Conference Indiana - 2025 (end of the road)...

[ptr]

This is in all likelihood the last season for Conference Indiana. After this season, Bloomington North will be off for the Mid-State Conference, while both Terre Haute schools will be off to the Sagamore Conference. Who knows where Bloom. South, Col. North, and Southport will wind up.

Four schools will have new head coaches, and they are Bloomington North, Southport, and both Terre Haute schools. 

Bloomington South and Columbus North appear on paper to be the front-runners for the conference championship, and they are the only schools with returning head coaches.

I'm clearly bias as a supporter of Bloom. South and I see them taking the championship of the conference, and I have good reasons for seeing that happen. 

Bloomington South:

The Panthers welcome back hall of fame coach Mo Moriarity, who comes out of retirement to be the OC and QB coach this season. South had 94 players report for practices in grades 10 through 12. I didn't get the numbers for the freshman class. The Panthers return 20 of 22 starters and seem, at least on paper, as having good depth at just about every position on both sides of the ball, but you don't win games on paper. Along with the 20 returning starters, the Panthers had at least five transfers coming in that will play a big part in the rotations.  South can afford some injuries to just about every position with talented players ready to step up.  They have one of the better offensive backfields in the state in 6'6 jr QB Duncan Combs and sr RB Braylen Townsend who ran for 2,149 yards and 25 TDs on 347 carries, and incredibly, he had no turnovers on the season, while setting a school rushing record for the season. Combs will be backed up at QB by athletic jr Jon Winstead who will also see a lot of action at the WR position. Towsend will be backed up by Bloom. North transfer sr RB/KR Shaun Cooper who shared the RB position at Bloom. North last season, and he is considered a dangerous kick returner. Jr RB Hayden Clark backed up Townsend last season and ran for a hair under 5 yards a carry and he will also see some carries out of the backfield. Sr 6'5 TE/WR Jalen Williams, a South Florida commit, transferred from Bloom. North at the beginning of the second semester last school year, and will be a big target for Combs. Returning wide receivers had a combined 164 receptions last season with sr Sam Giles leading that group. South returns four of five starters in the o-line and according to Coach Johnson, they were extremely strong in the scrimmage with Lawrence Central this past Friday. Coach Johnson said after the scrimmage that his interior o-line is the best he has had.

On the defensive side, South returns nine starters and added to that with Bloom. North transfer sr OLB Ross Ogden, a Northern Illinois recruit. The Panthers will have some speed off the edge and at a very deep linebacker position. Jr. Derrick Willis, a transfer from Texas, will the in the rotation off the edge. In addition to the DE end position, South has several other DL returners with experience and added Bloom. North transfer Zion Tooley to that group and he will be part of the DL rotation. Sr ILB Ian Quick will lead the deep LB position and he had 126 tackles from last season, and a team-best 80 solos. Among the defensive backs, South welcomes back jr Qunicy Braham and jr Rylan Stikeleather and Stikeleather will be a major player on the basketball team this season.

An area that I just don't know about is the kicking game. South lost K/P Bryce Taylor to graduation and he is on the IU roster this season. 

Season opener: Home to Columbus East

 

Columbus North:

They are the defending conference champions going 5-0 in conference play and finishing the season at 8-2. The Bull Dogs had some significant losses through graduation, especially at the skill positions on offense, but they usually have some quality athletes ready to step in to fill the void, and most observers believe they will be strong again despite the losses. They return dual-threat sr QB Asher Ratliff who is small but extremely cat-quick with speed. Based on what I saw, the Bull Dogs return four of five starters on the o-line, which is huge when you are breaking in new running backs and receivers after they lost a quality running back in Gino Prescott and their top three wide receivers, plus what I believe was a starting TE. North's top returning receiver is Morgan Knapp who had 15 receptions last season for 161 yards. North added transfer TE Parker Elmore, whom I believe sat out last season, and he is an IU recruit.

On defense, the Bull Dogs by my count, lost six of 11 starters with the front seven particularly hit hard. North, which played a 3-4 defense, lost all three of their D-linemen and three of their four linebackers. On the other hand, their secondary looks to be particularly strong with returning starters off a strong defense last season, with both corners and three experienced safeties that are back. 

Season opener: Home against Whiteland

 

Bloomington North:

The Cougars are on their third head coach in as many seasons after Anthony Lindsey surprisingly resigned this summer after posting an 8-3 record in his only season. Their new head coach is former Perry Meridian head coach Brett Cooper. Everything has changed for the North players to include new alignments, new plays, etc. Not many players that were starters return because of graduation and at least four of their better players transferring to the southside of town at South, and I didn't get the roster size at the start of official practices. The Cougars will be a little smaller this season, but they do have some speed on the roster.

At QB will be transfer 6-5 sr John Bargen, who replaces the graduated Dash King. Bargen comes from Dunlap, IL (a Peoria suburb) and has a reputation of being a dual-threat QB with a strong arm and enough speed to effectively run with the ball. Coach Cooper is moving last season's top running back, Noah Ferree, to LB with jr Brayden Johnsn and soph Carter Matthew taking over the running back duties. North will be starting three new wide receivers, and they lost three o-linemen, so they can't afford to be hit by the injury bug at key offensive positions. The o-line will be undersized.

On defense, North is switching over to a 3-4 defense. Coach Cooper said "pound for pound if everything plays out, this is probably the strongest D-line that I've had play within the structure of this defense. If they can impact play, we have a chance to be pretty special." The LB position appears to have some depth and has some speed and athleticism. They also have some depth in the secondary with some speed and quickness. 

Joe Luther returns to do the kicking and he didn't miss an extra point last season. The new punter is soph Blake Davis.

Season opener: Home against Mooresville. 

 

Terre Haute South:

The Braves have a new head coach in Greg Barrett and he takes over for a squad that had just two wins last season, going 2-7. South's roster was fortified by the transfer of about a dozen players from TH-North to include North's top two QBs. TH-North had just two wins last season so I don't know just how much of a difference these transfers will make this season. The Patriots had just short of 80 players report for the opening official practice, and reportedly they added some transfers to that after school started. 

On offense, the two TH-North QB transfers will probably be battling it out for the starting job after the Braves lost their starting QB from last season. The Braves have a solid group of three wide receivers returning to go along with TH North receivers that transferred. They also have a pretty good RB returning in sr Tyisaac Corbin who had some big games last season. The Braves have three returning o-linemen.

I don't have much information on their defense, but they do, according to sources, return several starters on defense as well as some TH-North transfers. They weren't really all that effective on defense last season as a unit, so we will see how this season goes. 

I don't see the Braves improving all that much from last season, but a new coach, new schemes, etc., etc, and some added transfers, who knows how things will go.

Season opener: At home against Plainfield

 

Terre Haute North:

The Patriots also have a new coach in Aaron Edwards and they are coming off a 2-8 season. They lost quite a few players from last season to go with the dozen or so players that transferred to TH-South. They had about 60 players report for practice after school began so depth might be a problem for them this season. 

Wide receiver sr Jarrett Cottrell was moved to the QB position. Their receiving corps is really thin and inexperienced, and they will be led by sr Kaden McGrew, who ironically transferred to North at some point from TH-South. I really don't know much about their o-line, but from what I've read, they will be short-handed at that position with jr Dauston Chesshir being the leader of the group. 

On defense, the Patriots will be thin and will have several players going both ways. OL jr Dauston Chesshir will also play on the defensive line. LB Jackson McDonald ranked second in the state in tackles last season as a junior. If the Patriots are hit hard by the injury bug this season, they will be in big trouble, and maybe they are in that position without the injuries at this point. 

Season opener: At home against Northview

 

Southport: 

This is the one team that I know the least about and haven't seen much information on, so this will be limited. The Cardinals also have a new coach in Sean Little and he has limited experience as a head coach with an overall coaching record of 9-13. The Cardinals last winning season was in 2019 at 7-4. Since then, they have had a record of 4-44 over the last five seasons to include three 0-10 seasons. Last season was the third of their 0-10 seasons. 

I really can't comment much on their team makeup because of the very limited information I have, but they are going on offense to what has been described as a "power spread" attack. It' sounds like they will be playing two QBs and you know what they like to say "if you have two QBs, you have none." Based on what I've seen, they do have quite a bit of experience returning on both sides of the ball, but when you go 0-10 in the previous season, you wonder just how good that experience is going to be.

Season opener: At Franklin Community High School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2025 by ptr

[Frozen Tundra]

19 hours ago, ptr said:

This is in all likelihood the last season for Conference Indiana. After this season, Bloomington North will be off for the Mid-State Conference, while both Terre Haute schools will be off to the Sagamore Conference. Who knows where Bloom. South, Col. North, and Southport will wind up.

Four schools will have new head coaches, and they are Bloomington North, Southport, and both Terre Haute schools. 

Bloomington South and Columbus North appear on paper to be the front-runners for the conference championship, and they are the only schools with returning head coaches.

I'm clearly bias as a supporter of Bloom. South and I see them taking the championship of the conference, and I have good reasons for seeing that happen. 

Bloomington South:

The Panthers welcome back hall of fame coach Mo Moriarity, who comes out of retirement to be the OC and QB coach this season. South had 94 players report for practices in grades 10 through 12. I didn't get the numbers for the freshman class. The Panthers return 20 of 22 starters and seem, at least on paper, as having good depth at just about every position on both sides of the ball, but you don't win games on paper. Along with the 20 returning starters, the Panthers had at least five transfers coming in that will play a big part in the rotations.  South can afford some injuries to just about every position with talented players ready to step up.  They have one of the better offensive backfields in the state in 6'6 jr QB Duncan Combs and sr RB Braylen Townsend who ran for 2,149 yards and 25 TDs on 347 carries, and incredibly, he had no turnovers on the season, while setting a school rushing record for the season. Combs will be backed up at QB by athletic jr Jon Winstead who will also see a lot of action at the WR position. Towsend will be backed up by Bloom. North transfer sr RB/KR Shaun Cooper who shared the RB position at Bloom. North last season, and he is considered a dangerous kick returner. Jr RB Hayden Clark backed up Townsend last season and ran for a hair under 5 yards a carry and he will also see some carries out of the backfield. Sr 6'5 TE/WR Jalen Williams, a South Florida commit, transferred from Bloom. North at the beginning of the second semester last school year, and will be a big target for Combs. Returning wide receivers had a combined 164 receptions last season with sr Sam Giles leading that group. South returns four of five starters in the o-line and according to Coach Johnson, they were extremely strong in the scrimmage with Lawrence Central this past Friday. Coach Johnson said after the scrimmage that his interior o-line is the best he has had.

On the defensive side, South returns nine starters and added to that with Bloom. North transfer sr OLB Ross Ogden, a Northern Illinois recruit. The Panthers will have some speed off the edge and at a very deep linebacker position. Jr. Derrick Willis, a transfer from Texas, will the in the rotation off the edge. In addition to the DE end position, South has several other DL returners with experience and added Bloom. North transfer Zion Tooley to that group and he will be part of the DL rotation. Sr ILB Ian Quick will lead the deep LB position and he had 126 tackles from last season, and a team-best 80 solos. Among the defensive backs, South welcomes back jr Qunicy Braham and jr Rylan Stikeleather and Stikeleather will be a major player on the basketball team this season.

An area that I just don't know about is the kicking game. South lost K/P Bryce Taylor to graduation and he is on the IU roster this season. 

Season opener: Home to Columbus East

 

Columbus North:

They are the defending conference champions going 5-0 in conference play and finishing the season at 8-2. The Bull Dogs had some significant losses through graduation, especially at the skill positions on offense, but they usually have some quality athletes ready to step in to fill the void, and most observers believe they will be strong again despite the losses. They return dual-threat sr QB Asher Ratliff who is small but extremely cat-quick with speed. Based on what I saw, the Bull Dogs return four of five starters on the o-line, which is huge when you are breaking in new running backs and receivers after they lost a quality running back in Gino Prescott and their top three wide receivers, plus what I believe was a starting TE. North's top returning receiver is Morgan Knapp who had 15 receptions last season for 161 yards. North added transfer TE Parker Elmore, whom I believe sat out last season, and he is an IU recruit.

On defense, the Bull Dogs by my count, lost six of 11 starters with the front seven particularly hit hard. North, which played a 3-4 defense, lost all three of their D-linemen and three of their four linebackers. On the other hand, their secondary looks to be particularly strong with returning starters off a strong defense last season, with both corners and three experienced safeties that are back. 

Season opener: Home against Whiteland

 

Bloomington North:

The Cougars are on their third head coach in as many seasons after Anthony Lindsey surprisingly resigned this summer after posting an 8-3 record in his only season. Their new head coach is former Perry Meridian head coach Brett Cooper. Everything has changed for the North players to include new alignments, new plays, etc. Not many players that were starters return because of graduation and at least four of their better players transferring to the southside of town at South, and I didn't get the roster size at the start of official practices. The Cougars will be a little smaller this season, but they do have some speed on the roster.

At QB will be transfer 6-5 sr John Bargen, who replaces the graduated Dash King. Bargen comes from Dunlap, IL (a Peoria suburb) and has a reputation of being a dual-threat QB with a strong arm and enough speed to effectively run with the ball. Coach Cooper is moving last season's top running back, Noah Ferree, to LB with jr Brayden Johnsn and soph Carter Matthew taking over the running back duties. North will be starting three new wide receivers, and they lost three o-linemen, so they can't afford to be hit by the injury bug at key offensive positions. The o-line will be undersized.

On defense, North is switching over to a 3-4 defense. Coach Cooper said "pound for pound if everything plays out, this is probably the strongest D-line that I've had play within the structure of this defense. If they can impact play, we have a chance to be pretty special." The LB position appears to have some depth and has some speed and athleticism. They also have some depth in the secondary with some speed and quickness. 

Joe Luther returns to do the kicking and he didn't miss an extra point last season. The new punter is soph Blake Davis.

Season opener: Home against Mooresville. 

 

Terre Haute South:

The Braves have a new head coach in Greg Barrett and he takes over for a squad that had just two wins last season, going 2-7. South's roster was fortified by the transfer of about a dozen players from TH-North to include North's top two QBs. TH-North had just two wins last season so I don't know just how much of a difference these transfers will make this season. The Patriots had just short of 80 players report for the opening official practice, and reportedly they added some transfers to that after school started. 

On offense, the two TH-North QB transfers will probably be battling it out for the starting job after the Braves lost their starting QB from last season. The Braves have a solid group of three wide receivers returning to go along with TH North receivers that transferred. They also have a pretty good RB returning in sr Tyisaac Corbin who had some big games last season. The Braves have three returning o-linemen.

I don't have much information on their defense, but they do, according to sources, return several starters on defense as well as some TH-North transfers. They weren't really all that effective on defense last season as a unit, so we will see how this season goes. 

I don't see the Braves improving all that much from last season, but a new coach, new schemes, etc., etc, and some added transfers, who knows how things will go.

Season opener: At home against Plainfield

 

Terre Haute North:

The Patriots also have a new coach in Aaron Edwards and they are coming off a 2-8 season. They lost quite a few players from last season to go with the dozen or so players that transferred to TH-South. They had about 60 players report for practice after school began so depth might be a problem for them this season. 

Wide receiver sr Jarrett Cottrell was moved to the QB position. Their receiving corps is really thin and inexperienced, and they will be led by sr Kaden McGrew, who ironically transferred to North at some point from TH-South. I really don't know much about their o-line, but from what I've read, they will be short-handed at that position with jr Dauston Chesshir being the leader of the group. 

On defense, the Patriots will be thin and will have several players going both ways. OL jr Dauston Chesshir will also play on the defensive line. LB Jackson McDonald ranked second in the state in tackles last season as a junior. If the Patriots are hit hard by the injury bug this season, they will be in big trouble, and maybe they are in that position without the injuries at this point. 

Season opener: At home against Northview

 

Southport: 

This is the one team that I know the least about and haven't seen much information on, so this will be limited. The Cardinals also have a new coach in Sean Little and he has limited experience as a head coach with an overall coaching record of 9-13. The Cardinals last winning season was in 2019 at 7-4. Since then, they have had a record of 4-44 over the last five seasons to include three 0-10 seasons. Last season was the third of their 0-10 seasons. 

I really can't comment much on their team makeup because of the very limited information I have, but they are going on offense to what has been described as a "power spread" attack. It' sounds like they will be playing two QBs and you know what they like to say "if you have two QBs, you have none." Based on what I've seen, they do have quite a bit of experience returning on both sides of the ball, but when you go 0-10 in the previous season, you wonder just how good that experience is going to be.

Season opener: At Franklin Community High School

I had no idea Moriarity was back. What was the reason for that? I expect only good things to come from that.

Can’t argue with your rankings. Those are exactly what I expect as well.

[ptr]

56 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

I had no idea Moriarity was back. What was the reason for that? I expect only good things to come from that.

Can’t argue with your rankings. Those are exactly what I expect as well.

After last season, the Panthers had three assistant coaches leave the program after their loss in the semi-state. Coach Johnson had an OC and QB coach lined up to be hired when the school system put on a hiring freeze. Here's an excerpt from an article on Moriarity.

Johnson hadn't even considered the possibility until Moriarity reached out.

"With our budget situation, it put us in a bind," Johnson said. "But I didn't even think about it. He'd been out five years and he's building a house. It wasn't even in my realm, but I know how hard it is to find a lay coach who can do the kind of job that we want.

"I didn't really ask him. He just kind of told me, I’ll do it. It’s just ingrained in who he is, that the thought of doing that just excited him."

Moriarity, now 70, was in the middle of building a comfortable retirement for himself and his wife Gail following his hall of fame career. It included a lot of golf.

That plan also included a new house next to Foxcliff Golf Course in his hometown of Martinsville, where he wouldn't have to go far to get in another round. But that connection to South was never fully severed after the reins were handed off to Johnson, his longtime assistant.

Moriarity is a substitute teacher at South, and he followed the Panthers' football team closely through last year's playoff run. It ended with a tough 27-13 semi-state loss to Decatur Central, a game that was tied with less than three minutes to go.

"(Johnson) was my assistant for 12 years, and they're family to me," Moriarity said. "And to sit there and watch that semi-state game, I felt the pain. But they had this really good team coming back."

 

Johnson hadn't even considered the possibility until Moriarity reached out.

"With our budget situation, it put us in a bind," Johnson said. "But I didn't even think about it. He'd been out five years and he's building a house. It wasn't even in my realm, but I know how hard it is to find a lay coach who can do the kind of job that we want.

"I didn't really ask him. He just kind of told me, I’ll do it. It’s just ingrained in who he is, that the thought of doing that just excited him."

[ptr]

After being so rudely interrupted, here are the CI standings through Week 3. As expected, it sure looks like the conference championship game will be the South/Col. North game on Oct 3rd in Columbus. It also looks like Southport and Terre Haute North's game will decide who gets the only win on the season for those two teams. Both teams, with new head coaches, look dreadful so far in the season

CONFERENCE INDIANA
ALL TIMES EASTERN
	CONFERENCE			ALL GAMES
	W-L	Pts	OP	W-L	Pts	OP	Streak
Bloomington South	1-0	49	13	3-  0	129	47	Won 3
Columbus North	1-0	54	0	3-  0	155	14	Won 3
Terre Haute South	1-0	23	0	2-  1	76	67	Won 2
Bloomington North	0-1	0	23	1-  2	43	71	Lost 1
Southport	0-1	0	54	0-  3	0	133	Lost 14
Terre Haute North	0-1	13	49	0-  3	28	139	Lost 6

Edited September 8, 2025 by ptr

[Frozen Tundra]

1 hour ago, ptr said:

After being so rudely interrupted, here are the CI standings through Week 3. As expected, it sure looks like the conference championship game will be the South/Col. North game on Oct 3rd in Columbus. It also looks like Southport and Terre Haute North's game will decide who gets the only win on the season for those two teams. Both teams, with new head coaches, look dreadful so far in the season

CONFERENCE INDIANA
ALL TIMES EASTERN
	CONFERENCE			ALL GAMES
	W-L	Pts	OP	W-L	Pts	OP	Streak
Bloomington South	1-0	49	13	3-  0	129	47	Won 3
Columbus North	1-0	54	0	3-  0	155	14	Won 3
Terre Haute South	1-0	23	0	2-  1	76	67	Won 2
Bloomington North	0-1	0	23	1-  2	43	71	Lost 1
Southport	0-1	0	54	0-  3	0	133	Lost 14
Terre Haute North	0-1	13	49	0-  3	28	139	Lost 6

Didn’t expect Terre Haute South to beat Bloomington North for that third place spot. Not sure what happened there.

[ptr]

24 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Didn’t expect Terre Haute South to beat Bloomington North for that third place spot. Not sure what happened there.

It didn't surprise me that TH-South beat the North Cougars, but the shutout was surprising. North had a big turnover of players from last season and is thin in experience at several positions. They seem to be a team that will run hot and cold on the season. They did beat BNL after the Stars had knocked off Martinsville by a wide margin which kind of indicates that they are going to have an up and down season. They have Bloom. South this Friday and I will be surprised if that game is close even with the rivalry aspect to it, since South is much deeper at most positions on both sides of the ball. One area that South needs to cleanup is with the penalties and they have had a ton of them, especially of the major category, in the first three games. Against TH North, they had 10 penalties for 120 yards.

In the Bloom. North game, North had just 91 yards total offense in the game. It was 6-0 TH South at the half, and the Braves used their running game, a little over 300 rushing yards total, to control the second half.

[Frozen Tundra]

Have you heard anything as it pertains to Bloomington South’s conference future or is it looking like they’ll be an independent?

[ptr]

29 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Have you heard anything as it pertains to Bloomington South’s conference future or is it looking like they’ll be an independent?

I haven't heard anything on that. I'm not close to anyone that is with the program or even the parents of the players, and they probably know where AD JR Holmes has approached things on this issue. I posted earlier that back in May, Holmes mentioned the HHC as a possibility, but I don't know if the schools in the HHC are warm to the idea, and I don't know if the HHC requires a unanimous vote for that to happen. It makes sense to me that Col. North and South would be a good fit for the HHC. South plays a lot of HHC schools in basketball and also often has one of those schools on their football schedule like Col. East. However, they replaced Seymour with Center Grove (yikes!) on this year's football schedule. 

[Frozen Tundra]

10 minutes ago, ptr said:

I haven't heard anything on that. I'm not close to anyone that is with the program or even the parents of the players, and they probably know where AD JR Holmes has approached things on this issue. I posted earlier that back in May, Holmes mentioned the HHC as a possibility, but I don't know if the schools in the HHC are warm to the idea, and I don't know if the HHC requires a unanimous vote for that to happen. It makes sense to me that Col. North and South would be a good fit for the HHC. South plays a lot of HHC schools in basketball and also often has one of those schools on their football schedule like Col. East. However, they replaced Seymour with Center Grove (yikes!) on this year's football schedule. 

Yeah Columbus North and Bloomington South to the HHC would be awesome. I’m curious to see where Southport ends up. Maybe they could fill Shelbyville’s spot in the Hoosier Heritage Conference to keep them at eight members.

[ptr]

I'm not running any kind of pick-em games this season, but I will be giving my view of the CI games from week to week, with my pick being in boldface. If anyone wants to weigh in on these games, please have at it.

I don't see any of the games being very competitive this week. Maybe the Col. North @ Roncalli game will be close, but that looks like a game that the Bull Dogs could easily roll past the Royals. 

 

Bloomington North @ Bloomington South 

Both teams could be without their starting QBs this week and the starting QB for both teams did not play in the Terre Haute games last week. North's QB John Bargen suffered an undisclosed injury in their game with Mooresville and then reaggravated it during practice, sitting out the game with Terre Haute South where they were limited to just 91 yards total offense. WR receiver turned LB, Luke Freel, filled in at QB for that game and he was 7 for 20 passing with two INTs. 

South starting QB Duncan Combs also missed the Terre Haute North game with an undisclosed injury and may not be available for the game this Friday. Backup QB Jonathan Winstead, who also starts at WR when Combs is under center, was 6 for 9 for 62 yards and had one INT. Winstead didn't have to do much with South's o-line and running backs do most of the damage in that game, and the running clock at the start of the second half, made that game end quickly.

South is too deep with quality talent at most positions, so I don't see a thin Cougar team from an experience standpoint, challenging them. The only thing that I would be concerned with is that the Panthers have committed way too many major penalties in the first three games of the season, and couple that with turnovers, those factors could possibly keep this game somewhat close. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloom. South 35 Bloom. North 21

 

Columbus North @ Indy Roncalli

Roncalli has been down by their standards the last couple of seasons, and are 10-12 over those two seasons. They are 1-2 so far this season and their two losses are against quality opponents. Their lone win was against FW Dwenger by a score of 3-0, a score you don't see very often in high school football. I think Col. North will probably roll over them, and like with South, penalties and turnovers being possible equalizers for the Royals. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 28 Roncalli 17

 

Pike @ Southport

Pike enters the game at 0-3, just like Southport, but that is where the comparison ends for these two teams. Pike has played the tougher schedule, and Southport has been shutout in their first three games. Southport will probably battle Terre Haute North later on this season for the only win by either team this regular season. I see Pike rolling over the Cardinals in an easy call for their first win. The only question mark for this game is will the Cardinals score any points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Pike 38 Southport 7

 

Terre Haute South @ Terre Haute North

The TH South Braves (2-1) are coming off a 23-0 shutout of Bloomington North which was without their starting QB. TH North Patriots have been bludgeoned in their first three games in an 0-3 start to the season. The South Braves have a least a dozen transfers from the TH North squad and have the better running back in Tyisaac Corbin.  The North Patriots have a thin roster with some two-way players, so I don't see them hanging with the Braves. I see a blowout coming in this game.

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute South 38 Terre Haute North 21

 

[Frozen Tundra]

1 hour ago, ptr said:

I'm not running any kind of pick-em games this season, but I will be giving my view of the CI games from week to week, with my pick being in boldface. If anyone wants to weigh in on these games, please have at it.

I don't see any of the games being very competitive this week. Maybe the Col. North @ Roncalli game will be close, but that looks like a game that the Bull Dogs could easily roll past the Royals. 

 

Bloomington North @ Bloomington South 

Both teams could be without their starting QBs this week and the starting QB for both teams did not play in the Terre Haute games last week. North's QB John Bargen suffered an undisclosed injury in their game with Mooresville and then reaggravated it during practice, sitting out the game with Terre Haute South where they were limited to just 91 yards total offense. WR receiver turned LB, Luke Freel, filled in at QB for that game and he was 7 for 20 passing with two INTs. 

South starting QB Duncan Combs also missed the Terre Haute North game with an undisclosed injury and may not be available for the game this Friday. Backup QB Jonathan Winstead, who also starts at WR when Combs is under center, was 6 for 9 for 62 yards and had one INT. Winstead didn't have to do much with South's o-line and running backs do most of the damage in that game, and the running clock at the start of the second half, made that game end quickly.

South is too deep with quality talent at most positions, so I don't see a thin Cougar team from an experience standpoint, challenging them. The only thing that I would be concerned with is that the Panthers have committed way too many major penalties in the first three games of the season, and couple that with turnovers, those factors could possibly keep this game somewhat close. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloom. South 35 Bloom. North 21

 

Columbus North @ Indy Roncalli

Roncalli has been down by their standards the last couple of seasons, and are 10-12 over those two seasons. They are 1-2 so far this season and their two losses are against quality opponents. Their lone win was against FW Dwenger by a score of 3-0, a score you don't see very often in high school football. I think Col. North will probably roll over them, and like with South, penalties and turnovers being possible equalizers for the Royals. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 28 Roncalli 17

 

Pike @ Southport

Pike enters the game at 0-3, just like Southport, but that is where the comparison ends for these two teams. Pike has played the tougher schedule, and Southport has been shutout in their first three games. Southport will probably battle Terre Haute North later on this season for the only win by either team this regular season. I see Pike rolling over the Cardinals in an easy call for their first win. The only question mark for this game is will the Cardinals score any points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Pike 38 Southport 7

 

Terre Haute South @ Terre Haute North

The TH South Braves (2-1) are coming off a 23-0 shutout of Bloomington North which was without their starting QB. TH North Patriots have been bludgeoned in their first three games in an 0-3 start to the season. The South Braves have a least a dozen transfers from the TH North squad and have the better running back in Tyisaac Corbin.  The North Patriots have a thin roster with some two-way players, so I don't see them hanging with the Braves. I see a blowout coming in this game.

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute South 38 Terre Haute North 21

 

Can’t say I disagree here. I hope Roncalli can give Columbus North a game but I doubt it. They’re on another level right now. Is this the team that finally knocks off Center Grove in sectionals? 11 straight losses to the Trojans The last win was in 2007.

[Bulldog15]

On 9/10/2025 at 10:47 PM, Frozen Tundra said:

Can’t say I disagree here. I hope Roncalli can give Columbus North a game but I doubt it. They’re on another level right now. Is this the team that finally knocks off Center Grove in sectionals? 11 straight losses to the Trojans The last win was in 2007.

The offense is fun to watch.  After a losing a back like Prescott, the run game was a question mark.  With our passing game we just need the backs to keep the defense honest.  They have been exceeding expectations.  Roncalli is not up to usual strength but their defense will be disciplined and tough.  I believe they have a really good safety and corner so it will be a good test for the offense hopefully.

[crimsonace1]

On 9/8/2025 at 7:32 PM, Frozen Tundra said:

Yeah Columbus North and Bloomington South to the HHC would be awesome. I’m curious to see where Southport ends up. Maybe they could fill Shelbyville’s spot in the Hoosier Heritage Conference to keep them at eight members.

New Castle is also leaving the Hoosier Heritage to go independent, so it will be at six. 

Southport would be a fit, but their lack of competitiveness in football and the fact that their crowds don't travel will make it a bit of a challenge (also, a lot of travel for Delta & Yorktown). 

[ptr]

3 hours ago, Bulldog15 said:

The offense is fun to watch.  After a losing a back like Prescott, the run game was a question mark.  With our passing game we just need the backs to keep the defense honest.  They have been exceeding expectations.  Roncalli is not up to usual strength but their defense will be disciplined and tough.  I believe they have a really good safety and corner so it will be a good test for the offense hopefully.

The Bull Dogs have a strong o-line and a really good QB, so that goes a long way toward developing another RB or two to replace Prescott, as well as new starting receivers. CN usually has quality athletes to step in for the departing players. 

[Frozen Tundra]

12 minutes ago, crimsonace1 said:

New Castle is also leaving the Hoosier Heritage to go independent, so it will be at six. 

Southport would be a fit, but their lack of competitiveness in football and the fact that their crowds don't travel will make it a bit of a challenge (also, a lot of travel for Delta & Yorktown). 

According to Google Maps, there’s only a one minute difference in travel time between Southport and Shelbyville for Delta and Yorktown. However, depending on the amount of traffic on 465, I could see that making a difference.

I missed the news on New Castle. Where are they going?

[ptr]

16 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

According to Google Maps, there’s only a one minute difference in travel time between Southport and Shelbyville for Delta and Yorktown. However, depending on the amount of traffic on 465, I could see that making a difference.

I missed the news on New Castle. Where are they going?

It's my understanding that both New Castle and Shelbyville are moving to the new Hoosier Legends Conference.

[Frozen Tundra]

21 minutes ago, ptr said:

It's my understanding that both New Castle and Shelbyville are moving to the new Hoosier Legends Conference.

No only Shelbyville is joining that conference. I just looked it up and New Castle was hoping to find a new conference in east central Indiana. Not sure what that would be unless another new conference decides to form. 

[ptr]

11 hours ago, Bulldog15 said:

The offense is fun to watch.  After a losing a back like Prescott, the run game was a question mark.  With our passing game we just need the backs to keep the defense honest.  They have been exceeding expectations.  Roncalli is not up to usual strength but their defense will be disciplined and tough.  I believe they have a really good safety and corner so it will be a good test for the offense hopefully.

I was very surprised by the Bull Dogs/Roncalli score of 41-20, Royals. I expected the opposite of that score. I haven't seen details of the game so far.

[ptr]

Here's how I see Week 5 in CI with the favorite in boldface. I see one competitive game and maybe a second one with two games looking like they could or will be blowouts.

 

Bloomington South @ Terre Haute South

The Panthers (4-0) make the 60-mile drive to Terre Haute to face the Braves (3-1) and the Braves have already exceeded their win total (2 games) from last season. TH-South's only loss was to 5A No. 3 Plainfield at home to open the season in a game that wasn't close (31-7.) The Braves pounded crosstown rival TH-North, a bad team, last week in which they had a 42-7 lead at the end of the 1st qtr which took an hour to complete the qtr. I haven't seen TH-South play, but I do know they have a pretty good RB in sr Tyisaac Corbin (89.5 ypg) whom I have seen from past seasons. Bloom. South is coming off of a blowout win against crosstown rival Bloom. North. The Braves will be fired up for this game at home, but I don't see them coming out on top in this game. I see the Panthers' tandem running backs in sr Braylen Townsend (148.3 ypg) and sr Shaun Cooper (72.7 ypg) being able to move the sticks while controlling time of possession. Bloom. South's QB, Duncan Combs, is hitting on 75 pct of his passes. The Panthers have dominated this series and have won 21 of the last 23 matchups with the Braves. The one thing that has me concerned with the Panthers is they continue to accumulate too many major penalties which have stymied drives, and that could possibly be their undoing in this game. 

 

Columbus North @ Carmel

After the Bull Dogs' (3-1) surprising loss to Roncalli on the road last week, you would think they would be big underdogs in this game at Carmel (3-1.) In the Roncalli game, things kind of snowballed for CN with a couple of big kickoff returns by the Royals as well as surprising the Bull Dogs with an on-side kick to start the 2nd half which led to a TD by the Royals. CN could be competitive in this game (QB Asher Ratliff threw for 304 yards against Roncalli), keeping it close, but I have to go with the Greyhounds at home. 

 

Terre Haute North @ Bloomington North

TH-North (0-4) got demolished last week by TH-South, and as I mentioned above, they trailed 42-7 at the end of the 1st qtr in that game. Bloom. North Cougars (1-3) have one win on the season, beating Bedford NL by nine points. The Cougars lost big to Bloom. South last week, but you can make this game the second win on the season for them. I see the Cougars taking this game by a minimum three TDs. 

 

Indy Cathedral @ Southport

No need to spend any time on this game. The Cardinals (0-4) are still looking for their first points on the season, having been shutout in their first four games. This game could and probably will get really ugly with Cathedral (2-2) putting Southport away by the end of the 1st qtr. The only question for this game is will the Cardinals manage to score any points against Cathedral's subs later in the game which will probably be at a running clock to start the second half. 

Edited September 18, 2025 by ptr

[Frozen Tundra]

If Bloomington South and Terre Haute South isn’t the closest game of the four then I’ll be shocked. I don’t think Columbus North stands a chance of keeping it within 28.

Edited September 18, 2025 by Frozen Tundra

[ptr]

18 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

If Bloomington South and Terre Haute South isn’t the closest game of the four then I’ll be shocked. I don’t think Columbus North stands a chance of keeping it within 28.

Yes. I think the TH South/Bloom. South game could be pretty competitive. I agree that the Col. North Bull Dogs are probably in over their head with Carmel, but if they can clean up their special teams play, they could at least make the final score respectable. The Buil Dogs look to be a real enigma this season. I saw where they lost one of their better if not their best DB in the Roncalli game. Daronte Degraffenreid was hurt in the first qtr and laid on the field for near 30 minutes before being carted off to a hospital. I assume he is okay since I haven't heard anything on it. 

[Frozen Tundra]

1 hour ago, ptr said:

Yes. I think the TH South/Bloom. South game could be pretty competitive. I agree that the Col. North Bull Dogs are probably in over their head with Carmel, but if they can clean up their special teams play, they could at least make the final score respectable. The Buil Dogs look to be a real enigma this season. I saw where they lost one of their better if not their best DB in the Roncalli game. Daronte Degraffenreid was hurt in the first qtr and laid on the field for near 30 minutes before being carted off to a hospital. I assume he is okay since I haven't heard anything on it. 

Yeah he was released on Saturday morning and is doing fine according to a post on Facebook. 

[ptr]

On 9/18/2025 at 5:44 PM, Frozen Tundra said:

If Bloomington South and Terre Haute South isn’t the closest game of the four then I’ll be shocked. I don’t think Columbus North stands a chance of keeping it within 28.

Okay. The Bull Dogs are no longer an enigma to me. The loss of a lot of talent from last season is really showing now after getting thrashed by Carmel, and they seem to have a passing game but not much else. They certainly miss Gino Prescott. 

[ptr]

My Week 6 opinion on games in CI. There are four games this week and two games appear to be competitive and the other two games are games where the favorite can pretty much name the score. My picks are in boldface. 

 

Southport @ Bloomington South

This is obviously one of the games where the South Panthers (5-0) can pretty much name the score. The only question with this game is will the Cardinals (0-5) score their first points of the season after being shutout in the first the five games of the season, and that won't be easy against the Panthers' stout defense. This game might have the running clock at the start of the 2nd half and with South probably playing backups, maybe Southport can get that elusive score. South continues to rack up too many major penalties, and they had a ridiculous 9 penalties for 90 yards just in the first half of their blowout win over TH South last week. The Panthers have also given up three kickoff returns for TDs in the first five games with two of those that started the game. TH South had a kickoff return for a TD to start their game with the Panthers last week.

Harrell's site prediction: Bloom. South 42 Southport 0

 

Columbus North @ Terre Haute North

After getting pummeled by two strong teams the past two weeks, the Bull Dogs (3-2) make the long trip to Terre Haute for what should be another game where the favored Bull Dogs can name the score. TH North (0-5) has lost big in all five games so far this season and they are coming off a 56-0 loss to Bloom. North last week. The Bull Dogs really miss RB Gino Prescott and from what I have read/seen they are pretty much a one-dimensional team with a passing game and not much of the running game. The Bull Dogs defense hasn't been effective against the stronger teams they faced the past two weeks. However, those two areas of concern should not be a problem tonight. 

Harrell's site prediction: Col. North 77 TH North 0

 

Bloomington North @ Jeffersonville

The North Cougars (2-3) make the long trip to Jeffersonville to face the Red Devils (2-3.) Both teams sport the same record, but have just one common foe in Bedford NL with the Cougars beating the Stars by 9 points for the Stars' lone loss on the season, while the Red Devils lost to the Stars by 21 points.  I commented on here before the season started that the Cougars will be a team that will be up and down all season long and they have been just that so far. You can throw out the Cougars 23-0 loss at TH Haute South earlier with the Cougars playing that game with a linebacker at QB after their starting QB sat out with an injury. I think it will be a good trip back to Bloomington with the Cougars winning this game by 10-14 points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloom. North 31 Jeffersonville 17

 

Northview @ Terre Haute South

The No. 9/12 4A Northview Knights (5-0) travel to TH South (3-2) for what should be a very close game. This is a difficult game (for me) to try to predict. These teams have gone 2-2 the past four seasons, and last season, it was a very close win for the Knights. There is a big disparity between the two teams when it goes to their strength of schedule so far. The Knights' five wins came against teams with a combined record of 3-22, while the Braves two losses have come against the 5A No. 2 Bloom. South and 5A No. 3 Plainfield. Despite the lack of playing even an average team, I'm going to go with Northview in this game. The TH South Braves are still smarting over a home blowout loss to Bloom. South last week, so they are either going to still have a hangover from that game, or they will be fired up to rectify it against the Knights. 

Harrell's site prediction: Northview 38 TH South 28

[Frozen Tundra]

3 minutes ago, ptr said:

My Week 6 opinion on games in CI. There are four games this week and two games appear to be competitive and the other two games are games where the favorite can pretty much name the score. My picks are in boldface. 

 

Southport @ Bloomington South

This is obviously one of the games where the South Panthers (5-0) can pretty much name the score. The only question with this game is will the Cardinals (0-5) score their first points of the season after being shutout in the first the five games of the season, and that won't be easy against the Panthers' stout defense. This game might have the running clock at the start of the 2nd half and with South probably playing backups, maybe Southport can get that elusive score. South continues to rack up too many major penalties, and they had a ridiculous 9 penalties for 90 yards just in the first half of their blowout win over TH South last week. The Panthers have also given up three kickoff returns for TDs in the first five games with two of those that started the game. TH South had a kickoff return for a TD to start their game with the Panthers last week.

Harrell's site prediction: Bloom. South 42 Southport 0

 

Columbus North @ Terre Haute North

After getting pummeled by two strong teams the past two weeks, the Bull Dogs (3-2) make the long trip to Terre Haute for what should be another game where the favored Bull Dogs can name the score. TH North (0-5) has lost big in all five games so far this season and they are coming off a 56-0 loss to Bloom. North last week. The Bull Dogs really miss RB Gino Prescott and from what I have read/seen they are pretty much a one-dimensional team with a passing game and not much of the running game. The Bull Dogs defense hasn't been effective against the stronger teams they faced the past two weeks. However, those two areas of concern should not be a problem tonight. 

Harrell's site prediction: Col. North 77 TH North 0

 

Bloomington North @ Jeffersonville

The North Cougars (2-3) make the long trip to Jeffersonville to face the Red Devils (2-3.) Both teams sport the same record, but have just one common foe in Bedford NL with the Cougars beating the Stars by 9 points for the Stars' lone loss on the season, while the Red Devils lost to the Stars by 21 points.  I commented on here before the season started that the Cougars will be a team that will be up and down all season long and they have been just that so far. You can throw out the Cougars 23-0 loss at TH Haute South earlier with the Cougars playing that game with a linebacker at QB after their starting QB sat out with an injury. I think it will be a good trip back to Bloomington with the Cougars winning this game by 10-14 points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloom. North 31 Jeffersonville 17

 

Northview @ Terre Haute South

The No. 9/12 4A Northview Knights (5-0) travel to TH South (3-2) for what should be a very close game. This is a difficult game (for me) to try to predict. These teams have gone 2-2 the past four seasons, and last season, it was a very close win for the Knights. There is a big disparity between the two teams when it goes to their strength of schedule so far. The Knights' five wins came against teams with a combined record of 3-22, while the Braves two losses have come against the 5A No. 2 Bloom. South and 5A No. 3 Plainfield. Despite the lack of playing even an average team, I'm going to go with Northview in this game. The TH South Braves are still smarting over a home blowout loss to Bloom. South last week, so they are either going to still have a hangover from that game, or they will be fired up to rectify it against the Knights. 

Harrell's site prediction: Northview 38 TH South 28

The only thing I differ with you on is that I’m taking Terre Haute South over Northview in a close one.