indy schools breakthrough at the 5A/6A level when it comes to winning titles, “bias” towards them will always exist.

Only Columbus East and Snider have weakened the stereotype recently.

 

I'm not too familiar with Decatur Central. But it's good to know that they are considered "Indy area." I was just thinking the other day how lonely 5A seems to be with no Indy teams represented. It just seems normal that the road to Lucus goes through Zionsville with the right to play Cathedral. Personally? I wish that were still the case.

3 hours ago, Dave007 said:

I think DC is the team to beat, not just in the south but state this year.    

What does DC have going for them besides enrollment? Strong senior class? Several returning starters? Stating that they are the team to beat without previewing all the other teams in 5A is quite the statement. But hey, if they are senior heavy with 15+ returning starters, I understand the high expectations.

29 minutes ago, temptation said:

Those teams don’t need help.  They are talented as hell.  Also, they had very few stars opt out.

If you don’t think that the Hoosiers benefited from playing in empty stadiums on the road (Wisconsin/O$U) and teams that had stars opt out (Penn State/Michigan) I don’t know what to tell you.

A highlight of the Hoosiers season was them coming back and making the final score respectable in the Horseshoe…

And some 2021 preseason publications even had the gall to insinuate that Hoosiers were ascending and were a threat to Ohio State.

I agree that bad teams benefit from empty stadiums and good teams suffer from them. I'm not saying that covid didn't have any effect, you'd have to be a moron to believe so. I'm just wondering what the forementioned teams did that Michigan and Penn State did not. 

On 7/29/2022 at 8:07 AM, temptation said:

Throw the Covid year out.  It was an anomaly.

 

 

Just curious. Why didn't covid affect Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Ohio State?

34 minutes ago, Irishman said:

I have been in the Fort since 08. My impression is there are far more Steelers fans, with some Bears fans and a lot of Colts fans. The connection between Chicago and ND is that a LOT of students at ND came from Chicago in the early days of the school. I think there is a steady flow of them even today. There are other cities with a high population of Catholics that have a strong connection as well. NYC, Philly, and Boston included. Since the Order of St. Joseph priests started Cathedral over 100 years ago, Indy sent a good number there as well.  

Steelers fans are everywhere. Even Florida. They grew quite the following in the 70's and 80's. 

If you live in Chicago and are well off financially, you send your kids to Notre Dame. So yeah, Chicago is probably more Irish than South Bend. 

4 hours ago, Footballking16 said:

State? Maybe city but I don't think that's weird at all. People living in NW IN and the Region are closer to Chicago by almost two hours than Indianapolis. Have never lived in that area of the state but would guess most local coverage goes to the Bears before it does the Colts. In fact, I'm pretty sure Chicago's metro population encompasses Lake and Porter Country. 

It just fascinates me. I think everyone has a good story. And you are correct about NW Indiana and their ties to Chicago. Half that population travels to Chicago for work. And the Windy City has adopted ND as their own even though Illinois hates Indiana politically. 

Most people in Fort Wayne identified with the Bears before the colts came to Indy. Then it was probably 60/40 in favor of the Bears. Now I would say it's 65/35 in favor of the Colts. 

16 minutes ago, temptation said:

Long story...started when I was 9 years old.

Just curious. It always fascinates me when someone's favorite team is outside the state they call home. 

1 hour ago, temptation said:

below average uniforms.

Agree.

Remind me again why you are a Michigan fan.

42 minutes ago, Robert said:

It's been interesting to see the rosters at the beginning of the year, my own favorite teams included.

It's becoming like college football it appears. Gone are the days of winning with your own pipeline. I guess that's just 80's thinking. 

I'm not a coach. I never have been and never will be. But here is my perspective from the outside looking in. If you're willing to chest bump after a sack or a touchdown, you should probably be willing to do the same after getting an A on a test. An education, whether college or self, will take 99.9% of all high school athletes further than their 40 time. Life success is long term, whereas football success is not. Being the star and captain of your football team is a fantastic accomplishment, but being a successful CEO of your own life is an even better one. 

Chest bump all you want, show swagger, and have fun. But do the same in the classroom (players) and with your family (coaches) or it's all for naught.