Best HS Football Team in Indiana History?

[MICFan34]

Also, how many Indiana HS teams have ended up ranked in the top 10 NATIONALLY in the last 30 years? Obviously, a few BD and Warren teams, is there anyone else?

[Gipper]

Sadly no, Carmel and Penn have had a degree of success, but I don’t know if some of their best could keep up with the traditional national powers.

[Yuccaguy]

On 3/26/2020 at 5:57 PM, Warren05 said:

Would be a good match-up. Think it would be closer that 11 points 

Was there for the 17 Championship game.   They IMO are the finest that we have ever seen.  

[Guest]

What I think needs considered...

1.  Strength of schedule/School Size:  Hate away but this has to go to a team in classes 4A-6A.

2.  Number of players who reached the next level.

3.  Margin of victory.  Even though this is a bit subjective depending on philosophy and certain scenarios, in a hypothetical scenario of head to head this plays a big role in my opinion.

[Guest]

On 3/28/2020 at 7:48 AM, IndianaWrestlingGuy1 said:

I have to throw in a Cathedral team or two in this discussion. I played against the Stephen Holman-led 1991 Ben Davis team. They were certainly stout beating us by 30 and we were State Runners Up in 3A that year. Their O-Line was nasty, but Holman was a freak. 
 

That said, the 1999-2000 Cathedral team would have given them all they could handle. 7 - Division1 Players and two long-time NFL veterans in Jeremy Trueblood (OL Tampa Bay) and Mathias Kiwanuka (LB/DE NY Giants). It was certainly the deepest offensive line in Indiana history. 5 of the O-linemen went D1 if you include Kiwanuka at TE. Obviously Otis Shannon held the state rushing record for a decade or two. This team won the state title 3 years in a row. Pretty impressive group. 

When the NY Giants came to Indy for the Super Bowl, this Cathedral team and the O-Line got to reunite with Kiwanuka and Trueblood for an epic reunion downtown early in Super Bowl week. Great memories. Great night. Great team!  

Can’t get on board with this...didn’t even run the table.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, Temptation said:

What I think needs considered...

1.  Strength of schedule/School Size:  Hate away but this has to go to a team in classes 4A-6A.

2.  Number of players who reached the next level.

3.  Margin of victory.  Even though this is a bit subjective depending on philosophy and certain scenarios, in a hypothetical scenario of head to head this plays a big role in my opinion.

How many next level players did the 1991 BD squad boast?

[PHJIrish]

On 3/28/2020 at 7:48 AM, IndianaWrestlingGuy1 said:

I have to throw in a Cathedral team or two in this discussion. I played against the Stephen Holman-led 1991 Ben Davis team. They were certainly stout beating us by 30 and we were State Runners Up in 3A that year. Their O-Line was nasty, but Holman was a freak. 
 

That said, the 1999-2000 Cathedral team would have given them all they could handle. 7 - Division1 Players and two long-time NFL veterans in Jeremy Trueblood (OL Tampa Bay) and Mathias Kiwanuka (LB/DE NY Giants). It was certainly the deepest offensive line in Indiana history. 5 of the O-linemen went D1 if you include Kiwanuka at TE. Obviously Otis Shannon held the state rushing record for a decade or two. This team won the state title 3 years in a row. Pretty impressive group. 

When the NY Giants came to Indy for the Super Bowl, this Cathedral team and the O-Line got to reunite with Kiwanuka and Trueblood for an epic reunion downtown early in Super Bowl week. Great memories. Great night. Great team!  

This core of players only won two state championships.  They lost to Plainfield in the sectional  their senior year, 2000 after winning in '98 and '99.  This was a fun team to watch for sure but the 1996 Cathedral team was unbeaten state champions.  Also that year the Irish JV and Freshman teams were also unbeaten.  Maybe not as many high D1 recruits or NFL stars, but they were an outstanding team.

[CaptainHook]

2018 NP team had 7 players with D1 offers and at least six more that play or will play D2 or D3.

Edited April 3, 2020 by CaptainHook

[PHJIrish]

4 minutes ago, CaptainHook said:

2018 NP team had 7 players with D1 offers and at least six more that play or will play D2 or D3.

May I ask why you believe that Charlie Spegal didn't get many D1 offers?  He was sure outstanding on the field!

[CaptainHook]

1 minute ago, PHJIrish said:

May I ask why you believe that Charlie Spegal didn't get many D1 offers?  He was sure outstanding on the field!

In my honest opinion, it's because he's a white RB.  And he was perceived to not have "wiggle".  

[PHJIrish]

Just now, CaptainHook said:

In my honest opinion, it's because he's a white RB.  And he was perceived to not have "wiggle".  

That's your opinion, but a bit far fetched, imo.  There has to be other factors beyond that.  I understand the history of New Pal but I just don't think a D1 program thinks that way.  If some young man can help they offer and recruit 'em.

[CaptainHook]

3 minutes ago, PHJIrish said:

That's your opinion, but a bit far fetched, imo.  There has to be other factors beyond that.  I understand the history of New Pal but I just don't think a D1 program thinks that way.  If some young man can help they offer and recruit 'em.

I have a son that was a white DB.  Heard several times from coaches from different programs that that hurt his recruiting.  Has nothing to do with the history of New Pal, which is unfounded.  If you don't think that's a factor, you are naive.

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by CaptainHook

[Warren05]

2 hours ago, Yuccaguy said:

Was there for the 17 Championship game.   They IMO are the finest that we have ever seen.  

They were a fine team. 

[IndianaWrestlingGuy1]

9 hours ago, PHJIrish said:

This core of players only won two state championships.  They lost to Plainfield in the sectional  their senior year, 2000 after winning in '98 and '99.  This was a fun team to watch for sure but the 1996 Cathedral team was unbeaten state champions.  Also that year the Irish JV and Freshman teams were also unbeaten.  Maybe not as many high D1 recruits or NFL stars, but they were an outstanding team.

The 2000-2001 team lost to Plainfield in the Sectional. Arguably more talented than the 1999-2000 team, but lacking the leadership to get past their press clippings. The 1999-2000 team has 3 rings. 

And, I’ll agree 1996 was probably even with the ‘99-2000 team as far as Cathedral’s best ever. 

[Gipper]

Although the big schools get a lot or most of the press, our smaller brethren have done some pretty good things as well.  Bud Wright’s teams at Sheridan have been wonderful throughout his illustrious tenure.  And although it’s basketball, Milan Indians should not be ignored.

 

Have a great day, everyone and here’s my humble request: be nice!  If you don’t like a certain post (maybe this one, but that’s neither here nor there), move on.  A lot of things have transgresses into a pretty shallow game of  one upmanship which is not needed.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Gipper said:

Although the big schools get a lot or most of the press, our smaller brethren have done some pretty good things as well.  Bud Wright’s teams at Sheridan have been wonderful throughout his illustrious tenure.  And although it’s basketball, Milan Indians should not be ignored.

 

Have a great day, everyone and here’s my humble request: be nice!  If you don’t like a certain post (maybe this one, but that’s neither here nor there), move on.  A lot of things have transgresses into a pretty shallow game of  one upmanship which is not needed.

Anybody able to find the 2003 5A state championship game anywhere?  I find tons of others but want to go back and watch the Warren team that started the run.

THAT was the most dominating championship win I EVER witnessed.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Guest

[Bobref]

11 minutes ago, Temptation said:

Anybody able to find the 2003 5A state championship game anywhere?  I find tons of others but want to go back and watch the Warren team that started the run.

THAT was the most dominating championship win I EVER witnessed.

Our crew had 5 straight games in the playoffs that year decided inside of the last minute of the game. Then, when we got to the BIG game ... I spent most of the afternoon watching the back of Desmond Tardy’s jersey receding rapidly in the distance.

[Guest]

Just now, Bobref said:

Our crew had 5 straight games in the playoffs that year decided inside of the last minute of the game. Then, when we got to the BIG game ... I spent most of the afternoon watching the back of Desmond Tardy’s jersey receding rapidly in the distance.

I can't find it anywhere.

[Bobref]

11 minutes ago, Temptation said:

I can't find it anywhere.

Between me and Penn, I think we’ve destroyed all copies of the video. 😅

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Between me and Penn, I think we’ve destroyed all copies of the video. 😅

LOL, I can still access all of the other Penn beat downs over the years, why not this one?

[BTF]

18 hours ago, PHJIrish said:

That's your opinion, but a bit far fetched, imo.  There has to be other factors beyond that.  I understand the history of New Pal but I just don't think a D1 program thinks that way.  If some young man can help they offer and recruit 'em.

I don't think it's far fetched at all. If Spegal was black, he would have had multiple offers. By and large, there is a perception of what a running back should look like. I think Indiana got a good one in Charlie. 

[BTF]

53 minutes ago, Temptation said:

Anybody able to find the 2003 5A state championship game anywhere?  I find tons of others but want to go back and watch the Warren team that started the run.

THAT was the most dominating championship win I EVER witnessed.

Don't forget about the 2002 team. They were undefeated before bowing out in OT to the eventual state champs. 

I want to give the Snider team of 2004 some props. They received state championship treatment here in Fort Wayne even though they didn't win state. Sports writers dubbed them as the best team to ever come out of Fort Wayne. That's quite a statement when you look at Snider 86', Dwenger 90', and Snider 92'. What hurt Snider that year was losing their D1 running back during week 9 to a broken ankle injury. When he was healthy, I felt like they were the best team in the state that year..........right in the middle of the Warren Central dynasty. If I remember correctly, he was averaging a touchdown every four times he touched the ball. They gave WC a game even without him losing 35-23. Some felt like Warren got a couple of lucky bounces their way that propelled them to the championship.

Conclusion. Snider, 2004, first 8 weeks, could have rumbled with any Indiana team to ever grace the field. 

[Guest]

Woke up this AM leaning 2006 Warren.  The beat down they put on the rest of the state (including a 76-7 win) over #2 Ben Davis is impossible to ignore.

Ten eventual players at the D1 level and won their contests by an average of 39 points per game...against a top 5 schedule.

I may take some heat for this as I’m fully aware of the 1991 Ben Davis team that won the mythical “national championship” but I feel the game has evolved and players in the 2000s are bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled than their predecessors.  That Ben Davis team won by an average of 36 points per game by the way.

Its a moot point/splitting hairs at this point but as mentioned above, the 2003 Warren team that throttled Penn at the dome was the most dominant I’ve seen in a state championship game.  It always seemed that Kevin Wright’s teams had 1-2 “let down” games in the regular season or they might be considered here also.  As mentioned above, I can’t even consider a team for this title unless they ran the table.

Here’s where I am at:

1.  Warren Central - 2006

2.  Ben Davis - 1991

3.  Ben Davis - 2017

[PHJIrish]

On 4/2/2020 at 10:56 PM, CaptainHook said:

I have a son that was a white DB.  Heard several times from coaches from different programs that that hurt his recruiting.  Has nothing to do with the history of New Pal, which is unfounded.  If you don't think that's a factor, you are naive.

 

Color me naïve.  Skin pigmentation matters more to some but not as much to others.  When you're on the 3 yard line with a few seconds left and one last chance to win a game, talent matters more than color of the player's skin.