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How bad are things in South Bend?


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The public schools in South Bend have gone from the top to the bottom.  Twin Lakes is the worst team in the Hoosier Conference and they beat SB Clay 46-8.  Some Home schools could probably beat the SB public schools in football.  Is it ever going to get better up there?  

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1 hour ago, LaSalle Lions 1976 said:

winning seasons since 1994

Adams               2

Clay                    8

Riley                   3

Washington        9

This seems to have hit a lot of inner-city public schools - Gary West, the IPS schools, Muncie Central, Anderson, et al, have really struggled as families have moved to the suburbs. Fort Wayne & Evansville schools haven't been hit as hard, but Evansville's school corporation is countywide, so a lot of the Evansville schools' population includes the closer-in suburbs. Not sure if that's as much the case for FWCS, but Northrop/Snider seem to hit the north suburbs. 

Meanwhile, Mishawaka & Penn (as well as Marian & St. Joe) are top-notch programs. The people living and going to school there were in South Bend two generations ago. 

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They need to do like Elkhart and consolidate.  Really more for efficiency than sports but sports would benefit as well.  Right now it is a mess and football is literally not a concern to almost anyone sending their kids there.  If a family in South Bend has a kid competing at a high level in football, they will most likely end up at St. Joe, Marian, Mishawaka, or Penn.  

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10 hours ago, Tippy said:

The public schools in South Bend have gone from the top to the bottom.  Twin Lakes is the worst team in the Hoosier Conference and they beat SB Clay 46-8.  Some Home schools could probably beat the SB public schools in football.  Is it ever going to get better up there?  

I believe Osceola Grace could beat Twin Lakes seeing they beat clay 56-6. But, that's nothing to brag about seeing Clay spots you 30 points on their mistakes alone. Can't throw a backwards pass and have the receiver walk towards the sidelines after dropping it. Then throw in the 15-20 penalty average per game with the refs turning a blind eye to 15 more because they want to go home. Most of it falls back to the bottom. South Bend lacks a quality youth league for fundamental and football IQ development. Then you throw in some schools lack consistent quality coaches.

South Bend Riley has been down, but Coach Lee brought in a whole knew staff with experience. Their summer numbers were averaging 50 players up 35 plus from the year before and they are hovering around 65 on the roster. If you haven't noticed the Wildcats have been winning at halftime in all 5 of their games and have scored on the first play or drive in 4 of 5 games. In the two games they lost they were winning going into the 4th quarter and one game going into double overtime. A big turnaround from their 40 point average per game allowed to opponents last year. The defense has given up 72 points in 5 games. Say what you want about South Bend Schools, but Riley is competing with starters who have not played football or haven't played since 8th/9th grade. Which goes back to the quality of staff Coach Lee has brought in and the players hard work in the off-season.

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1 hour ago, TurfToe20 said:

I believe Osceola Grace could beat Twin Lakes seeing they beat clay 56-6. But, that's nothing to brag about seeing Clay spots you 30 points on their mistakes alone. Can't throw a backwards pass and have the receiver walk towards the sidelines after dropping it. Then throw in the 15-20 penalty average per game with the refs turning a blind eye to 15 more because they want to go home. Most of it falls back to the bottom. South Bend lacks a quality youth league for fundamental and football IQ development. Then you throw in some schools lack consistent quality coaches.

South Bend Riley has been down, but Coach Lee brought in a whole knew staff with experience. Their summer numbers were averaging 50 players up 35 plus from the year before and they are hovering around 65 on the roster. If you haven't noticed the Wildcats have been winning at halftime in all 5 of their games and have scored on the first play or drive in 4 of 5 games. In the two games they lost they were winning going into the 4th quarter and one game going into double overtime. A big turnaround from their 40 point average per game allowed to opponents last year. The defense has given up 72 points in 5 games. Say what you want about South Bend Schools, but Riley is competing with starters who have not played football or haven't played since 8th/9th grade. Which goes back to the quality of staff Coach Lee has brought in and the players hard work in the off-season.

You might be right about Osceola Grace beating Twin Lakes.  Everyone in the Hoosier Conference should be worried.  Bad football seems to be spreading all over northern Indiana.  I know SB will be good again someday, just like they were 50 years ago.  

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You just wish that the SB schools could play some more competition that deals with some of the same struggles as them.  When Riley has played those teams this year, they have fared well.  When they play John Glenn, New Prairie, Bremen, and Jimtown they won't.  Just too many cards in the deck stacked against them.  Now....if SB schools had a legit plan in place to develop their athletes, hire coaches, keep some long term continuity in programs, helped foster a youth league, etc.  they would stand a chance......but.........

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9 minutes ago, Wedgebuster said:

You just wish that the SB schools could play some more competition that deals with some of the same struggles as them.  When Riley has played those teams this year, they have fared well.  When they play John Glenn, New Prairie, Bremen, and Jimtown they won't.  Just too many cards in the deck stacked against them.  Now....if SB schools had a legit plan in place to develop their athletes, hire coaches, keep some long term continuity in programs, helped foster a youth league, etc.  they would stand a chance......but.........

You bring up good points about this current years schedule. They do seem to fair better when facing the schools with similar make up to them. Now when you talk about their chances of success against the teams you mentioned, do you mean strictly this year or chances ever? Because if you look back a short time to the 2016-2019 season Riley went 8-4 against  John Glenn, Bremen, and Jimtown. And those games point averages were 28 per game for Riley’s O and 19 they gave up. That sounds like competing, and that’s not 30 years ago. Let’s not let the last 2 years confuse things, even this years John Glenn game when you click on Broadcastsports and watch it that game could’ve went either way. 
Now defense of your thinking is that their 16-19 success was under Coach Edison, that’s correct. But what outsiders don’t know is, coach Lee brought back the OC from that time as his Assistant HC/OC and his 2 sons and his sophomore son just had the SB Tribune write and article on him. 
From the outside, but with some inside knowledge I can’t sit here and say they can win against the teams you mentioned to end this year. But what I can say is I would not be surprised if by next year you’re changing your thoughts on the direction of that program and who they can actually compete with. 

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37 minutes ago, Wedgebuster said:

You just wish that the SB schools could play some more competition that deals with some of the same struggles as them.  When Riley has played those teams this year, they have fared well.  When they play John Glenn, New Prairie, Bremen, and Jimtown they won't.  Just too many cards in the deck stacked against them.  Now....if SB schools had a legit plan in place to develop their athletes, hire coaches, keep some long term continuity in programs, helped foster a youth league, etc.  they would stand a chance......but.........

Don't forget Riley was up on Glenn this year and lead into the 4th quarter. So, I'm not sure what your point is? Riley shot themselves in the foot and should be 5-0.

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I think the answer to the original question, depends on how you define "South Bend." If you strictly define that as the SBCSC, the football is poor. Coaches will come and go, programs will ebb & flow, but SBCSC schools are likely never going to be competitive again. Especially in a School of Choice world. However, when most folks think of "South Bend", they're really thinking St Joe County. Penn, Mishawaka, Marian & St Joe all field rock solid programs. In reality, you can include Edwardsburg, MI in that orbit, as well. Good number of families have moved the few miles north of the border, looking for a quality, albeit smaller, school experience for their families.

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13 minutes ago, MichGuy said:

I think the answer to the original question, depends on how you define "South Bend." If you strictly define that as the SBCSC, the football is poor. Coaches will come and go, programs will ebb & flow, but SBCSC schools are likely never going to be competitive again. Especially in a School of Choice world. However, when most folks think of "South Bend", they're really thinking St Joe County. Penn, Mishawaka, Marian & St Joe all field rock solid programs. In reality, you can include Edwardsburg, MI in that orbit, as well. Good number of families have moved the few miles north of the border, looking for a quality, albeit smaller, school experience for their families.

You are correct most people think of the area versus the actual school corporation. But I ask to you, what if a coaching staff does stick around. I know it’s been 10 plus years now, but when a quality staff stuck together for 4 straight years at Washington they went to a state title game. Then the HC and DC left, with a few other coaches and things dropped off. But what if he stayed? What if what Coach Lee has set in motion, has a chance for them to stay together and build for the next 4 plus years. Why can’t they be a competitive program?

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4 hours ago, Tippy said:

You might be right about Osceola Grace beating Twin Lakes.  Everyone in the Hoosier Conference should be worried.  Bad football seems to be spreading all over northern Indiana.  I know SB will be good again someday, just like they were 50 years ago.  

Seems like a problem in region also they have real solid teams/programs merrillville cp valpo Hobart Andrean Hanover central no real middle of the road programs (not counting dac because of size) and the bad teams are really bad such as lake station, highland, griffith, ec central, etc

Not sure if it’s open enrollment or shifting demographic 

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5 hours ago, TurfToe20 said:

Don't forget Riley was up on Glenn this year and lead into the 4th quarter. So, I'm not sure what your point is? Riley shot themselves in the foot and should be

Glenn is decent this year. Go Cavemen!

Edited by Crusty
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6 hours ago, SBFootballFan6 said:

You are correct most people think of the area versus the actual school corporation. But I ask to you, what if a coaching staff does stick around. I know it’s been 10 plus years now, but when a quality staff stuck together for 4 straight years at Washington they went to a state title game. Then the HC and DC left, with a few other coaches and things dropped off. But what if he stayed? What if what Coach Lee has set in motion, has a chance for them to stay together and build for the next 4 plus years. Why can’t they be a competitive program?

In your scenario, yes. They'd have a chance to be successful. Which would be terrific. Antwon did a nice job at Washington...but also had two kids (Gehrig Dieter & David Perkins) who ended up playing (at least briefly) at Ohio State and Alabama. Riley had winning teams in 17, 18 & 19, but then Jarvis left & is on staff at Elkhart. Even Clay was a winning, successful program, 10-12 years ago.

But "what if" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this scenario. For a variety of reasons, historically, the coaches don't stay. They get worn out, better options come along. I'd love to see it....but history is pretty telling.

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6 hours ago, Wedgebuster said:

The Edwardsburg being a "part" of South Bend is interesting.   The Eddies have certainly been hyper successful lately.  Do a lot of kids who would be Penn or Mishawaka players move north to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond? 

Edwardsburg has been a growing district, with excellent academics & extracurriculars, for 15+ years now. Definitely more than "just" athletics. Hard to ID a particular district that's been impacted. PHM, Mishawaka, Marian & St Joe. Folks aren't moving to the Village of Edwardsburg, per se. It's more "Granger North"......a lot of subdivisions, built just north of the state line. Based on friends & co-workers who've made the move it's popular among the ND / tri-campus community that want a less densely packed living area than Granger....or Granger folks who want a smaller (possibly less competitive) public school setting than PHM, while retaining high academic quality. 

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18 hours ago, Wedgebuster said:

The Edwardsburg being a "part" of South Bend is interesting.   The Eddies have certainly been hyper successful lately.  Do a lot of kids who would be Penn or Mishawaka players move north to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond? 

Eddie’s has one of the best youth programs around. Draw kids from Bristol,Granger, Mishawaka and Elkhart. Their little league travel team is top notch ! Genius , get kids to play at a young age and bring em in.

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