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Scecina at Pioneer is official for Friday night.

In that case, I’m getting a crap return on my investment. Reitz has as much or more football success than we’ve ever had…and they don’t pay anything. Meanwhile, Chatard has a ton more trophies…and we’re paying almost as much as they do! You’ve got me thinking about asking for a refund, Titan.

More of an NIC guy but Ive seen some NLC scrimmages and have a little insight so Ill play this week. Concord at Elkhart: The Lions are beat up and have had some horrific luck the past month. They had 8 starters who didn't play in their scrimmage vs Northridge and lost one of the few returning starters and top WR in the entire state for an extended period of time in it. Of those, 4 are back this week. but it still leaves them without their 3 best players (RB, WR and 2 way lineman). All of that would typically cripple a team, and while it certainly wont be the Lion team that id have expected to be even better than last year's on offense, they still will be one of the areas top scoring offenses. Concord is implementing a new offense and that coupled with their reliance on the pass makes me think the team speed of the Lions on defense causes some serious problems (turnovers). Concord is a real good matchup for the lions defense as they are elite in the backend. I see a relatively sloppy first half with some big plays for both teams (something like 21-14 Lions at half) with the Lions pulling away based on their having (compared to Concord) more depth for a 42-21 win. Dublin Coffman (OH) at Warsaw: This one is going to be real interesting. I can see Coach Curtis holding the ball and keeping Warsaw in it. Ill go 35-27 with Dublin Coffman getting a big scare from the Tigers. East Noble at Plymouth: EN has been on a good run and one of the great joys (and ultimate disappointments) of last year was watching them almost beat Penn. Ive heard Plymouth hasnt looked great in scrimmages and it appears many here are not too high on them either. 42-17 East Noble victory Goshen at Fairfield: I see Goshen making it happen as they have a SR class that has gone through a lot of losing. That drive gets them a 14-10 win. Jimtown at NorthWood: Don't know much here but Im going Northwood. 21-17. Mishawaka at Marian: Im with everyone here in believing Mishawaka should be the favorite in the NLC. I think the QB in that system is the best player in the area. I think Marian will not be near the level of last year on offense. I know Marian returns a lot on defense, but Im not sure that matters vs one of the most efficient offenses in the state. I have seen Marian scrimmage and the offense didn't look great. if you are going to beat Mishawaka you have to out score them. Don't see that here. Mishawaka 42-17 Northridge at Adams: I think this will be a great game and a barometer for both teams. Adams is huge and has athletes and should have one of their best teams in years. On paper this should be a run away. Something tells me it wont be. I was very impressed with the effort and execution of Northridge in putting up a fight against Elkhart. I think the Raiders play smart and disciplined and hold on.... 24-20 Raiders Tippecanoe Valley at Wawasee: No Clue. Pure guess is Tippy 21 Wawasee 20

Recall that they used to feed the Christians to the lions in the earlier events of the gladiatorial games. Wasn't all that sporting, but it did kill time and generate beer sales.

As a consolation prize, the IHSAA has made them "honorary Catholics" and traditionally placed them in the Sectional of Death with Chatard, Brebeuf, and Guerin.

I am also guessing he made his money the, "old fashioned way....he earned it" LOL.

Pioneer picked up Indianapolis Scecina for this Friday night. Glad both teams could get this scheduled so quickly under the circumstances.

Since Miner fan Tom Dawson, aka, ITISWHATITIS, has unfortunately lost his long battle with cancer and can no longer start the Linton Miner game thread each week, I thought I would fill in for him at least this once to start this new season. Tom used to go by USNAVYRET. Back in the day when the Linton team threads sometimes got a bit more "contentious" than they do nowadays, Tom could be sort of abrasive at times. I'm sad that he's gone and I'll certainly miss him. He moved to Linton from Ohio and had a son that played for Linton several years ago, He had resided in Bloomington for the last several years although he remained a staunch Linton fan and went to most games when his health permitted. Linton has never beaten Southridge but they have a good shot at getting a win Friday night. Southridge graduated most of the starters on both sides of the ball. The Miners return almost everyone from the 8-4 team last year. In last years opener at Southridge, Linton had no offensive punch and lost 28 - 0. Linton moved the starting QB to WB and promoted the Soph backup QB to starter and responded by beating a good Sullivan team the second week. I'm thinking this this will be the best Miner team since the undefeated !A championship team of 2016. The big question is can the be good enough to beat Mater Dei in the 2A Sectional. They never have yet. We'll worry about that later.

We don’t “play nice” with our fellow SIAC schools. We have a terrific relationship with them, and it’s genuine. Always has been. We’re all fellow neighbors, coworkers, church members, bowling leaguers for crying out loud. Thus the whole idea of “community.” Why should we stop being as much when the uniforms go on?

I was referring to losing to Northrop two years in a row. I don't see that happening unless Northrop is a different team this year........and maybe they are.

Elkhart had an incredible first year post merger last year, but lost 18ish of those starters from a year ago, plus arguably their top 2 skill players this season. Seems to be a lot of hype around Concord as they have some studs of their own, and return much of last year's team. Coach Koehler battled some major health issues this off season and the team really seems to have bonded well. Should be a really good game and tell us just how good Concord is going to be. Elkhart by 3 Dublin Coffman (OH) at Warsaw: Great job by Coach Curtis by strengthening the Tigers schedule up, I really don't know much about DC other than they are a perennial powerhouse and went 8-1 last year with their 1 loss by only 3 points. Even if the Tigers come up short here, I think they're easily a top 3 NLC team this year and should have another great season. Dublin Coffman by 20 East Noble at Plymouth: hearing that Plymouth will struggle this year, East Noble is always a tough program and along with Leo, should be favored to win the NE8 this season. East Noble by 30 Goshen at Fairfield: I think Goshen struggles again this year, but should be a little better. Coach Thacker has things rolling on the south side of town after an NECC Big School title and undefeated regular season. Goshen has 1 win each of the last 3 seasons and questions at qb this year, but I look for it to be a great game. Falcons by 3 Jimtown at NorthWood: Northwood went 4-4 last season and is always a competitor, but I don't see them at the top of the conference this year. Jimtown should be pretty decent and I think it will be close throughout. Jimtown by 3 Mishawaka at Marian: should be another great rivalry game, but I think Mishawaka will be a tough out this year. With Fisher at qb, I'd say they're favorites to win the NLC this year, but a lot can change in a season. Marian is always a tough team so I think it will be another battle. Cavemen by 6 Northridge at Adams: I've been hearing a lot of hype about Adams huge o-line and their great passing game, also in the NIC thread a lot of people seem pretty excited about the Eagles this year. I heard they worked Plymouth at the jamboree pretty easily. Coach Eppley has picked up right where Wogomon left off and there is a lot of excitement in Middlebury. We lost some key guys last year, but have some guys that will be doing great things this year. Lost our top 3-4 running backs and qb, but I like where we're headed. Northridge by 10 Tippecanoe Valley at Wawasee: Don't know much about either team this year, but have heard that Wawasee is trending in the right direction. They have gone 5-15 in their last 2 seasons but should be better this year under year 3 of good coaching. Wawasee by 7

There were usually letters to the editor that had the same complaints/concerns for years; usually after the playoffs were over.

They were scheduled to play South Decatur, who's been knocked out due to contact tracing.

Really hoping he can put together a good squad at Wayne. If there is a year for them to beat Dwenger this might be it. Carroll should have made it an emphasis in the offseason to figure out something defensively. Luers will test their secondary and it's entirely possible we see a shootout. Carroll cannot afford to get into a shootout if they want to be taken seriously in 6A as a couple other poster have stated.

With Crawfordsville, Hamilton Heights, Yorktown and North Montgomery in the "Sacrificial Lamb" bracket of that Sectional.

Truth be told, I was mushier after the experience.

Just to add some more stuff to the thread - teams ranked/receiving votes in polls: 6A: Warsaw (RV - 14th AP / RV - 16th Coaches) 5A: Mishawaka (RV - 11th AP / Ranked - 10th Coaches) Concord (RV - 15th AP / RV - 14th Coaches) 4A: Northridge (RV - 13th AP only) NorthWood (RV - 22nd AP only) Without a doubt the top 5 teams in the conference this year. If all could win Week 1 that would be a huge boost not only for each of these programs, but the NLC as a whole!

Six HNAC teams getting some votes in pre-season polls. This young conference is getting a reputation for playing some pretty good football, and not just by the top couple teams.

That’s the 64 dollar question. Southridge. The last few years the Raiders have enjoyed consistent success. Some years better Than others , but successful non e the less. So if they reload, I’m inclined to go with Southridge. You guys know your football in Miner country, and from what your saying it will be a fun year at Linton.

“All things come to he who waits.”

Wait until school starts today!

Not a great deal different from the regular home uniform. That’s OK by me. You can’t improve on perfection. https://irishsportsdaily.com/s/15589/notre-dame-releases-2021-shamrock-series-uniforms

Scecina at Pioneer on Friday night.

Just found Donnie Baker on line. 😂

I wish we still played you guys too. I think we had similar schedule with Carmel as well where played on consistent basis in the past. I don't know the history on the change but maybe the priority of playing the CGL had something to do with it...

Lol

that you are aware of or yet

We went through this last season and had way too many topics locked. Keep your feelings about the virus itself, or how quarantines are handled off this page. The topic is what games have been canceled. Stick to the topic please. If you want to write about the politics of it, @Muda69 has an OOB club. Feel free to join that and have at it.

Since I keep reading stories on here about the NLC schools dwindling in numbers for football, thought I'd share a picture from last night at Northridge. 300+ k-12 kids in our program showed up in force, and I know of a couple dozen off the top of my head that couldn't make it out last night. Some serious enthusiasm for football in Middlebury.