Boilernation

Yeah, I think DT is reaching there. Seems more like an opportunity to go full circle and finish where he started in Starke County.

The hits just keep coming to Portage Athletics. Would have never guessed a coaching carousel in the Hoosier North would cause a 6A Duneland school to lose their coach. I would like to see the Portage AD make a call to Roydon Richards.

I was going to put The Ville at #1 until I read Maximus Aurelius Grimes is heading to Valpo. I'll go with: 1. Valpo - Are they on a mission or will they have a letdown year? Week 1 against Penn is a great litmus test for both teams 2. Merrillville - 2 D1 transfers from Hammond Morton, one of which is Cincinnati bound playmaker JoJo Johnson who can break a run or catch at any moment. With Carmel out of the picture, the Pirates should be able to go toe to to with anyone in the North. 3. Hobart - The Bricks are in good hands with Ex Brickie/IU Hoosier Craig Osika. Would like to see them at least split their first two games. Chesterton and The Ville will be tough for the 4A squad. 4. Andrean - Two tough openers as well for the 59'ers. At Merrillville and then home against Illinois lower class powerhouse Immaculate Prep out of Elmhurst in the Western Chicago 'burbs. 5. Portage - Going with the homer pick here, but I think Radtke quickly turns the Red Tribe around. 6. Michigan City - Predicting a bounce back year for Mason. If not, does he see a drop in talent and start looking to jump ship? Tommy had been warning us the talent pool at City was about to go dry. We'll see. 7. Chesterton - Cheese Town returns a solid QB and is coming off a 6-4 season that ended with 7 point losses to Merrillville and Warsaw. The Trojans will be tested early with an opener against Hobart and a trip to Chicago's South Side in week 2 to take on Catholic League power Chicago St. Rita and then Michigan City in Week 3. 8. Lowell - RDP has too much pride for another 5 season 9. Crown Point - The 'Dogs will take a lot of L's this year, but they should be fairly competitive 10. Highland - Breakout year for Pete Koulianos gets DT excited.

My better half is a Hamilton Heights Huskie alum. I'm pulling for Kirschner to turn it around this year. He's a good guy. I don't know what's happened up in Cicero/Arcadia/Atlanta. They were turning into a juggernaut under Street and the bottom just completely fell out. Not sure if they're going through a down-cycle with talent or injuries are piling up. Just doesn't seem right to see Heights on the losing end of seasons. Their teams of the recent past would have a decent number of guys good enough to start for neighboring Hoosier Crossroads teams. Of course, what's most important in the Hoosier Conference this year is for Yanni to be injury free on his way to Purdue. 😉

I'm OK with it. 👍

I think there was 3 this year as follows: 2nd Round: Jeremy Chinn, Safety, Fishers, Southern Illinois to Carolina 5th Round: Danny Pinter, OL, South Bend Adams, Ball State to Indianapolis 7th Round: Tommy Stevens, QB, Decatur Central, Penn State/Mississippi State to New Orleans Did I miss any? Any known undrafted FA pickups?

Very valid points. I think a necessary data point that's missing though is how much of BD's and WC's recent D1 talent (say past 10 years) actually lived in their school districts. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were bused out from IPS or other Township districts. Maybe the talent well in those districts has dried up recently or kids are no longer seeing the need to get to WC or BD to get a D1 scholarship.

And the no help comment doesn't make sense. Wouldn't that mean teams could put more focus on George? It's not like he has 2 or 3 NFL DL next to him that are taking up the focus of the O-Line. 2019 Purdue Roster: George Karlaftis, 6'4 265 2010 Purdue Roster: Ryan Kerrigan, 6'4 263 I like that comparison better than to a kid still playing HS football.

Exactly. A lot of people don't realize that every single claimed Division 1 National Championship in Football, whether CFP era, BCS Bowl Era, or via AP and Coaches Poll, is a Mythical Title in the eyes of the NCAA.

I think USC is a Tier 1 sleeping giant. Way too much NFL talent in Southern California that they're losing because of their instability at coach. Put another coach in Troy that can dominate the Pac 12 and USC is likely back into Tier 1 status. Or, at the very least high end Tier 2.

That and in the rural South you can find athletic freaks of nature. Rural Midwest is typically just Linemen.Very rare to find someone like the Kiser kid from Pioneer. Plus, it's just crazy how much talent is developed down there. For example, Rock Hill, SC, has current NFL players Stephen Gilmore, Jadaveon Clowney, Jonathon Joseph, Cordarrelle Patterson, Mason Rudolph, Ben Watson, and Jaleel Scott along with a VERY long list of D1 recruits in the past 10-15 years.. The Atlanta metro area is nuts. Grayson HS in Loganville has Three 4 stars (Florida, Florida, Clemson) and Four 3 stars (Louisville, UCF, GT, Undecided) in their Senior Class. The Junior class already has an Auburn commit.

Great pickup by Luke Fickle as the 6'6 East Central OT chooses to stay close to home. Congrats to this young man! Per Google Maps, Nippert Stadium is only 31 miles from East Central HS.

This one hits home as I played for Buzea at Portage and I've lived in Noblesville for the past 12 years. And get to know your school boundaries, DT! The farmboys east of 37 (technically east of the Summer Road north/south line) go to Hamilton Southeastern. The HSE district goes all the way up to the intersection of 216th Street and SR 13 just north of Lapel. IMO, Portage easily has more upside. Easier Conference, Sectional, and Regional competition. I'm completely out of the loop in terms of the talent at Portage, but from what i've seen the past few years on WJOB broadcasts and reading online, it's a lot more size and speed that what I was used to seeing. That bodes well for Radtke. Our teams with Buzea were relatively small. We were just tough as nails and Buzea demanded we played disciplined football. We ran into a mountain of an O-LIne against Castle in the '94 5A title game and they wore us down in the 2nd half. Blow open a 6 or 7 point lead in the 4th quarter. Then two straight down to the wire Regional losses to Penn who went onto win State both times. I can tell you that baseball and then basketball appears to be king in Noblesville, but that's based on the parents of boys that I know and my limited experience watching the youth leagues. Baseball is all year round here with the Finch Creek Fieldhouse having indoor baseball fields. But, the Noblesville Grinders youth football league is very popular as well. And if I were new to Noblesville, without knowing anything about Avon, Brownsburg, HSE, Fishers, etc., I would assume Noblesville had a successful football team with the size, speed and commitment the community does have. I think it just goes to show how tough the HCC is. Maybe it wasn't a fluke that Noblesville took Homestead down to the wire in Sectionals. I am looking forward to seeing what Sharpe can do. I do agree with you that his style is probably more beneficial to Noblesville. Eat ground and burn clock. Keep the superior offensive talent of Brownsburg, Avon, etc. off the field.

That's a surprise. Hid dad, Portage legend Eric Jones, was a solid DL for Notre Dame back in the very early '90's. I figured it was a guarantee he would go to ND. Cooper has a younger brother, 6'7 Sophomore to be Mason, who will also likely be a D1 prospect. Cooper has a number of Aunts and Uncles from Portage who went to IU.

Thanks. I didn't look back that far. I'm WAAAYYYYYYY late to the party on this one!

Sorry if already discussed. I don't see a thread created and this was under the radar to me. I just noticed LC has a new coach while looking at what's posted of their schedule on Harrell. Looks like Rodenberg to Roncalli was announced in February. I understand the point that he's getting back to his Catholic roots as he was once at Covington Catholic and Big Moe. I believed when LC hired him it was a bad move as I assumed he would go somewhere "bigger" in Indy or Cincinnati when he had some success. I didn't foresee his tenure being 2 years and 15 losses. I have no idea what Roncalli has returning; however, I would not be the least bit surprised if they cut their losses in half this year.

The NWI Oilmen also play there. They are a member of the Midwest Collegiate League, which is a summer wood bat league. http://www.midwestcollegiateleague.com/home/

Great pic! I watched that game online. SW Indiana has some great nostalgia stadiums with Enlow, Reitz Bowl, Bosse Field, and League Stadium.

Agree. Even though I've never been to Evansville, based on photos and live streamed games I've watched, I think Enlow is the best stadium down there. I totally get the allure and greatness of Reitz Bowl, but I really dig the grandstands at Enlow.

If elected, I'm sure Elizabeth Warren will ban such names.

Hobart Brickyard

new Lake Central Burial Grounds

Here's a great view of Whiting's fantastic baseball stadium in the foreground, football stadium in the middle, and the Chicago skyline in the background.

Ames Field in Michigan City. Demaree Stadium in Merrillville