Jump to content
Head Coach Openings 2024 ×
  • Current Donation Goals

    • Raised $2,716 of $3,600 target

DTs Northern Indiana Teams of the Week - Week 3


Guest DT

Recommended Posts

Northwest Indiana

Merrillville - The Pirates are 3-0 and on a roll.  Tight 27-24 OT win over rival Crown Point    Portage is up next, and then Michigan City.  The program has talent, as always, and appears to have regained its footing under 5th year HC Brad Seiss.  A strong Merrillville program is the key to a football resurgence in NWI.  Definitely trending up

 

North Central Indiana

New Prairie

Russ Radtke has another impressive football team on his hands as the  3-0 Cougars disposed of always tough Andrean 33-10 on Friday night.  NP will be challenged the next two weeks, at home against St Joe and then at Mishawaka.  4A North is soft.  NP certainly has it sites set on Indy for TG.

 

North East Indiana

Columbia City

3-0 Columbia City continues to dominate following a 44-0 win over Bellmont.  CC defense is surrendering only 8 ppg after 3 weeks.  Improving Huntington North and then currently undefeated Dekalb are just around the corner and should give the Eagles the challenge they seek to fine tune for the post season.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is an old school "fear factor" with his staffs that also plays into the equation.

Make no mistake.  He is an intimidating individual and has never changed his style.  Those kids must be tougher than nails when they come out of that program.  Almost like marine boot camp.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honorable Mentions from this guy:

Hammond Morton knocking off Lowell without QB Prather by 10

Shout out to Hammond Clark, who was on @DT radar for contraction has quietly started 2-1, their lone loss to Whiting, but only by 6 points then they blew out Lake Station and Gary Roosevelt.  I know they are not powerhouses, however, those were games in the past that Clark would lose or win by 1 score.   The Fighting Testa's whould be 4-1 heading into week 6 showdown with East Chicago.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the record, I would prefer to see Clark prosper than contract.

But it is what it is.

Lets watch it play out.

Noll and Park Tudor also showing some signs of life after the contraction bubble.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since taking over at New Prairie, Russ Radtke has compiled a 70-18 record (.795 winning) percentage and is only 8 wins away of becoming the #2 winningest coach in state history.

I saw an interview a couple years ago with Bud Wright and he was asked that over the last 50 years hasn’t times and kids changed and he responded of course they have but you have to be able to adapt to those changes and that also applies to Russ Radtke.

Honorable mention goes to Craig Buzea from Homewood-Floosmoor on getting his first career win over Penn.  Buzea went 0-5 against the Kingsmen during his tenure at Portage and those games were classics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Wedgebuster said:

How does Russ Radtke always seem to turn out just absolute Grinders?  Everyone that said,  "Coach Radtke will never relate to the millennial player" or "Kids don't want to run that style of offense"

Dude just keeps right on ROLLING through the competition!

 

2 hours ago, CoachPeo said:

Having coached against Coach Radtke you can see why he is so successful.  His teams are focused on details, and play with a level of energy like no other.  He gets his players to buy into his program and the results speak for themselves. 

 

2 hours ago, DT said:

There is an old school "fear factor" with his staffs that also plays into the equation.

Make no mistake.  He is an intimidating individual and has never changed his style.  Those kids must be tougher than nails when they come out of that program.  Almost like marine boot camp.  

 

One of the most interesting and enigmatic characters I’ve run across in my 42 seasons of officiating. Inspires absolute loyalty and dedication in his players, and (at least in his younger days) alienates almost everyone else. I believe he’s actually mellowed ... a little. There was a time when my favorite game to officiate in the Region was Griffith vs. Lowell, when coaches Radtke and Kennedy were there. The teams didn’t like one another, the coaching staffs didn’t like one another,  the fans didn’t like each other, just an electric atmosphere whether at the Boneyard or the Inferno. A real challenge to officiate.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a nice pecking order in The Region back in those good old days

The Munster guys were executive senior management

Us Highland guys were foremen and middle management

The Griffith guys worked in the slag pits and labored in the Tin mill

It was all good

A caste system as such

We all knew our place, and carried our bias, hubris and animosity accordingly

That's how rivals were made

Great stuff

Edited by DT
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

Honorable Mentions from this guy:

Hammond Morton knocking off Lowell without QB Prather by 10

Shout out to Hammond Clark, who was on @DT radar for contraction has quietly started 2-1, their lone loss to Whiting, but only by 6 points then they blew out Lake Station and Gary Roosevelt.  I know they are not powerhouses, however, those were games in the past that Clark would lose or win by 1 score.   The Fighting Testa's whould be 4-1 heading into week 6 showdown with East Chicago.   

Coach-

Did you happen to notice Clark and Lake Station play twice this year during the REGULAR season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Bobref said:

 

 

One of the most interesting and enigmatic characters I’ve run across in my 42 seasons of officiating. Inspires absolute loyalty and dedication in his players, and (at least in his younger days) alienates almost everyone else. I believe he’s actually mellowed ... a little. There was a time when my favorite game to officiate in the Region was Griffith vs. Lowell, when coaches Radtke and Kennedy were there. The teams didn’t like one another, the coaching staffs didn’t like one another,  the fans didn’t like each other, just an electric atmosphere whether at the Boneyard or the Inferno. A real challenge to officiate.

I've always found listening to all the old Radtke stories to be EXTREMELY entertaining.  The Bone Tree, the sideline explosions, the unapologetic way in which he operates. 

I was at the NP vs St. Joe playoff game in 2013, I think it was the Regional.  NP is up by 2 or 3 TD's going into halftime and Russ is just killing his coaching staff on their way into the locker room.  A complete undressing of adult men.   

So I see one of his staff members later that year and say "Hey, how is it working for that guy?"  Thinking I would get some dirt,...... I got nothing but a GLOWING report of a man that all he wants is complete dedication and desire for perfection out of his staff and players.   

I find the chaos that seems to surround him, with the stark contrast of how tough and discipline that his teams play with to be one of the most interesting paradoxes in athletics that I've seen.  

Anyone care to share some good RR stories? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tommy said:

Since taking over at New Prairie, Russ Radtke has compiled a 70-18 record (.795 winning) percentage and is only 8 wins away of becoming the #2 winningest coach in state history.

I saw an interview a couple years ago with Bud Wright and he was asked that over the last 50 years hasn’t times and kids changed and he responded of course they have but you have to be able to adapt to those changes and that also applies to Russ Radtke.

Honorable mention goes to Craig Buzea from Homewood-Floosmoor on getting his first career win over Penn.  Buzea went 0-5 against the Kingsmen during his tenure at Portage and those games were classics.

Yea, ...... Um......   HF vs Portage teams......   Id say Buzz had a bit more to work with this time around then his 0-5 Portage days.   Just a hunch 

26 minutes ago, DannEllenwood said:

Coach-

Did you happen to notice Clark and Lake Station play twice this year during the REGULAR season.

I do/did.   Better than having an open week.

I Believe Lowell got Griffith back on their schedule to replace Clark.   

15 minutes ago, Wedgebuster said:

 

Anyone care to share some good RR stories? 

Love when he wears stripes in the Winter 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

Yea, ...... Um......   HF vs Portage teams......   Id say Buzz had a bit more to work with this time around then his 0-5 Portage days.   Just a hunch 

I do/did.   Better than having an open week.

I Believe Lowell got Griffith back on their schedule to replace Clark.   

Love when he wears stripes in the Winter 

Coach Radtke has reffed a few of our boys games through the years. 

I had never officially met him until this past year. I was walking past him and Coach Barr during half time of jv game (he was just waiting for our jv game to end so he could ref our varsity game)  Coach Barr grabs my arm and goes kreigh, i want you to meet someone. This is Russ Radtke. He told Coach Radtke that I know a lot about schools and coaches from diff schools. Coach Radtke asked whatever i heard about him was a fib haha. I said well sir all I know is where ever you go.. You win and your former Jays and Panthers respect the heck out of you. I told him it was an honor to meet him. Pretty nice guy. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here’s the last unpleasantness I had with Coach Radtke. From then until the end of my on-field career in 2017, never had another issue.

Sectional championship in 2000, Hammond High @ Griffith. The Panthers had beaten the ‘Cats 5 straight seasons in the tournament, and were a heavy favorite. The Boneyard was jammed and the crowd was wild. HHS led the entire game. Griffith mounted a furious 4th quarter comeback. Trailing 30-27 they drove inside the 10 in the last seconds. They didn’t have much of a kicker, and were out of timeouts. Inside of 10 seconds, the QB (Coach Radtke’s son) went back to pass and about to go down under a furious rush, he flipped the ball forward to - as luck would have it - an offensive lineman, who caught it and immediately went down. Flag for illegal touching. That’s when the craziness really started.

As R, my job was to inform the HHS captain of his options. About 5 sec. into that I saw his eyes glaze over and knew there was no hope. Fortunately, my linesman was already in the HHS coaches’ ear. But it’s complicated, and I can see the “paralysis of analysis” taking hold on that sideline. Just then I heard Coach Radtke and turned around. He was standing right behind me in the middle of the field on about the 15 yd. line. I was shocked. Thereupon, we had the following dialogue:

COACH: We get an untimed down, right?

ME:  Coach, you can’t be out here.

COACH: I just want to make sure we get an untimed down.

ME:  Go to your sideline.

COACH:  I want an explanation.

ME:  I’ll come to your sideline after we’ve sorted this out, but you have to leave the field now.

COACH: I’m not leaving until I get an explanation.

ME:  You’re not getting an explanation until you leave, and I come over to the sideline.

Things sort of deteriorated from there and he ended up with a 15 yd. penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, which they could ill afford. Then, while the U was walking the penalty enforcement, the QB made some comments about his mother and some other stuff, so there was another 15. A Hail Mary fell incomplete and we ran straight for our police escort to the locker room.

As I said, never had a problem after that, and I probably worked 6-8 games of his in the following years. Never saw a coach who demanded more - and got it - from his players.

Edited by Bobref
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm torn. The opponents so far, for the most part, are teams that these three teams faces last year and won. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do against some of the teams that beat them last year. 

I guess I'll go with Merrillville. I would like to see 3-0 turn into 6-0 turn into 9-0. Now that would be good for 6a northern football. They just make the tournament more exciting when they are playing well. I still have memories of the 1992 game in Fort Wayne against Snider. Snider won 14-7 in a game that was VERY competitive and could have gone either way. Snider went on to defeat Ben Davis. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...