Footballking16

Nick Zachery is up there and he never won Mr. Football. 4 year starter at QB, won 3 titles and a runner-up. Had 16 INT's between his jr and senior season and over 200 tackles. Scored TD's via punt return, kick return, INT, fumble recovery, rushing, and receiving. When he didn't win it I thought a 1A player would never win such an award. Many thought there would never be another Zachery.

Senior who had the best season. Been several years where the states best Senior has played on the offensive or defensive line and almost by default has been eliminated from contention. Blake Fisher and Zach Martin come to mind.

It's a senior only award and typically goes to the best offensive skill player, usually to a big class player. For years it was a very heavily biased central Indiana award but in recent years with a change in voting structure has shifted representation among the state and into smaller classes. First year in awhile where there isn't a clear cut winner and not a player with eye dropping stats that jump off the table. It very well could be determined by a player this year who has a big state tournament. FWIW, I think Hansen is probably the front runner and a win against New Pal probably puts him in the drivers seat.

You could make a reasonable argument that David Bell wasn’t even the “best” player on his team that year. Without a doubt he was the most talented player, but people forget that Romeir Elliott ran for 3000+ yards and 41 TD’s that same year. Elliott should feel every bit as snubbed as Bell.

If anything, Roncalli is kicking themselves for losing a game that ended their season. Agree that no team likely looks at it from the angle ascribed above.

Well regardless of how you look at Cathedral, it doesn't change the fact that they're still a 4A school by enrollment lol. Two-thirds of the 5A championships have been won by 4A enrollment schools. It's the most watered down class by far since a 6th class was added and t's even further watered down this year.

6/9 5A championships have been won by schools who were 4A by enrollment since the addition of a 6th class.

Plainfield vs Cathedral was a big upset, but nowhere close to a Cinderella run. That Plainfield team had multiple D1 kids and believe they had an OL eventually play in the NFL. For me, a Cinderella team would be a bottom half Sagarin rated team that beats 2-3 top half rated Sagarin teams en route to a sectional championship, akin to a 13+ seed reaching the S16 of the NCAA basketball tournament.

It’s not telling at all. Warsaw played a joke of a schedule (in comparison to the rest of 6A) and wasn’t competitive against their two best opponents, both from lower classes. Computer rankings such as Sagarin, CalPreps, etc exist for this very sole reason. Raw W-L record is an extremely poor way to gauge how good a team is given the imbalance in scheduling. I’m all for seeding. It would be a precursor to a qualifier. Let’s see it happen!

Nobody is forcing Warsaw to play in the NLC. Warsaw isn’t alone either in that regard. As conferences are always changing and evolving, I think it makes a great deal of sense for schools like Warsaw, Penn, and Elkhart to branch out and start a new conference and do what they can to try and entice Carroll and Homestead. That becomes the premier northern conference almost instantly. And if we’re being honest, if Warsaw doesn’t get blown out by 4A Northwood or 5A Mishawaka, they’re likely in the top half of the field. My playoff proposal includes an added 10th regular season which would greatly benefit a school like Warsaw if they were to stick it out in their current conference. Both those teams would have qualified in a postseason format that effectively cuts the field in half at the conclusion of the regular season.

58-2 is the record between top half Sagarin teams and bottom half Sagrin rated teams. Cinderella is a myth yet it is a huge talking point as to why the all-in exists.

Warsaw and Elkhart played the second and third easiest schedules in 6A. Neither school has beat a 6A opponent the entire year and Warsaw got pumped by the their two toughest opponents. Both schools would be 1 or 2 win teams if they played an HCC or MIC schedule. Unfortunately, one of these two teams will win a postseason game next week by virtue of playing each other in an archaic format (as will Avon/Pike) while one of Ben Davis or Brownsburg is done after the first round. A travesty.

Zionsville was a top 16 Sagarin rated team in 5A in 2020 and 2021 and would have made a postseason qualifier that effectively cut the field in half at the conclusion of the regular season.

$$$$$

I will continue to push my narrative until the IHSAA gets it right. They haven’t since 1984. The second they seed the sectionals accordingly a qualifier is sure to follow. 58-2 top half vs bottom half.

In a format that effectively cuts the field in half at the conclusion of the regular season and is seeded accordingly, no these good teams don’t play each other in the first round. That’s why the IHSAA tournament is beyond flawed.

A format that allows Pike Central and Washington to play in the first round while Oak Hill and Guerin play in the first round is a travesty. Pike Central and Washington don’t belong in the tournament to begin with, let alone have a favorable first round match up. 9-0 Oak Hill playing a top 10 Sagarin opponent in round 1 while two of the worst teams in 3A squaring off against each other (Pike Central & Washington) is a travesty. Make it make sense

An all-in format that allows Pike Central to play Washington while Ben Davis plays Brownsburg is a travesty. Get rid of it. It’s not that hard.

Exactly. Glad Pike Central won a postseason game at the expense of Mount Vernon or Ben Davis/Brownsburg or South Putnam or Oak Hill. Make it make sense.

Several top teams were cut down by other top teams as teams who had no business playing in the postseason advanced. The all-in sucks and the regulated season doesn’t mean Sh*t. Travesty

Pike Central the 254 worst team in the state beat Washington the 274 worst team in the state. Hats off. Thank the all-in blind draw.

Another keen observation; after 5A and 6A complete their first round matchups next week, there will have been more top 10 teams eliminated by virtue of drawing other top 10 teams (5) in the first round than upsets of bottom half Sagarin rated teams over top half Sagarin rated teams. Think about that? A total injustice to the regular season. Make it make sense.

Early indications are that top half Sagarin rated teams went 58-2 against bottom half Sagarin rated teams last night in class 1A-4A. Typical, but not at all surprising. Dekalb #39 over #29 New Haven and #40 New Castle over #31 Beech Grove both out of 4A were the two “upset” winners. Will be back later with final score analysis to show just how lopsided last nights affairs were. Cut the field in half people, please.

Lol. I said Cathedral wasn’t there to beat Brownsburg or didn’t care!?!? Talk about setting up strawman of all strawman.

I'm not disagreeing with any of that, but if you haven't played/coached in an environment where regular season games have playoff implications than you can't lament one way or the other. Outside of transfers from other states currently playing in the IHSAA, virtually no current player has played in a regular season game with the season and playoff hopes potentially on the line. Same can be said for many of the current coaches and assistants unless they're old enough to have coached/played under the old system or coached in a different state. High School kids are going to line up and play wherever you tell them. I don't question that. But every high school kid in this state knows the stakes are higher in week 10 than weeks 1-9.