Footballking16

Think we need to give Elder a little more credit. Of the 3 Cincy teams Cathedral plays this year, Elder has the most explosive offense in my opinion. Played an absolute barn burner against a full strength LaSalle team in week 1 which saw them lose in double OT on a successful 2pt conversion from LaSalle and lead X going into the 4th and gave up 21 straight points in a matter of 6 game minutes. That being said, still think Cathedral has the edge on both sides of the LOS and should be able to win that battle. Elder will score points, but not enough to outlast the Irish. Cathedral 38 Elder 28

I don't agree necessarily that either team plays to "lose" this game, just may not pull out all the tricks and trades right before playoffs. The way the game is called, decision-making, etc could be different.

It's an inopportune time to have the game right before the start of the playoffs, but it still matters to an extent as bragging rights are on the line, nobody wants to ever lose. But given the all-in format where you actually know your first round opponent before week 9 kicks off and the fact there's no seeding/qualification/conference title implications on the line means it's only bragging rights for one team. For instance, I suspect if Indiana had a qualifying format, last years 4-4 Center Grove heading into their week 9 match-up with Cathedral likely would have needed a win to get into the postseason and someone like Carsen Steele who was sidelined most the year with injuries would have played. But sans 2018, all these games have actually been terrific to watch. Each game (other than 2018 blowout) has been decided by a touchdown or less. There's been high scoring games, a 7-0 defensive slugfest, even an OT thriller. With Cathedral and Center Grove likely both being head and shoulders better than the rest of their class peers, this game probably declares the best team in the state. I don't know what the coaches plan on showing or who they will choose to play/sit, but I do know that both teams will give it their all.

Don’t know much about 1A, 2A, or 4A but they’re could be 40-50 point blowouts in the remaining classes.

Sounds like Payne (RB with a ton of offers) is out. QB banged up but playing. LaSalle still has 4-5 other D1 commits on the team and will certainly be a tough match-up. Believe their secondary has an Alabama, Ohio State, and Cincinnati commit so definitely a tall task for Cathedral's passing game. But yes I think Cathedral has the advantage on the line and should be able to run the ball with some success. 28-17 Irish.

Decent parity but don’t understand the need for a conference that doesn’t allow every team to play one another and effectively crowning a conference champion? That and you eliminate any possibility of scheduling out of conference, thus effectively ending long time rivalries; Chatard-Cathedral, Columbus North-East, etc. It’s a no for me.

We’ll be 2/3’s the way done with the regular season at the conclusion of Friday’s games. With playoffs rapidly approaching that means it’s also appropriate to talk about the state’s most coveted award; Mr. Football. In my opinion there’s 3 candidates who have separated themselves from the rest the pack. 1. Carsen Steele-Center Grove. A four year starter for the Trojans, it seems like a decade ago we first heard Steele’s name. After an injury ridden season last year, Steele picked up right where he left off. Carsen is the top offensive standout on one of the best teams in the entire country. 2. Donovan McCulley-Lawrence North. This is the sexy pick. Top offensive rated player in the state committed to the states flagship university. McCulley has been fantastic this year and is the key component to a very impressive LN turnaround. A strong finish to the end of the year and a potential section victory could make him the front runner. 3. Nathan McCahill-Cathedral. This time last year you’d be hard pressed to find anybody outside the Cathedral family that was familiar with the name McCahill. McCahill’s transformation from reserve receiver to star QB has been a treat to watch. Has put up ridiculously numbers against stout opponents week in and week out and is a major reason why Cathedral sits 5-0 on the year. He’s won the IndyStar performer of the week three times now and certainly on the radar. These in my opinion are the top 3 candidates but feel free to give worthy recognition to those out there.

I don’t think anybody can deny that on paper Center Grove is by far and away the most talented team in the state and the way they’ve dominated their competition speaks for itself. That being said, will be tough convincing me that Cathedral to date doesn’t have a more impressive resume than Center Grove. Cathedral currently has more Sagarin top 10 wins than Center Grove and boasts a win over St. Xavier who would almost assuredly be a top 5 Sagarin rated team in Indiana. In a few weeks we’ll have our answer for sure.

He just left the MIC...

Again, that’s not only a very bold statement but an objective one. Saying neither of those teams could move the ball against this CG defense is egregious at best. Considering the 06 Warren team had multiple OL/TE go on to play in the NFL, a D1 QB and 2 future NFL RB’s, I’m going to have to disagree with you there.

That Warren team had at least 3 players play an NFL regular season snap (Andrew McDonald, Adrien Robinson, Darren Evans) along with 6 or 7 other D1 kids just from that senior class alone. Your precise claim was this “might be the best team in Indiana history”; not “team that can beat any other team in Indiana history”. 15-20 years from now we’ll be saying the same thing about another team being able to beat this CG team because the game once again has evolved and players are even bigger, faster, stronger than before. Still don’t think this CG team beats the 01 BD team or 06 Warren team.

I don’t think they beat 06 Warren or 01 Ben Davis. Just an opinion. Pretty sure both those teams finished the season top 10, if not too 5 nationally. The amount of high D1 caliber kids on that 06 Warren team was staggering. The evolution of the game + size and strength of kids these days makes it impossible to compare teams from different eras.

If this is truly the best team in the history of Indiana, they should still win comfortably without showing much. In all honesty, winner of this game probably has bragging rights the rest the year.

Sagarin doesn’t take into consideration out of state opponents which is Brownsburg signature win so far. CG, Cathedral, and Brownsburg are in tier 1 this year and it’s a wide gap from the rest.

Fields obviously in a lot better shape than it used to be now that Cathedral has taken care of it (and Arlington no longer playing and practicing on it everyday) but do question if it’s the right move going forward if they decide to keep it natural grass, especially come the colder and wetter months. Counted two X players who left with injuries last night that I would attribute to the playing surface and Cathedral’s best WR avoided disaster getting tackled on the concrete part of the track that’s 5 yards from the sideline. Parking isn’t terrible and there’s adequate seating, but it’s nowhere near the venue of Tech High School.

25-22 Irish. Satisfying win no doubt but really felt Cathedral had a chance at a statement win as they should have won that game going away rather than holding on for dear life. Really thought Cathedral was the better at just about every position but 11 penalties and 3 turnovers allowed the Bombers to stay at bay until the very end.

Exactly. Awful clock management.

Honestly not sure if Cathedral has punted once this entire year so that may be an advantage in of itself. Decent kicker who has the ability to get it to the end zone on kickoffs. Your point does remind me that Cathedral has gone for 2 on it’s opening TD in every game this year with a different gadget play every time. I think they’ve only converted 1/4.

Expecting a lot of fireworks in this one. X has rebounded nicely with a couple of big wins over LaSalle and Elder (Cathedral’s next two opponents) after a pretty big collapse against Brownsburg week 1. I think Cathedral’s secondary was exposed to a degree last week and X has a very capable QB with a couple big time receivers. Same thing can be said for X as their secondary is their noted weak link. Cathedral has a ton of weapons on the outside and very good TE. Would not be shocked if the total is in the 70s or even 80s. Cathedral has won the turnover battle every week and likely the key to staying undefeated. That and shoring up the penalties. Last week was a debacle as Cathedral had 14 penalties for 100+ yards. That can’t happen while playing St. X. 45-42 Irish in OT.

I too think it’ll be closer than some have indicated but still think the Irish pull away late. Would imagine Chatard needs to put up at least 30 points to have a punchers chance but don’t see it happening. Competitive game at half with Cathedral dominating after the break. I’ll go 41-24 Irish

Wouldn’t disagree that I think Center Grove is likely the more talented team over Cathedral but final scores in both the Cathedral/Carmel and CG/Carmel game a bit misleading. CG scored twice late to really blow it open after only leading 21-0 going into the 4th. Cathedral was up 30 at the end of the third with well over 500 yards of offense and took their starters out only for Carmel’s starters to score twice on Cathedral‘s second unit. Both very impressive victories by each team.

Ha. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on. Good to still see some familiar faces.

No love for Cathedral?

At the very worst, X runs 3 times and Brownsburg burns all 3 timeouts and X is punting the ball around midfield with 2 minutes left. Easters up until the last drive, as momentum had finally swung, was pretty disappointing. I think he was 9-23 passing with a couple interceptions. I’m taking my chances forcing Brownsburg to throw the ball down field with no timeouts left.

No doubt Brownsburg is a very good team, but I thought X thoroughly outplayed them all but 3-4 minutes. I’ve seen X play a dozen times over the years and that was a very uncharacteristic X game plan. I don’t understand X throwing the ball up late or don’t understand why X didn’t have their returners up considering Brownsburg was directional kicking the entire night. But all in all, just about everything had to go wrong in order for X to lose that game and here we are.