Indiana 5A Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The season kicks off this Friday and today we're looking at a few of the top 5A programs and are previewing their fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Fort Wayne Snider:</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defending 5A champs will look different this year. Uriah Buchanan is off to college. The superstar RB who was one of the top rushing leaders in the country last year will be incredibly hard to replace. Not to mention they will be trotting out a new QB and a few offensive linemen. The 2023 team had a great run and will go down in history, but the 2024 team is completely revamped. There's a chance it takes a few games to work out the kinks, but they're always good and will be again.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Decatur Central:</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Decatur Central is going to be an absolute nightmare. [player_tooltip player_id='223703' first='Bo' last='Polston'] is heading into his 3rd year and continuing to develop. The skilled players he's got around him are top-notch. They have so many athletic, lengthy, and twitchy guys it's been hard to cover them all. Offense and defense, they have arguably the most raw talent out of any team in the state 1A-6 Most of the guys I'm referring to are 2026 and 2027's for Decatur Central, so they may be just starting to hit their stride, but even so, they're a top team in 5A, and my opinion, might be the team to beat.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bloomington South:</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bloomington South was one of the older teams last year who made a run. They had some elite seniors who are going to be missed. Jarrin Alley at QB is gone and Ralph Rogers at LB is gone. Their 2 captains and leaders were the heart and soul of that team. Then, they were highly productive players with high-caliber potential. They're also going to be without their leading rusher, receiver, and sack leaders from last year as they all graduated. The 2024 class in Bloomington South was powerful, to say the least. How they respond this year needing to replace all those reps and production will be very interesting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Mishawaka:</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heading into this season the Cavemen are in a good spot for the most part. Outside of Brady Fisher, their starting QB, a good portion of their guys are coming back. Specifically, having your leading rusher and tacklers come back bodes well for the upcoming season. [player_tooltip player_id='644330' first='Novell' last='Miller'] is heading into his senior year and should be set for his best year yet. He rushed for over 5 yards per carry last season and was always efficient. Then they have versatile guys like Ethan Bryce who can play both sides of the ball, multiple levels on defense, and simply makes plays. I'm interested to see how they respond this year because I like that they have most of their core returning.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Merrillville:</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If there's a team that I think could take some team off guard this year it's Merrillville. Now, saying one of the bigger 5A programs could shock isn't a surprise, but it's because of how that team is constructed. It's a fairly young team with a bunch of raw athletic talent finding its way. [player_tooltip player_id='553040' first='John' last='Peters'], JQ Johnson, and Jaylen Ramsey are all returning. Finding a way to replace the production and amount of tackles that Trey Stephens put up a game will be their biggest issue. He was all over the field and just had a knack for sensing things developing. They might start a bit slow, but if they don't watch out because that team is talented.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->