Center Grove (IN) Dynasty Begins This Week

[Coletrain06]

Great to have you guys on the forum. It's been fun playing Warren Central the last 2 years. Great teams. 

The Indianapolis MIC is one of the best conferences/leagues/districts in the nation. The Indiana teams rarely get the respect they deserve. Center Grove and WC are both just as good as any Ohio team this year. Iggy may be special, but I think they're more along the lines of CG and WC 

[hardhit1]

16 minutes ago, Coletrain06 said:

Great to have you guys on the forum. It's been fun playing Warren Central the last 2 years. Great teams. 

The Indianapolis MIC is one of the best conferences/leagues/districts in the nation. The Indiana teams rarely get the respect they deserve. Center Grove and WC are both just as good as any Ohio team this year. Iggy may be special, but I think they're more along the lines of CG and WC 

Warren Central the team that refused to line up and shake St. X hands after the game.

I have no respect for that program! 

Bush league at best! 

[DrivenT]

The MIC is solid, and no doubt the premier football conference in Indiana.  But like the rest of the state, talent has ticked down over the past several seasons as the D1 pipeline has dried up considerably coming out of Indianapolis.

Take a look at the condition of the Purdue and Notre Dame football programs, and that should give you an indication of where Indiana high school football talent is at this time.  Indiana University has outrecruited Purdue over the past 5 seasons since Kevin Wilson arrived, and still IU ranks in the bottom 3 of recruiting in the 14 team Big Ten.  Purdue is dead last.

As for the MIC, the bottom half of the conference is as weak as it has been in the past decade.  Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, and especially Pike and North Central are struggling to get any traction in their programs.  Lots of coaching turnover has hurt them all.  The Hoosier Crossroads and the Summit (Fort Wayne) are closing the gap on The MIC.  

There has been talk of a possible MIC-Hoosier Crossroads merger, creating an Indy superconference with East - West divisions.  Parochial Powerhouse Cathedral could be in the mix as well.

A possible new alignment as follows :

MIC East

Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers, Carmel, Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, Cathedral, Warren Central

MIC West

Zionsville, Westfield, Brownsburg, Avon, Pike, Ben Davis, North Central, Center Grove

[CGFan2017]

3 minutes ago, hardhit1 said:

Warren Central the team that refused to line up and shake St. X hands after the game.

I have no respect for that program! 

Bush league at best! 

From what I heard about that game, that was done to avoid a conflict between the two teams. I'd rather have no one shake hands than an all or brawl start. Coach West is a great coach and a great man. Any character issues seen during that game were surely taken care of back home on the WC side. 

I would also like to say that Warren Central is a top notch program that consistently contends for the state title every year. They are up there with the few other dominant schools in 6a, as stated on previous posts. 

[DrivenT]

2 minutes ago, hardhit1 said:

Warren Central the team that refused to line up and shake St. X hands after the game.

I have no respect for that program! 

Bush league at best! 

Warren has been known to misbehave on occasion. This goes back to the Kevin Wright days.  They had a "Miami style" swagger back then.  Tough to get that out of the system when it has been institutionalized over a decade.  Good call out nonetheless. 

[hardhit1]

5 minutes ago, CGFan2017 said:

From what I heard about that game, that was done to avoid a conflict between the two teams. I'd rather have no one shake hands than an all or brawl start. Coach West is a great coach and a great man. Any character issues seen during that game were surely taken care of back home on the WC side. 

I would also like to say that Warren Central is a top notch program that consistently contends for the state title every year. They are up there with the few other dominant schools in 6a, as stated on previous posts. 

Well I saw the game and there was obviously bad sportsmanship displayed by WC.

I am fully aware of WC and the MIC and their talent.

[nptb17]

11 minutes ago, DrivenT said:

The MIC is solid, and no doubt the premier football conference in Indiana.  But like the rest of the state, talent has ticked down over the past several seasons as the D1 pipeline has dried up considerably coming out of Indianapolis.

Take a look at the condition of the Purdue and Notre Dame football programs, and that should give you an indication of where Indiana high school football talent is at this time.  Indiana University has outrecruited Purdue over the past 5 seasons since Kevin Wilson arrived, and still IU ranks in the bottom 3 of recruiting in the 14 team Big Ten.  Purdue is dead last.

As for the MIC, the bottom half of the conference is as weak as it has been in the past decade.  Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, and especially Pike and North Central are struggling to get any traction in their programs.  Lots of coaching turnover has hurt them all.  The Hoosier Crossroads and the Summit (Fort Wayne) are closing the gap on The MIC.  

There has been talk of a possible MIC-Hoosier Crossroads merger, creating an Indy superconference with East - West divisions.  Parochial Powerhouse Cathedral could be in the mix as well.

A possible new alignment as follows :

MIC East

Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers, Carmel, Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, Cathedral, Warren Central

MIC West

Zionsville, Westfield, Brownsburg, Avon, Pike, Ben Davis, North Central, Center Grove

ND recruits nationally and has never depended on Indiana talent to fill their roster.  

[nptb17]

2 minutes ago, hardhit1 said:

Well I saw the game and there was obviously bad sportsmanship displayed by WC.

I am fully aware of WC and the MIC and their talent.

I watched the game as well.  WC felt like they were getting homered and the kids were obviously frustrated throughout the game.  To say tempers were boiling at the end of that game for both staffs would be an understatement.  

[CGFan2017]

4 minutes ago, hardhit1 said:

Well I saw the game and there was obviously bad sportsmanship displayed by WC.

I am fully aware of WC and the MIC and their talent.

Didn't watch the game but I'm sure it wasn't only WC. I guess I misunderstood what you were calling "Bush League at best"

[ATLien12x]

Just now, CGFan2017 said:

Didn't watch the game but I'm sure it wasn't only WC. I guess I misunderstood what you were calling "Bush League at best"

ANOTHER INDIANA FAN???

oh it's lit now 

[DrivenT]

4 minutes ago, nptb17 said:

ND recruits nationally and has never depended on Indiana talent to fill their roster.  

Notre Dame has always had Indiana kids.  Just not a lot of them.  

Their national recruiting not so hot right now either.  Harbaugh and Meyer are sucking all the recruiting oxygen out of the Midwest right now.  Don't see that trend changing any time soon.  

[nptb17]

1 minute ago, DrivenT said:

Notre Dame has always had Indiana kids.  Just not a lot of them.  

Their national recruiting not so hot right now either.  Harbaugh and Meyer are sucking all the recruiting oxygen out of the Midwest right now.  Don't see that trend changing any time soon.  

ND only struggles in one spot in recruiting and that is the defensive line.  They are in the top 10 in all of recruiting services if you pay attention to that stuff which I really don't.  Most of it is camp warrior rankings.  

[hardhit1]

5 minutes ago, CGFan2017 said:

Didn't watch the game but I'm sure it wasn't only WC. I guess I misunderstood what you were calling "Bush League at best"

X lined up as a team and went across to mid field to shake hands while WC stormed to the locker room. 

5 minutes ago, CGFan2017 said:

 

 

[DrivenT]

I see slippage in several areas.  Kelly seems to have put all his energy into the QB position and has ignored needs on the offensive line, linebacker and secondary.  ND had one of the worst defenses in all of big time college football this season.  The Syracuse game was an absolute abomination if you are a fan of Irish football, which I am not.  Just a casual observer.  I think Harbaugh and Meyer are killing Kelly on the recruiting front.  Those 3 schools have battled for talent over the past 40 years, and ND is currently getting their butts kicked on the recruiting trail.  

Notre Dame is falling further behind UM and OSU by the day.  They are likely going to vacate all wins from the 2012-2013 seasons due to academic fraud, as reported today.  Kelly should be shown the door.  They are absolutely heading in the wrong direction.

[ATLien12x]

About time for DrivenT to get himself an avatar and start breaking down these times for the championship game tomorrow. I see them listed on my cable guide as the 4A and 6A state titles on fox. 

 

Breakdown and who's playing? You may have listed those teams above, and if so, just say so and I'll fetch it back 

[nptb17]

1 minute ago, DrivenT said:

I see slippage in several areas.  Kelly seems to have put all his energy into the QB position and has ignored needs on the offensive line, linebacker and secondary.  ND had one of the worst defenses in all of big time college football this season.  The Syracuse game was an absolute abomination if you are a fan of Irish football, which I am not.  Just a casual observer.  I think Harbaugh and Meyer are killing Kelly on the recruiting front.  Those 3 schools have battled for talent over the past 40 years, and ND is currently getting their butts kicked on the recruiting trail.  

ND has been recruiting the offensive line better than anyone in the country.  That is just a fact.  It's been better than Alabama.  The linebackers haven't been terrible but the schemes have done them no favors and the same for the secondary.  The second half of the Syracuse game was the best the ND defense played all season.  They were solid against Stanford as well.  Meyer and Harbaugh are better coaches than Kelly by a lot imo.  Urban Meyer is the best recruiting head coach in the country.  Kelly is better than Harbaugh.  I don't think you are really paying that much attention to ND.

[CGFan2017]

5 minutes ago, ATLien12x said:

About time for DrivenT to get himself an avatar and start breaking down these times for the championship game tomorrow. I see them listed on my cable guide as the 4A and 6A state titles on fox. 

 

Breakdown and who's playing? You may have listed those teams above, and if so, just say so and I'll fetch it back 

Carmel and Center Grove play for the 6A title. 

Roncalli and Northwood play for the 4A title. 

 

He will do a better job than me breaking down the 4A game. 

[nptb17]

I agree with you about ND having one of the worst defenses in the country.

[ATLien12x]

1 minute ago, CGFan2017 said:

Carmel and Center Grove play for the 6A title. 

Roncalli and Northwood play for the 4A title. 

 

He will do a better job than me breaking down the 4A game. 

Thank you!! 

[Coletrain06]

I watched the entire X WC game and they felt they were getting homered....I agreed with them, and it's not for no reason any school near Cincinnati jokes that if you play GCL schools you better be prepared to not let the refs have a say in the game. Although the Colerain/X game playoff game was overall officiated fairly....there were 2 moments which inevitably didn't impact the game, but made you scratch your head. The play clock ran down to 0 two times in the game when X was on offense and both times Colerain coaches were screaming at the refs trying to alert them that the play clock ran out. Both times the ball was snapped nearly 3 full seconds  after the play clock ran to 0 and no flag was thrown. Inconsequential to the game, but certainly didn't help the reputation of the GCL and refs. 

WC's coach shook hands with Specht but told his team to go to the endzone. 

I don't agree with not shaking hands, but the coach knows best in that situation.

[CGFan2017]

For anyone watching the Colts game tonight, they will be showing highlights from the Center Grove practice in Lucas Oil Stadium from earlier this week anytime now. 

[PrepGridiron]

14 hours ago, Omaha Vol said:

What was even better was watching my Reds sweep Oakland and the mighty Bash Brothers the year before. 

Prep does not like this. 

[FastpacedO]

16 hours ago, DrivenT said:

The MIC is solid, and no doubt the premier football conference in Indiana.  But like the rest of the state, talent has ticked down over the past several seasons as the D1 pipeline has dried up considerably coming out of Indianapolis.

Take a look at the condition of the Purdue and Notre Dame football programs, and that should give you an indication of where Indiana high school football talent is at this time.  Indiana University has outrecruited Purdue over the past 5 seasons since Kevin Wilson arrived, and still IU ranks in the bottom 3 of recruiting in the 14 team Big Ten.  Purdue is dead last.

As for the MIC, the bottom half of the conference is as weak as it has been in the past decade.  Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, and especially Pike and North Central are struggling to get any traction in their programs.  Lots of coaching turnover has hurt them all.  The Hoosier Crossroads and the Summit (Fort Wayne) are closing the gap on The MIC.  

There has been talk of a possible MIC-Hoosier Crossroads merger, creating an Indy superconference with East - West divisions.  Parochial Powerhouse Cathedral could be in the mix as well.

A possible new alignment as follows :

MIC East

Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers, Carmel, Lawrence North, Lawrence Central, Cathedral, Warren Central

MIC West

Zionsville, Westfield, Brownsburg, Avon, Pike, Ben Davis, North Central, Center Grove

The bottom half of the MIC has been better somewhat this year. North Central is still a struggle. Pike had a solid Offense but no Defense. Lawrence North is without a doubt a program on the rise! Coach Mallory (a former assistant of Center Grove's Eric Moore) has done an outstanding job with Lawrence North and this year was one of their better years. Lawrence Central was up while Coach West was there (even won a State Title) then he left for Warren Central and Lawrence Central had a couple of down years. Coach Peebles took the job this year after leaving Southport whom he had made respectable again. Lawrence Central had some struggles this year but they are definitely in good hands.

 

The Hoosier Crossroads Conference was a solid second behind the MIC in terms of best conferences, but there is still a large gap between #1 and #2. The Summit while a strong Conference is nowhere near the level of the MIC. The Summit does put teams in different classes in State Championship games most years, but that is because they have teams that are in different classes, the MIC is solely a 6A class conference yet typically will put 2 teams in the State Championship game.

Most of the Division 1 recruits out of the State of Indiana go to out of state schools. The D-1 talent hasn't dried up in Indiana High School Football, they are just choosing other schools than Indiana and Purdue. There are still some committing to Notre Dame, but several top D-1 recruits have decided on Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland, etc over Indiana or Purdue.

[ATLien12x]

6 minutes ago, FastpacedO said:

The bottom half of the MIC has been better somewhat this year. North Central is still a struggle. Pike had a solid Offense but no Defense. Lawrence North is without a doubt a program on the rise! Coach Mallory (a former assistant of Center Grove's Eric Moore) has done an outstanding job with Lawrence North and this year was one of their better years. Lawrence Central was up while Coach West was there (even won a State Title) then he left for Warren Central and Lawrence Central had a couple of down years. Coach Peebles took the job this year after leaving Southport whom he had made respectable again. Lawrence Central had some struggles this year but they are definitely in good hands.

 

The Hoosier Crossroads Conference was a solid second behind the MIC in terms of best conferences, but there is still a large gap between #1 and #2. The Summit while a strong Conference is nowhere near the level of the MIC. The Summit does put teams in different classes in State Championship games most years, but that is because they have teams that are in different classes, the MIC is solely a 6A class conference yet typically will put 2 teams in the State Championship game.

Most of the Division 1 recruits out of the State of Indiana go to out of state schools. The D-1 talent hasn't dried up in Indiana High School Football, they are just choosing other schools than Indiana and Purdue. There are still some committing to Notre Dame, but several top D-1 recruits have decided on Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland, etc over Indiana or Purdue.

Welcome! Great first post, man

[DrivenT]

44 minutes ago, FastpacedO said:

The bottom half of the MIC has been better somewhat this year. North Central is still a struggle. Pike had a solid Offense but no Defense. Lawrence North is without a doubt a program on the rise! Coach Mallory (a former assistant of Center Grove's Eric Moore) has done an outstanding job with Lawrence North and this year was one of their better years. Lawrence Central was up while Coach West was there (even won a State Title) then he left for Warren Central and Lawrence Central had a couple of down years. Coach Peebles took the job this year after leaving Southport whom he had made respectable again. Lawrence Central had some struggles this year but they are definitely in good hands.

 

The Hoosier Crossroads Conference was a solid second behind the MIC in terms of best conferences, but there is still a large gap between #1 and #2. The Summit while a strong Conference is nowhere near the level of the MIC. The Summit does put teams in different classes in State Championship games most years, but that is because they have teams that are in different classes, the MIC is solely a 6A class conference yet typically will put 2 teams in the State Championship game.

Most of the Division 1 recruits out of the State of Indiana go to out of state schools. The D-1 talent hasn't dried up in Indiana High School Football, they are just choosing other schools than Indiana and Purdue. There are still some committing to Notre Dame, but several top D-1 recruits have decided on Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland, etc over Indiana or Purdue.

The talent has most certainly dried up here in Northwest Indiana, and particularly in the Duneland Conference.  Difficult to find a single MAC level or above recruit up in these parts.  Merrillville used to have 3 to 4 D1 signees every few years.  Look at Ben Davis, Warren Central and Carmel today compared with 4 to 5 years ago and you will see a huge dropoff in D1 level talent.  It is what it is my friend.  Take Russ Yeast off of this CG roster (he was a transfer) and you have no Power 5 level talent on a state championship caliber team in the biggest class.