A Love Letter to the HOOSIER CONFERENCE

[Coach Nowlin]

I have taken some time to reflect the last few days and decided to author a love letter to the Conference that brought our Program to great success since 1999.   I will first appolgize if you are looking for a well penned grammar free words on the page, so I will first appolgize to @gonzoron of Hoosier Conference fandom Hamilton Heights ahead of time.   

Titles:

It all started in 1999, but I was film guy for my DC when I played, now HC Chris Meeks, when I was leaving Purdue to come back and or drive across the river or around the block to WL to film all the Bomber games in this new conference that I knew nothing about.   Coach told me and others at the school that this will be a great thing for football and hopefully the rest of the school as it will force our coaches and athletes to raise their expectations if we are going to compete against Lafayette area teams on a consistent basis.   Then in 2001, enter 2 schools named Sheridan ( who at the time, only knew of bc of a RB in my teen years from IU that was from Sheridan named LAW) and Tipton a school I had never heard of but knew there was DQ there on our way from Rensselaer to Ball St my JR year of HS.    

My first great memory was in 2001 when Tipton rolled into our town on Charter Bus and we had our 1st play of the game called down with an inadvertant whistle that took a TD off the board, Bombers would lose 18-0, however, they would bounce back an some called it an upset and knocked off Benton Central in week 9 to secure our 1st Hoosier Conference championship, a 3 way split with TIpton and BC.  BC was undefeated at the time, perhaps the cake outside the locker room congratulating the Bison on undefeated conference championship was a bit early.  

However in 2002, BC returned the favor, knocked Bombers off week 9 and created another share for the title with RCHS. 

2004 was our 1st outright title where we knocked off @Ballhawkoldest QB, SR Brett, who brought his undefeated Blackhawks to town vs undefeated Bombers, a game so looked forward to, Radio station made signs to hand out to fans as they came in, the term BUZZSAW was used as we blitzed the Blackhawks 42-7 on our way to our 1st outright title, game was played an monsoon.  So much rain. 

Fast foward to 2005 and showdown with @Ballhawk boy, the middle of the 3 outstanding QBs of Sheridan lore, the Freshman Phenom vs the SR of Ghost at Rensselaer Kiger, game so big, literally 2 helicopter from 2 differen INDY stations flew in and flew out, a jammed packed Bud Wright Stadium for an outstanding HS football game, 2 undefeated teams again, this time Blackhawks come away 35-32 victors that evening, and a great memory of Coach Wright after the game so excited meeting with Coach Meeks and reminded us he had this freshamn for 3 more years!!!  He did it in only the way Coach Wright could, not bragger but true sincerity of excitment.  The following Week, where we thought we could of not had a chance at a title, we were awarded a nice surprise as WL knocked off Sheridan the following week to create another shared title.  

The next title came in 2010 as our giant OL and great defense and power running game swept the conference that year and swept it again in 2014 on our way to undefeated state championship.   

Those are the championship years and memories of our 6 titles from the Hoosier.   

Memories of the early days of warming up over by our hospital, not to be seen until it was time for the coin toss, just letting teams enjoy our field to themselves, somtimes with no music, a few times with Lawerence Welk playing. 

Coaches Segment of the Love Letter:

Coach Overly getting BIG MAD pregame in one of his final years at WL, storming up to pressbox yelling we ain't Tipton, turn off that music (mind you, classic rock was playing, and our pre game specialies were on their way out to the field, but man he was stressed that night, of course when they won the game, he was all smiles and appolgized for his outburst pregame at me, but Coach O also didn't allow Music at WL pre game in locker room or on field either.    

Some Pre-Game chatter with the young pup on WL staff that ended up taking over from Coach Overly, where I may have been aggessive in some story telling of my world, Coach O was not quite ready for my shenanigans, however the cordinators were in stiches.  

Coach Tolle (Mike) pre game talking to Coach Meeks and I about the Hoosier and how many great coaches there was, naming a couple and then a weird silence followed by:  and you too Chris 🙂 

Trying to figure out how to gain yards against Tim O'shea's slanting 3-4 defense at LCC still give me night terrors, which beating them in 2014 both in Regular season and at Semi State was just incredible as that team was LOADED.   

I have personally been great friends with many from this conference over the years, so much love and respect for many we have locked horns with.   Coach Steve Snyder, long time DC at TWIN LAKES, my older brother HC at RCHS, Coach Overly was AWESOME man and true steward of the game.   O'shea Brothers at LCC, I think we got 1 year of Kevin at TL, but I maybe off.   Coach Strasser when at Delphi.  What an outstanding experience coaching against Bud Wright led teams of Sheridan before there exit out.  Coach Nay/Goodin combo when they arrived at LCC, good peoples to me.   Coach Dave Black at Benton Central was blue collar grinder and tremendous individual, great seeing him a few weeks ago on our last trip over.   Watching Coach Fry ascend from his time at WL assistant to one of the top coaches in the state has been fantastic, as we first met at PE dept together at Purdue, both aspiring PE teachers and Football coaches, many great memories over the years, some not so great, but him and his staff of DC Roseman, Coach Speaker and RCHS HOF member Coach DeWees are true friends of mine that have extended well before our battles on the gridrion.  Sidenote:  I am 1-0 against Coach Fry in 9th grade Girls Hoops !!  BOOM BABY, yes, I coached girls hoops back in the day, so did he, as young teachers and getting started we all did things like that to get going, I rolled into WL gym and there he was , my college buddy across the bench, with that win, we took the girls to Silver Dipper for some ICE CREAM.  

ATHLETES:

What a conference of just DUDES over the years:   SO SO MANY.  Zachary Brothers of Sheridan, Mills Brothers at LCC, Weatherford at HH, the numerious #87, #2 at Tipton, I see you Hooker, and Shively, Schoen Brothers at BC, Anthrop Bros at LCC, Cronk of LCC, the unbelievable talent run that WL had last 10 years, Karlaftis brothers, not bad for George so far I'd say in the NFL, Woodyard, DE, Mr. Football at QB Wodika, then Lancaster, then the list goes on and on and on there for RDP of 765.  I am sure there many others that I just can't place my brain around right now, needless to say, we had to bring it each week since 1999 to compete.  

FOOD:  Eating Pre-game Chilli as a guest of @Ballhawk one year.  Eating Pre Game Pork meal at Hamilton Heights my first year there when they joined the Hoosier.   Googling Russiaville when a team called Western joined the ranks but that came with pre game Tenderloins from a place near Kokomo!!!   Being able to promote the greatest BURGER in the Conference the WAGONMASTER to the tune of 30 PLUS ordered every time WL came to town over the years for thier pre game or post game coaches meal.   

TO THE GID POSTERS:

I had great pleasure running the Hoosier Conference Pick em over the years when I was teaching Credit Recovery/Alt School, we had some time on my hands during that 13 year run.   Thanks to @CoachDurham for taking over the ranks last few years.   

Having battles with Mr. October and great  conversationst with @Fballfan15 (still chat to this day) were outstanding and occasional drop by @dazed and confused

Running into LCCFAN09er, literally this summer in VEGAS CEASARS HOTEL POOL (there on AAU team trip, me 20 year anniversary) and remembering how many times I had recieved a phone call from folks in LCC program asking me to remove things he has posted !!!  🙂

Fond conversations with @LCCAlum (man his brothers could ball) 

Meeting up with my guy G @nmsu_aggie many times pre and post game and I appreciate the lone flag bearer around here of HH @gonzoron when his kids were going through .   

EDIT:  HOW COULD I FORGET:  Hand delivering @foxbat his well EARNED HOOSIER CONF PICKEM plaque at Walts on WL having a cocktail !!!  

In Summary, just wanted make an appreciation post for some of my meathead thoughts that are in this noggin as we have exited out gracefully of our run since 1999, a RUN that has seen the BOMBERS win our 1st CONFERENCE GAME 14-12 thriller vs Twin lakes in 1999 and our Last Conference game 51-0 vs BC OR 36-35 OT Thriller against Logansport if you want to count that, for me, I AM !!!!!   A run that has seen our HC, myself and our DC Zacher be part of now 202 Wins of Coach Meeks, a tenure that started in 1999 as member of conference and ends in 2025 as we head of into the world of Independence.  

BE WELL MY HOOSIER CONFERENCE FOOTBALL FAMILY 

Coach Nowlin 

Rensselaer Central 

 

[gonzoron]

27 minutes ago, Coach Nowlin said:

I will first appolgize if you are looking for a well penned grammar free words on the page, so I will first appolgize to @gonzoron of Hoosier Conference fandom Hamilton Heights ahead of time.   

 

[Fballfan15]

9 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

I have taken some time to reflect the last few days and decided to author a love letter to the Conference that brought our Program to great success since 1999.   I will first appolgize if you are looking for a well penned grammar free words on the page, so I will first appolgize to @gonzoron of Hoosier Conference fandom Hamilton Heights ahead of time.   

Titles:

It all started in 1999, but I was film guy for my DC when I played, now HC Chris Meeks, when I was leaving Purdue to come back and or drive across the river or around the block to WL to film all the Bomber games in this new conference that I knew nothing about.   Coach told me and others at the school that this will be a great thing for football and hopefully the rest of the school as it will force our coaches and athletes to raise their expectations if we are going to compete against Lafayette area teams on a consistent basis.   Then in 2001, enter 2 schools named Sheridan ( who at the time, only knew of bc of a RB in my teen years from IU that was from Sheridan named LAW) and Tipton a school I had never heard of but knew there was DQ there on our way from Rensselaer to Ball St my JR year of HS.    

My first great memory was in 2001 when Tipton rolled into our town on Charter Bus and we had our 1st play of the game called down with an inadvertant whistle that took a TD off the board, Bombers would lose 18-0, however, they would bounce back an some called it an upset and knocked off Benton Central in week 9 to secure our 1st Hoosier Conference championship, a 3 way split with TIpton and BC.  BC was undefeated at the time, perhaps the cake outside the locker room congratulating the Bison on undefeated conference championship was a bit early.  

However in 2002, BC returned the favor, knocked Bombers off week 9 and created another share for the title with RCHS. 

2004 was our 1st outright title where we knocked off @Ballhawkoldest QB, SR Brett, who brought his undefeated Blackhawks to town vs undefeated Bombers, a game so looked forward to, Radio station made signs to hand out to fans as they came in, the term BUZZSAW was used as we blitzed the Blackhawks 42-7 on our way to our 1st outright title, game was played an monsoon.  So much rain. 

Fast foward to 2005 and showdown with @Ballhawk boy, the middle of the 3 outstanding QBs of Sheridan lore, the Freshman Phenom vs the SR of Ghost at Rensselaer Kiger, game so big, literally 2 helicopter from 2 differen INDY stations flew in and flew out, a jammed packed Bud Wright Stadium for an outstanding HS football game, 2 undefeated teams again, this time Blackhawks come away 35-32 victors that evening, and a great memory of Coach Wright after the game so excited meeting with Coach Meeks and reminded us he had this freshamn for 3 more years!!!  He did it in only the way Coach Wright could, not bragger but true sincerity of excitment.  The following Week, where we thought we could of not had a chance at a title, we were awarded a nice surprise as WL knocked off Sheridan the following week to create another shared title.  

The next title came in 2010 as our giant OL and great defense and power running game swept the conference that year and swept it again in 2014 on our way to undefeated state championship.   

Those are the championship years and memories of our 6 titles from the Hoosier.   

Memories of the early days of warming up over by our hospital, not to be seen until it was time for the coin toss, just letting teams enjoy our field to themselves, somtimes with no music, a few times with Lawerence Welk playing. 

Coaches Segment of the Love Letter:

Coach Overly getting BIG MAD pregame in one of his final years at WL, storming up to pressbox yelling we ain't Tipton, turn off that music (mind you, classic rock was playing, and our pre game specialies were on their way out to the field, but man he was stressed that night, of course when they won the game, he was all smiles and appolgized for his outburst pregame at me, but Coach O also didn't allow Music at WL pre game in locker room or on field either.    

Some Pre-Game chatter with the young pup on WL staff that ended up taking over from Coach Overly, where I may have been aggessive in some story telling of my world, Coach O was not quite ready for my shenanigans, however the cordinators were in stiches.  

Coach Tolle (Mike) pre game talking to Coach Meeks and I about the Hoosier and how many great coaches there was, naming a couple and then a weird silence followed by:  and you too Chris 🙂 

Trying to figure out how to gain yards against Tim O'shea's slanting 3-4 defense at LCC still give me night terrors, which beating them in 2014 both in Regular season and at Semi State was just incredible as that team was LOADED.   

I have personally been great friends with many from this conference over the years, so much love and respect for many we have locked horns with.   Coach Steve Snyder, long time DC at TWIN LAKES, my older brother HC at RCHS, Coach Overly was AWESOME man and true steward of the game.   O'shea Brothers at LCC, I think we got 1 year of Kevin at TL, but I maybe off.   Coach Strasser when at Delphi.  What an outstanding experience coaching against Bud Wright led teams of Sheridan before there exit out.  Coach Nay/Goodin combo when they arrived at LCC, good peoples to me.   Coach Dave Black at Benton Central was blue collar grinder and tremendous individual, great seeing him a few weeks ago on our last trip over.   Watching Coach Fry ascend from his time at WL assistant to one of the top coaches in the state has been fantastic, as we first met at PE dept together at Purdue, both aspiring PE teachers and Football coaches, many great memories over the years, some not so great, but him and his staff of DC Roseman, Coach Speaker and RCHS HOF member Coach DeWees are true friends of mine that have extended well before our battles on the gridrion.  Sidenote:  I am 1-0 against Coach Fry in 9th grade Girls Hoops !!  BOOM BABY, yes, I coached girls hoops back in the day, so did he, as young teachers and getting started we all did things like that to get going, I rolled into WL gym and there he was , my college buddy across the bench, with that win, we took the girls to Silver Dipper for some ICE CREAM.  

ATHLETES:

What a conference of just DUDES over the years:   SO SO MANY.  Zachary Brothers of Sheridan, Mills Brothers at LCC, Weatherford at HH, the numerious #87, #2 at Tipton, I see you Hooker, and Shively, Schoen Brothers at BC, Anthrop Bros at LCC, Cronk of LCC, the unbelievable talent run that WL had last 10 years, Karlaftis brothers, not bad for George so far I'd say in the NFL, Woodyard, DE, Mr. Football at QB Wodika, then Lancaster, then the list goes on and on and on there for RDP of 765.  I am sure there many others that I just can't place my brain around right now, needless to say, we had to bring it each week since 1999 to compete.  

FOOD:  Eating Pre-game Chilli as a guest of @Ballhawk one year.  Eating Pre Game Pork meal at Hamilton Heights my first year there when they joined the Hoosier.   Googling Russiaville when a team called Western joined the ranks but that came with pre game Tenderloins from a place near Kokomo!!!   Being able to promote the greatest BURGER in the Conference the WAGONMASTER to the tune of 30 PLUS ordered every time WL came to town over the years for thier pre game or post game coaches meal.   

TO THE GID POSTERS:

I had great pleasure running the Hoosier Conference Pick em over the years when I was teaching Credit Recovery/Alt School, we had some time on my hands during that 13 year run.   Thanks to @CoachDurham for taking over the ranks last few years.   

Having battles with Mr. October and great  conversationst with @Fballfan15 (still chat to this day) were outstanding and occasional drop by @dazed and confused

Running into LCCFAN09er, literally this summer in VEGAS CEASARS HOTEL POOL (there on AAU team trip, me 20 year anniversary) and remembering how many times I had recieved a phone call from folks in LCC program asking me to remove things he has posted !!!  🙂

Fond conversations with @LCCAlum (man his brothers could ball) 

Meeting up with my guy G @nmsu_aggie many times pre and post game and I appreciate the lone flag bearer around here of HH @gonzoron when his kids were going through .   

EDIT:  HOW COULD I FORGET:  Hand delivering @foxbat his well EARNED HOOSIER CONF PICKEM plaque at Walts on WL having a cocktail !!!  

In Summary, just wanted make an appreciation post for some of my meathead thoughts that are in this noggin as we have exited out gracefully of our run since 1999, a RUN that has seen the BOMBERS win our 1st CONFERENCE GAME 14-12 thriller vs Twin lakes in 1999 and our Last Conference game 51-0 vs BC OR 36-35 OT Thriller against Logansport if you want to count that, for me, I AM !!!!!   A run that has seen our HC, myself and our DC Zacher be part of now 202 Wins of Coach Meeks, a tenure that started in 1999 as member of conference and ends in 2025 as we head of into the world of Independence.  

BE WELL MY HOOSIER CONFERENCE FOOTBALL FAMILY 

Coach Nowlin 

Rensselaer Central 

 

It was a fun ride! I actually didn’t mind the long road trips too much. I was glad to make hopefully not the last trip to Rensselaer this fall to get a couple wagon masters and watch the Bombers and Blue Devils. We can always hope for a semi state match down the road. The HC has been a great conference but it just hasn’t been the same the last few years. There was nothing like the old days of the 2000’s. Kiger, Zachery, Wodicka, Anthrops, Hooker and so many more. New rivalries formed. Then Hamilton Heights came in the conference and it all went down hill. JK @gonzoron. Enjoy your independency and hopefully see you again down the road!

[foxbat]

10 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

I have taken some time to reflect the last few days and decided to author a love letter to the Conference that brought our Program to great success since 1999.   I will first appolgize if you are looking for a well penned grammar free words on the page, so I will first appolgize to @gonzoron of Hoosier Conference fandom Hamilton Heights ahead of time.   

Titles:

It all started in 1999, but I was film guy for my DC when I played, now HC Chris Meeks, when I was leaving Purdue to come back and or drive across the river or around the block to WL to film all the Bomber games in this new conference that I knew nothing about.   Coach told me and others at the school that this will be a great thing for football and hopefully the rest of the school as it will force our coaches and athletes to raise their expectations if we are going to compete against Lafayette area teams on a consistent basis.   Then in 2001, enter 2 schools named Sheridan ( who at the time, only knew of bc of a RB in my teen years from IU that was from Sheridan named LAW) and Tipton a school I had never heard of but knew there was DQ there on our way from Rensselaer to Ball St my JR year of HS.    

My first great memory was in 2001 when Tipton rolled into our town on Charter Bus and we had our 1st play of the game called down with an inadvertant whistle that took a TD off the board, Bombers would lose 18-0, however, they would bounce back an some called it an upset and knocked off Benton Central in week 9 to secure our 1st Hoosier Conference championship, a 3 way split with TIpton and BC.  BC was undefeated at the time, perhaps the cake outside the locker room congratulating the Bison on undefeated conference championship was a bit early.  

However in 2002, BC returned the favor, knocked Bombers off week 9 and created another share for the title with RCHS. 

2004 was our 1st outright title where we knocked off @Ballhawkoldest QB, SR Brett, who brought his undefeated Blackhawks to town vs undefeated Bombers, a game so looked forward to, Radio station made signs to hand out to fans as they came in, the term BUZZSAW was used as we blitzed the Blackhawks 42-7 on our way to our 1st outright title, game was played an monsoon.  So much rain. 

Fast foward to 2005 and showdown with @Ballhawk boy, the middle of the 3 outstanding QBs of Sheridan lore, the Freshman Phenom vs the SR of Ghost at Rensselaer Kiger, game so big, literally 2 helicopter from 2 differen INDY stations flew in and flew out, a jammed packed Bud Wright Stadium for an outstanding HS football game, 2 undefeated teams again, this time Blackhawks come away 35-32 victors that evening, and a great memory of Coach Wright after the game so excited meeting with Coach Meeks and reminded us he had this freshamn for 3 more years!!!  He did it in only the way Coach Wright could, not bragger but true sincerity of excitment.  The following Week, where we thought we could of not had a chance at a title, we were awarded a nice surprise as WL knocked off Sheridan the following week to create another shared title.  

The next title came in 2010 as our giant OL and great defense and power running game swept the conference that year and swept it again in 2014 on our way to undefeated state championship.   

Those are the championship years and memories of our 6 titles from the Hoosier.   

Memories of the early days of warming up over by our hospital, not to be seen until it was time for the coin toss, just letting teams enjoy our field to themselves, somtimes with no music, a few times with Lawerence Welk playing. 

Coaches Segment of the Love Letter:

Coach Overly getting BIG MAD pregame in one of his final years at WL, storming up to pressbox yelling we ain't Tipton, turn off that music (mind you, classic rock was playing, and our pre game specialies were on their way out to the field, but man he was stressed that night, of course when they won the game, he was all smiles and appolgized for his outburst pregame at me, but Coach O also didn't allow Music at WL pre game in locker room or on field either.    

Some Pre-Game chatter with the young pup on WL staff that ended up taking over from Coach Overly, where I may have been aggessive in some story telling of my world, Coach O was not quite ready for my shenanigans, however the cordinators were in stiches.  

Coach Tolle (Mike) pre game talking to Coach Meeks and I about the Hoosier and how many great coaches there was, naming a couple and then a weird silence followed by:  and you too Chris 🙂 

Trying to figure out how to gain yards against Tim O'shea's slanting 3-4 defense at LCC still give me night terrors, which beating them in 2014 both in Regular season and at Semi State was just incredible as that team was LOADED.   

I have personally been great friends with many from this conference over the years, so much love and respect for many we have locked horns with.   Coach Steve Snyder, long time DC at TWIN LAKES, my older brother HC at RCHS, Coach Overly was AWESOME man and true steward of the game.   O'shea Brothers at LCC, I think we got 1 year of Kevin at TL, but I maybe off.   Coach Strasser when at Delphi.  What an outstanding experience coaching against Bud Wright led teams of Sheridan before there exit out.  Coach Nay/Goodin combo when they arrived at LCC, good peoples to me.   Coach Dave Black at Benton Central was blue collar grinder and tremendous individual, great seeing him a few weeks ago on our last trip over.   Watching Coach Fry ascend from his time at WL assistant to one of the top coaches in the state has been fantastic, as we first met at PE dept together at Purdue, both aspiring PE teachers and Football coaches, many great memories over the years, some not so great, but him and his staff of DC Roseman, Coach Speaker and RCHS HOF member Coach DeWees are true friends of mine that have extended well before our battles on the gridrion.  Sidenote:  I am 1-0 against Coach Fry in 9th grade Girls Hoops !!  BOOM BABY, yes, I coached girls hoops back in the day, so did he, as young teachers and getting started we all did things like that to get going, I rolled into WL gym and there he was , my college buddy across the bench, with that win, we took the girls to Silver Dipper for some ICE CREAM.  

ATHLETES:

What a conference of just DUDES over the years:   SO SO MANY.  Zachary Brothers of Sheridan, Mills Brothers at LCC, Weatherford at HH, the numerious #87, #2 at Tipton, I see you Hooker, and Shively, Schoen Brothers at BC, Anthrop Bros at LCC, Cronk of LCC, the unbelievable talent run that WL had last 10 years, Karlaftis brothers, not bad for George so far I'd say in the NFL, Woodyard, DE, Mr. Football at QB Wodika, then Lancaster, then the list goes on and on and on there for RDP of 765.  I am sure there many others that I just can't place my brain around right now, needless to say, we had to bring it each week since 1999 to compete.  

FOOD:  Eating Pre-game Chilli as a guest of @Ballhawk one year.  Eating Pre Game Pork meal at Hamilton Heights my first year there when they joined the Hoosier.   Googling Russiaville when a team called Western joined the ranks but that came with pre game Tenderloins from a place near Kokomo!!!   Being able to promote the greatest BURGER in the Conference the WAGONMASTER to the tune of 30 PLUS ordered every time WL came to town over the years for thier pre game or post game coaches meal.   

TO THE GID POSTERS:

I had great pleasure running the Hoosier Conference Pick em over the years when I was teaching Credit Recovery/Alt School, we had some time on my hands during that 13 year run.   Thanks to @CoachDurham for taking over the ranks last few years.   

Having battles with Mr. October and great  conversationst with @Fballfan15 (still chat to this day) were outstanding and occasional drop by @dazed and confused

Running into LCCFAN09er, literally this summer in VEGAS CEASARS HOTEL POOL (there on AAU team trip, me 20 year anniversary) and remembering how many times I had recieved a phone call from folks in LCC program asking me to remove things he has posted !!!  🙂

Fond conversations with @LCCAlum (man his brothers could ball) 

Meeting up with my guy G @nmsu_aggie many times pre and post game and I appreciate the lone flag bearer around here of HH @gonzoron when his kids were going through .   

EDIT:  HOW COULD I FORGET:  Hand delivering @foxbat his well EARNED HOOSIER CONF PICKEM plaque at Walts on WL having a cocktail !!!  

In Summary, just wanted make an appreciation post for some of my meathead thoughts that are in this noggin as we have exited out gracefully of our run since 1999, a RUN that has seen the BOMBERS win our 1st CONFERENCE GAME 14-12 thriller vs Twin lakes in 1999 and our Last Conference game 51-0 vs BC OR 36-35 OT Thriller against Logansport if you want to count that, for me, I AM !!!!!   A run that has seen our HC, myself and our DC Zacher be part of now 202 Wins of Coach Meeks, a tenure that started in 1999 as member of conference and ends in 2025 as we head of into the world of Independence.  

BE WELL MY HOOSIER CONFERENCE FOOTBALL FAMILY 

Coach Nowlin 

Rensselaer Central 

 

Getting the plaque was the second best thing of those nights.  One of the cool things about GID is that you sometimes get to meet the guys you jaw with online all season in person for a beer!  Looking forward to the next time Coach.

[Donnie Baker]

17 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Getting the plaque was the second best thing of those nights.  One of the cool things about GID is that you sometimes get to meet the guys you jaw with online all season in person for a beer!  Looking forward to the next time Coach.

I never got my trophy, I swear to God I didn’t 

[foxbat]

27 minutes ago, Donnie Baker said:

I never got my trophy, I swear to God I didn’t 

Sure you didn't trade it for some Zimas?

[Muda69]

11 hours ago, Fballfan15 said:

Then Hamilton Heights came in the conference and it all went down hill. 

Nah, that was due to Western.  The evil of Russiaville needs to be contained or it's malignancy will spread unchecked. 

 

[LCCAlum]

Oh, the conference! The sheer, unadulterated romance of it all. As an occasional lurker these days, I must confess: you and this athletic conference have quite a love affair.

Rennselaer will always be in the heart of the Mills family. Both parents poured their formative years into that sacred ground. Numerous occasions where my dad and the guy officiating the JV game would talk about the glory days of go kart racing on the St. Joe Campus. 

But the true star, the influencer before influencers were even a thing, is Coach Nowlin. The man is a legend. I mean, who else would personally deliver a wagonmaster to a  junior high coach warming up for their first game at Rc. That's not coaching, that's performance art. His relentless, almost cult-like marketing of the Wagon Wheel is so intense I'm convinced he's secretly on the payroll, or maybe he's just trying to secure a lifetime supply of those delicious burgers.

I hope the future scheduling gods, keep RC on the LCC schedule

[Coach Nowlin]

46 minutes ago, LCCAlum said:

Oh, the conference! The sheer, unadulterated romance of it all. As an occasional lurker these days, I must confess: you and this athletic conference have quite a love affair.

Rennselaer will always be in the heart of the Mills family. Both parents poured their formative years into that sacred ground. Numerous occasions where my dad and the guy officiating the JV game would talk about the glory days of go kart racing on the St. Joe Campus. 

But the true star, the influencer before influencers were even a thing, is Coach Nowlin. The man is a legend. I mean, who else would personally deliver a wagonmaster to a  junior high coach warming up for their first game at Rc. That's not coaching, that's performance art. His relentless, almost cult-like marketing of the Wagon Wheel is so intense I'm convinced he's secretly on the payroll, or maybe he's just trying to secure a lifetime supply of those delicious burgers.

I hope the future scheduling gods, keep RC on the LCC schedule

MY MAN!!!    

I am good pals with the owner of that fine establishment, however, my friendship was prior to him purchasing it off "BENNY" , Benny is who owned it I think when your Parents were PUMAS!!!    I will tell you, there has been a few FRIDAY nights this year that I have taken myself to the Wheel, put $20 in touchtunes, and used their fine WIFI to work and breakdown film as JOY and or TONY would grill me up anything I wanted!!   I just get the nachos however, excellent !!   

Hope all is well Sir and as far as future schedules, we shall see !!  

Cheers

 

[Donnie Baker]

19 hours ago, foxbat said:

Sure you didn't trade it for some Zimas?

I had a spot picked out on my waterbed headboard, right by my black light and rubbers

[Coach Nowlin]

We will find our way to Donnie one day, I swear to god 

[NEIFootballGuy]

I am born and raised in NE Indiana, but I spent two season coaching in the Hoosier Conference at Twin Lakes for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. It was a fantastic experience for me, and although we took our lumps, I learned a TON about coaching against the best as a young coordinator. At that time, the conference was LOADED! Turns out, we weren't a real bad football team, but we played a whole bunch of really fantastic ones. Some core memories of mine: 

2013 - 

After starting 2-0 the Knights of LCC came to Monticello, and I liked our odds. I had seen some highlights of Danny Anthrop from afar. Well, Jackson wasn't too bad either. And they had some kid that could sling it all over the yard, really good cover 2 fade thrower. 

As someone who had never coached against the Bombers, I was unaware that the double tight, double wing offense existed in that program. I had never seen a single play of it on film. The Indians show up, and I feel really good about our defensive game plan. Turns out, we will never know if it was good or not because we didn't see a single play of their base offense on the way to getting thumped 45-0. As a consolation, I did have my first wagonmaster that night.

Austin Hooker broke his arm early in the season and couldn't play for Tipton. Well, by the time he came to Monticello, he was all fixed. He was an absolute beast.

2014

I don't remember Cronk the in 2013, by by God I do in 2014. We had to come back on a Saturday and that kid was everywhere. One of our coaches during the week wisely stated "I think he would be a better fit at DE, instead of ILB". I agree, then we could've at least ran away from him. 

The 2014 Bombers came to Monticello for what felt like a 10 PM kickoff. My defensive game plan was no better than anyone else's. Trying to teach the scout team to run that offense is the hardest thing I have ever done as a coach. 

And the Hoosier Conference Thread!

I always enjoyed it. 

Fun times, tons of growth, great memories.

 

[Coach Nowlin]

MY MAN !!  Great to Hear from you !!!    Go Railroaders !!!

We have had gotten feedback about that 2014 debut offense on how difficult it was for scout teams, we usually able to start fast before defenses settled in.   That 14 team was a WAGON 

[Coach Nowlin]

http://scoreboard.homestead.com/football/logsRensselaerCentral.htm#load

 

Official Independent Schedule 

 

RENSSELAER CENTRAL
BOMBERS
Coach: Chris Meeks, 204-115 in 28th year at school

DATE	OPPONENT		CENTRAL TIME				OA 0.0, DA 0.0
Aug. 21	at	Kankakee Valley 4A	7:00 pm
Aug. 28		North Newton 1A	7:00 pm
Sep. 4	at	John Glenn 3A	6:30 pm
Sep. 11	at	North Knox 1A	6:00 pm
Sep. 18		Frontier 1A	7:00 pm
Sep. 25		Griffith 3A	7:00 pm
Oct. 3	at	Culver Academy 4A	12:00 pm
Oct. 9		River Forest 3A	7:00 pm
Oct. 16	at	Whiting 2A	7:00 pm

 

[oldtimeqb]

@Coach Nowlin Nice!  Just curious. What's the story behind the Saturday game vs Culver? 

[Coach Nowlin]

22 hours ago, oldtimeqb said:

@Coach Nowlin Nice!  Just curious. What's the story behind the Saturday game vs Culver? 

 

It is there Parent Weekend and huge weekend fore CMA,  Because of the nature of where their students come from, its a Saturday game, CMA is going to be very gracious hosts and will be providing meals for us afterwards as well because of parent weekend.    

[Sparty]

37 minutes ago, Coach Nowlin said:

 

It is there Parent Weekend and huge weekend fore CMA,  Because of the nature of where their students come from, its a Saturday game, CMA is going to be very gracious hosts and will be providing meals for us afterwards as well because of parent weekend.    

Like AJ Styles, just phenomenal.  

[oldtimeqb]

8 hours ago, Coach Nowlin said:

 

It is there Parent Weekend and huge weekend fore CMA,  Because of the nature of where their students come from, its a Saturday game, CMA is going to be very gracious hosts and will be providing meals for us afterwards as well because of parent weekend.    

That’s awesome and I hope it’s a great event. 

I don’t mind the occasional Saturday afternoon game. 

[Muda69]

On 1/31/2026 at 1:50 PM, Coach Nowlin said:

 

It is there Parent Weekend and huge weekend fore CMA,  Because of the nature of where their students come from, its a Saturday game, CMA is going to be very gracious hosts and will be providing meals for us afterwards as well because of parent weekend.    

The big post-game spread is a big reason to schedule CMA,  frankly the game is  secondary.   At least that is why I was told why Maconaquah used to play CMA.

 

Edited February 2 by Muda69

[gonzoron]

17 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

The big post-game spread is a big reason to schedule CMA,  frankly the game is  secondary.   At least that is why I was told why Maconaquah used to play CMA.

 

Smelling the horse barn directly behind the Visitor bleachers during the game is as good as advertised.

[First_Backer_Inside]

52 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

The big post-game spread is a big reason to schedule CMA,  frankly the game is  secondary.   At least that is why I was told why Maconaquah used to play CMA.

 

When my dad coached at Maconaquah in the early 2000's I remember going there for a game that got delayed for a couple hours it felt like. The team had to go hangout in the horse barn until the game started up again. I followed the team in there. When the team left for the game to resume, I didn't make it back out. The heated floor and warm straw made a perfect spot for my 4 year-old self to lay a coat down on and take a nap during the rest of the game. Those horses are treated very very...very well there.

[Coach Nowlin]

Had everything to do the week we had open and we had open, just happened to fall on Parent Weekend.   

[HoopsCoach]

On 1/31/2026 at 1:50 PM, Coach Nowlin said:

It is there Parent Weekend and huge weekend fore CMA,  Because of the nature of where their students come from, its a Saturday game, CMA is going to be very gracious hosts and will be providing meals for us afterwards as well because of parent weekend.    

Another game that should be on a Saturday is North Knox.  I hope the folks at Rensselaer who scheduled that game know it is North Knox, not North OF Knox.  Starting at 6pm (Central) after a 3+ hour bus ride on a Friday evening does not seem like a good idea.  Maybe 6 pm on Saturday would make more sense.

Edited February 3 by HoopsCoach

[HoopsCoach]

Knox appears to need a week 9 game.  I am sure contracts are already in place for next year, but a shuffle that could make sense in the future is to move Whiting to week 4 (the Oilers could drop Calumet Christian) and plug Knox into week 9 with Rensselaer Central.

[Gipper]

On 1/30/2026 at 1:52 PM, Coach Nowlin said:

http://scoreboard.homestead.com/football/logsRensselaerCentral.htm#load

 

Official Independent Schedule 

 

 

RENSSELAER CENTRAL
BOMBERS
Coach: Chris Meeks, 204-115 in 28th year at school

DATE	OPPONENT		CENTRAL TIME				OA 0.0, DA 0.0
Aug. 21	at	Kankakee Valley 4A	7:00 pm
Aug. 28		North Newton 1A	7:00 pm
Sep. 4	at	John Glenn 3A	6:30 pm
Sep. 11	at	North Knox 1A	6:00 pm
Sep. 18		Frontier 1A	7:00 pm
Sep. 25		Griffith 3A	7:00 pm
Oct. 3	at	Culver Academy 4A	12:00 pm
Oct. 9		River Forest 3A	7:00 pm
Oct. 16	at	Whiting 2A	7:00 pm

 

I would love to see the Bombers schedule a Region team or two.  My off the cuff picks are Lowell and Andrean, but matchups against schools such as Hammond Central, Illiana Christian, and New Prairie could be something.