The OTH Quarter Century Team: Snider Panthers

Recently, we unveiled our plan to name area programs’ top five players of the 21st century, which sits at 25 seasons in both football and basketball.

What better way to kick it off then tackling arguably one of, if not THE most difficult, top fives around?

Reminder, this is based on high school career performance ONLY. This is by no means a definitive list and, if anything, is encouraging debate on potential omissions to this list.

Through exhaustive research, reaching out to former coaches and players and our own personal opinion, here is the OTH Quarter Century Team for the Snider Panthers.

Note: The list is in alphabetical order

Jessie Bates III, Class of 2015

It is hard to not allow Bates’ pro success to factor in, but as we have stated, this is about high school performance only.

But even when you do ignore Bates’ ascendance from a two-star Toledo commit to one of the NFL’s best safeties, he belongs on this list.

One of the best defensive backs ever in northeast Indiana, Bates had unlimited range. He could attack the run and he could seemingly take away anything downfield from sideline to sideline. He burst onto the scene in the 2013 with six interceptions, then followed it up with eight more in 2014, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

Bates also was an incredibly dangerous punt returner, as he holds the program record for average yards per punt return at 21.4. He was twice named IFCA all-state and his No. 5 was retired by the Snider program in 2019.

Travis Craven, Class of 2005

Craven was an absolute terror on the edge for the Panthers. He holds the program record for career sacks with 43 of them, 16 better than the second-highest total.

Over the course of the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, there was perhaps no better defender in the state than Craven. He amassed 40(!) sacks over those two years – 22 in 2003 and 18 more in 2004. He also gobbled up three fumble recoveries during his 2003 campaign and finished with five total over the course of his career.

Craven was voted IFCA All-State in 2003 and 2004.

MiQuale Lewis, Class of 2006

Anyone who witnessed Lewis over the course of three years in the mid-2000s has him on their short list of best running backs ever in this area.

Despite being just 5-foot-6, Lewis’s build was perfect with his blend of speed, ability to see the field, anticipation and pure talent. He terrorized opposing defenses from 2003 to 2005, eventually finishing with 4,089 yards, fourth all-time on the Snider rushing list. He AVERAGED 9.2 yards per carry on 443 career attempts.

His senior year was his best, as he amassed 1,856 yards on the ground in the 2005 campaign while scoring 29 touchdowns. In fact, his 72 touchdowns for a career, totaling 432 points, makes Lewis the program’s all-time leading scorer.

Lewis did not slow down after his Snider career, as he set the program record at Ball State for single-season rushing yards with 1,736 in 2008.

Dillon Painter, Class of 2009

Not many players see varsity action all four years at Snider or are named IFCA All-State three times, but Painter accomplished both in his prep career.

The do-everything defender has gone down in history as one of the Panthers’ best defensive backs of all time. His 19 career interceptions is tops ever at Snider, with his eight picks in the 2007 campaign one off the program’s all-time mark for a single season.

Painter’s natural instincts were arguably his greatest asset. He almost knew where the ball was going before the snap. He was a sure tackler and someone who could be trusted to make the correct read every time on the back end of the defense. He was also a sure-handed man on punts, sitting fifth all-time in Snider history with an average of 15.3 yards per punt return.

Painter was awarded the coveted No. 1 jersey for the 2008 campaign, awarded to the player who exhibits the best leadership and work ethic in the off-season in the run-up to the fall. He is the only one on this list to have been awarded the No. 1.

Isaac Stiebeling, Class of 2016 & Mac Hippenhammer, Class of 2017

OK, this is a bit of a cop-out, but it’s our list and we make the rules. Plus, it is hard to argue that each of these guys would have had the success they did without the other.

Stiebeling owns every major passing record in Snider’s history – completions in a season (205), completions in a career (329), passing yards in a season (3,013) and passing yards in a career (4,697). He also is the program’s top gainer in total offensive yards in a season (3,386) and in a career (5,502).

Stiebeling was tall at 6-foot-4, but had to put in the work to develop his frame into one that D-1 programs coveted. He did just that, ending up at Eastern Michigan. His efforts in the Class 5A state title game against New Palestine in 2015 are legendary, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for three more and also catching a score in Snider’s epic 64-61 win.

Stiebeling was named IFCA All-State for that 2015 campaign.

Meanwhile, Hippenhammer was one of the best pure athletes at Snider over the last 25 years. He saw varsity action in all four of his years in high school, bursting out in a big way as a sophomore with 1,727 all-purpose yards. He followed that up with two of the top six single-season performances by a wide receiver in Snider history – 67 receptions, 953 yards (tops all-time for a season) and six touchdowns in 2015, followed by a 47-611-7 effort in 2016.

Hippenhammer is the program’s all-time leading receiver with 144 receptions for 1,902 yards and 15 touchdowns and is third all-time in all-purpose yards at 4,734.

Mac was no less dangerous returning kicks, as he is one of Snider’s best in history in the return game. In the 2016 campaign, he returned three kickoffs and a punt for scores, part of his 18-touchdown effort his senior year.

Hippenhammer was named All-State by the IFCA in both 2015 and 2016.

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