Footballking16

You don’t think a heavyweight match-up is inclined to draw a bigger crowd when 2/3 of the field is eliminated as opposed to when everybody is theoretically still alive? I wish I could see some data that disproves that.

People are going to gravitate towards the teams they naturally follow despite their record before anything else. I'm going to go to a Cathedral first round sectional game regardless if their 9-0 or 0-9 and I'm watching them until their season is complete. I'm sure 95% of fans are in the same boat. Fans of two bad teams just aren't going to skip out on a playoff game and watch a better game cross town.

Well public interest for one. The two best teams playing in week three instead of week one when there are still six other teams playing is going to draw a ton of more regional interest. But I thought that was a given.

Definitely a headscratcher. From an individual standpoint, that might have been the most talented Cathedral team ever. Pete Werner (Ohio State/NFL), Emil Ekiyor (Alabama/soon to be NFL), and Markese Stepp although injured (USC/Nebraska) were all on that team.

Any updates on Cathedral injuries?

Within Ben Davis.

I agree. I thought Ben Davis was going to be the biggest hurdle for Center Grove to overcome in the South this year and while they played the Trojans admirably for a half, it's probably their high point of the year so far. Their two wins are against a pair of teams who are 0-6 and will have a third win against a winless team by the time they beat North Central. Very real chance their best win this year comes against Lawrence Central, think about that. Gave BD the benefit of the doubt last year due to a rough COVID year with a very young team, but man something is lacking. They'll rack up two more wins to end the year and then sweep Sectional 6 which pound for pound may be the easiest sectional in the entire state. I sense a potential lack of apathy setting in for Ben Davis at some point down the road similar to what we've seen at Penn.

Something tells me you've never stepped foot on Cathedral's campus or else you would let this die. Cathedral's inability to have an on-site football stadium has only been rehashed on the GID about 30 times. They don't own the surrounding land to put up bleachers and the surrounding landscape doesn't support infrastructure even if they did. That doesn't even account for the local ordinance that prohibits stadium lights due to the surrounding neighborhoods. And we haven't even discussed the issue of parking. There's not enough parking spaces for all the students who are eligible to drive, let alone 5000 extra people. Cathedral is located on an extremely busy road with no available parking or walking access. Get to Arlington early on 10/14 and think before you type next time.

What a massive game for both teams. Winner of this game may be in the driver seat for the playoff. Cincinnati’s schedule is a joke after this and ND’s once thought tough stretch a few weeks ago now doesn’t look all that daunting.

Great bar.

I know. It was a light hearted response to an ongoing debate not meant to be taken literally.

Enrollment or talent? IMG only has about 700 kids. Sorry couldn’t resist 😂

I think CalPreps had both Cathedral and Center Grove nationally ranked last year in their regular season meeting. Granted California didn’t have a season and Texas was delayed some months before they started.

IU’s getting a lack of production from the one guy who has been a cornerstone for the last two seasons. I’m not shocked that IU is 1-2, I’m shocked at the reason why IU is 1-2. Defense is playing more than good enough to where if Penix does somehow figure it out, they’ll be a tough out from here on out.

I'm sure the vast majority of coaches in Indiana are first-rate humans but you're expected to win at a program like Ben Davis and frankly they are blessed year in and year out with some serious talent. 20-21 through 4.5 seasons just doesn't cut it in my opinion. When programs get complacent you see what tends to happen. And not only is BD 20-21 but record against Marquee opponents Center Grove 0-6 Warren 2-3 Carmel 2-2 Brownsburg 0-4 Avon 1-3

Not that my opinion matters, but feel like this is a pivotal game for Simmons and BD's future. At the same time I could be completely way off base.

Agree but I think these rankings have a lot more to do with the overall W-L record than anything else. But at the end of the day, once you get into these huge metropolitan regions like Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, LA, Dade/Broward Co FL/etc that are all huge football cities, they tend to beat up on each other as the season goes. Plus you have all the East Coast prep schools that are D1 factories and then of course schools like IMG.

Ha right, and they aren't even ranked #1. I would watch it too but IMG would win by at least 4 TDs, and that isn't a knock on Center Grove. IMG beat La Salle earlier this year 58-7 and La Salle has 4-5 legitimate big time football prospects. Bishop Gorman is another team that I watched Friday night lose in heart breaking fashion in the last minute of regulation that has another legit 10-15 major D1 football prospects who is now no longer ranked that I think would beat Center Grove and/or Cathedral rather handily. Still though, for a basketball state, it is nice to see some Indiana schools get some recognition.

While I certainly love the recognition, I have a hard time believing that there are only 7 high schools in America better than Center Grove and only 15 better than Cathedral. I don't really think there is an accurate way to do this unless you're consistently playing a national schedule.

I guess the real question is: How many fans is Center Grove planning on bringing? The game two years ago at Tech (where there is more than adequate seating) was barely half full. Center Grove brought maybe 1000, 1500 tops and remember being told on this same board that it was due to Fall Break. Looking at Center Grove's school calendar, this game once again falls under Center Grove's Fall Break Schedule. I imagine Cathedral will be adding a set of temporary bleachers on the visitors side (which isn't hard to do) and in that case would be the same size, if not bigger than Center Grove's current vistor's set up. Do visiting fans of Center Grove act the way Center Grove fans have in the same regard? I imagine Cathedral will probably have somewhere between 4000-5000 fans. 3500-4000 in the bleachers on the home side and the rest filled out along the fence. Unless Center Grove is planning on bringing 4000+ fans (they aren't) this isn't going to be as problematic as most are making it out to be. Cathedral barely has 1200 students, they don't need a stadium that seats 7000-8000k.

I bet you can squeeze 3500 on the Cathedral home side and another ~1200 on the Center Grove side. And then another ~2500 around the fences. Agree it's less than ideal, especially if you want to sit and enjoy the game, but they can fit close to 7000 in the venue if they wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised to see temp bleachers rented out between the 10 and 30's on the vistors side.

Also prior to the KO return, IU defense forced a FG attempt on a 4th and 6 up 14-10 but lined up over the center that negated the try and gave Cincy a 4th and short inside the 20 which they ultimately converted and eventually scored a TD. That was a 4 point swing. Add that along with the KO return as well as Penix last INT that was returned inside the 5 yard line and that's 17 points directly caused by the offense/special teams. That's the difference in the ball game right there and that's not even considering IU going 0-3 red zone with zero points to show for it. Defense did more than enough for IU to win going away.

Agree with everything. What's disappointing is that IU's defense has played well enough where they could very easily be 3-0 and in the top 10 in the country. I'm over the Penix experience and while I really want to put the blame on him I can't. This 1-2 start falls on Tom Allen. Offensive coordinator is incompetent. Special Teams coordinator is incompetent. Teams is mentally fragile (turnovers/penalties/mental lapses) and that is all an extension of coaching. Respect the hell out of Allen for getting to the point of national recognition, but he's lost on the sidelines. He's seemingly outcoached in just about every big ball game.

I'd venture to say that most teams would be in the same position if Oregon St and UConn were opponents in the first three weeks.

John Harbaugh wasn't conservative last night and Baltimore won themselves a game they probably shouldn't have. Imagine that.