Hoban at Linton-Stockton (IN)

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RocksFan23

Member
Looking at Indiana schedules (from Indiana born and raised), and see this morning that Linton-Stockton, a school of just shy of 400 kids in SW Indiana, has Hoban coming to them on the schedule this year. Linton is a very consistent small school power in Indiana, would likely fall under D6/7 in OH. But this is a very large mismatch on paper. Anyone familiar with Akron/NE OH football have an idea how this came together?
 
 
RocksFan23 said:
Looking at Indiana schedules (from Indiana born and raised), and see this morning that Linton-Stockton, a school of just shy of 400 kids in SW Indiana, has Hoban coming to them on the schedule this year. Linton is a very consistent small school power in Indiana, would likely fall under D6/7 in OH. But this is a very large mismatch on paper. Anyone familiar with Akron/NE OH football have an idea how this came together?
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Hoban is a private (Brothers of Holy Cross) school with a co-Ed enrollment around 780. While traditionally solid in football, with some lean years sprinkled-in, Hoban has been a state football power in Ohio for the past seven years. The Knights won the OHSAA D3 title in 2015 and 2016 before being bumped-up to D2 due to the state association’s competitive balance regulations. Hoban won the D2 title in 2017 and 2018 and again in 2020 before finishing as runners-up in that division in 2021 and 2022.

With its league disbanding two seasons ago, Hoban has had difficulty filling its schedule with Ohio teams, resulting in several games with squads from surrounding states.
 
brian said:
Hoban is a private (Brothers of Holy Cross) school with a co-Ed enrollment around 780. While traditionally solid in football, with some lean years sprinkled-in, Hoban has been a state football power in Ohio for the past seven years. The Knights won the OHSAA D3 title in 2015 and 2016 before being bumped-up to D2 due to the state association’s competitive balance regulations. Hoban won the D2 title in 2017 and 2018 and again in 2020 before finishing as runners-up in that division in 2021 and 2022.

With its league disbanding two seasons ago, Hoban has had difficulty filling its schedule with Ohio teams, resulting in several games with squads from surrounding states.
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I don't think Linton understood what they signed up for. Why wouldn't Hoban reach out to Center Grove or someone of that stature?
 
the school from Indiana is going to get the lights knocked out of them. they must not understand what they are getting into. i would argue that they have been the best team in Ohio across ALL divisions the last couple of years. this seems like the equivalent of Hoban playing Warren JFK, or a school along those lines.
 
ghsknightsfan said:
the school from Indiana is going to get the lights knocked out of them. they must not understand what they are getting into. i would argue that they have been the best team in Ohio across ALL divisions the last couple of years. this seems like the equivalent of Hoban playing Warren JFK, or a school along those lines.
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Yeah that's probably a good equivalent. Only see JFK in the championship games vs the MAC it seems. Linton is basically the twin brother of my alma mater on the opposite end of the state of Indiana. Both have had success for their size and Linton used to be in 1A but is now 2A (D7 to D6 equivalent) as we will be in our final year of 1A for awhile. Neither would fare well against Hoban.
 
ghsknightsfan said:
the school from Indiana is going to get the lights knocked out of them. they must not understand what they are getting into. i would argue that they have been the best team in Ohio across ALL divisions the last couple of years. this seems like the equivalent of Hoban playing Warren JFK, or a school along those lines.
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No question about that. Wouldn’t even try to make a case for the Miners winning this one haha. Just have no idea who knows who that managed to put together a 6 hour one way drive to the cornfields of Greene County IN for a game. On the Indiana forum people are just as stunned, some speculating whether Hoban even sends their full varsity team or if they use this as essentially a rest week.
 
Without knowing for certain this feels like one of those games of musical chairs where the music stopped and these two were still standing. So it's either play or take a bye. And in Indiana you make the playoffs regardless so might as well play even if it's an unmitigated disaster.
 
Calprep.com projection for 2022 season:

Hoban 62 - Linton 13

For a MAC comparison:
Marion Local 35 - Linton 7
Coldwater 21 - Linton 20
 
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Sykotyk said:
Without knowing for certain this feels like one of those games of musical chairs where the music stopped and these two were still standing. So it's either play or take a bye. And in Indiana you make the playoffs regardless so might as well play even if it's an unmitigated disaster.
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Right. Seen several times a 4-5 regular season team make runs or a 1-8 team win a couple games into tournament. Gonna try and go back from Cincy to see this out of curiosity though. A tip for any Hoban fans who might make the drive- Linton usually has awesome ribeye sandwiches going at their grills.
 
RocksFan23 said:
No question about that. Wouldn’t even try to make a case for the Miners winning this one haha. Just have no idea who knows who that managed to put together a 6 hour one way drive to the cornfields of Greene County IN for a game. On the Indiana forum people are just as stunned, some speculating whether Hoban even sends their full varsity team or if they use this as essentially a rest week.
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this may end up being one of the most odd matchups ever to happen in high school football. the best team in Ohio, a catholic power, driving 6 hours to the middle of nowhere Indiana that play a team that is 1/3 (correct me if i’m wrong) there size and will probably be a running clock after the 1st quarter.
 
ghsknightsfan said:
this may end up being one of the most odd matchups ever to happen in high school football. the best team in Ohio, a catholic power, driving 6 hours to the middle of nowhere Indiana that play a team that is 1/3 (correct me if i’m wrong) there size and will probably be a running clock after the 1st quarter.
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No you’re about right. Linton’s current enrollment is listed at 391, great small school sports in general, boys basketball about to play in 2A state finals this weekend, football lost in 2A semistate to another catholic school this past , wasn’t close at halftime. Did win 1A state back in 2016. Just totally out of nowhere seeing this today. If I had to take a rough guess I’d say 40-45 kids on Linton roster.
 
If DI schools in Ohio would step to the plate and schedule Hoban, Hoban wouldn't have to search all around looking for opponents. 2022 D IV State Champion Glenville is playing 'em. Why can't bigger schools do the same?
 
You’ll be surprised on the number of kids going out for Hoban. When they used to allow the freshman dress for the StV game there would be around 100 players on the sideline.
 
dexksim said:
If DI schools in Ohio would step to the plate and schedule Hoban, Hoban wouldn't have to search all around looking for opponents. 2022 D IV State Champion Glenville is playing 'em. Why can't bigger schools do the same?
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Unfortunately it’s a little both sides. Hoban’s off the field antics have not helped anything and schools are afraid to play good teams. Now with basically everyone getting in the playoffs, why would a school schedule someone a difficult team as it would hurt in the computer points. I mean look at Massillon, Ed’s, Iggy, the Cinci schools OoC schedule. At least the Cinci schools have their own league which shot Hoban in the foot.
 
dexksim said:
If DI schools in Ohio would step to the plate and schedule Hoban, Hoban wouldn't have to search all around looking for opponents. 2022 D IV State Champion Glenville is playing 'em. Why can't bigger schools do the same?
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Their football programs have their agendas and don't exist just to placate Hoban and its scheduling problems.
 
RocksFan23 said:
Looking at Indiana schedules (from Indiana born and raised), and see this morning that Linton-Stockton, a school of just shy of 400 kids in SW Indiana, has Hoban coming to them on the schedule this year. Linton is a very consistent small school power in Indiana, would likely fall under D6/7 in OH. But this is a very large mismatch on paper. Anyone familiar with Akron/NE OH football have an idea how this came together?
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, Linton was one of the schools Hickory played in the tournament on its way to the state basketball championship.
 
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I guess it is a step up from playing Bishop Sycamore as they did in August of 2021! To their credit, they didn't know what they were getting into.

Hoban doesn't have an easy time scheduling given their recent success, their league disbanding and rivals shutting down series.
 
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ghsknightsfan said:
this may end up being one of the most odd matchups ever to happen in high school football. the best team in Ohio, a catholic power, driving 6 hours to the middle of nowhere Indiana that play a team that is 1/3 (correct me if i’m wrong) there size and will probably be a running clock after the 1st quarter.
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Just business as usual for Hoban. They played Bishop Sycamore, and even after the scandal fully broke, said they didn’t regret playing the game.
 
clarkgriswold said:
I guess it is a step up from playing Bishop Sycamore as they did in August of 2021! To their credit, they didn't know what they were getting into.

Hoban doesn't have people lining up to play them given their recent success and their league disbanding.
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They did, actually. Both the coach/AD and head of school fully knew and played the game anyway.
 
hammer89 said:
They did, actually. Both the coach/AD and head of school fully knew and played the game anyway.
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Maybe a better way for me to say it is that I don't they weren't fully aware of the controversy they were walking into. However, thinking back, Hoban's coach made one hell of an effort to rehabilitate it after the game saying good things about the BS program.
 
clarkgriswold said:
Maybe a better way for me to say it is that I don't they weren't fully aware of the controversy they were walking into. However, thinking back, Hoban's coach made one hell of an effort to rehabilitate it after the game saying good things about the BS program.
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They certainly have a pragmatic view of it. “Did it hurt us in any way? No? Then everything is fine.”
 
Is this for real? I live about 40 minutes from Linton. Excellent small school athletically but this will get ugly in a hurry. Basketball would be one thing but these two schools have no business being on the same football field. If Hoban wants to come to Indiana at least get with Cathedral, Roncalli, Brebeuf, Columbus North, East Central, etc. those would be good games with similar medium sized school powerhouses. In reality Hoban would likely be a slight favorite against some of the large school powers like Warren Central, Center Grove, Ben Davis, Carmel, Fishers, etc. I honestly fear for little Linton. Nice little town, good kids, tough for their size but no match for Hoban.
 
Inoutsider said:
Is this for real? I live about 40 minutes from Linton. Excellent small school athletically but this will get ugly in a hurry. Basketball would be one thing but these two schools have no business being on the same football field. If Hoban wants to come to Indiana at least get with Cathedral, Roncalli, Brebeuf, Columbus North, East Central, etc. those would be good games with similar medium sized school powerhouses. In reality Hoban would likely be a slight favorite against some of the large school powers like Warren Central, Center Grove, Ben Davis, Carmel, Fishers, etc. I honestly fear for little Linton. Nice little town, good kids, tough for their size but no match for Hoban.
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I’m from Westfield, but have family from Bloomington and Greene County. Here’s Linton’s schedule currently on John Harrell’s site.

 
hammer89 said:
They certainly have a pragmatic view of it. “Did it hurt us in any way? No? Then everything is fine.”
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I think this is pay walled but I went back and found the post-game Beacon article-

www.beaconjournal.com

Lamar Sperling, De'Vonta Baskerville lead Hoban to football win over Bishop Sycamore

Hoban opened its 2021 season with a rout of Bishop Sycamore. Lamar Sperling, De'Vonta Baskerville and Shawn Parnell played key roles for the Knights.
www.beaconjournal.com www.beaconjournal.com

If you can't access it, here's the closing paragraph comments from Coach Tyrrell-

"We had zero film, so we knew nothing about anybody," Tyrrell said. "They gave us a roster, and half the kids are from California. ... It is really hard to coach [against them]. Their coaching staff does a great job. They are doing it for the right reasons, and that is why we played them because I want to help them out. They are trying to give kids a chance. They are trying to give kids a second chance to get to college, which I like."
 
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