Preseason top 10 for each class

[temptation]

26 minutes ago, hhpatriot04 said:

Why slap in the face?

Brownsburg has been the program on the cusp and it appeared the “changing of the guard” on the west side was in full swing.

Brownsburg appears to have stalled and the question of Hart’s ability to get them over the hump HAS to be in question at this point.

If a first year guy comes in 8 miles down the road and takes the Giants farther than Hart has ever taken Brownsburg, that’d be eye opening.

[BLACKGOLD2007]

On 6/28/2023 at 2:44 PM, scarab527 said:

Definitely an empty ending for their season last year, but also I don't think anyone up here had expected them to run roughshod through their opponents for the first ten games though. They just ran into a team with a good game plan and a D1 RB who they simply could not stop that night. They return almost all of the defense and the O-Line, and bring in a legit D1 receiver and a QB who maybe has the potential to play D1 if he can put everything together. I think this should help as they were very one-dimensional offensively last year, which really haunted them against Jeff. They have a very good coaching staff top to bottom, located in a growing, wealthy town with only one high school, have great facilities they are investing even more money in, and have a strong youth program in place with CP Junior Bulldogs. As long as Buz's health holds up, I can see them turning into a perennial power up north. Whether that means they can compete with the teams from down south is another story. 

What happened to Carroll in the state game is what unfortunately happens often to 6A schools from the more northern parts of the state. It however, does not reflect poorly on Carroll. They realized that you have to play teams from central Indiana to have a measuring stick as to where you are that season and where you might need to be to win state. Penn utilized their rivalry with Ben Davis as a measuring stick for years.  

I am very interested to see how Carroll handles weeks 1 and 2 this season. 

[BTF]

2 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

What happened to Carroll in the state game is what unfortunately happens often to 6A schools from the more northern parts of the state. It however, does not reflect poorly on Carroll. They realized that you have to play teams from central Indiana to have a measuring stick as to where you are that season and where you might need to be to win state. Penn utilized their rivalry with Ben Davis as a measuring stick for years.  

I am very interested to see how Carroll handles weeks 1 and 2 this season. 

Carroll went out and scheduled some big time opponents, so kudos to them. They're serious about building their program. 

The big question for me last year was Carroll's collapse after beating Hamilton Southeastern. Was CG just that much better than everybody else? Was Carroll just overwhelmed by their first ever state title appearance? A combination of both? 

[temptation]

11 minutes ago, BTF said:

Carroll went out and scheduled some big time opponents, so kudos to them. They're serious about building their program. 

The big question for me last year was Carroll's collapse after beating Hamilton Southeastern. Was CG just that much better than everybody else? Was Carroll just overwhelmed by their first ever state title appearance? A combination of both? 

Likely a combo in my opinion.

[MonkeyButt]

On 6/20/2023 at 10:28 AM, BDGiant93 said:

We'll see what the Giants have. I sure like Coach Mann! It's been a very easy handoff from Simmons to Mann. We'll see if they can do it on the field, though. 

My son played under Mann as his scout QB for his defense. Some would say they weren't impressed by his defenses the past couple of years. That can be put squarely on the very poor offensive teams WC has shown the past three years. But when WC had better offenses their defenses were very tough to beat! Some of the best in the state. H is a great strategist, huge motivator, and knows the game likely better than any coach I know, besides Coach Ralph at New Pal or Moore at CG. He loves his players, but tells them straight how it is. We are really excited for him and this opportunity. It is his time and I think he will pick up where Simmons left off. He has a great roster that is loaded and looking for "redemption" so to speak. I believe will make a great run for LOS. I am looking forward to that IMG and WC game though. Phew! Gonna be tough and fun to watch hopefully.

[BLACKGOLD2007]

21 hours ago, BTF said:

Carroll went out and scheduled some big time opponents, so kudos to them. They're serious about building their program. 

The big question for me last year was Carroll's collapse after beating Hamilton Southeastern. Was CG just that much better than everybody else? Was Carroll just overwhelmed by their first ever state title appearance? A combination of both? 

Well, I think getting beat by Cathedral snapped Center Grove back into reality. To be fair the South is more of a meat grinder than the north in 6A. Carroll, if their trend upward continues, looks to be the new Penn, where they will be looking at Semi-State each year. 

The game against CG was a perfect storm, Carroll's first ever state appearance vs 4 in a row for CG. How do you overcome that kind of confidence when the seniors can say we have been to state four years in a row. I think CG is the top program in the state and has been that way for the last 10 seasons, maybe more. Center Grove will always be a strong favorite over any team from the far north. 

[BTF]

1 hour ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Well, I think getting beat by Cathedral snapped Center Grove back into reality. To be fair the South is more of a meat grinder than the north in 6A. Carroll, if their trend upward continues, looks to be the new Penn, where they will be looking at Semi-State each year. 

The game against CG was a perfect storm, Carroll's first ever state appearance vs 4 in a row for CG. How do you overcome that kind of confidence when the seniors can say we have been to state four years in a row. I think CG is the top program in the state and has been that way for the last 10 seasons, maybe more. Center Grove will always be a strong favorite over any team from the far north. 

Agree with all of that. I'd like to see how Carroll does this season before I anoint them as the new Penn of the north. They barely escaped Snider, North Side, Lafayette Jeff, and HSE last year. But they did it nonetheless. It's really going to come down to Doug Dinan's burning passion. If he wants it bad enough, he has the resources to get there. 

[OldschoolFB]

On 6/24/2023 at 1:32 PM, BTF said:

Homestead is on a current two year slide. Before that they were back to back SAC champs and a big injury away from a deeper post season run. I'm not ready to right them off just yet. Snider had a three year run of mediocrity before being last years favorite to win the 5A title. Spartans will be back. Same coach, same community. 

Homestead won’t be good this year unless they find a QB

[Komets2727]

On 7/6/2023 at 1:49 PM, DACNUT88 said:

5A Preseason 

 

1. valpo

2. FW snider 

3. merrillville 

4. whiteland 

5. DC

6. Michigan city 

7. fw north 

8. FW Dwenger 

9. Harrison (WL)

10. Chesterton 

Snider is too high, especially with a new QB. Dwenger shouldn’t be sniffing the top 10

[jakone]

5 hours ago, OldschoolFB said:

Homestead won’t be good this year unless they find a QB

They had one but now Not.

[Bash Riprock]

19 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Well, I think getting beat by Cathedral snapped Center Grove back into reality. To be fair the South is more of a meat grinder than the north in 6A. Carroll, if their trend upward continues, looks to be the new Penn, where they will be looking at Semi-State each year. 

 

I concur completely with your thoughts.  Carroll reminded me a little of CG's first ever state title appearance against Penn.  Penn was clearly the better team and showed it that day.  But CG was on the cusp of building something great, which took more years in the very competitive MIC and Indy area.  Carroll looked impressive and one could tell they are building their program the right way.  I believe they are on the cusp.  

With Westfield, Carmel, HSE, Fishers, and programs like Penn will be back up there...I believe competition in the north will get stiffer.  I am glad to see CG and Carroll agreeing on a 4 year series (I believe its 4 years) starting in 2024.  This will be a benefit to both programs.

[ragdoll]

1 hour ago, Bash Riprock said:

I concur completely with your thoughts.  Carroll reminded me a little of CG's first ever state title appearance against Penn.  Penn was clearly the better team and showed it that day.  But CG was on the cusp of building something great, which took more years in the very competitive MIC and Indy area.  Carroll looked impressive and one could tell they are building their program the right way.  I believe they are on the cusp.  

With Westfield, Carmel, HSE, Fishers, and programs like Penn will be back up there...I believe competition in the north will get stiffer.  I am glad to see CG and Carroll agreeing on a 4 year series (I believe its 4 years) starting in 2024.  This will be a benefit to both programs.

Penn was better in 2000 but Matt Kaler being out was a big detriment to the CG run attack and made them much easier to defend. 

The classic Penn teams had high level defenses. 

[BLACKGOLD2007]

3 hours ago, Bash Riprock said:

I concur completely with your thoughts.  Carroll reminded me a little of CG's first ever state title appearance against Penn.  Penn was clearly the better team and showed it that day.  But CG was on the cusp of building something great, which took more years in the very competitive MIC and Indy area.  Carroll looked impressive and one could tell they are building their program the right way.  I believe they are on the cusp.  

With Westfield, Carmel, HSE, Fishers, and programs like Penn will be back up there...I believe competition in the north will get stiffer.  I am glad to see CG and Carroll agreeing on a 4 year series (I believe its 4 years) starting in 2024.  This will be a benefit to both programs.

WOOF 4 year series between CG and Carroll....Carroll's AD is going for the top fish in the sea!

Edited July 26, 2023 by BLACKGOLD2007

[BLACKGOLD2007]

1 hour ago, ragdoll said:

Penn was better in 2000 but Matt Kaler being out was a big detriment to the CG run attack and made them much easier to defend. 

The classic Penn teams had high level defenses. 

Not sure if you guys were at that game, but Penn packed it in early that night.  CG's best play that night was their last play which almost led to a score. 

Gees was not a fan of running up scores on teams.  

[BLACKGOLD2007]

21 hours ago, BTF said:

Agree with all of that. I'd like to see how Carroll does this season before I anoint them as the new Penn of the north. They barely escaped Snider, North Side, Lafayette Jeff, and HSE last year. But they did it nonetheless. It's really going to come down to Doug Dinan's burning passion. If he wants it bad enough, he has the resources to get there. 

Well, the beauty of it is, Snider may bounce up and down between 5A and 6A if they hit the success factor, but when it comes to the far northern teams.  Penn, Warsaw, Elkhart and the DAC schools Carroll is on the path to be that team that reps the area of the state in semi state for the foreseeable future. 

Penn was in Semi-state in 2011 and 2013-2017.  That is a strong stretch of football where Penn had a stranglehold on the DAC and sectionals 1 and 2.

Carroll could do this, their biggest threats right now are Jeff and CP. 

[PDB26]

22 hours ago, BTF said:

Agree with all of that. I'd like to see how Carroll does this season before I anoint them as the new Penn of the north. They barely escaped Snider, North Side, Lafayette Jeff, and HSE last year.

In fairness to Carroll, Penn had plenty of escapes in its heyday. One man's escape is another's good win.

[temptation]

2 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

WOOF 4 year series between CG and Carroll....Carroll's AD is going for the top fish in the sea!

Which is commendable…

[BTF]

16 hours ago, temptation said:

Which is commendable…

Gotta love Carroll's "go big or go home" approach. It's gaining them state-wide attention. 

 

[temptation]

3 hours ago, BTF said:

Gotta love Carroll's "go big or go home" approach. It's gaining them state-wide attention. 

 

Count me among them.  My Carroll fandom grows by the minute.

Meanwhile in central Indiana we have teams with hurt feelings ducking Center Grove in varsity football while playing them at other levels.

Just admit it was an overreaction and nonsense and do what’s best for the kids.

Carmel/Warren vs CG are great for the sport and for all involved.

[Boilernation]

21 hours ago, PDB26 said:

In fairness to Carroll, Penn had plenty of escapes in its heyday. One man's escape is another's good win.

Yep, One I can easily think of was the '96 State Title could have easily ended in Portage in Regionals. Portage had the ball on the goal line with enough time left to run 1 play. Buzea passed up a gimme FG attempt that would have sent the game into OT and instead went for the win. It wasn't even close. Penn's D-Line stopped the Portage RB in the backfield. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Boilernation

[BTF]

3 minutes ago, temptation said:

Meanwhile in central Indiana we have teams with hurt feelings ducking Center Grove in varsity football while playing them at other levels.

Some things in life just don't make any sense. I would think any 6A team would be pounding on their door for the opportunity to play them. They're the current benchmark. 

[BLACKGOLD2007]

23 hours ago, PDB26 said:

In fairness to Carroll, Penn had plenty of escapes in its heyday. One man's escape is another's good win.

But, escapes are apart of the game.  My Junior year we gifted Mishawaka 14 points and had to play a perfect game the rest of the way to push the game into overtime, which is where escaped with the W. 

In sectionals we beat them 28-7 and then blanked them 39-0 in my senior year. Sometimes, teams you just play a bad game, good teams find ways to win.  

You are correct, about the one man's escape is another's good win.

[BLACKGOLD2007]

1 hour ago, Boilernation said:

Yep, One I can easily think of was the '96 State Title could have easily ended in Portage in Regionals. Portage had the ball on the goal line with enough time left to run 1 play. Buzea passed up a gimme FG attempt that would have sent the game into OT and instead went for the win. It wasn't even close. Penn's D-Line stopped the Portage RB in the backfield. 

That 96 Portage was 9-2 going into the Penn game. That is a good win, especially away from home for the Kingsmen, was the score close, yes.  

[ragdoll]

23 hours ago, Boilernation said:

Yep, One I can easily think of was the '96 State Title could have easily ended in Portage in Regionals. Portage had the ball on the goal line with enough time left to run 1 play. Buzea passed up a gimme FG attempt that would have sent the game into OT and instead went for the win. It wasn't even close. Penn's D-Line stopped the Portage RB in the backfield. 

Penn had strong defenses

[BLACKGOLD2007]

On 7/28/2023 at 11:24 AM, ragdoll said:

Penn had strong defenses

The Penn teams of the 90's were strong up front on both sides of the ball. Most of their games were won in the trenches.