INDIANA -- When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock...

With apologies to James Whitcomb Riley, autumn means far more to Hoosiers than just harvest time and football games. Good Hoosier friends, that most special time of year has now arrived. Indiana high school basketball season is with us again - Our gals are just about ready to start practice!


When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
Good Hoosier folks get the feeling that soon neighborhood gyms will rock.
Idle hands kept heartland keyboards a-clickn' with predictions,
Pining away the summer months dreamin' smells of popcorn a-fixen'.

There's something kinda' harty-like about the atmusfere,
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here.
It gets the blood a pumpin' and a mind a-ready to pace,
For every Indiana soul is ready for the upcoming hardwood race.

O, the balls have been a-bouncin through the long ol' offseason,
But any good Hoosier'll tell ya, AAU is just a hair short-a treason.
It's that real season that means the most under ev'ry gym light's gleam,
True sideline teachers training Hoosierland's best to be part of a team.

When that wind begins to turn and the temperature dips just a bit,
Hoosier minds start to wander, folks get to talkin' and pipes get a-lit.
Indiana cafes, barbershops and water'n holes in tiny little hamlets,
Start harkenen back to by gone days of glory teams and near miss damn-its.

Legends, icons, heros -- goats, groans, and shouts,
Stories of exploits and near misses 3-2-1 in-and-outs.
Help'n all us Hoosier souls paint that valuable background picture,
Givin' folks a sense of past and makin' this season much richer.

Then the balls'll start a-bouncing, like they do each annu'll fall,
The sound'll fall soft on Hoosier ears like a fav'rble chargin' call.
E'vn with the changes that have shaken our great game,
You know what's coming, and boy is sure seems the same.

Thoughts drift to that walk from the car and parking lot,
Distant crowd noise, gym windows glow, ticket'n hand pressed hot.
And with your corn a-pop'n and dear friends sittin' near,
Any feller'll be tempted to drop a Hoosier tear.

I don't know how to tell it-but ef such a thing could be,
If God himself would come a-calling and want to visit me.
No host could ask for more - a game, a ticket, a gym, and a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

Appears these six schools will form the new Hoosier Legends Conference in 2025-26
-- Beech Grove
-- Indian Creek
-- Monrovia
-- Speedway
-- Triton Central
-- Tri-West

Then in 2026-27:
-- Shelbyville will join for sure.
-- possibly Greenwood will join, too

Five teams were selected by our contestants in Week 9, with Ben Davis being the most popular pick. The Giants responded with a 30-point victory over the North Central (Indianapolis) Panthers. The largest margin of victory in this round belonged to 1A #1 North Judson in the Bluejays' 42-point win over the 1A #11 Pioneer Panthers. After eight consecutive blowout wins, 3A #4 Mississinewa had a close game in their 26-22 win over the Madison-Grant Argylls. Southmont was the only one of our teams which suffered a loss as they fell to Tri-West, 42-7.

It is time to crown our champion! Congratulations to hhsdawg, the winner of the 2024 Hickory Husker Pigskin Pick'em! He became a two-time winner this year after having won the contest in 2016. After being in a logjam tie for second place in Week 1, he fell to near the bottom of our leaderboard for six consecutive weeks. But in the shake-up that happened in Week 8, he climbed all the way to the top spot and held on to win with 328 points. Defending champion Nick Jenkinson finished second with 315 points, narrowly edging out CoachC in third with 314. ysuindy claimed fourth with 307 points, and Mr. B.A. placed fifth with 287.

Though it was not a factor in determining our final standings, the correct score for our tiebreaker this year was 150, the combined scores of 2023 5A state champion Fort Wayne Snider and their opponents in the Panthers' last four games:

Fort Wayne Snider 35, Homestead 0 (35 points)
Fort Wayne Snider 49, Fort Wayne Northrup 14 (63 points)
Fort Wayne Snider 17, Fort Wayne Dwenger 6 (23 points)
Fort Wayne Snider 21, Fort Wayne Wayne 8 (29 points)

Mr. B.A. was the closest on the tiebreaker with his prediction of 172 points.

Here are the games for Week 9 with scores, point margins, and the number of players who picked each one:

North Judson 60, Pioneer 18 (42 points, no players)
Leo 48, DeKalb 7 (41 points, 1 player)
Batesville 41, Connersville 0 (41 points, no players)
Bloomington South 42, Seymour 6 (36 points, 2 players)
Ben Davis 44, North Central (Indianapolis) 14 (30 points, 6 players)
Evansville North 35, Evansville Central 7 (28 points, 2 players)
Penn 27, South Bend St. Joseph 0 (27 points, 1 player)
Mississinewa 26, Madison-Grant 22 (4 points, no players)
Tri-West 42, Southmont 7 (-35 points, no players)

Here are the final standings:

hhsdawg - 328
Nick Jenkinson - 315
CoachC - 314
ysuindy - 307
Mr. B.A. - 287
Ed Stachulak - 276
Rob Deweese - 271
kyleajolly - 267
TheGorilla23 - 265
Quad Runner - 236
HickoryHusker - 208
Ranger20 - 149

Five of the teams on this year's list were ranked in the top ten in the IFCA preseason polls for their class, and three were receiving votes. Here is how our teams were ranked in the preseason, their records at the end of the season, and their rankings after Week 8:

Batesville: Preseason 3A #5; Record 6-3; Week 8 #9
Ben Davis: Preseason 6A #1; Record 4-5; Week 8 unranked
Bloomington South: Preseason 5A RV; Record 5-4; Week 8 RV
Evansville North: Preseason 5A RV; Record 4-5; Week 8 unranked
Leo: Preseason 4A #10; Record 7-2; Week 8 #5
Mississinewa: Preseason 3A unranked; Record 9-0; Week 8 #4
North Judson: Preseason 1A #2; Record 9-0; Week 8 #1
Penn: Preseason 6A RV; Record 7-2; Week 8 RV
Southmont: Preseason 2A #8; Record 3-6; Week 8 unranked

Ben Davis is of special note here, as it is rare to see a team that was ranked #1 in the preseason poll finish the season unranked.

Two of our teams - Mississinewa and North Judson - completed the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record. Leo's two losses were to teams currently ranked #4 and #5 in the IFCA Class 4A poll. Penn's two losses were to teams currently ranked #6 in the IFCA Class 4A poll and #7 in the IFCA Class 6A poll. North Judson recorded the largest margin of victory with a 70-point win over Culver in Week 5, and Southmont suffered the worst defeats in 35-point losses to Danville in Week 6, Lebanon in Week 8, and Tri-West in Week 9.

Your humble contest administrator is a software developer in real life, so I wrote a computer program to determine what the best possible score would be with this year's combination of teams. It also provides a ranking among all possible outcomes for each contestant who submitted a pick in every week of the contest. With a contest like this, the number of possible combinations of picks is n!, where n is the number of teams. For nine teams, that comes to 362,880. The worst possible score is -95 (none of our players were anywhere near that bad!). The best possible score is 355, with these picks:

Week 1 - Southmont (28)
Week 2 - Mississinewa (35)
Week 3 - Leo (42)
Week 4 - Penn (38)
Week 5 - Evansville North (26)
Week 6 - Bloomington South (41)
Week 7 - Batesville (49)
Week 8 - North Judson (66)
Week 9 - Ben Davis (30)

Here are the rankings for our players. Rank = numeric rank out of 362,880. Percentage Rank = Percentage of possible scores that are worse.

hhsdawg: Score = 328; Rank = 59; Percentage Rank = 99.98
Nick Jenkinson: Score = 315; Rank = 238; Percentage Rank = 99.93
CoachC: Score = 314; Rank = 264; Percentage Rank = 99.93
ysuindy: Score = 307; Rank = 499; Percentage Rank = 99.86
Mr. B.A.: Score = 287; Rank = 2075; Percentage Rank = 99.43
Ed Stachulak: Score = 276; Rank = 3840; Percentage Rank = 98.94
Rob Deweese: Score = 271; Rank = 4919; Percentage Rank = 98.64
kyleajolly: Score = 267; Rank = 5962; Percentage Rank = 98.36
TheGorilla23: Score = 265; Rank = 6543; Percentage Rank = 98.20
Quad Runner: Score = 236; Rank = 20564; Percentage Rank = 94.33
HickoryHusker: Score = 208; Rank = 47808; Percentage Rank = 86.83
Ranger20: Score = 149; Rank = 154629; Percentage Rank = 57.39

I want to thank all of our players for getting their picks in on time every week, which made my job as the contest administrator much easier. Thanks to everyone who participated this season! We hope all of you will return to compete in the 2025 Hickory Husker Pigskin Pick'em!

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His post on Facebook Sunday.

~ "I wanted to share with everyone that last week, I had to resign the varsity boys basketball coaching job at Pike Central High School, due to some health issues. These health issues are manageable and will allow me to live a normal life, except coaching basketball. Thank you to Pike Central for one more opportunity! I will remain there as a social studies teacher. Thank you to everyone for all of the support!!"

ONWARD, Ind. -- Want a dose of real Hoosier Hysteria? How about all night vigils guarding your high school from invading government officials? Check out this unbelievable story of Onward High School in Cass County as they turned back twp. trustees by gun point in order to keep their school open...


Two Onward citizens take their turn standing guard over Onward High

The fate of Onward High School is one that most Hoosiers can sympathize with. The loss of a community school to consolidation has taken many a town's identity with it over the years. However, the story of Onward and the fight the townspeople put up speaks to just how far community pride in their school will move otherwise peaceable and even minded folks.

The fateful announcement came from the township trustee in the summer of 1950. Onward High School would be consolidated with rival Walton that fall when school began. To salt the wound, Walton High would continue to house the high school students while Onward's building would become the elementary for the two schools.

The two bitter Cass County rivals were separated by just four miles, and while the Walton Warriors enjoyed the majority of the hardwood success, (final 8 in 1911 and sweet 16 in 1921) it meant little to the Onward Red Coats.

While Onward, population of less than 200, never captured a Sectional, they did capture the hearts of most Hoosiers when their plight snd subsequent fight for survival.
When the time for school finally rolled around that fall, Onward's preps refused to make the trip to Walton. With no salaried teachers, the Redcoat student population began classes with some of the more advance students taking over the lessons.

As the story goes, a handful of 'turncoat' Redcoats did venture over to Walton and ultimately enrolled there. In a community meeting, Onward headmaster William Helms spoke in tones more familiar of a funeral when he stated that two of the traitors were…gasp…ballplayers.

Quickly worry turned to fear and finally to panic at the thought that the township trustee would attempt to close Onward High by force. The result was a 24 hour picket set up with area townspeople taking turns guarding the school grounds. An old civil defense air raid siren system was quickly established to sound the alarm of any government trespassers. Action plans were set into place and an old crop dusting plane patrolled the air during the daylight hours to watch the approaching roads.

Word of the Onward civil defense quickly spread, and the township trustee decided to test their will in early October. Along with a dozen volunteers from Walton, the trustee made a trip to Onward under the guise of exchanging Walton elementary student desks for high school desks at Onward. Their caravan was quickly detected and the alarm sounded.

When the trustee arrived at Onward High, nearly fifty area "Redcoat" men created a human barrier between the public servant and the school. Threats and pushing ensued before the Walton men finally left without their desks. Written reports describe the victorious defenders sang "Onward, Christian Soldiers" as the trustee's men road off.

The trustee would return days later, though, this time with nearly 70 armed Indiana State trooper. However, after the first confrontation, Onward had beefed up its defenses as well. The town had organized rings of trucks, cars, tractors, and wagons to circle the old Onward school building. In addition, high school students were stationed inside and the doors chained shut.

More verbal jousting and shoving took place, but with it evident that the Onward community was willing to go to any physical lengths to defend their school, Indiana governor Henry Schricker ordered the government men to leave.

At this point the state decided to switch tactics. While the watchful vigil of armed Onward citizens continued, the state set about to cut off all funding and accreditation. Teachers and administrators went without pay and an Onward diploma meant nothing outside of the community.

For their part Onward citizens countered with chili suppers, chicken dinners, and pie bakes as a means to raise money to pay for the expenses of running a school. For two full school years the Onward Redcoats lived on as an autonomous entity. As word of their plight and continued struggle spread, financial support came from citizens of Peru, Kokomo, and county seat Logansport. It even became a bit trendy for a time for folks from Indianapolis to drive up to help support an Onward High fish fry, but ultimately the financial burden of operating a school without state funds and without accreditation forced the Redcoats to capitulate. However, the stubborn will and the pride of the Onward community still strikes a chord to this day.

Good Varsity Clubber requested I post his question here so that he could remain anonymous, which I totally get. Any insight or advice on this one?

I am wondering what other teachers, who coach, have run into regarding maternity or paternity leave. Were they allowed to coach during the season while on leave from teaching?

Big day in Greenwood as today marked the annual release of Apple Buzz beer at Oaken Barrell. The Gwood institution has hit on a true marketing gold mine.

Every seat in the place was packed and while Apple Buzz will remain on tap until it runs out (usually about 10 days to 2 weeks) the bottled version once again sold out in one day - all 550 cases!

I appreciate high school football for sure, but for those of us that are Hoosier to the bone we know that this annual event simply marks our calendar is growing closer and closer to that first tipoff!

There was no clear consensus among our contestants in Week 8, as they picked seven different teams - easily the most of any round this year, and probably the most of any round in the history of the contest. This was also an unusual week in that five of our nine teams went down to defeat, and eight of our players lost points as a result. 4A #5 Leo was the most popular pick (though selected by only three contestants), but the Lions suffered a 3-point loss at the hands of the 4A #8 Columbia City Eagles. The largest margin of victory was recorded by the undefeated 1A #1 North Judson Bluejays in their 69-3 win over the Caston Comets. Undefeated 3A #4 Mississinewa notched another big win, this time over the Eastbrook Panthers. The Indians have won all of their games this season by at least 35 points. In addition to Leo, Evansville North, 5A #12 Bloomington South, 3A #9 Batesville, and Southmont all ended up on the wrong end of the score.

The rather unusual results this week caused a major shake-up on our leaderboard. hhsdawg, by virtue of his North Judson pick, moved up an amazing nine spots to take sole possession of the lead with 292 points. Nick Jenkinson improved four positions, landing in second with 285. CoachC dropped one place into third with 284 points. ysuindy came up three places into fourth with 279, and Mr. B.A. fell from third to fifth with 257. As we head into the final round, we have three contestants who have a mathematical chance of winning. Who will it be? Next week we will crown our champion!

Here are the games for Week 8 with scores, point margins, and the number of players who picked each one:

North Judson 69, Caston 3 (66 points, 1 player)
Mississinewa 44, Eastbrook 7 (37 points, 2 players)
Ben Davis 27, Lawrence Central 7 (20 points, no players)
Penn 24, New Prairie 7 (17 points, 1 player)
Columbia City 21, Leo 18 (-3 points, 3 players)
Jasper 28, Evansville North 20 (-8 points, no players)
Brebeuf Jesuit 68, Bloomington South 57 (-11 points, 1 player)
Franklin County 31, Batesville 17 (-14 points, 2 players)
Lebanon 35, Southmont 0 (-35 points, 2 players)

Here are the standings after Week 8:

292 points
hhsdawg

285 points
Nick Jenkinson

284 points
CoachC

279 points
ysuindy

257 points
Mr. B.A.

246 points
Ed Stachulak

241 points
Rob Deweese

239 points
kyleajolly

235 points
TheGorilla23

195 points
Quad Runner

172 points
HickoryHusker

122 points
Ranger20

Week 9 picks will be filled in with each contestant's final remaining team, so no one will have to send an email this week.

Our players were of one mind in Week 7 more than in any previous round of this year's contest. Seven of them selected 3A #11 Batesville as their pick, and the Bulldogs recorded a 65-16 victory over the winless Greensburg Pirates. The largest margin of victory this week - for the fourth time this season - belonged to 3A #5 Mississinewa in their 58-point shutout of the Elwood Panthers. The Indians have outscored their opponents 303-7 this year. Three of our teams suffered losses in Week 7: Penn in a 4-point decision to Elkhart (both teams are tied at #11 in the 6A poll); 5A #11 Bloomington South in an 18-point loss to 6A #15 Columbus North; and Southmont in a 36-6 upending at the hands of 2A #5 Western Boone.

Ed Stachulak returned to the top of our leaderboard for the first time since Week 4 with 281 points. CoachC is in second with 267 points, followed by Mr. B.A. in third with 260. Rob Deweese dropped three spots into fourth with 252 points, and TheGorilla23 moved up two positions to crack the top five with 249. Only two weeks remain until we crown our champion!

Here are the games for Week 7 with scores, point margins, and the number of players who picked each one:

Mississinewa 58, Elwood 0 (58 points, 2 players)
Batesville 65, Greensburg 16 (49 points, 7 players)
North Judson 48, Winamac 6 (42 points, no players)
Ben Davis 58, Carmel 30 (28 points, no players)
Evansville North 28, Vincennes Lincoln 12 (16 points, 2 players)
Leo 34, Huntington North 20 (14 points, 1 player)
Elkhart 7, Penn 3 (-4 points, no players)
Columbus North 32, Bloomington South 14 (-18 points, no players)
Western Boone 36, Southmont 6 (-30 points, no players)

Here are the standings after Week 7:

281 points
Ed Stachulak

267 points
CoachC

260 points
Mr. B.A.

252 points
Rob Deweese

249 points
TheGorilla23

248 points
Nick Jenkinson

242 points
kyleajolly
ysuindy

230 points
Quad Runner

226 points
hhsdawg

175 points
HickoryHusker

136 points
Ranger20

If you haven't already sent in your pick for Week 8, be sure to email it to shsfan475@gmail.com by 6:00 pm ET on Friday, Oct. 11!

The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Fall Newsletter is now available!

IBCA E-Newsletter: Hoosier Hysteria News-Welcome!

Good chance for me to mention that if you are not already a member of this glorious organization, you should be!

Membership is open to all that hold our Indiana basketball community near and dear - Coaches from all levels, media members, officials, admin, enthusiastic fans, scouts, statisticians, etc.

Link to Join

Woodmen to join newly formed Hoosier Legends Conference 2026-27 school year.

This is being reported as a potential move, but through the grapevine I can tell you this is all but a done deal. It's especially difficult due to the Woodies being one of three founding members (1942) still part of the MSC - Mooresville and Plainfield the others.

Community members have been invited to an open forum scheduled for next week to seek input, but for anyone involved in education these sorts of 'listening' events are generally for appearance sake only.

Hoosier Legends Conference will initially include just six teams: Indian Creek, Beech Grove, Monrovia, Speedway, Triton Central and Tri-West. However, Greenwood would make seven and HLC goal of an ideal 8 eventually.

Also hearing Southport departing Conference Indiana to take Gwood's sport in MSC.

KOKOMO, Ind. — A Taylor School Corporation employee and basketball coach in Henry County is on leave and facing charges after police said he sent inappropriate photos and videos to an underaged victim.

RICHMOND, Ind. — A Richmond High School coach has been placed on paid leave following a dispute between two teams over practice time at RHS’s Tiernan Center. Over the past several weeks, Richmond’s volleyball team – which is currently in the middle of its season – has been removed from the Tiernan Center’s main court by the boys basketball team, which is coached by Billy Wright

Central Christian boys - coaching change for the Chargers. Returning to the bench - Bobby Brown. Mike Kinney, no longer the coach

Baseball's all time hits leader passed away in Las Vegas. He was 83 years old.

Taylor girls - Departing Coach Scott Sullivan?
KOKOMO, Ind. -- Previously had Scott Sullivan as the hire here earlier late spring. However, word today that Tiffany Boruff has been named interim coach at Taylor.

BOYS
Angola: Brandon Appleton, Bryan Weber
Argos: Jason Breden, Nick Kindig
Attica: Derrick Milenkoff, Pat Skaggs
Austin: Randy Edwards, Brent Jameson
Beech Grove: Joe Rihm, David Sanders
Ben Davis: Corey Taylor **, Don Carlisle
Blackford: Matt Justin, Aaron Daniels
Bloomfield: J.B. Neill, Nate O’Neall
Bowman Academy: Tyrone Robinson, John Boyd
Carroll (Fort Wayne): Ryan Abbott, Chris Benedict
Clinton Central: Derek Davis, Nick Burlingame
Cloverdale: Karl Turk, Joey Hart
Culver Community: Kyle Evans, Drew Mosson
Delphi: Austin Cowley, Chad Pulver
Dugger Union: Clint Roesler, Darrell Pruitt
Eastbrook: Greg Allison, Jeff Liddick
Eastside: David Prokop, Will Lewis
Evansville Day: Gary Wilsey, Trey Wornica
Fairfield: Derek Hinen, Brodie Garber
Faith Christian: Dan Peter, Alex Stauffer
Fort Wayne Dwenger: Matt Kostoff, Brandon O’Leary
Frankfort: Rick Scholl, Jake Nerney
Garrett: Andrew Evertts, Logan Traylor
Gary 21st Century: Gary Hayes, James Scott**
GEO Next Generation: Riccardo Johnson, Kendall Montgomery
Greensburg: Shaun Busick, Collin Rigney
Hammond Morton: Aaron Abram, Jeremiah King
Hammond Noll: John Dodson III, Ryan Schooler
Hobart: Aaron Butcher, Devon Key
Indianapolis Bishop Chatard: Ken Roseman, TBA
Indianapolis Herron: Scott Adams, Tyler Geissman
Indianapolis Riverside: Stephen Calhoun, Justin Bennett
Indianapolis Shortridge: Donald Yates III, Ryan Mulcrone
Indianapolis Tech: Damon Turner/Ryan Mulcrone **, Aaron Hogg
Indianapolis Tindley: Omar Dillard, TBA
Indianapolis Washington: Aaron Hogg, Omar Dillard
Jennings County boys: Rob Kent, Mike McBride
John Glenn: Travis Hannah, John DuPont
Kankakee Valley: Bill Shepherd, Cody Scott
KIPP Indy Legacy: Richard Thomas, Mel Butler
Knightstown: Chris VanPelt, Chad Cook
Knox: Joe Eskridge, Jason Breden
Lake Station: Bob Burke, Jared Jones
Lakeland: Chris Keil, T.J. Schneider
Lakeland Christian: Taylor Long, Neal Frantz
Leo: Cary Cogdell, Derek Hinen
Madison: Adam Stotts, Danny Gibson
Martinsville: Kip Staggs, J.B. Neill
Michigan City: Tom Wells, Larry Upshaw
Mitchell: Jackson Ryan, Clint Roesler
Monroe Central: Jim Melton, Brian Klein
Mooresville: Shabaz Khaliq, Gavin Groninger
MTI School of Knowledge: Kenneth Martin, Montrez Hearon
New Haven: Bruce Stephens, Brandon Appleton
New Washington: Torrey Winchester, Logan Miles
North Central (Farmersburg): John Ladson, Seth Harrold
North Knox boys: Aaron Hall, Josh Adams
North White: Joseph Smith, Chad Pio
Pike Central: Hunter Elliott/Andy Igel, TBA
Plymouth: Joel Grindle, Greg Miller
Randolph Southern: Brian Stewart, Torey Hunt
Rensselaer Central: Chad Pulver, Colin Kimiecik
South Adams: Garrett Krieg, Kyle Roe
South Decatur: Maurice Buckner, Josh Terwilleger
South Knox: Jim Farris **, Jim Farris
Southern Wells: Joel Roush, Doug Smith
Southport: Bill Zych, Ben Rhoades
Tell City: Greg Hollinden, Dayne Seibert
Terre Haute South: Maynard Lewis, Braydon Jefferson
Tri-County: Ryan Harrington, Trev Parker
Tri-West: Jay Doane, Tommy Strine
Union (Modoc): Dan Carmony, Dennis Ross
Victory College Prep: Isaac Smith, Tyler Smith
Waldron: David Corder/John Shaw**, Jeb Stewart
West Washington: Jamie Cummings, Ashton Minton
Whiting: Cortez Harper/T.J. Toth **, Brandon Bradford
Whitko: Chris Benedict, Robert Warrick

GIRLS
Adams Central: Kyle Roe, Rob Earl
Argos: Scott Jennings, Brian Jennings
Bedford North Lawrence: Jeff Allen, Greg Burton
Bethesda Christian: Roger Hanna, Tyler Smith
Blackford: Dallas Dugan, Aaron Murphy
Blue River Valley: James Allen, Jessica Vannatta
Boonville: Mark Meier, Ryan McKinney
Brown County: Kamady Lewis, Bob Susemichel
Brownsburg: Debbie Smiley, Josh Sabol
Calumet: Brandon Bradford, Anissa Magee
Cambridge City Lincoln: Garry Laymon, Dylan Miller
Chesterton: Jack Campbell, Candy Wilson
Christel House: Autumn Jones, Jessie Kee
Churubusco: David Goodwell, Dawn Koch
Clay City: Jason Sinders, Clay Huffman
Covington: Mark Switzer, Reese Bodine
Eastbrook: Jeff Liddick, Alicia Griffin
Eastern Greene: Joe Pigg, Jeremy Clark
Eastern (Greentown): Jake Fleenor, Sara Murphy
Eastern Hancock: Shari Doud, Lindsey Shaw
Eminence: Greg Burton, Matt Seifers
Evansville Bosse: Garland Copeland, Lewis Jones Jr.
Evansville Memorial: Lee Auker, Mallory Ladd
Faith Christian: D.J. Layton, Bob Caplinger
Floyd Central: Randy Gianfagna, Jerry Hickey
Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger: Steve Wiktorowski, Kirk Comer
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers: Mark Pixley, Mary Hathaway
Frontier: Danielle Sichting, Sharon Miller
Gary 21st Century: Charles Allen, TBA
Gary West: Shanee Butler/Horace Bond **, Angela Hamblin-Blakely
GEO Next Generation: Ciarra Dotson, Shawntei Foulks
Hagerstown: Chris Oliger, Brad Catey
Hamilton: Andrew Baker, Kris Tadsen
Hamilton Heights: Keegan Cherry, Erin Trimpe
Hebron: Jerry Bechtold, Bob Burke
Highland: Darian Patton-Straughter, Eric Kundich
Hobart: Alaina Richter, Ryan Gregory
Indianapolis Attucks: James Banks, Kamaren Banks
Indianapolis Metropolitan: Andrew Moore, Daryl Murray
Indianapolis Tindley: Crystal Majors, Cory Majors
Jac-Cen-Del: Scott Smith, Lilly Simon
Jeffersonville: Taylor Sykes**, Taylor Sykes
Lebanon: Candice Huckstep, Aaron Vaughn
Liberty Christian: Malik Perry, Paris Miles
Linton-Stockton: Jared Rehmel, Garrett Vandeventer
Marion: Kevin McKinney, Ronikka Drake
Merrillville: Kelly Kratz, Darian Patton-Straughter
Michigan City: Mike Megyese, Rich Davis
Mishawaka: Chadd Blasko, Justin Overholser
Mooresville Christian: Hannah Lasley, Hannah Brackett
Morgan Township: Rick Budka, Carl Patz
Mt. Vernon (Posey): Kendra Steinhart, Rocky Alderman
MTI School of Knowledge: Yakinah Adekanbi, Aicha Diawara**
Muncie Central: Jayla Scaife, Dameon Wyatt
North Miami: Lori Working, Nathan Curtis
North Posey: Jessica Schenk, Kevin Kolb
North Putnam: Curtis Lawrence, Kelly Windmiller
Pike Central: Trey Wornica, Trent Whitehead
Pioneer: Adam Berry, David McWherter
Providence: Brad Burden, Stacy Pendleton
Purdue Poly-North: Rob Earl, TBA
Richmond: Clay Bolser, Gabrielle Smith
River Forest: Ryan Gregory, Doug Godbolt
Rock Creek Academy: Sara Nord, Noel Potter
Salem: Jerry Hickey, Wade Tomlinson
Seeger: Chad Wetz/Kevin Peterson **, Jeff McCoy
Shakamak: Chase Rhoten, Brock Dowell
South Adams: Wayne Kreiger, Brett Freeman
South Bend Career Academy: Beth Brown, Ja’Mare Washington
South Central (Union Mills): Ben Anderson, Doug Nelson
South Ripley: Matt McNew, Brad Goldsberry
Southern Wells: Jessica Killingbeck, Kyle Penrod
Southport: Adam Morelock, Larry Williams
Switzerland County: Brooke Todd, Chase Kelso
Taylor: Jill Shimer, Scott Sullivan
Terre Haute South: Cole Berry, Jason Setliff **
Tippecanoe Valley: Chris Kindig, Rebekah Parker
Tri-Township: Chris McGowen, Christian Porter
Tri-West: Justin Bennett, Lacy Crafton
Trinity at Greenlawn (South Bend): Henry Scroope, Katherine Alexander
Triton: Kennedy Krull, Ashli Faulkner
Valparaiso: Candy Wilson, Kelly Kratz
Victory College Prep: Mackenzie Smith, Alphonso Blackwell
Washington Township: Doug Godbolt, John Gast
Wes-Del: Tod Windlan, Ryleigh Skaggs
West Lafayette: Jane Schott, Minshen Ho
Western: Misty Oliver, Shawn Russell
Westville: John Marshall, Mike Megyese
Wood Memorial: Johnnie Bartley, Whitney Malin Powers
Zionsville: Andy Maguire, Jennifer Drudge

** interim coach for all or part of 2023-24

IHSAA Boys & Girls Soccer Sectional Pairings
https://www.ihsaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/092924.Soccer%20Pairings.pdf

It's not often that a hurricane affects Indiana high school football, but that's what happened in Week 6. Four of our nine games were postponed to Saturday due to the challenging weather conditions. Fortunately, none of our games were canceled - thus avoiding a nightmare scenario for your humble contest administrator.

Five teams were picked by our players in this round, with 6A #12 Penn being the most popular selection. The Kingsmen clipped the wings of the South Bend Adams Eagles in a 49-14 decision. The largest margin of victory belonged to the 4A #9 Leo Lions in their 51-point shutout of the Bellmont Braves. 3A #5 Mississinewa continued their dominating ways, but finally gave up their first touchdown of the season in defeating the Blackford Bruins 43-7. Four of our teams went down to defeat in Week 6: Evansville North in a 17-14 loss to 3A #6 Evansville Mater Dei; Batesville in a 24-point shutout at the hands of Lawrenceburg; Ben Davis in a 30-point loss to 6A #5 Lawrence North; and Southmont in a 41-6 loss to 4A #14 Danville.

There was no movement among the top five on our leaderboard this week. Rob Deweese remains in first place with 236 points. Ed Stachulak follows closely in second with 232, and then CoachC in third with 218 points. Mr. B.A. with 211 and Nick Jenkinson with 199 complete our top five. We are down to the last one-third of the season, and several players still have a realistic shot at taking home the trophy!

Here are the games for Week 6 with scores, point margins, and the number of players who picked each one:

Leo 51, Bellmont 0 (51 points, 3 players)
Bloomington South 41, Southport 0 (41 points, 2 players)
North Judson 40, Triton 0 (40 points, no players)
Mississinewa 43, Blackford 7 (36 points, 1 player)
Penn 49, South Bend Adams 14 (35 points, 5 players)
Evansville Mater Dei 17, Evansville North 14 (-3 points, no players)
Lawrenceburg 24, Batesville 0 (-24 points, no players)
Lawrence North 58, Ben Davis 28 (-30 points, 1 player)
Danville 41, Southmont 6 (-35 points, no players)

Here are the standings after Week 6:

236 points
Rob Deweese

232 points
Ed Stachulak

218 points
CoachC

211 points
Mr. B.A.

199 points
Nick Jenkinson

193 points
ysuindy

191 points
TheGorilla23

184 points
kyleajolly

181 points
Quad Runner

177 points
hhsdawg

159 points
HickoryHusker

122 points
Ranger20

If you haven't already sent in your pick for Week 7, be sure to email it to shsfan475@gmail.com by 6:00 pm ET on Friday, Oct. 4!

Montez Hearon is the new Boys Basketball coach at MTI School of Knowledge.

The MTI boys' went 6-13 last season. Kenneth Martin remains the Athletic Director at this school, but he no longer is the boys' coach. The girls' coach, at least as of now, is Aicha Diawara, who finished last season.

Indianapolis Metropolitan will field a girls' basketball team in 2024-25.

The athletic director, Adam Thomas, notes they may play a limited schedule, but he says there will be a team. The new coach for this season is Daryl Murray. The coach from last season when they tried to field a team was Andrew Moore. I don't believe they actually played any games last season, however.

GEO Next Generation Academy in Indianapolis.
This school has joined the IHSAA, but it is not yet tournament eligible.

Boys Coach -- Kendall Montgomery
Girls Coach -- Shawntie Foulks