Indiana high school football preview: Everything you need to know for 2024 season
- The IHSAA football season begins Aug. 23.
The Indiana high school football season will be here before we know it. Week 1 is Aug. 23 and IndyStar's preps Insider Kyle Neddenriep is getting you ready for kickoff.
We have MUCH more in the works (preseason Super Team, Fab 15, recruit rankings, Coaches Confidential, bold predictions... you get the idea). So bookmark or favorite this page. No one gets you ready for the IHSAA season better than Kyle.
(HIT REFRESH FOR UPDATES.)
Top Central Indiana QBs to watch for 2024
Last year might have been the year of the quarterback. From Tyler Cherry (Center Grove) to Thomas Gotkowski (Ben Davis) to D.J. Gordon (Park Tudor) to Jace Stuckey (Triton Central) and plenty more, it was a great year for the quarterback position. With some of those returning, it looks like another good year for the signal callers.
▶ Click here to see Kyle's list of his top 15 QBs for the 2024 season.
Top Central Indiana RBs to watch for 2024
To help get you prepared for the upcoming season, Kyle took a look this week at 20 running backs to watch from Central Indiana.
▶ Click here to see Kyle's list of 20 top Indy-area RBs.
Top Central Indiana WRs to watch for 2024
Gone are the days — for most teams — when wide receivers were asked to block first, catch passes second. In the era of spread offenses and wide-open passing attacks, the wide receiver position has never been more important. Here are 20 receivers to watch this season from Central Indiana.
▶ Click here to see Kyle's list of 20 top Indy-area WRs.
Top Central Indiana offensive linemen to watch for 2024
The glory goes to the skill position players — the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. But every team that wants to finish its season at Lucas Oil Stadium in late November needs an offensive line to pave the way for those playmakers.
▶ Click here to see Kyle's list of 25 top Indy-area offensive linemen.
Top small-school standouts in Central Indiana
We continue our countdown to the start of the season with a look at 15 small-school standouts you may not know about in Central Indiana (we will distinguish that as Class 3A to Class A).
▶ Click here for Kyle's list of 15 small-school standouts.
Top under-the-radar defenders in Central Indiana
Kyle takes a look at 20 defensive playmakers who might be flying under the radar in Central Indiana.
▶ Click here for Kyle's list of 20 defensive players ready to break out.
Top sleeper teams in Central Indiana
Kyle takes a look at 10 potential “sleeper” teams in Central Indiana. For the sake of consistency, we considered only teams that finished last season with a .500 record or below.
▶ Click here to see Kyle's sleeper teams list.
Top 10 Week 1 Central Indiana games for 2024 season
Kyle looks ahead to the top-10 matchups involving Central Indiana teams in Week 1 of the season on Aug. 23.
▶ Click here to see Kyle's list of top Week 1 games.
Winners, losers of IHSAA football sectional realignment
Though there was not as much movement in football as the four-class sports, which are now classified in a different way entirely, there was some shuffling.
There were some Central Indiana programs that benefitted from the realignment and some that probably would have preferred not to see anything change. Here are the biggest winners and losers from sectional realignment for Central Indiana teams.
▶ Click here to read Kyle's winners, losers in sectional realignment.
12 games that will shape Class 6A this season
Ben Davis fought off challenges from Brownsburg, Cathedral and Center Grove on the way to the Class 6A state championship last season. Can the Giants do it again? Or will another contender ascend and take the crown? We will get some idea during the regular season.
▶ Click here for 12 regular-season games involving 6A teams that will help shape the 2024 season.
College football recruiting updates, commitments
▶ State's top prospect Warren Central DE Damien Shanklin picks LSU. (Read more.)
▶ 'It's home.' Why Lawrence North WR Davion Chandler flipped to IU. (Read more.)
▶ Fishers WR JonAnthony Hall picks Stanford over Purdue. (Read more.)
▶ Zionsville WR Eugene Hilton, T.Y.'s son, commits to Wisconsin (Read more.)
▶ HSE OL Cameron Gorin follows dad's footsteps, commits to Purdue. (Read more.)
▶ Warren Central OL Cameron Herron picks 'blue-collar' Iowa. (Read more.)
▶ HSE DB Mason Alexander headed to Pitt. (Read more.)
▶ Noblesville DE Israel Oladipupo commits to Boston College after 'hectic process.' (Read more.)
▶ With almost no football experience, Avon's Enoch Atewogbola rises to B1G recruit. (Read more.)
MUCH MORE TO COME...