'18 IN RB Markese Stepp (Nebraska Transfer)

[ab2cmiller]

If Stepp is ever so slightly hedging his bets in case there is a coaching change, I don't see him signing early if we have 4+ losses. If that were to be the case, I'm assuming he would wait it out to make sure that BK doesn't get fired.

 

[arrowryan]

If he can stay healthy, I fully expect Stepp to blow up this season and put up huge numbers. Getting hurt against Mishawaka last year in week 1 sucked. We're about to see how good he is though because Cathedral's schedule is a blood bath. With their schedule, I'd say 1,500 yards and 12+ touchdowns would be considered a monster season.

 

[BobbyMac]

If he can stay healthy, I fully expect Stepp to blow up this season and put up huge numbers. Getting hurt against Mishawaka last year in week 1 sucked. We're about to see how good he is though because Cathedral's schedule is a blood bath. With their schedule, I'd say 1,500 yards and 12+ touchdowns would be considered a monster season.

Stepp was actually injured on his first carry of the season, Week 1 vs. East Noble.

You nailed blood bath when it comes to their season:

8/18
@ St. Xavier (Louisville, KY)
2016 = #3 in KY

8/26
King (Detroit, MI)
2016 = #4 in MI

9/1
@ Pickerington Central (Pickerington, OH)
2016 = #7 in OH

9/8
@ Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (Indianapolis, IN)
2016 = #30 in IN

9/15
@ St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH)
2016 = #1 in OH

9/22
Jeffersonville (Jeffersonville, IN)
2016 = #163 in IN

9/29
@ Ryle (Union, KY)
2016 = #9 in KY

10/7
St. Edward (Lakewood, OH)
2016 = #9 in OH

10/13
Center Grove (Greenwood, IN)
2016 = #1 in IN

 

[IrishLion]

Having both the KY and OH St X teams on a schedule is neat

 

[arrowryan]

Stepp was actually injured on his first carry of the season, Week 1 vs. East Noble.

You nailed blood bath when it comes to their season:

8/18
@ St. Xavier (Louisville, KY)
2016 = #3 in KY

8/26
King (Detroit, MI)
2016 = #4 in MI

9/1
@ Pickerington Central (Pickerington, OH)
2016 = #7 in OH

9/8
@ Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (Indianapolis, IN)
2016 = #30 in IN

9/15
@ St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH)
2016 = #1 in OH

9/22
Jeffersonville (Jeffersonville, IN)
2016 = #163 in IN

9/29
@ Ryle (Union, KY)
2016 = #9 in KY

10/7
St. Edward (Lakewood, OH)
2016 = #9 in OH

10/13
Center Grove (Greenwood, IN)
2016 = #1 in IN

And what is crazy is that 3 or 4 of those games are worthy of being aired in ESPN. I'll be very surprised if Cathedral doesn't win state this year; they are absolutely loaded.

I remember when my high school played them in the 4A state championship in 2012. We were all confident because we were led by Gehrig Dieter and David Perkins. Then they took us behind the woodshed and beat us 49-7. Now they're in 6A and consistently produce D1 talent and my school probably belongs in 3A lol. How times have changed.

 

[IrishLion]

Oh snap, I didn't even notice the Ryle game on there.

That's 15 mins from my house. Ryle has two DI athletes in their backfield, but I don't know much about their defense. We could see a combined 600 rushing yards in that game from both teams.

I'll have to attend that one.

 

[BobbyMac]

And what is crazy is that 3 or 4 of those games are worthy of being aired in ESPN. I'll be very surprised if Cathedral doesn't win state this year; they are absolutely loaded.

I remember when my high school played them in the 4A state championship in 2012. We were all confident because we were led by Gehrig Dieter and David Perkins. Then they took us behind the woodshed and beat us 49-7. Now they're in 6A and consistently produce D1 talent and my school probably belongs in 3A lol. How times have changed.

I think there's no doubt that this year's Indiana State Champ will be crowned on the play of one of the following QB's, 3 of which are new:

Roman Purcell ('20) - Cathedral (ND Legacy)

Jayden George ('19) - Warren Central (Jeff George's kid)

Rees Taylor ('18) - Ben Davis (Mr. Football favorite - GREAT high school football player)

Ronnie Paulus ('21) - Penn (the one St. Beano foretold us of)

Warren Central was the best of this group last year and are loaded as usual, if Jayden George is good, not great, I'll go WC.

 

[arrowryan]

I think there's no doubt that this year's Indiana State Champ will be crowned on the play of one of the following QB's, 3 of which are new:

Roman Purcell ('20) - Cathedral (ND Legacy)

Jayden George ('19) - Warren Central (Jeff George's kid)

Rees Taylor ('18) - Ben Davis (Mr. Football favorite - GREAT high school football player)

Ronnie Paulus ('21) - Penn (the one St. Beano foretold us of)

Warren Central was the best of this group last year and are loaded as usual, if Jayden George is good, not great, I'll go WC.

Hopefully Notre Dame won't have to look beyond the state of Indiana to find their quarterbacks in 2020 and 2021.

-Roman Purcell, as you said, is a legacy and is already gathering offers; the high school sophomore already has offers from TCU and Kentucky.

-Ronnie Powlus, another legacy, was at II in June. Did the reports state that he was the biggest QB there and had a good arm? Combine his legacy status and the fact that he goes to school 15 minutes from campus, we could have an instant commit. Lets just offer him before he potentially blows up.

Either way, we could be in good hands after the Wimbush and Phil J eras are over.

 

[NDVirginia19]

Hopefully Notre Dame won't have to look beyond the state of Indiana to find their quarterbacks in 2020 and 2021.

I'll take 1 Drew Pyne in 2020 please

 

[IrishLion]

Hopefully Notre Dame won't have to look beyond the state of Indiana to find their quarterbacks in 2020 and 2021.

I'll take 1 Drew Pyne in 2020 please

Weren't we all riled up about Eason as a legacy for a minute?

It's gotta work out perfectly for us at some point lol

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Wow, I just went back and watched Stepp's sophomore highlights and he looks like a perfect back for our offense. N -> S, really good feet, lower body strength and able to hit the gas when he reaches the 2nd level.

I can't wait to see what he does this year against stiff competition. If he's on a mission, we should see mini Jerome Bettis. (yes, that's an absurdly lofty expectation).

 

[Irish#1]

Hopefully Notre Dame won't have to look beyond the state of Indiana to find their quarterbacks in 2020 and 2021.

-Roman Purcell, as you said, is a legacy and is already gathering offers; the high school sophomore already has offers from TCU and Kentucky.

-Ronnie Powlus, another legacy, was at II in June. Did the reports state that he was the biggest QB there and had a good arm? Combine his legacy status and the fact that he goes to school 15 minutes from campus, we could have an instant commit. Lets just offer him before he potentially blows up.

Either way, we could be in good hands after the Wimbush and Phil J eras are over.

Given what was heaped on Powlus when he came here, I wouldn't be shocked if Ronnie went some place else to avoid the pressure of playing in his dads shadow. Heck Ron may even suggest he carve his own path. I have nothing to base this uipon, just throwing that out as food for thought.

 

[PANDFAN]

Given what was heaped on Powlus when he came here, I wouldn't be shocked if Ronnie went some place else to avoid the pressure of playing in his dads shadow. Heck Ron may even suggest he carve his own path. I have nothing to base this uipon, just throwing that out as food for thought.

NOT at all...he wants him there--per family members ive spoken to

 

[zelezo vlk]

NOT at all...he wants him there--per family members ive spoken to

Ronnie Jr is the Prince that Was Promised

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Ronnie Jr is the Prince that Was Promised

He's Daneryas?!

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

1st game of the season and Cathedral lost, but Markeese rushed for 208 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

 

[IrishLion]

1st game of the season and Cathedral lost, but Markeese rushed for 208 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

No shame in losing to St. X, especially with a performance like that. Louisville boys can play some ball, even the small schools.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

No shame in losing to St. X, especially with a performance like that. Louisville boys can play some ball, even the small schools.

Agreed. Just happy to see he had a good game and appears to be 100 percent after last year's injury. Cathedral should still have a great year.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Great news. Hope he keeps that production up. He may see a jump in the rankings.

 

[dwshade]

No shame in losing to St. X, especially with a performance like that. Louisville boys can play some ball, even the small schools.

Louisville Trinity goes up to Indy next week to play Warren Central. David Bell's team I believe.

 

[IrishLion]

Louisville Trinity goes up to Indy next week to play Warren Central. David Bell's team I believe.

Christian Academy of Louisville (Milton Wright, WR '19) comes to NKY to play my little brother and my alma mater in a few weeks.

Not Louisville related, but another game of note is when Cathedral comes to NKY to play Ryle, a game that should feature about 700 yards of total rushing.

A lot of noteworthy KY action that relates to ND this year.

 

[BobbyMac]

#1 Trinity smoked Carmel last night 31-3. Carmel was rated #2 in IN but after Week 1 it appears Warren and Ben Davis are #1 & #2. Ben Davis was up 49-0 over Tech at the half and WC went to defending state champion Center Grove and beat them 27-24.

 

[arrowryan]

#1 Trinity smoked Carmel last night 31-3. Carmel was rated #2 in IN but after Week 1 it appears Warren and Ben Davis are #1 & #2. Ben Davis was up 49-0 over Tech at the half and WC went to defending state champion Center Grove and beat them 27-24.

And Paul Moala's squad, #6 Penn, got beat by Valpo 12-7. Penn always beats Valpo too. It might be a tough year for Penn

 

[Luckylucci]

Nice to see Markese showcase that speed with his increased size. This could be a monster year for him

 

[NDRock]

I feel like Stepp should be a Sophomore already. Seems like he committed forever ago.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I feel like Stepp should be a Sophomore already. Seems like he committed forever ago.

He certainly looks like a college sophomore already.

 

[NDRock]

He certainly looks like a college sophomore already.

Yep, super excited to see this kid in an ND uniform.

 

[Irish2155]

#1 Trinity smoked Carmel last night 31-3. Carmel was rated #2 in IN but after Week 1 it appears Warren and Ben Davis are #1 & #2. Ben Davis was up 49-0 over Tech at the half and WC went to defending state champion Center Grove and beat them 27-24.

I can't believe Ben Davis even has Tech on the schedule. That is pretty pathetic. WC had good win over CG as you stated...we might see that game again come playoffs.

As far Cathedral, not sure why they were dropped to 5A...apparently their State Title drought was too long for folks, IDK? Roncalli, moving up to 5A, and Cathedral will pretty much be the state title game in sectionals - I'm not a big fan of those two being in the same sectional.

 

[Irish2155]

And Paul Moala's squad, #6 Penn, got beat by Valpo 12-7. Penn always beats Valpo too. It might be a tough year for Penn

Penn - LMFAO. One can tell your from the northern half of the state.

 

[BobbyMac]

I can't believe Ben Davis even has Tech on the schedule. That is pretty pathetic. WC had good win over CG as you stated...we might see that game again come playoffs.

As far Cathedral, not sure why they were dropped to 5A...apparently their State Title drought was too long for folks, IDK? Roncalli, moving up to 5A, and Cathedral will pretty much be the state title game in sectionals - I'm not a big fan of those two being in the same sectional.

I'm not sure why they are even in the IHSAA any longer? They only play three Indiana teams this year:

Bishop Chatard
Jeffersonville
Center Grove

The rest of the schedule has: 3 OH teams, 2 KY teams and 1 MI team.

Something drastic happened to their schedule this year. Last year they played 7 Indiana schools vs. just 2 from out of state. Plus they were just 4-3 against Indiana teams in the regular season last year and two of the loses were to non MIC teams including Brebeuf??? They aren't that good.

Time to treat them like LaLumiere in LaPorte if they want to be the Midwest IMG. They shouldn't be allowed in the HS playoffs.

In other news...

This should be interesting to follow with Markese and the younger kids like Roman Purcell with ND connections.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sneak Peek: A Season Inside: Cathedral Football---> Episode 1 premieres August 29th only on <a href="https://t.co/33Ugb91fn4">https://t.co/33Ugb91fn4</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/gochsathletics">@gochsathletics</a> <a href="https://t.co/I1khVTLNaf">pic.twitter.com/I1khVTLNaf</a></p>— Clark Wade (@ClarkWade34) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClarkWade34/status/898973343226843136">August 19, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>