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MacAttack is back from a long hiatus on The Digest! While I yearn for the days when my Braves domina…er coexisted in the real MIC Conference, I guess I now turn our attention to the TRC. My allegiances took me out of TRC land for a while, but having been back in the area for a few years, let’s get the TRC Talk going. After a week, here are my thoughts:

TOP TIER

Rochester: Coach Shaffer has the boys from Manitou playing at such a high level. A multiple score victory over Southwood to open the season shows that the Zebras may be, officially, back.

Valley: Hard not to have the Vikes in the top two. They lost quite a bit in graduation, but have some great talent returning. Beating Wawasee doesn’t show a whole lot, but expect TV to contend.

Southwood: They might’ve lost to Rochester, but that was a battle right off the bat of two of the TRCs top squads. Mo Lloyd can sling it and Cole Winer can scoot. Do the Knights have the depth to contend? We’ll see.

Maconaquah: Homer pick for sure, and I’ll always want to see the Braves in the Wing-T as opposed to slinging the ball around, but there’s some talent there in southern Miami County.

MID TIER

 Northfield: Baker’s Bunch just grinds. Good win over Bluffton to kick things off.

North Miami: They had great numbers last night—18 freshmen I think. Hoover runs their triple option attack pretty well for a freshman. Warriors are much improved.

Manchester: With only 35ish players on the roster, depth is an issue, but the Squires have some solid players in Casper, Sites, and a solid corps of receivers. They’ll compete for 48 and could definitely give some top teams some problems.

BOTTOM TIER

Wabash: Apax have some talent, but not the same team they’ve been the last few years.

Peru: The bottom has fallen out in P-Town. They’ll miss St. Louis more than anything. That dude could coach.

Whitko: Times are tough in South Whitley.

Should be a fun year in a great small-school conference!

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Long Time Looker, but had forgotten my old sign in.

Good to see a TRC breakdown.

Here my Tiers of teams after one week.

Top Tier

Valley - Until someone in conference beats them, the standard for now since they basically ran away with the crown a year ago. Yes, they lost a great class but with two all state underclassman and strength up front will be no pushover against anybody in regular season, plus they are fired up that some people believe they will take a step back.

Northfield-  Do people realize Coach Baker has winning seasons 7 out of the last 8 years and the other year he finished .500. May not have big numbers but his kids know their system and I put them up there as well for beating the team a year ago who many people as tab the favorites in.....

Rochester - Coach Shaffer's ballclub had a great first year under him but due to covid did not play either of the two teams that finished ahead of them in the conference in Valley or Peru so record may have been a little skewed. Huge win last week against Southwood which was their first against the Knights since 2014. Great running back and a commitment to playing guys one way as much as possible has and will pay dividends.

Southwood - May have 4 or 5 of the top athletes in Lloyd, both Winers, Sutton, Pershing and Lehner. Loss of Sharp last week really hurt up front in their matchup against Rochester.

 

Mid Tier

Maconaquah - Nice win last week against Wabash. Their commitment and speed across the board especially Kelly will allow them to put up big numbers in a lot of games. Concern for me is how are they going to be defensively as that was their weak point last year and giving up 21 to Wabash does not alleviate my concerns.

Peru- I know their loss to Logansport was not close but I believe Coach Johnson now has things completely clicking in Berryland. I think the foundation is there especially with a stud in Roettger at Quarterback. May take step back with adjusting to new coach since coach St. Louis had established them in the right direction before he left this year for Elkhart.

Bottom Tier

Wabash - A good set of multi-sport skilled people but have not had the guys on the lines to match up week in, week out. Still could surprise some people this year and win 4 or 5 games with their schedule.

North Miami - Big win and 2 big two point conversion stops last week again Manchester. Glad to hear number of kids out are on the up for coach Grant.

Manchester - Coach was concerned about lack of numbers going into the year and a tough loss week at home will not help enthusiasm.

Whitko - Better numbers than a year ago but still upward battle for the 'Cats. Hope the community allows coach to build the program back.

 

 

 

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With the exception of Whitko, I think this might be the most level across the board for the conference I have seen in a while. No true dominant team like Valley was last year. Anyone can lose any given night if they don't show up to play. I think Valley is the front runner due to depth and last years conference championship run. By the end of the year when heat is no longer an issue, Southwood is gonna be one tough cookie. Rochester just outlasted them last Friday. They easily have the top three athletes on the field every night. As those couple of Freshman they play keep getting varsity snaps they are going to get tougher and tougher. Can't wait for this Friday and a whole nother week of games. Who you taking for each one?

Maconaquah at Cass, 7 pm

Oak Hill at Southwood, 7 pm

Peru at Whitko ©, 7 pm

Rochester at Knox, 7:30 pm

Taylor at North Miami, 7 pm

Tippecanoe Valley at Northfield ©, 7 pm

Wabash at Alexandria, 7 pm

Bluffton at Manchester, 7 pm

 

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8 hours ago, First_Backer_Inside said:

With the exception of Whitko, I think this might be the most level across the board for the conference I have seen in a while. No true dominant team like Valley was last year. Anyone can lose any given night if they don't show up to play. I think Valley is the front runner due to depth and last years conference championship run. By the end of the year when heat is no longer an issue, Southwood is gonna be one tough cookie. Rochester just outlasted them last Friday. They easily have the top three athletes on the field every night. As those couple of Freshman they play keep getting varsity snaps they are going to get tougher and tougher. Can't wait for this Friday and a whole nother week of games. Who you taking for each one?

Maconaquah at Cass, 7 pm

Oak Hill at Southwood, 7 pm

Peru at Whitko ©, 7 pm

Rochester at Knox, 7:30 pm

Taylor at North Miami, 7 pm

Tippecanoe Valley at Northfield ©, 7 pm

Wabash at Alexandria, 7 pm

Bluffton at Manchester, 7 pm

 

Maconaquah

Southwood

Peru

Rochester

NM

Valley

Alex

Manchester

I think the biggest upset of the week is probably Mac over Cass. Historically the rivalry has been pretty one-sided, but I think the Braves are really playing well under their new coach. I also think Northfield has the potential to give Valley all they can handle down in Speicherville.

 

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Cool to see the conference to get some love on the board. I would be in for a pick em every week??

 

Cass....tradition tradition tradition

Oak Hill....their fullback is too good

Peru

Rochester

North Miami

Tippy...but it will be closer than you think 

Wabash

Bluffton

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Tough first two games for the Knights. Their record will not reflect the type of team they are after week 2 if things go how I assume they will. Who's playing QB for Northfield anyone know? Rumor was it was the Fisher kid, but on maxpreps he's listed as a runningback. Sounds like Northfield might be a dark horse in the conference this year.

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My picks this week:

Maconaquah at Cass, 7 pm 

Oak Hill at Southwood, 7 pm 

Peru at Whitko ©, 7 pm

Rochester at Knox, 7:30 pm

Taylor at North Miami, 7 pm

Tippecanoe Valley at Northfield ©, 7 pm

Wabash at Alexandria, 7 pm

Bluffton at Manchester, 7 pm

 

And yes  Fisher is the quarterback for the Norse.

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On 8/24/2022 at 1:20 PM, First_Backer_Inside said:

With the exception of Whitko, I think this might be the most level across the board for the conference I have seen in a while. No true dominant team like Valley was last year. Anyone can lose any given night if they don't show up to play. I think Valley is the front runner due to depth and last years conference championship run. By the end of the year when heat is no longer an issue, Southwood is gonna be one tough cookie. Rochester just outlasted them last Friday. They easily have the top three athletes on the field every night. As those couple of Freshman they play keep getting varsity snaps they are going to get tougher and tougher. Can't wait for this Friday and a whole nother week of games. Who you taking for each one?

Maconaquah at Cass, 7 pm

Oak Hill at Southwood, 7 pm

Peru at Whitko ©, 7 pm

Rochester at Knox, 7:30 pm

Taylor at North Miami, 7 pm

Tippecanoe Valley at Northfield ©, 7 pm

Wabash at Alexandria, 7 pm

Bluffton at Manchester, 7 pm

 

If only I could do this every time I throw together a 8 team NFL parlay, smh

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Week 3 is already one day away. Its conference play from here on out. Who ya got this week? Also thoughts on the conference two weeks in. 

Manchester at Wabash ©, 7 pm 

I'm taking Wabash here. Could go either way. I think the Apaches have the better athletes but who knows.

North Miami at Southwood ©, 7 pm

Southwood finally gets one in the win column. Good start for Warriors, but the Knights will have too many big plays for them to handle.

Northfield at Maconaquah ©, 7 pm

I'm going to take Northfield, but this might be the most interesting matchup of the week. Can Mac beat a good program team? Northfield is down this year but they always find ways to win. Can Mac get over the hump into the top tier of teams in the conference?

Peru at Tippecanoe Valley ©, 7 pm

Valley, but I want to see how well Peru plays against them. This Peru team is still a question mark in my opinion. Really good opponent in Logan week 1, and then Whitko week 2 which was a blowout. 

Whitko at Rochester ©, 7 pm

Rochester, Running clock second half. Hopefully both teams get out of there without injuries.

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Manchester at Wabash  

Like the Wabash Skilled people here.

North Miami at Southwood 

I believe Southwood bounces back. North Miami a couple of nice wins but a big step up in competition this week.

Northfield at Maconaquah 

Totally different styles of offense. Northfield wins time of possession and game.

Peru at Tippecanoe Valley 

Again tough to judge a team that loses by 44 one week and then wins by 60 the next. As long as Valley does not turn ball over should post double digit win.

Whitko at Rochester 

Ugly game of the night. Glad Zebras will have a backup scoreboard after the big storm this week.

 

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Another week of TRC games. Three teams sitting at the top of the conference. Who ya taking this week?

Maconaquah at Whitko ©, 7 pm

Who's the head coach at Whitko now? Are they even going to finish the season? Big question marks there. Whats not a question mark is the winner here. Mac takes it by a lot. Impressive win last week against a Northfield team that is struggling a little bit this year. Nonetheless, Mac making some noise this year in the conference.

Peru at North Miami ©, 7 pm

Probably going to be the closest game of the week in the conference. I like Peru just because of the teams they have played compared to the schedule North Miami has played. Doesn't mean North Miami couldn't come away with the win here. 

Rochester at Wabash ©, 7 pm

Running clock for the Zebras again this week if they do what they are supposed to. Wabash has some athletes but struggles with stopping the run. 

Southwood at Northfield ©, 7 pm

I'm going with Southwood here and I don't think it will be that close of a game. Southwood just has too many guys that can break it at any moment on offense. Its starting to cool down so cramps and fatigue are starting to become less and less an issue. Plays right into Southwood's hands.

Tippecanoe Valley at Manchester ©, 7 pm

Running game looked good for Manchester last week, but a little different opponent this week. Valley puts a running clock on them.

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Could have a lot of lopsided games this week. 

Maconaquah at Whitko ©, 7 pm

No doubt a running clock again for a team playing Whitko. Big question- when will Whitko break their scoreless drought? 

Peru at North Miami ©, 7 p

I liked North Miami's improvement but I still like Peru by at least 20. 

Rochester at Wabash ©, 7 pm. 

Not good when your weakness is your opponent's strength. Another running clock.

Southwood at Northfield ©, 7 pm

I changed my mind several times on this pick. I think Northfield will hang with the Knights as long as the turnover bug does not bite them like it did against Maconaquah. Road team has won the last 2 matchups. Interesting backdrop with a school referendum on the ballot for a new high school to be built to combine these two schools.

Tippecanoe Valley at Manchester ©, 7 pm

Manchester's homecoming. Valley too strong, too fast. Another running clock game.

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36 minutes ago, Justafan said:

Southwood at Northfield ©, 7 pm

I changed my mind several times on this pick. I think Northfield will hang with the Knights as long as the turnover bug does not bite them like it did against Maconaquah. Road team has won the last 2 matchups. Interesting backdrop with a school referendum on the ballot for a new high school to be built to combine these two schools.

I hope it passes.

 

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Maconaquah.....shortest game of the week 

Peru....Coach Tim Dubois is getting inducted into the HOF....I never appreciated his attention to detail and intensity as a coach until after I graduated 

Rochester....stated above Wabash has some good pieces but I'm not sure how disciplined they are

Southwood....by a hair. Always a close game. Northfield's style of play is a bear to play against

Valley

7 hours ago, First_Backer_Inside said:

From what I have heard, it's going to happen eventually regardless of the vote. It's a bit of a travel from Wabash to Rochester and news could get kind of twisted in between tho so I might not know what I'm talking about and could be very wrong 😉

0% it passes by the referendum vote. Potentially might get pushed through by the board, though. 

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Some great matchups this week in the TRC with the big one being the Super Bowl of the TRC this year, THE BELL GAME! First time both Rochester and Tippy Valley have been undefeated going into the bell game since 2007. Also, interesting matchup between Mac and Peru. I also think the Northfield and Manchester game will be rather competitive. Who ya got this week?

Maconaquah at Peru ©, 7 pm

Really liked what I saw out of Peru against Valley regardless of the score. I think they are a little more battle tested than the Braves, but wouldn't shock me one bit to see Mac win either. Second best game of the week right here.

Manchester at Northfield ©, 7 pm

Northfield will have the best player on the field in this game in Fisher. He's gotta make plays for them. Comes down to who can control the line of scrimmage, and Northfield has been doing that for a long time.

Rochester at Tippecanoe Valley ©, 7 pm

Someone has to dethrone the Vikings and I think the Zebras can get it done Friday night. Arguably the best back in the conference in Demming, with a great group of halfbacks that rotate with fresh legs. Offensive line is coming together nicely and playing some great ball as of late. I think this will be similar to the Knox game. Who can stop the other on defense. Going to be very physical on Friday night.

Wabash at Southwood ©, 7 pm

I'll keep saying it. Southwood isn't very deep, but they have two or three of the best players in the conference. Wabash keeps improving each week. Just not getting any easy games so far in the season.

Whitko at North Miami ©, 7 pm

Whitko scored for the first time all year so progress is being made. First win isn't going to come this week tho. That new style of offense is working for Coach Grant and his Warriors. They get the dub Friday night.

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Here are my thoughts for week five with a lot of Rivalry Games. Liking the hone teams in each matchup.

Whitko at North Miami - Glad Brad Sprunger helping out for Whitko. He understands what that community is all about. Interesting to see if he will be interested to continue after the year or if Whitko puts out a search for a permanent coach. North Miami wins their third of the year. Only question if Whitko will be able to score 2 weeks in a row.

Manchester at Northfield - Coach Baker reminds Manchester every year to be careful what you wish for as Northfield won 8 of the 9 matchups and 8 in a row since Manchester decided to replace him after the 2012 season. 

Wabash at Southwood - The Knights are having a 20th year reunion of their 2002 state championship team tonight. Southwood has a 2 touchdown psychological edge over Wabash whenever they meet because of their tradition. No exception tonight.

Maconaquah at Peru - Huge rivalry game with an intriguing matchup. Just like Peru physicality and the home field. Probably decided with 6 minutes or less.

Rochester at Tippecanoe Valley - If no big plays on special teams, I just like the Vikings versatility on offense more. Can Rochester run against the Vikings? If they can get 3 yards a play and control the clock that is the recipe for a road team win.

 

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22 minutes ago, Justafan said:

Here are my thoughts for week five with a lot of Rivalry Games. Liking the hone teams in each matchup.

Whitko at North Miami - Glad Brad Sprunger helping out for Whitko. He understands what that community is all about. Interesting to see if he will be interested to continue after the year or if Whitko puts out a search for a permanent coach. North Miami wins their third of the year. Only question if Whitko will be able to score 2 weeks in a row.

Manchester at Northfield - Coach Baker reminds Manchester every year to be careful what you wish for as Northfield won 8 of the 9 matchups and 8 in a row since Manchester decided to replace him after the 2012 season. 

Wabash at Southwood - The Knights are having a 20th year reunion of their 2002 state championship team tonight. Southwood has a 2 touchdown psychological edge over Wabash whenever they meet because of their tradition. No exception tonight.

Maconaquah at Peru - Huge rivalry game with an intriguing matchup. Just like Peru physicality and the home field. Probably decided with 6 minutes or less.

Rochester at Tippecanoe Valley - If no big plays on special teams, I just like the Vikings versatility on offense more. Can Rochester run against the Vikings? If they can get 3 yards a play and control the clock that is the recipe for a road team win.

 

It’s exciting to see how the Rochester vs Valley matchup will go, that Rochester O-line seems to be a well oiled machine, can’t wait to see them work against the best competition in the TRC!! 

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One further thought, Rochester has had two games that were still in doubt in the 4th quarter (last minute against Knox) while Valley starters have not played in the 4th quarter of any of their 4 games and their scores are little less lopsided due to late scores against the JV. Let's see if that makes any difference if the game is close late.

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