High school football remains king in the Evansville area with no local college teams

EVANSVILLE — John Hurley has seen football at all levels in the River City.

He's been coaching Memorial since his days playing and coaching at the University of Evansville. He knows the benefits of the large crowds he sees every Friday, be that at home or away, no matter the competition. Hurley remembers taking the field at Arad McCutchan Stadium and seeing the "Brew Crew" in the end zone every week. When his UE days finished, he took his son to his former stomping grounds.

Though the days of Purple Aces on the gridiron are gone and the University of Southern Indiana has never fielded a football team, that atmosphere lives on through Friday nights every fall.

But there’s something about those Saturday afternoons and evenings that isn’t the same without local college football.

“I think that’s something the community misses,” Hurley said. Former UE players held about 30 high school coaching positions across Indiana over the years. “I can name a handful, but there’s not that many left.”

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That raises the question: Does the lack of college football in Evansville contribute to the popularity of the high school game? There are regularly over 1,000 spectators at games throughout the city — from Reitz Bowl to Enlow Field, Romain and Bundrant Stadiums. The answer? It depends on who you ask.

“I think there’s a lot of things that go into (the high school football crowds),” Hurley said. “You see it everywhere we go, it’s a family atmosphere. People are tailgating, kids are playing in the parking lot, parents are cooking. … That’s the neat thing about it, there’s so much enthusiasm about it.”

The closest FBS programs include Indiana University, Louisville, Western Kentucky and Vanderbilt — all of which are nearly two hours away. Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois Austin Peay, Murray State and Tennessee State are the closest FCS teams. All of those schools are over 85 miles from Evansville.

The Southwestern Indiana area is in a college football Sahara. Has high school football been the reprieve?

“I think, for sure, it does,” Gibson Southern coach Nick Hart said. “There’s some other benefits to having college football close, but I think it certainly adds to it.”

“I don’t know that it adds or detracts to local popularity, but I do know that anyone involved in football coaching, playing, would love to see another school right here that offered football,” Mater Dei coach Mike Goebel said. “We miss that. … I really feel that would be a great thing for our community.”

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Angelo St. Louis was among the top performers in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference last season. The then-North running back was among the most-used players in the area in the Huskies’ run-heavy offense, which has led to his D-I chance at Indiana State.

The focus is enhanced and everything is monitored. That makes him want to go harder.

“Whenever you go into college, it’s a job,” St. Louis said. “It’s just a different ballgame.”

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St. Louis isn’t a stranger to large crowds thanks to his starring time in Evansville. That makes the allure of playing at IU or the renewed rivalry with Ball State more palpable and has him better prepared for those environments.

Would that change if there was a local collegiate outfit? He said it would but for the better.

“I think everything would go up,” St. Louis said. “Every team in the SIAC: They’d wanna play, they’d wanna win to get looked at by that D-I school.”

There are challenges that come with that. The costs that come with football caused UE to fold its program in 1998, despite competing in the non-scholarship Pioneer League. It also has prevented USI from adding the sport altogether.

But the popularity of high school football could potentially expand with the addition or resurrection of college sports’ main moneymaker.

“I think it’s denied a lot of young men the opportunity to play at the next level who would have it if we offered football at the collegiate level,” Goebel said. “I think those coaches at the level try to get Indiana players. … There’s opportunity at that level but it would sure be nice to have more opportunity.”

“Maybe (college football would) cut into (high school popularity) a little bit, but I think some of those benefits as far as having another place for kids to go play college football and some of the resources that come into it, I think there’d be a lot of benefits,” Hart said. “Maybe it’d cut into it a little bit, but not a lot. … You have your community and people like to go out and support that on Friday night.”

High school football remains ‘as popular as ever’ in SW Indiana

High school football is a huge deal in Evansville. Answering whether the college football desert in the River City adds to that varies from person to person. Hurley pointed to local attendance being high while streaming audiences still reach the thousands. Prep football is in a strong place in Southern Indiana and no one seems to disagree.

All who were asked, though, expressed the benefits that would come with a local outfit joining the collegiate ranks.

“It was just a neat opportunity for the Evansville area to have (college football),” Hurley said. “I don’t think they realized what they had until now that it’s gone.

“We got a lot of kids going to Wabash and some at DePauw, we get kids going to UIndy and places like that. Those are kids who would have an opportunity to stay at UE or USI. It gives people a local person to root for and a reason to go to those games.”

Evansville-area high school football continues to produce high-end players, with the rare Power Five export on the cards. St. Louis is one of many who have played any D-I level, with more presumably on the way in the future. College football or not, the River City and surrounding spots have the desired football fanbase. That’s evidenced every fall Friday.

“I think high school football in the area is as popular as ever,” Goebel said. “I think it’s evidenced in the strength of the (Pocket Athletic Conference) and particularly the SIAC this year. … I do think the talent level’s up.”

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: How a lack of college football affects Evansville-area high schools