Boilernation

I wonder if they'll give Lance Leipold a look. He's from Wisconsin, won big there at Wisconsin-Whitewater, and has turned Buffalo into a solid program. The guy has proven he can win at 2 different levels. Someone will eventually take a chance on him. Illinois is an interesting job. The state is ripe with talent, but the Illini have never owned it. It's tough when the Chicago area views Champaign as rural, supposedly you can smell cows from their stadium that sits on edge of Champaign, and the Chicago media also treats Northwestern/Notre Dame as the local teams. Looking at the class of 2021 the Top 25 players in Illinois are going to: Iowa Minnesota Northwestern Missouri Minnesota Texas Christian lean (Decommitted from Purdue. Brohm can't lose QB recruits!!) Louisville Missouri West Virginia Wisconsin UCLA Michigan Minnesota Syracuse Iowa Notre Dame Notre Dame Rutgers Minnesota Iowa Louisville Indiana Toledo Minnesota Northwestern Bottom line: You can't win at Illinois if you can't even recruit your own state.

Park Heritage was a random selection. I think the Fighting Eagles of Lake Station rebound from their 0-9 campaign to run the table in 2021! Post game party to be held at Deja Vu.

No. It wasn't. I was saying it has the same look. Run down, past it's "prime", and in an urban setting.

LOL. Their football stadium is easily visible from the Toll Road just before entering Chicago. It looks like it seats 50 people and was the practice field used in the movie Wildcats.

In your humble opinion, with no accusation of having any knowledge his motives, why do you pass on Ralph? Personally, I would have guessed this would be the type of job he would leave New Pal for. Unless, pure speculation, he's waiting for the right opportunity to go home to the Greater Catholic League South. I get your theories on free and reduced lunches (which holds a lot of water), but it's Warren. Yeah, there's SOME rough parts in their district, but it's still a mostly middle class suburban setting with kids committed to football and an enrollment that pretty much guarantees football talent. I couldn't imagine it being that bad to handle.

Against a WR your DB’s can’t handle on an island. The Safety was never in position to help over the top. 🤦‍♂️

That’s a wrap. Not going to beat Chatard with 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Danville needs to get a little more creative with the offensive play calling.

FB Dive on 3rd and 7? Not against Chatard.

When I think of small school ball, I think of South Adams. Not a pseudo-JV All Star team from the West Side of Indy masquerading as a 1A football team. 😉

Ironically, the Covenant DB's don't flex and stare down WR's when they're getting beat for TD's. Go South Adams!

I’m thrilled to see the Bricks back in a State Title game, but I think it’s fair to acknowledge they punched the easy ticket while the South bracket had heavyweight battles starting in Sectionals. I know Hobart has big and strong boys like Johnson and Babcock. Are the Brickie lines capable of competing with Roncalli or do you foresee this one getting out of hand similar to MV and Mooresville?

2 nights this week I record a game and stay up late just to go to bed angry. What a freaking crap show. 4 initial grievances: 1. worst offensive PI I’ve ever seen 2. Purdue DBs were basically giving up Hail Mary receptions on key 3rd downs all game. Do they know they’re allowed to turn around and play the ball? 3. 2 missed FG’s, one of which right after a Moore TD catch was reversed. Though that appeared to be a legit call. Speaking of Moore, wow, is he good. Too bad the defense ruined a great offensive performance. 4. I can’t stand Fleck and his Row The Boat crap. I don’t enjoy losing to that Terd. That was the epitome of a Purdue loss.

Was he in bounds?

28-7 Hobart. Still 1st quarter

21-7 Hobart. Still 8 minutes left in 1st quarter!

Same for Marion at The Brickyard

The Westfield side of Demaree will look empty tonight. Major restrictions in Lake County this week. Parents and limited fans only.

Per Twitter, Valpo left 2 hours ago on 3 chartered busses. Man, I know chartered busses are common nowadays, but these kids have it nice. In my day we yellow bussed it to Indy from The Region. 2 to a seat. Brutal ride. As for the game, fairly identical teams. Both wear green, white, and black. Both are white collar communities. Both have huge lines with D1 recruits. I'll still give the edge to Zionsville. Playing at home, Valpo has had an odd year, and Zionsville could possibly be undefeated as well had they played Valpo's schedule. Merrillville-Westfield: My brain says Westfield by at least 14. My heart says Merrillville is going to pull off the upset tonight in Demaree. It'll come down to Merrillville's star studded D-Line stepping up and JoJo Johnson continuing to make big plays on offense. It'll be a homecoming of sorts for Westfield's very talented DE Popeye Williams. He's originially from The Region and is a very close cousin of one of Merrillville's starting Safeties. Hobart-Marion: I think the Bricks get back to what used to be their birthright: Playing on Thanksgiving weekend in Indy. I'll take Hobart by about 10.

I get that Lake Central recently went through a complete remodel; however, why build a football facility like this if you're not interested in winning? I'm assuming those are athletic facilities behind the south endzone. St. Germain took a lot of heat on these boards from us arm chair QB's for only being able to win one Sectional at Lake Central, but he had a nice string of 8 and 9 win seasons. Lake Central can win the post-Elmer Britton era. They have the enrollment. Like many of you have said they just need the right coach. That person could be a complete unknown right now. Look at Merrillville. The Pirates are rolling with Seiss, but his hire from Muncie Central was a complete head scratcher on paper. I'm a firm believer that winning begets winners. Lake Central won't have a problem losing talent to Andrean, Chicago Mt. Carmel, or even upstart Illiana Christian if the Blue Indians are contenders again. IMO, the timing is perfect for LC as the writing is on the wall that Andrean has taken a dropoff in Mason's absence. I think it's fair to say the '59'ers are playing for a State Title either last year or this year (at least one of the years) had Mason not left for Michigan City.

I would agree. My gut feeling is that it'll be Avon who eventually breaks through. The committment is definately there for all schools when it comes to facilities and feeder programs. Even Noblesville just recently broke ground on a new $14M stadium that will hold roughly 8,500. The new stadium wont' be ready for football until the Fall of 2022.

Meet the new play caller. Same as the old play caller. I hope the Bears give Louis Riddick an interview for the GM role. He's very open in his desire to be an NFL GM. I hear him once a week on Waddle & Silvy and he comes off as VERY knowledgeable about the game and building a team. I don't know which idea of mine was dumber: recording the game and staying up until 12:30 to watch it or simply watching the game in the first place.

That was my assumption. We both know DT would be crowning them Conference of Champions had Brownsburg knocked off Carmel and Ben Davis for a 2nd time. Highly impressive when your #2 team can beat Ben Davis by 31 and beat the Ohio Division 1 Champ.

I don't see how any conference can be above them at 2. Certainly not the Duneland. The SIAC and Mid State are too small, IMO. I think most of the HCC could fair very well in those conferences. I believe they've proven the past two years that they're currently ahead of the SAC.

That's 2 years in a row that the SAC Champ/Co Champ hasn't looked good against middle to cellar dwellar HCC Teams and then throw in Westfield dismantled Homestead. The HCC is heads and shoulder above everyone not named the MIC. I'll give them them the benefit over my beloved Duneland in any matchup. I think Valpo is in serious trouble. They lacked a great passing game last year and the upgrate was supposed to be when Grimes transferred in from Lafayette Jeff. He ended up leaving the 1st half of the Penn game with an injury and hasn't been seen since. Valpo is a ground and pound team that will use the massive size/strength of their lines to run the ball down ZIonsville's throat and stop the ZIonsville offense. I can see this game turning into a 14-10 type of game that sees a lot of clock being burned up by running the ball. I'll give Zionsville the edge due to tougher schedule and Zionsville has a QB in Stone that capable of making big plays with is arm. I have a feeling Merrillville will keep it somewhat close and Westfield will end up winning by around 14. JoJo Johnson is not easy to contain. He and Marcus Hardy con generate some offense for the Pirates. Nothing against Marion, but I'll take the Bricks by 10+. I can't see them losing at home in a game that puts them back into a State Final Appearance for the first time since 1996. Especially since they were so close last year.