Indiana digest preseason polls

[First_Backer_Inside]

Maconaquah at #3 in 3A is wild. Last years team you could make an argument maybe. Graduating 3,000 yards of offense and 31 of your 46 touchdowns is gonna be hard to replace. Maybe someone knows more than I do. Must have had a great offseason in the portal.

[Donnie Baker]

On 7/11/2025 at 12:44 PM, Justasportsfan said:

Gr8 question. You know DT does his own thing! Imho I don't see tons of coaches and writers putting DC that high...could be wrong though.

This isn’t D Tees poe. It’s from the digest magazine 

[Sparty]

45 minutes ago, Donnie Baker said:

This isn’t D Tees poe. It’s from the digest magazine 

State law

[Justasportsfan]

1 hour ago, Sparty said:

State law

 

2 hours ago, Donnie Baker said:

This isn’t D Tees poe. It’s from the digest magazine 

Wow, this whole time I thought DT worked for the magazine. What is the site he created when he left GID?

[Sparty]

1 hour ago, Justasportsfan said:

 

Wow, this whole time I thought DT worked for the magazine. What is the site he created when he left GID?

OF

[Donnie Baker]

2 hours ago, Justasportsfan said:

 

Wow, this whole time I thought DT worked for the magazine. What is the site he created when he left GID?

I’m sure he’s toad and them he could run it better 

[ptr]

On 7/11/2025 at 9:17 PM, 23andCounting said:

It's not like CN is a bad team. Coming within a touchdown of both FC and Chatard says something about them. Seems like it took awhile for DC to heat up last season.

I watched CN take it to Bloom. South last season at South, with CN winning 32-14. They had a terrific QB in Asher Ratliff who is a dual-threat QB and a returning senior (I believe), but I believe that their superb running back in Gino Prescott has graduated, so I don't know exactly who CN has coming back that would get them this ranking in the preseason. They had a huge o-line that played a big part in their success last season, and I don't know who they have coming back on defense which was pretty strong last season. Preseason polls usually have outliers, and CN may be one of those. 

[23andCounting]

3 hours ago, ptr said:

I watched CN take it to Bloom. South last season at South, with CN winning 32-14. They had a terrific QB in Asher Ratliff who is a dual-threat QB and a returning senior (I believe), but I believe that their superb running back in Gino Prescott has graduated, so I don't know exactly who CN has coming back that would get them this ranking in the preseason. They had a huge o-line that played a big part in their success last season, and I don't know who they have coming back on defense which was pretty strong last season. Preseason polls usually have outliers, and CN may be one of those. 

Sounds like they had a really good team last year. Left out of the limelight with all the Indy teams just north of them. They really took it to DC, excuses or not. 

[btownqbcoach1]

15 hours ago, ptr said:

I watched CN take it to Bloom. South last season at South, with CN winning 32-14. They had a terrific QB in Asher Ratliff who is a dual-threat QB and a returning senior (I believe), but I believe that their superb running back in Gino Prescott has graduated, so I don't know exactly who CN has coming back that would get them this ranking in the preseason. They had a huge o-line that played a big part in their success last season, and I don't know who they have coming back on defense which was pretty strong last season. Preseason polls usually have outliers, and CN may be one of those. 

D1 TE Parker Elmore that's committed to IU 

I'm sure Parker will play some defense when it matters, too. 

[Daniel_Bragg]

Just based on the 1A poll, I'm assuming whoever voted went HEAVILY off how last year's teams finished their seasons.  Having Taylor ranked is a bit wild to me.

[Sparty]

2 hours ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

Just based on the 1A poll, I'm assuming whoever voted went HEAVILY off how last year's teams finished their seasons.  Having Taylor ranked is a bit wild to me.

They were an EXTREMELY dangerous, well coached 1A school.  Don’t know if they return a lot or not.  

[Daniel_Bragg]

57 minutes ago, Sparty said:

They were an EXTREMELY dangerous, well coached 1A school.  Don’t know if they return a lot or not.  

Being a broadcaster from Sheridan, I see them every year, in multiple sports.  Taylor was a "better than they usually are" team.  

In the regular season, they started 2-0 by beating North White and FW Blackhawk, then lost to Carroll, Eastern, and Clinton Central in a blowout.  It took a hurricane for them to beat Sheridan, then they got blown out again against Clinton Prairie.  They beat Tri-Central, a team that hasn't had a winning season since 2020, by 1....then lost their final regular season game against Delphi.

They DID surprise everyone in Sectional, but with the redraw, it appears that they benefited greatly.

I'm not saying they are a "do nothing" team, but they certainly shouldn't be considered the 11th best team in 1A.

[Donnie Baker]

3 hours ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

Just based on the 1A poll, I'm assuming whoever voted went HEAVILY off how last year's teams finished their seasons.  Having Taylor ranked is a bit wild to me.

Don’t they always?

[Sparty]

52 minutes ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

Being a broadcaster from Sheridan, I see them every year, in multiple sports.  Taylor was a "better than they usually are" team.  

In the regular season, they started 2-0 by beating North White and FW Blackhawk, then lost to Carroll, Eastern, and Clinton Central in a blowout.  It took a hurricane for them to beat Sheridan, then they got blown out again against Clinton Prairie.  They beat Tri-Central, a team that hasn't had a winning season since 2020, by 1....then lost their final regular season game against Delphi.

They DID surprise everyone in Sectional, but with the redraw, it appears that they benefited greatly.

I'm not saying they are a "do nothing" team, but they certainly shouldn't be considered the 11th best team in 1A.

*were

[Daniel_Bragg]

19 minutes ago, Sparty said:

*were

1) What a valuable response.

2) When speaking about a team as a single entity, "was" is correct.

[Jays]

1 hour ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

Being a broadcaster from Sheridan, I see them every year, in multiple sports.  Taylor was a "better than they usually are" team.  

In the regular season, they started 2-0 by beating North White and FW Blackhawk, then lost to Carroll, Eastern, and Clinton Central in a blowout.  It took a hurricane for them to beat Sheridan, then they got blown out again against Clinton Prairie.  They beat Tri-Central, a team that hasn't had a winning season since 2020, by 1....then lost their final regular season game against Delphi.

They DID surprise everyone in Sectional, but with the redraw, it appears that they benefited greatly.

I'm not saying they are a "do nothing" team, but they certainly shouldn't be considered the 11th best team in 1A.

After re-watching the game, at what point does the hurricane occur? There were a lot of games played that night. The eye of the category 5 hurricane must have hovered over the field.  

[Sparty]

8 hours ago, Daniel_Bragg said:

1) What a valuable response.

2) When speaking about a team as a single entity, "was" is correct.

You responded to my assessment about Taylor last season.  Hence the were.  Example: They were very good and well coached last year NOT They was very good……

Edited July 16, 2025 by Sparty

[Daniel_Bragg]

22 hours ago, Jays said:

After re-watching the game, at what point does the hurricane occur? There were a lot of games played that night. The eye of the category 5 hurricane must have hovered over the field.  

You must have missed where a punt in the first half went backwards.  Most of the games in Central Indiana were postponed that evening for good reason.  The Sheridan/Taylor game went on as scheduled, as I've heard, because they didn't want it to be the only Hoosier Heartland Conference game that didn't happen that night.  I also know that the camera did an INCREDIBLE job of not allowing the rain to really block any view.  As the owner of said camera, I was impressed.  However, banners were torn off the stadium, trees were down throughout the community, and power was out in more than a few spots.

Simply put, especially the 2nd half of that game, was unsafe.  I say that, as someone who was protected(mostly) from the winds and rain.

If we want to live in a fantasy world where the weather wasn't a factor in that game, we can just assume that Sheridan decided to not play football even half speed, considering Taylor lost to Clinton Central, Clinton Prairie, and Delphi; teams that Sheridan defeated all by double digits.

[Daniel_Bragg]

14 hours ago, Sparty said:

You responded to my assessment about Taylor last season.  Hence the were.  Example: They were very good and well coached last year NOT They was very good……

See Sparty, in your example, you are correct.  I would never say "They WAS very good", since "they" is a plural pronoun.  However, in the way that I stated the team, as a singular noun, "was" is correct.

Now that we have had our daily grammar lesson, can we move on?

[Muda69]

Any given Friday night.......  

And having to sometimes compete against the elements (wind, rain, cold, heat, field conditions, etc.) is just part of the game.  But we all know it is part of the game that most coaches hate.  They hate it because it is something they mostly can't control.   

[NLCTigerFan07]

On 7/11/2025 at 9:04 AM, Flyingangel said:

The 5 and 6A polls I don’t understand. I mean come on Warsaw was state runner up and you drop them out of top 10? Merrillville at 3 I can handle but where is FW north? 

Warsaw loses a lot from last year's team, but with Bart Ball it's always next man up and very much so a "plug-and-play" type system and all about execution on Friday night. The Tigers could easily go 4-5 or 8-1 next year against this schedule. But by the time the tournament comes, it's basically a new season for them depending on the experience the players have gained the previous 9 weeks and how healthy they are as a team. Always a threat once the calendar hits mid-October.

Edited July 16, 2025 by NLCTigerFan07

[Komets2727]

4 hours ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Warsaw loses a lot from last year's team, but with Bart Ball it's always next man up and very much so a "plug-and-play" type system and all about execution on Friday night. The Tigers could easily go 4-5 or 8-1 next year against this schedule. But by the time the tournament comes, it's basically a new season for them depending on the experience the players have gained the previous 9 weeks and how healthy they are as a team. Always a threat once the calendar hits mid-October.

What are your thoughts playing Snider and Warren Central the first 2 weeks? This is a huge upgrade and Warsaw deserves kudos for aggressively scheduling those 2 teams.

[Donnie Baker]

I think Riverton Parkes will be a sleeper in 1A south this season. They have a big tenderloin fed line with only one senior. I need to get to Meccas and have a couple. I’m an expert on pork. I gotta go 

[Muda69]

9 hours ago, Donnie Baker said:

I think Riverton Parkes will be a sleeper in 1A south this season. They have a big tenderloin fed line with only one senior. I need to get to Meccas and have a couple. I’m an expert on pork. I gotta go 

One of the best BPT's in that state. 

[Donnie Baker]

4 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

One of the best BPT's in that state. I have a free meal waiting on me when I go. I know more about pork than anyone I know