Week 6 Takeaways

[temptation]

Liked this idea last week.  Will share some thoughts.

1.  Brownsburg has now been a part of one of the highest scoring games in the state this year (55-47 over Avon) and the lowest (14-10 over Westfield).  What does this tell us?  Brownsburg can win games in multiple fashion, but more importantly, what does it say about Westfield?  They were blown out by Carmel , but could play with Brownsburg for 4 quarters.  Was their game against Carmel just an off night?  Did we narrow 6A down to Carmel and Brownsburg prematurely?

2.  Speaking of Carmel, other than the Trinity blemish, they have been laying it on people.  But Trinity laid it on them.

3.  Looks like a typical Eric Moore outfit at CG.  Trojans lost a couple of key players, but put it on who I consider a pretty solid LC squad.

4.  I was cautioned by @PHJIrish that I was writing off Cathedral too early and it appears he was right, especially the offense.  Reading his recap, it seems like the Irish really faced some adversity last night.  A big pretty 3 weeks ahead for them.
 

5.  Not sure what to make of the HCC after the top two.  We know Noblesville is in the basement but teams 3-7 could go in any direction.  HSE beats Avon but loses to Fishers and Zionsville down their starting QB.  Maybe the element of surprise elevated the Royals through the win last week and now there is film on the news signal caller that Zionsville was able to exploit?  Just spit balling.

6.  Lafayette Jeff and Merrillville continue to roll and are looking to change the narrative as they have been coined as regular season paper tigers recently.  Is this the year one of them makes it down state?

7.  What to make of Fort Wayne?  Dwenger seems to be the only state title contender, but Homestead, Northrop, and Carroll seem to be fairly equal.

8.  Warren escapes Pike after giving up a 16 point lead in the fourth quarter.  Pike scored on the last play of regulation and got the two point conversion to force overtime and then appeared to score on a fourth and goal from the 10 in overtime but the refs ruled it incomplete…which allowed the Warriors to kick the game winning field goal.  I am still not sure how good this Warren team is but the next three weeks will tell us.

 

Edited September 27, 2025 by temptation

[23andCounting]

Out of Fort Wayne - I deemed the Dwenger/Northrop game over when the Saints went up 18-6. No way were the Bruins coming back against this defense with just one quarter to play. Northrop gets a long kickoff return and Dwenger turns the ball over twice in their own redzone on their next two possession. Saint's had the SAC title in the bag and gave it away. 

4A North still goes through East Noble or Dwenger with Mishawaka lurking. I still like East Noble as the norths best option to win all of 4A........anyone who thinks this isn't possible with New Pal out of the way is in a state of denial.

Carroll will battle ferociously with Crown Point for the right to play Carmel, but the Greyhounds will probably be a heavy favorite in that game. 

5A still belongs to New Pal...........no ifs, ands, or buts. It's a shame we'll never know how this team would do in this year's 6A tournament.

[Rodney]

I think merillville looks even more like a paper tiger after last night.

A game vs Laporte should've been a running clock the whole second half.

Anyone in the top 15 would've made it that, the scoreboard shows a blow out but the box score says Laporte was playing with them to an extent

 

No idea what to make of Jeff

 

4a I still like dwenger but going through HH or chatard at State will be tough

 

I think avon played some really good games while other teams were having off nights.

And is now slightly overrated 

Edited September 27, 2025 by Rodney

[23andCounting]

29 minutes ago, Rodney said:

No idea what to make of Jeff

I like this team. They have a good shot at playing Thanksgiving weekend. 

[Gipper]

From the region:

 

Crown Point…was Crown Point.  Lowell is finding its groove as well.

[Bears62]

1 hour ago, Rodney said:

I think merillville looks even more like a paper tiger after last night.

A game vs Laporte should've been a running clock the whole second half.

Anyone in the top 15 would've made it that, the scoreboard shows a blow out but the box score says Laporte was playing with them to an extent

 

No idea what to make of Jeff

 

4a I still like dwenger but going through HH or chatard at State will be tough

 

I think avon played some really good games while other teams were having off nights.

And is now slightly overrated 

I definitely see your point about Merrillville, but I wouldn't read too much into it, I still think they are probably the best 5a team outside of New Pal & Cathedral. Only losing by 7 to Loyola Academy out of Illinois is pretty impressive as they are a top IL team, I think thats more indicative of how good they are than the Laporte score.

Crown Point kind of gave it to them when they played and that game wasn't as close as the score indicated, but CP is obviously the cream of the crop in Northern Indiana so while it's disappointing to see them get blown out by them 3 years in a row, it's somewhat understandable.

They've got an absolute cakewalk to semi-state where they will face LJ/Concord (possibly Warsaw if they go on another run), but I still see them as the slight favorite over Jeff to make it to Lucas Oil out of the North.

[Rodney]

1 minute ago, Bears62 said:

They've got an absolute cakewalk to semi-state 

oh hey, another believer in the fact that getting to semi state from NWI is free.

[BDGiant93]

14 hours ago, temptation said:

2.  Speaking of Carmel, other than the Trinity blemish, they have been laying it on people.  But Trinity laid it on them.

3.  Looks like a typical Eric Moore outfit at CG.  Trojans lost a couple of key players, but put it on who I consider a pretty solid LC squad.

8.  Warren escapes Pike after giving up a 16 point lead in the fourth quarter.  Pike scored on the last play of regulation and got the two point conversion to force overtime and then appeared to score on a fourth and goal from the 10 in overtime but the refs ruled it incomplete…which allowed the Warriors to kick the game winning field goal.  I am still not sure how good this Warren team is but the next three weeks will tell us.

 

#2, I can only imagine they'll be ready to dump some points on Ben Davis. Kevin Wright's last appearance against the Giants didn't go so well after the 17-0 start.

#3, Center Grove just gets it done. Must be something to that old formula they have down there. They just keep doing it.

#8, Boy, Warren feels like they should be one of the top teams. They're certainly better on offense than they were last year and have some players on defense. When Warren fans are saying that Pike got robbed, then Pike got robbed. That was one of the worst missed calls I've seen in maybe 15-16 years...maybe back to that Carmel/Warren state game. I get that officials are human and make mistakes. It's hard to see what that official was watching, but I'm sure he feels horrible. Usually those guys and gals are hardest on themselves when they know they messed up.

By the way, Is Pike playing a backup QB? I know Lewis was hurt against BD.

[PHJIrish]

Cathedral's offensive output was their best of the season so far, except for the four turnovers.  And, I'm sure glad we don't play a team with speed like Trotwood Madison every week!  They were quite impressive!

[Bobref]

On 9/27/2025 at 8:02 PM, BDGiant93 said:

When Warren fans are saying that Pike got robbed, then Pike got robbed. That was one of the worst missed calls I've seen in maybe 15-16 years...maybe back to that Carmel/Warren state game. I get that officials are human and make mistakes. It's hard to see what that official was watching, but I'm sure he feels horrible. Usually those guys and gals are hardest on themselves when they know they messed up.

I agree this is a catch. But my focus is on finding out why we didn’t get it right. 
The streamed clip I saw did not show the back judge, and this was his call 100%. I looked at the Hudl video, which does show a wide view.  The back judge is in trouble right away because of his initial position. He is head up on the football ... which is all the way on the left hash. To compound the problem, the formation is strong -- with trips, no less -- to the linesman’s side. The back judge’s initial key in this formation is the widest receiver in the trips, so he needed to line up accordingly. B should at least be in the middle of the field in this situation. Instead, he is running along the end line trying to close on the play when he has to make the critical call. On a bang bang play like that, you want to be stationary when you’re processing what you see. See, those mechanics rules do serve a purpose. 😉

[Bash Riprock]

On 9/27/2025 at 9:47 PM, PHJIrish said:

Cathedral's offensive output was their best of the season so far, except for the four turnovers.  And, I'm sure glad we don't play a team with speed like Trotwood Madison every week!  They were quite impressive!

Should be a good game this friday in Center Grove for the annual Trojan and Irish matchup.  (annual at least recent history)  Both teams so far only two teams to beat Ohio's Trotwood Madison this season.  Its homecoming at CG.  

[WestfieldRocks]

On 9/27/2025 at 6:16 AM, temptation said:

Liked this idea last week.  Will share some thoughts.

1.  Brownsburg has now been a part of one of the highest scoring games in the state this year (55-47 over Avon) and the lowest (14-10 over Westfield).  What does this tell us?  Brownsburg can win games in multiple fashion, but more importantly, what does it say about Westfield?  They were blown out by Carmel , but could play with Brownsburg for 4 quarters.  Was their game against Carmel just an off night?  Did we narrow 6A down to Carmel and Brownsburg prematurely?

2.  Speaking of Carmel, other than the Trinity blemish, they have been laying it on people.  But Trinity laid it on them.

3.  Looks like a typical Eric Moore outfit at CG.  Trojans lost a couple of key players, but put it on who I consider a pretty solid LC squad.

4.  I was cautioned by @PHJIrish that I was writing off Cathedral too early and it appears he was right, especially the offense.  Reading his recap, it seems like the Irish really faced some adversity last night.  A big pretty 3 weeks ahead for them.
 

5.  Not sure what to make of the HCC after the top two.  We know Noblesville is in the basement but teams 3-7 could go in any direction.  HSE beats Avon but loses to Fishers and Zionsville down their starting QB.  Maybe the element of surprise elevated the Royals through the win last week and now there is film on the news signal caller that Zionsville was able to exploit?  Just spit balling.

6.  Lafayette Jeff and Merrillville continue to roll and are looking to change the narrative as they have been coined as regular season paper tigers recently.  Is this the year one of them makes it down state?

7.  What to make of Fort Wayne?  Dwenger seems to be the only state title contender, but Homestead, Northrop, and Carroll seem to be fairly equal.

8.  Warren escapes Pike after giving up a 16 point lead in the fourth quarter.  Pike scored on the last play of regulation and got the two point conversion to force overtime and then appeared to score on a fourth and goal from the 10 in overtime but the refs ruled it incomplete…which allowed the Warriors to kick the game winning field goal.  I am still not sure how good this Warren team is but the next three weeks will tell us.

 

Westfield trailed Carmel in the 4th by just 10, and had the ball near the Carmel red zone when they turned it over. Carmel went right down and scored a touchdown, and added another one late in the game. So I would not call that game a blowout. If they meet again in the sectional, and especially if the game is at Westfield, there could be a different outcome.

[23andCounting]

8 hours ago, WestfieldRocks said:

Westfield trailed Carmel in the 4th by just 10, and had the ball near the Carmel red zone when they turned it over. Carmel went right down and scored a touchdown, and added another one late in the game. So I would not call that game a blowout. If they meet again in the sectional, and especially if the game is at Westfield, there could be a different outcome.

How did you get two likes out of this? I said the same thing about the Carroll/Center Grove game and all the Indy guys fought me tooth and nail on it. 

[Bash Riprock]

2 hours ago, 23andCounting said:

How did you get two likes out of this? I said the same thing about the Carroll/Center Grove game and all the Indy guys fought me tooth and nail on it. 

Because CG led the entire game and exposed its will in the 4th quarter.  (you credited Carroll for hanging in there for almost 3 quarters) Because you said the Carroll defense out hit CG, while giving up over 500 yds of total offense and over 300 yds rushing.  (that's being manhandled) Because you said the only way to really see the game was in the stands and TV viewers didn't count.  Silly comments, that's why.

[BDGiant93]

17 hours ago, Bobref said:

I agree this is a catch. But my focus is on finding out why we didn’t get it right. 
The streamed clip I saw did not show the back judge, and this was his call 100%. I looked at the Hudl video, which does show a wide view.  The back judge is in trouble right away because of his initial position. He is head up on the football ... which is all the way on the left hash. To compound the problem, the formation is strong -- with trips, no less -- to the linesman’s side. The back judge’s initial key in this formation is the widest receiver in the trips, so he needed to line up accordingly. B should at least be in the middle of the field in this situation. Instead, he is running along the end line trying to close on the play when he has to make the critical call. On a bang bang play like that, you want to be stationary when you’re processing what you see. See, those mechanics rules do serve a purpose. 😉

I figured there had to be a reason. These calls just don't get missed very often.

[23andCounting]

25 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

Because CG led the entire game and exposed its will in the 4th quarter.  (you credited Carroll for hanging in there for almost 3 quarters) Because you said the Carroll defense out hit CG, while giving up over 500 yds of total offense and over 300 yds rushing.  (that's being manhandled) Because you said the only way to really see the game was in the stands and TV viewers didn't count.  Silly comments, that's why.

Regardless of how many yards they gave up, they were only down 21-17 midway through the third with most of that quarter played in CG territory. How come Carroll's 432 yards don't count?  Also, the game was tied at 7-7 and 14-14........so CG leading the whole game is inaccurate. Same thing happens to Westfield against Carmel, but the Rocks were competitive and could potentially win if they meet again in the playoffs. Your bias as a Trojan is rearing it's head. 

Edited October 1, 2025 by 23andCounting

[Bobref]

1 hour ago, BDGiant93 said:

I figured there had to be a reason. These calls just don't get missed very often.

It’s disappointing. But, in an attempt to make something positive out of it, I think it’s likely this play will be included in the weekly Training Video distributed by the Indiana Football Officials Association. It reaches about 700 or so officials, so we’ll try to make it a teaching moment.

[Rodney]

58 minutes ago, Bobref said:

It’s disappointing. But, in an attempt to make something positive out of it, I think it’s likely this play will be included in the weekly Training Video distributed by the Indiana Football Officials Association. It reaches about 700 or so officials, so we’ll try to make it a teaching moment.

Can I make a training video to send in

[Bash Riprock]

4 hours ago, 23andCounting said:

Regardless of how many yards they gave up, they were only down 21-17 midway through the third with most of that quarter played in CG territory. How come Carroll's 432 yards don't count?  Also, the game was tied at 7-7 and 14-14........so CG leading the whole game is inaccurate. Same thing happens to Westfield against Carmel, but the Rocks were competitive and could potentially win if they meet again in the playoffs. Your bias as a Trojan is rearing it's head. 

Back at ya "Mr. Watching on TV Doesn't Count".....Box score does not back up your claim that is was 21-17 midway through Q3, unless MaxPreps is wrong

Game was tied in the first half.....great moral victory...

Regardless of the stats below, "Carroll "outhit" the Trojans.....🤪 Total yds, rushing yds, sacks, etc does not back up that claim.  Carroll better passing attack...absolutely.  Kudos to the QB and the ability for the OL to retreat backwards and pass block....except for the 5 sacks

 

Carroll QB had a great game....Carroll running game non-existent...15 total rushing yds.  One dimensional.

 

CG 5 sacks to 1

 

[23andCounting]

So passing doesn't count? Nor do special teams? Noted. I'm sorry Carroll's special teams were better than Center Grove's, bringing Carroll's total yardage to 432. You failed to leave that out of your post. Do you work for CNN?

 

[temptation]

2 hours ago, 23andCounting said:

So passing doesn't count? Nor do special teams? Noted. I'm sorry Carroll's special teams were better than Center Grove's, bringing Carroll's total yardage to 432. You failed to leave that out of your post. Do you work for CNN?

 

Don’t insult CNN now, no need for them to catch strays.

[23andCounting]

All Purpose Yards Matter

All Purpose Yards

#	Athlete Name	Rush	Rec	KR	PR	IR	Total
	Team Totals	319	186	8	0	0	513
1	Drake McClurg (Jr)	12	77	0	0	0	89
2	Dominick Barry (Sr)	0	49	0	0	0	49
4	Ricky Lange (So)	21	11	8	0	0	40
6	Cade Timmons (Sr)	0	10	0	0	0	10
13	Oscar Sloan (So)	12	0	0	0	0	12
14	Aiden Francis (Sr)	0	39	0	0	0	39
25	J. Biggerstaff (So)	56	0	0	0	0	56
29	Nolan Rees (Sr)	149	0	0	0	0	149
32	Hudson Winkler (Jr)	69	0	0	0	0	69

Carroll

All Purpose Yards

#	Athlete Name	Rush	Rec	KR	PR	IR	Total
	Team Totals	15	345	72		0	432
3	Jaidon Vanpelt (Sr)	1	227				228
9	Logan Heath (Sr)		21				21
10	Asher Wagoner (Jr)	8					8
11	Gabe Frisinger (Jr)	-8					-8
13	H. Scheele (Jr)		11				11
19	Mason Baughman (Sr)		86	72			158
34	Billy Lauer (Jr)	14					14

[Bash Riprock]

2 hours ago, 23andCounting said:

So passing doesn't count? Nor do special teams? Noted. I'm sorry Carroll's special teams were better than Center Grove's, bringing Carroll's total yardage to 432. You failed to leave that out of your post. Do you work for CNN?

 

Can you read?  Complimented the passing game.  Stated your rushing game stunk.  Congrats on punt return yardage.  

The point is Carroll couldn't run the ball and and couldn't stop the run, but somehow the harder hitting team.....you sure have a graph of the game.

You were also wrong about the score...no ties in the second half....but love your logic....you are the "expert" because you were in the stands.  

I guess one does embellish when looking for moral victories.....bet you always catch the biggest fish when out on a fishing trip with your pals too

Edited October 1, 2025 by Bash Riprock

[23andCounting]

4 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

1.   Can you read?  Complimented the passing game.  Stated your rushing game stunk.  Congrats on punt return yardage.  

2.  The point is Carroll couldn't run the ball and and couldn't stop the run, but somehow the harder hitting team.....you sure have a graph of the game.

3.  You were also wrong about the score...no ties in the second half....but love your logic....you are the "expert" because you were in the stands.  

4.  I guess one does embellish when looking for moral victories.....bet you always catch the biggest fish when out on a fishing trip with your pals too

1.  Well, my personal assistant isn't the one responding to these posts. So yeah. 

2.  I just said that Carroll laid a few hits that reverberated around the stadium on some unfortunate CG players. You've really blown this whole thing out of proportion. Take the victory and move on. 

3.  Did I say second half? Quote that for us if you don't mind.

4.  Last weekend I only caught two perch. One was 8" (maybe 7"). The other was 3". I'm not too proud, just call it like I see it. 

[23andCounting]

12 minutes ago, Bash Riprock said:

I guess one does embellish when looking for moral victories.

I simply said that Carroll gave Center Grove all they could handle and you utterly went bananas.