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Can Perry Meridian Compete in The Mid State?


Guest DT

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Top to bottom, the Mid State is one of my favorite conferences.  Great schools, great geography, excellence balance, and some nice history.  Not a lot of championships, but a very competitive conference that is certainly on the rise.

Perry Meridian, a 6A school, raised a lot of eyebrows when it was accepted into the MSC.  PM has struggled for years in football, but the desire to put distance between itself and Southport pushed it into the arms of the MSC.

Perry is struggling.  Can the school gets its football program moving forward and become a factor long term in the conference?

Mooresville and Franklin have seen huge improvement under new coaches.  Decatur Central has played for a state championship just recently.  Greenwood and Plainfield are tough and competitive year in and year out, and dangerous in years where there is an upswing in talent.  Martinsville and Whiteland are tough outs any week of the year.  

So where does Perry fit in?  Is the school committed to football?  Are there inherent issues precluding it from moving forward?  Is coaching an issue?  Feeder systems?  The Southport rivalry?  What is holding this 6A program back , where it is now the biggest school in the conference?

Lots of schools would like to be in The MSC.  Roncalli wanted in, but Greenwood wouldn't allow it.  .  Columbus East would love to be in.  The MSC schools might be a little worried about that.  New Pal might want in.  PM needs to earn its place in the Mid State.  Can they get the job done?

 

 

Edited by DT
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15 minutes ago, DT said:

Top to bottom, the Mid State is one of my favorite conferences.  Great schools, great geography, excellence balance, and some nice history.  Not a lot of championships, but a very competitive conference that is certainly on the rise.

Perry Meridian, a 6A school, raised a lot of eyebrows when it was accepted into the MSC.  PM has struggled for years in football, but the desire to put distance between itself and Southport pushed it into the arms of the MSC.

Perry is struggling.  Can the school gets its football program moving forward and become a factor long term in the conference?

Mooresville and Franklin have seen huge improvement under new coaches.  Decatur Central has played for a state championship just recently.  Greenwood and Plainfield are tough and competitive year in and year out, and dangerous in years where there is an upswing in talent.  Martinsville and Whiteland are tough outs any week of the year.  

So where does Perry fit in?  Is the school committed to football?  Are there inherent issues precluding it from moving forward?  Is coaching an issue?  Feeder systems?  The Southport rivalry?  What is holding this 6A program back , where it is now the biggest school in the conference?

Lots of schools would like to be in The MSC.  Roncalli wanted in, but Greenwood wouldn't allow it.  .  Columbus East would love to be in.  The MSC schools might be a little worried about that.  New Pal might want in.  PM needs to earn its place in the Mid State.  Can they get the job done?

 

 

I would love for Columbus East and New Pal to both be in the Mid-State... Believe it or not, Columbus East as of last Friday, is now on a 100 (not a typo) game win streak against conference opponents. They have not lost to a conference team since 2006. 

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2 minutes ago, Olympian06 said:

I would love for Columbus East and New Pal to both be in the Mid-State... Believe it or not, Columbus East as of last Friday, is now on a 100 (not a typo) game win streak against conference opponents. They have not lost to a conference team since 2006. 

Thats a lot like Penn in The NIC.  

Id love to see East in The MSC as well.  Its a natural fit.  Im just not sure the Mid State wants another elite football program.  They have lots of competition already.  And imagine if East and New Pal joined to form a 10 school MSC.  Might be the best conference in the state, pound for pound.  

 

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1 hour ago, DT said:

Thats a lot like Penn in The NIC.  

Id love to see East in The MSC as well.  Its a natural fit.  Im just not sure the Mid State wants another elite football program.  They have lots of competition already.  And imagine if East and New Pal joined to form a 10 school MSC.  Might be the best conference in the state, pound for pound.  

 

As great of a conference as that would be, a round-robin schedule wouldn't be preferred because it would keep Columbus East from playing Columbus North and that isn't acceptable.

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8 hours ago, Staxawax said:

This is exactly what I have heard from a reliable source. But they are optimistic about the soccer program.

Same here. But Southport also has a high Burmese population, so why are they not affected like PM? Coaching, less athletes, resources, administration? 

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Bring back the S.C.C. South Central Conference. Had a core group of teams from  . . . . well south central indiana. Made great sense. Would need to steal a team or two from the hoosier hills conference like seymour(former member of the scc) and possibly bedford or columbus east. But even the scc had some teams that werent technically in south central indiana. Shelbyville, Rushville, Connersville were   closer to indy than bloomington of Columbus,. And Center Grove was a member for a few years. Of course martinsville was a long time member. Martinsville seems to be a lock for mid state for decades to come. Used to be a big  conference game every year between them and bhss for a long time .  

Edited by MuleDriver
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8 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Not true. They don't want anything to do with Conference Indiana as long as the Terre Haute schools are there. That's why they turned down the invitation two years ago.

Love me some Hautians, but their location doesn't make them attractive as it's a trek to and from Vigo County.

Edited by Gipper
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1 hour ago, Gipper said:

Love me some Hautians, but their location doesn't make them attractive as it's a trek to and from Vigo County.

As the case with South Newton a few years ago, they might be better off in an Illinois-based conference.  I believe Danville and Champaign are relatively close, but don't know much about the IHSA.  They have one less "A" than we do because they are stupid.

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20 hours ago, Gipper said:

As the case with South Newton a few years ago, they might be better off in an Illinois-based conference.  I believe Danville and Champaign are relatively close, but don't know much about the IHSA.  They have one less "A" than we do because they are stupid.

Illinois is going to districts, which rules out any possibility of Terre Haute membership.

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22 hours ago, MuleDriver said:

Bring back the S.C.C. South Central Conference. Had a core group of teams from  . . . . well south central indiana. Made great sense. Would need to steal a team or two from the hoosier hills conference like seymour(former member of the scc) and possibly bedford or columbus east. But even the scc had some teams that werent technically in south central indiana. Shelbyville, Rushville, Connersville were   closer to indy than bloomington of Columbus,. And Center Grove was a member for a few years. Of course martinsville was a long time member. Martinsville seems to be a lock for mid state for decades to come. Used to be a big  conference game every year between them and bhss for a long time .  

This is the only long-term alignment that will save CI- 

TH North

TH South 

Northview

Martinsville

BHSN 

BHSS

BNL

 

Southport will replace Martinsville in the Mid-State.

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1 minute ago, DanteEstonia said:

Why?

I think they have more to offer in football and basketball. Northview is pretty good but really once they have to play outside their conference they fall pretty easily. Seymour ha s a football pedigree of sorts. Been to state  and have a great gym for basketball games. 

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You guys are missing the point completely.  Schools have been leaving conference Indiana for years due to constant instability within the league.  Once a school makes a decision to leave a conference, they will not be going back

CI only hope for expansion is to seek out schools who are unhappy with their current situation due either to competitive reasons or travel.  Seymour and BNL are fixtures in the Hoosier Hills.   Northview can't compete with the bigger schools in CI.   Martinsville has already left and will not turn back.   

The Lafayette schools have both competitive and travel issues in The NCC.  They are a good target for CI expansion based on those criteria.  

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Perry Meridian has a lot of problems right now, but they can absolutely compete in the Mid State.

They keep losing talented kids to other schools. They lost several kids to Lutheran and there are others now at DC, LC, and Cathedral. Their only D1 prospect moved to Chicago after his freshman year.

I like the guys on the current coaching staff and I think they are trying hard to turn things around, but it's time for a change. I'd like to see them bring in an experienced HC to overhaul the program and try to change the culture.

The large Burmese population certainly doesn't help the football program, but like others have said it's not stopping Southport.

Hopefully the other mid state schools enjoyed their victories over the Falcons in football, because they won't see many in Wrestling

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2 hours ago, FormerFalcon said:

Perry Meridian has a lot of problems right now, but they can absolutely compete in the Mid State.

They keep losing talented kids to other schools. They lost several kids to Lutheran and there are others now at DC, LC, and Cathedral. Their only D1 prospect moved to Chicago after his freshman year.

I like the guys on the current coaching staff and I think they are trying hard to turn things around, but it's time for a change. I'd like to see them bring in an experienced HC to overhaul the program and try to change the culture.

The large Burmese population certainly doesn't help the football program, but like others have said it's not stopping Southport.

Hopefully the other mid state schools enjoyed their victories over the Falcons in football, because they won't see many in Wrestling

I believe there is a blueprint being developed that can quickly turn around previously moribund high school football programs.

You are correct, finding the right coach is the key.  But that coach must have a particular offensive philosophy, or gimmick, that will give his program the opportunity to overcome size and numbers disadvantages.

Perry needs to look no further than its own conference at the transformations at Mooresville and Franklin under Mike Gillin and Chris Coll.

Perry is never going to be a big, bruising, physically dominating program.  Its just not in the cards.  They need to develop skill athletes and become proficient at the passing game if they are to compete and have an advantage in The MSC.  Open enrollment has probably hurt PM more than it has either Southport of Franklin Central.  Southport took to the air several years ago and they have had success.  The PPs certainly have had an impact on PM roster.  This is precisely the reason Greenwood would not allow Roncalli or any other PP into the conference.

PM should be looking for an experienced, winning coach who is proficient in the passing game.  They need to be very active in post season 7 on 7 competition, and winning those competitions.  Franklin went from 5-35 over 4 seasons to 7-2 and conference runner up this year.  PM can do the same.

By the way, PM Coach Matt Heninger is 5-34 in his 4th season at the school.  

Ill be shocked if a change is not made after the season.

 

 

Edited by DT
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Perry joined the Mid-State because they didn't want to travel to Terre Haute and Bloomington. I don't believe Southport was interested in joining the Mid-State from my conversations with Perry Township folks. Brand new stadium facility. Would seem like someone would want to coach there if the current coach moves on. If he stays, I wish them luck. It's a proud program. Steve Purichia did a great job down there.

You're spot on about the Mid-State though. It's a stellar conference.

Edited by BDGiant93
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