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You should talk to the Frankfurts people and get a wiener pass. I swear to God you should!

HS football is a true value at any price!☺️

Warsaw at Michigan City should be a good game up here in northern Indiana.

Totally agree. Merrillville ranked ahead of Westfield and also Elkhart and Homestead being ranked ahead of Warren Central and Ben Davis is ridiculous. Westfield and Warren Central were unfairly punished for losing to two of the top 20 teams in the nation. Here's how I think the 6A top 10 should look after week 1: 1. Center Grove 2. Carmel 3. Westfield 4. Brownsburg 5. Warren Central 6. Ben Davis 7. Merrillville 8. Hamilton SE 9. Homestead 10. Fishers I also think Gibson Southern should be ranked #1 in 3A after their dominant performance against Columbus North.

Chesterton vs TF South is another interesting game in the northern half of the state. Always cool to see how Indiana stacks up vs other states.

For some reason my “Quote” feature isn’t working.😠 But @oldtimeqb, I have not heard that specific scenario. But I’ve penalized a school because the band wasn’t off the field. And I’ve also seen a few spirited conversations between band directors, coaches and ADs. 🤣 As an aside, if the team is ready to take the field timely, but the field isn’t clear because of the band, it’s a 5 yd. penalty for delay, not 15 yds. for unsportsmanlike conduct. Rule 3-6-4. However, we have specifically been instructed by the IHSAA to treat a “talcum powder delay” as unsportsmanlike conduct.

One thing is for CERTAIN...they provided no hydration advantage...

I could never find Purdue Pete scary … since my lasting memory of him is of a couple of IU students braining Pete with his own sledgehammer, and then the Purdue cheerleaders dragging an unconscious Pete out the back of the south end zone in Bloomington. All this during the brawl that was the Bucket game in 1971 — the greatest college football game that nobody knows about.

A bit of old news that I hadn't gotten to report since the site had been down, but Washington has picked up a Week 2 opponent. They will host the McLean Co. Cougars out of KY at 7pm on Saturday the 28th. Glad to see them pick up the game after last week's cancellation due to rampant illness. I know little to nothing about the visiting Cougars. From what I can dig up on Google: School size seems to be comparable. Roster lists 45 kids. Went 3-2 last year with 4 games cancelled due to COVID-19. Both losses were to Owensboro Catholic. Won their 2021 opener 38-30. Seem to rely heavily on the run game. Scoring consisted of 5 rushing TDs and 4 successful 2-pt. conversions (no attempted PATs). Looks to be a nice early tests of the Hatchet's run defense. Let's see if they can take the step forward that I'm hoping for. Best of luck to everyone playing on Friday evening!

well.. 100+ meetings... 15 miles apart... 22-16 OT win last year... bad blood always... 1-0 Linton hosts 1-0 Sullivan.... always worthy of big game status in these parts.

You’ve discerned all this from 1 week? A little over a week ago, you picked FC to finish second in the conference, NA third, and Jeff fourth. Jeff didn’t even play last week. FC is sliding backwards???? You literally posted last week FC has all the pieces.

I honestly don't remember who stated that they thought Warsaw may be a little down this year. I just remember someone saying it. It's a natural to feel that way when you lose some talent, but maybe Bart Curtis has a system in place that will keep the Tigers in the hunt every year. Either way, I'm pulling for Warsaw. The north needs another power.

That's what its all about!

Not sure why during school days would be issue, school is out before crowds arrive. I think they can get by without St Charles parking. They crammed a stadium into the space at Dwenger, they can do at Snider. Do realize it is a "public" school vs "private" school, that could well be the big difference.

Small school classes have 2A Eastside hosting 1A Adams Central. Eastside won last year in Monroe capitalizing on mistakes. AC did the same back in 2019 in another tight contest between the two teams.

Lol hey..I'm js..a buddy from another part of the state reminds me that sni high was ALWAYS a regional competitor n used the "what have they done lately" phrase..2015..16..n 17 are quickly forgotten by some..I'm with u on this one though. Mea culpa..

Snider's no longer a regional threat year in and year out? I wouldn't discount discount four decades of success because of a couple of down years. Anyways.............su casa mi casa. They're used to getting on a bus for every game.

I await the groundswell of righteous indignation from the Irish-American community …“crickets”

A good portion of the community could just walk. Snider is surrounded by neighborhoods.

I'm having all sorts of backend issue right now. I will continue working on those known issue and hopefully it fixes this too. If not I'll check it out next.

Merrillville over Westfield? Come on. By a significant margin too. I would still rank Westfield over Brownsburg as well.

And with the SIAC and SAC, its probably Wk. 11..

Not sure, but I would take anything Sagarin related with a grain of salt until about week 5 or 6.

Have followed European soccer for years. Teams being promoted from lower leagues get a massive revenue boost and can subsequently go out and buy top league level players. Doesn't work that way in Indiana High School football. The same Gibson Southern team that beat Columbus North this year lost by 42 points the year prior. The success factor in of itself follows a model of promotion and regulation.

The battle of the wrestling schools! Wrestlers on both sides of the ball. The Irish Express will be making her debut this Friday night. Look for the Cathedral flag and the big red Prevost! Come one, come all.

Bring it on.

DK,DC. Haters gonna’ hate.

Knowing Mike Kirschner, there was some technical or logistical reason for this issue. Likely, as others have said, the game film would have been from last year since they didn't scrimmage. Mike's a first-class guy and doesn't play petty games.

Frankton was scrappy on defense. Looked like they had some hard nosed kids. Offensively they have a long ways to go though. If Frankton can slow down Dollar for Lapel then it could be a decent game, if not then it will be a long night.

Sweet reference!

A delay in play, but not talcum powder question. I heard one time a head coach was irked that the marching band 'refused to yield' the field during their halftime performance and thus the teams could not be back on the playing surface at the 0:00 mark. The coach asked the officials to flag his own school's band 15 yards, so he could address the issue with his AD and Band Director on Monday. Do you know if this has happened or is probably urban legend?

The New Albanian Brewing Company Pizzeria & Public House

I would recommend Floyd County Brewing Co. 129 W. Main St. in New Albany. Really good food and beer and locally owned. Take you 10 minutes to get to NAHS from there.

2ND Half Domination leads to Miners 1st victory If you waited until halftime to come to the Roy, or tune in the broadcast; well you might have thought how could the Miners be down 13-0 coming out of the locker room?! Perhaps the Miners came out with opening game jitters, but the Miner defense had kept it from being worse. Halftime adjustments and perhaps a bit of old time re-focus paid dividends immediately that led to a 27-0 2nd half performance and the Miners first win over Southridge in 8 meetings. Actually, the offense looked sharp on their opening series with a short pass from Junior QB Hunter Gennicks to Senior Wideout Eli Poe gaining 8 yards, followed by a straight ahead churn of 5 yards from Senior Fullback Drew Smith. Then disaster struck as Gennicks tried to make a last minute pitch in the midst of several Raiders draped over him, and the ball was knocked free by Linebacker Caleb Kramer, with Aiden Jochem falling on the ball at the Miner 27 yard line. However this experience Miner Defense had no plans to let Southridge take advantage, and stuffed the vaunted Raider running game down in 2 plays, then QB Levi Neukam saw the ball ever so slightly slip out of grasp, perhaps courtesy of Miner Senior ILB Gabe Eslinger. It squired forward to the Miner 18 where Senior Free Safety Jayden Miller landed on it. Series two ended with Gennicks 9 yard run just short of the needed yardage, and Miller punted 32 yards to Jochem, and again the Raiders started in Miner territory. But the Defense for the 2nd time shut down Southridge in 3 plays resulting in a Jochem punt into the endzone with 5:06 in the first. The Miners showed offensive life with a 10 yard run from Junior WB Hunter Johns, followed by a 22 yard Raider-dragging run from Gennicks that set Linton up at the Raider 49, but Southridge rose up to make 3 stops, and Miller pinned the Raiders at their own 9 on a perfect punt fair caught by Kaden Neukam. Linton had a chance to play the field position game with a stop, and had a great chance on a 3rd and 7 at the Raider 12 when Kaden Neukam got free space on an excellent fake to Jochem, and rambled 16 yards to the 28 before Johns and Miller made the tackle. Another 3rd down apparent stop went aside when Junior DE Wrigley Franklin was tagged with a facemask call just after dropping the Raider QB at the line of scrimmage. The Raiders would get their 3rd first down of the drive and reach the Miner 40 but a holding call pushed them back to their own side of the 50. After Smith nearly picked off an attempted screen, Neukam nearly hit a wide open Carter Whitehead on the hash marks but Senior DB Kaulin Padgett cause just enough disturbance for an incompletion. Jochem’s ensuing punt rolled dead at the Miner 4. Then…Disaster #2. Eslinger burst through the line to the 10 looking for more but Jochem wrangled the ball out of Gabe’s arm at the Miner 9. The Miner Defense made the Raiders earn it, but Jochem out ran them to the right corner for the game’s initial score at 6:22. Max Jessee nailed the PAT kick for a 7-0 Raider lead. Linton’s offense was stymied leading to a 3 and out and another Miller Punt. All through 2020 Jayden had been an effective weapon punting the ball, as he had all game long, but something I hadn’t seen in many a year would lead to disaster #3… and unless my eyes deceived me, it appeared his punt went off the back of one of the three protector big men in the punt formation. Carter Harris would jump on the ball at the Miner 24 with 4:53 in the half. The Miner Defense once more refused to crumble and had a 3rd and 17 after back to back negative plays made by Smith (-5) and both Franklin and Sr DE Cameron Goodman (-2). But the pass play missed earlier made a reappearance, this time with Whitehead making the catch at the Miner 9. Still it came down to under a minute with 4th down at the1 yard line. It looked like the Miners might make the stop, but Jochem was able to stretch out the defense and just get in on the outside of the end zone. However, Jessee’s PAT kick was missed to the left, leaving the score 13-0 Raiders with just 48 seconds to wind down to the half. The Roy was a little shell shocked to be honest as the teams headed to the locker rooms. My feeling was that it could have been a bigger margin deficit, and that the Linton defense had kept the Miners in the game, and that if the offense could eliminate their self-destruction; well there was 24 minutes left of football to be played. Neither offense had looked good & both were under 100 yards of total yardage, and little to no passing game on either side (a collective 3 of 14). Turnovers had been the big number for both teams not just Linton. 2 Miner fumbles and a punt implosion had put the Raiders put Southridge on the Miner doorstep three times while the lone Raider fumble took away a scoring opportunity. Linton had more rushing (18 for 75, 4.17 per carry) while the Raiders could only muster 2.9 per carry (22 for 64). The one Raider pass completion accounted for 22 yards giving Southridge the edge in yardage 86 to 84. Everybody knows the 1st series of a 2nd half is a key moment for both sides in a close contest. It took two plays for that momentum to change. After an opening 2 yard loss on a stop by Johns and Eslinger, QB Neukam lost the exchange with his RB and Drew Smith fell on the ball at the Raider 32. Still, the Miner offense struggled as DE Matt Altmeyer, & ILB Hunter Eckert made defensive plays to force a 4th down and 6 at the Southridge 29. It would be the strength of Gabe Eslinger who broke a couple tackles and eeked out the 1st down yardage by a yard. With numerous Raiders going down with cramp issue multiple plays in a row, it was Hunter Johns taking the inside counter and with a large hole created by the offensive line cruised to a 19 yard score. That line consisted of Tackles Senior Cameron Goodman and Freshman Hank Gennicks; Guards Wrigley Franklin and Aiden Giles (both juniors) and junior Center Nathan Watson. The 2nd half also saw Sr Donovan DeBruhl was essentially an extra lineman at a Tight End position giving the Miners extra girth that seemed to spur the rushing game. Jayden Miller hit the PAT and a 13-7 score at 8:56 of the 3rd Quarter. We spoke of disasters for Linton in the 1st half, Southridge faced their 2nd such disaster on the 1st play after the kick-off. As Neukam rolled out to pass, Franklin applied pressure and the pass attempt went to Whitehead across the middle. This time there were three Miners surrounding Whitehead, and Eslinger got a hand on the ball, tipping in air bound, then juggling, then making the interception then running 25 yards to the Raider 25. A block in the back started the possession at the Raider 35. But again, like the Miner D, the Southridge D refused to roll over particularly Jr ILB Caleb Kramer was involved in five consecutive stops. Another 4th down and 6 faced Linton at the Raider 31, and this time it was Hunter Gennicks making a play with his feet for an 8 yard gain. Linton pushed inside the 10 to the 6, and on 3rd down Gennicks would push through off tackle to tie the score at 13 with 4:33 left in the 3rd. Miller would give the Miners the edge 14-13 with a solid PAT. Southridge seemed to dig deep realizing they needed to stop the bleeding. Jochem opened with back to back runs for a 1st down and their own 37. Kaulin Padgett made perhaps the play of the game on a 2nd and 7, as the Raiders popped out the pass play down the seam that had been open before, and appeared to be wide open again. Neukam’s pass looked to be on the mark which looked to be a certain touchdown in the making. At the last second Padgett, coming over from cornerback, leaped and knocked down the pass. Jochem was stuffed by Sr NT Jackson Fields, and Sr ILB Bracey Breneman on 3rd down forcing a punt, but also pinning the Miners at their own 11. It was Johns again with a 16 yard counter that moved the ball out to the 37, out of the shade of their own end zone. The Raider D stiffened with Eckert and safety Caleb Neukam making stops. Miller once more pinned the Raiders inside the 20 and the 4th quarter began. Bracey Breneman brought the Miner faithful to their feet with a big hit on Neukam dropping the Raider QB to their own 10 on 1st down. A 3rd down pass for Jochem on the sidelines was beautifully caught but solid defense from Eli Poe using the sideline barrier made it incomplete. The Raiders were forced to punt facing a 4th and 11. The explosion factor that has always been Miner Football chose this time to return to the forefront. Gennicks kept the ball on the opening play from the Raider 46, and busted through tacklers and streaked down the middle of the field to pay dirt to push Linton to a 20-13 lead. But the door was left just open as the PAT sailed left leaving the margin at 7 with 9:46 left. Things got more nerve wracking as soph Yamil Arroyo returned the Drew Smith kick-off to the mid field stripe. However the Miner defense had been on point all night, and maintained that in this key possession. Goodman, then Eslinger made 1 yard stops on Neukam, then Johns read the swing pass to Jochem setting up a 4th and two at the Miner 42. Electing to go for it, Southridge looked to have drawn multiple Miners offside; but, the official call was Procedure on the Raiders and that changed the decision to punting the ball. Jochem did his job with a high punt that Miller fielded with a fair catch at the Miner 7. One more it was the legs of Hunter Johns with the big play, again on a counter catching the Raiders following Gennicks. Johns busted free for a 27 yard gain which just about cut out the lights on the game but not quite yet. From the Miner 38, Gabe Eslinger powered through the Raider D with impressive strength and reached midfield on a game of 12, but Whitehead punched the ball loose with Carter Harris leaping on the pigskin at midfield. With 4:02 left in the contest, Southridge had an opportunity down a score and PAT, and a lead with a 2 point conversion. The Miners had not had good results in these type of endings against the Raiders to date. With both fan bases on their feet, Neukam went deep on a wheel route Jochem with almost identical results to the early play. Jochem leaped and caught the ball, but Poe’s hit put him out of bounds and incomplete. After Drew Smith stuffed Jochem at the Miner 48, a 3rd and 8 pass for Whitehead was over thrown possibly affected from Wrigley Franklin’s pressure. On 4th down, more pressure in the form of Johns from OLB forced Neukam to scramble. He made a great effort refusing to go down, and appeared to be lunging for the necessary yards went Hunter Gennicks stepped in to bring him down just a yard shy. Linton ball. It was quite the night for Gabe Eslinger, and knowing him I’m sure he beat himself up for the two fumbles. Besides a key interception that led to the Miner go ahead score, he would drive the nails in with a 55 yard run. It showed speed I didn’t think he had as he reached the second level and darted to the Raider sideline about their 40 and turned on the jets keeping a mere inches in bounds and out running the defense to the delight of the South End Zone Miner Fans. Miller drilled the PAT despite being hit after the kick but the celebration had begun as Linton took a 27-13 lead with 2:24 remaining. Southridge would not surrender, and Neukam was forced to the air 8 times in a row. Once he gained 11 on a scramble after pressure from Giles, but the passes didn’t provide the big play needed. Neukam’s pass to Myles Kerkhoff bounced into his arms on 4th and 4 incomplete, and Linton would take a knee from their own 42 to achieve the win. The 2nd half numbers were vastly different from the opening half. Particularly for the Miners. Of Linton’s 320 total yards, 236 came in the 2nd half; All of that on the ground. Southridge could only manage 136 total yards, and only gained 50 in the 2nd half. Neither team was a threat in the air, Linton just 2 of 9 for 9 yards, and Southridge hitting just 4 of 20 for 35 yards. The Miners tallied 311 rushing yards led by Hunter Gennicks’ 125 on 20 touches with 2 TDs. Hunter Johns (7-84 TD) and Gabe Eslinger (9-80 TD) along with some bruising inside runs from Drew Smith (9-20) all made contributions. Eli Poe had one catch for 8 yards, Eslinger the other for 1 yard. Southridge combined for 101 rush yards on 36 carries, just 2.8 per carry. Aiden Jochem let with 40 yards on 13 carries and 2 scores; Levi Neukam with 36 on 12 carries and Kaden Neukam 4 for 21. Levi was 4 of 20 passing with an interception thrown. Jochem, Neukam (Kaden), Whitehead and Keaton Allen each had a catch. Eslinger led defensively with 8 total tackles, 2 assisted TFL’s, and a big interception. Franklin was in on 3 TFL’s and 7 tackles (5 solo). Hunter Gennicks with 7, Johns added 6 tackles, Smith 5, Miller 4. Padgett was busy defending 5 passes, Johns with 4. Smith and Miller each had Fumble Recoveries. Caleb Kramer had a big night for the Raiders defensively with 15 total tackles, Hunter Ecker with 11. Yamil Arroyo and Aiden Jochem both with 8 and 6 each from Matt Altmeyer and Kaden Neukam. JOchem recovered 2 fumbles, Carter Harris the other. Jayden Miller punted 5 times with a 31.8 average, inside the Raider 20 on 3 of those. He was 3 of 4 in PAT kicks. Drew Smith kicked off 4 times mostly squibs up the middle with a 27.4 average. Jochem punted 5 times for a 46.2 average, 3 inside the 20 including a touchback. Max Jessee was 1 of 2 on PATs and had 3 kickoffs with a 44.67 average. The Miners had 14 first downs to Southridge’s 6. The Raiders had 8 penalties for 57 yards compared to Linton’s 5 for 45 yards. Each team with 3 turnovers. Linton 3-11 on 3rd downs, 2-2 on 4th Downs, with the Raiders 4-15 on 3rd and 2-5 on 4th. Both teams were perfect in the red zone (each 2 for 2). Time of Possession was Linton at 25:30, Southridge at 22:30 with total play count about even at 56 for SOuthridge, 53 for Linton. Linton had 4 explosive plays (20+ yards) versus just one for SOuthridge. Linton’s Defense had 6 TFL for 17 yards included and 8 yard sack, while Southridge had 5 TFL for just 6 yards. Week 2 brings the 100+ meeting between Sullivan and Linton. The Golden Arrows will bring a 1-0 record and a high scoring offense to the Roy after a 35-6 win over North Knox last week. Linton won last year in an exciting 22 to 16 overtime battle at Sportland Field, and have won 2 in a row, and 5 of the last 6 meetings. Southridge will host Boonville (0-0) in Huntingburg. This was the last meeting in the regular season between Raiders and the Miners as Parke-Heritage will be in that slot in 2022. I would expect a huge turnout next Friday as Sullivan is bound to bring a large entourage, and I would certainly more than expect Lintonians in full turnout. It should be quite the setting albeit hot and a highlight of the season.

It’s some sort of defensive tradition they have that I’ve never understood.

Anywhere between the 10 and 20 I think the BJ should have some flexibility in their starting position. From the 15-20 I would normally default to goal line but be ready to retreat quickly if you see a receiver heading to the end zone. If you read run or all routes are short stay put. If the ball is snapped 10-15 start on the end line (I'm OK with mid-way but prefer end line). If you read run move immediately to the goal line. You'll have time if you have a mobile BJ. If you read pass read the routes. If they run a screen pass you'll have time to move up to the goal line as if it was a run read. This is a little more complex mechanic and some crews won't be able to handle it, but it provides much better coverage for good crews. With a 5-man crew you will often have gaps in these plays but do your best to cover it. The BJ standing directly behind the U is not good. Had the same experience on the other 2 points you made. We weren't sure which mechanic to use on checking the ball so we went with U based on past experience.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/08/20/uks-parliament-holds-joe-biden-in-contempt-as-france-and-britain-forced-to-rescue-citizens-trapped-in-kabul/ UK’s Parliament Holds Joe Biden in Contempt as France and Britain Forced to Rescue Citizens Trapped in Kabul By Debra Heine August 20, 2021 The Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and the desperate situation in Kabul has angered U.S. allies, leaving them scrambling to evacuate their citizens and the Afghans who supported them during the 20 year war. The United Kingdom’s Parliament on Wednesday held Joe Biden in contempt for Afghan debacle, with one veteran MP saying the U.S. abandoned its Afghan allies and disregarded their sacrifices. Tom Tugendhat, a British Army veteran of the Afghanistan war and the Conservative chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, blasted Biden for his criticism of the Afghan National Army and said it was “shameful” to blame Afghanistan’s fighting force for the Taliban’s takeover. After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Biden said, “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war, and dying in a war, that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.” “To see their commander in chief call into question the courage of men I fought with—to claim that they ran—is shameful,” he said. “Those who have never fought for the colors they fly should be careful about criticizing those who have,” Tugendhat added. While American troops remain at the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKAIA ), Great Britain and France, are conducting military operations to evacuate their citizens trapped in Kabul behind the web of Taliban checkpoints lining the route to the airport. Great Britain earlier this week deployed an additional 300 troops to Kabul specifically to extract trapped British nationals. “France and the U.K. are having their troops leave the lines of the Kabul airport to help evacuate their citizens,” tweeted House Minority Kevin McCarthy. “Why has President Biden not directed the same to save stranded Americans?” One British soldier broke down in tears during an interview with CNN reporter Clarissa Ward, telling her that he will suffer from PTSD from the horrific events of the past week. The Taliban have been beating people in the streets and blocking access to the Kabul airport, contrary to their promises to the U.S. government. During remarks from the White House on Friday, Biden boasted that there are now over 6,000 American troops on the ground providing “runway security” at the airport. “This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history, and the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world with this degree of precision is the United States of America,” he said proudly. Update: According to foreign policy/national security reporter Tom Rogan, a U.S. general has tried to pressure a British counterpart to stop conducting rescue operations outside of the airport perimeter because it’s making the Biden Regime look bad. Can you imagine the explosion of press if President Trump were to be "In Contempt" from the UK? BTW - Read the last paragraph - The British military is embarrassing our troops?

Brownsburg/Cathedral is at the very least intriguing.

I'm sure they have thought at times about paying me to stay home.

Bulldogs with a 16-14 victory over Vincennes. Go Dawgs!!!

Gibson Southern is $5 but honestly, I was just thinking about how that price is truly too cheap in today’s game. I wouldn’t be shocked to see schools putting a $10 a ticket tag up. Inflation…cost of equipment and people’s time…we could definitely be paying more to the refs to help get away from the shortage of them.

I don't know what our school charges. I have what they call a Golden Husky Pass that's available free to anyone over 60 living in the school district and is good for admission to any home event in any sport(except tournaments or playoffs). It only expires if I do.

Well who knows how many NLCers we'll get this year on the forum - but here we are ready for Week 1 Concord at Elkhart: I think this could/should be a close game. Elkhart is probably the pick to win the NIC big division this year, but have some areas to fill from last year's Sectional Championship team. I think Concord has some good playmakers and I think they are in the conversation with Warsaw and Mishawaka as to who will win the conference this year. I will go with Elkhart by 6 Dublin Coffman (OH) at Warsaw: I love that the Tigers are stepping it up in the scheduling department... but man oh man this is a STEP UP. Dublin Coffman plays in what I would equivalate to the MIC conference in the largest division of Ohio football. They consistently have NCAA D1 signees, and in northern Indiana, the name most recognizable for you all would be Brady Quinn. I will say - it is interesting that this game was agreed to as a 1-year deal and I heard it was made with Coffman's previous coach. That coach (Mark Crabtree) ended up retiring in January of this year, after the agreement was made. So at the very least - the Tigers have a chance in the sense that it is a new coaching staff for the Shamrocks. However, I still think Coffman will just be the more talented team. Dublin Coffman by 14 East Noble at Plymouth: The Knights have had an impressive 3-year run, and each of those past 3 seasons has started with a win over the Rockies. Plymouth got bit by the Covid bug last year with their last 3 games of the regular season being cancelled enroute to possibly the worst regular season in Coach Barron's tenure. I believe the Rockies will be a little better this year, but not in the fist week. East Noble by 17 Goshen at Fairfield: A good old-fashioned backyard contest to start the season. Will be interesting to see how the Redhawks perform. Goshen has only won 3 games the past 3 seasons, and 2 of those were against the Falcons. I firmly believe Fairfield would have beaten Goshen last year had they played, but that week 1 game was cancelled due to Covid. This year - I am not sure. Fairfield lost a number of key playmakers from last year's undefeated regular season team. This should be a good game, and one that Goshen NEEDS to win. I will go with Goshen by 7 Jimtown at NorthWood: Another local favorite that was cancelled last year. Jimtown had a solid first season under Coach Stoner, while NorthWood had a very up and down .500 season. I think this will be a good measuring stick game for both of these programs. The Panthers are riding a 7 game winning streak in the series... I think the Jimmies break that on Friday. Jimtown by 7 Mishawaka at Marian: Yet another local rivalry game to start the season. The Cavemen are my preseason pick to win the NLC this year behind their stud QB. He will be a PROBLEM for NLC defenses this season. Last year, Marian won for the first time over Mishawaka since the 2011 season in a barnburner of a game on their way to a second consecutive semistate appearance in class 3A. The only two teams to beat the Knights the last two years are Mishawaka and Chatard. I think the Cavemen win this one. Mishawaka by 2 Northridge at Adams: This has been a good week 1 matchup the last 10 years. The Eagles started last year 3-0 against inferior opponents before finishing 1-6. The Raiders welcome a new head coach in 8 seasons after the retirement of Coach Wogomon and without a doubt their best era of football in school history. Can Coach Eppley continue to maintain and progress the program moving forward? A win in week 1 would be a good start. I think the Raiders are right there as a bit of a "darkhorse" behind Mishawaka, Warsaw and Concord this season in the NLC race. They could certainly end up on top of the conference. Northridge by 14 Tippecanoe Valley at Wawasee: A Kosciusko County matchup between teams that have no met a single time in the last 35 years! I think the two teams would benefit from keeping this one on the schedule moving forward. The Vikings really got it going in the middle of their season last year, while the Warriors started out hot before getting into NLC play. I would love to see Wawasee take another step forward in their 3rd season under Coach Reutebuch after winning 2 games his first seasons and 3 last year. Getting Tippecanoe Valley at home, I'll give them the nod here. Wawasee by 3

EC plays us because they're afraid of Rushville

https://reason.com/2021/08/23/will-illinois-give-government-worker-unions-a-constitutional-right-to-overrule-laws-they-dont-like/ Consider the fights we're having right now over the guidelines to return to normal public schooling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this law, whatever the voters or their elected representatives might think is the right approach would be less important than whatever the unions might demand in order for teachers to return to in-person work. Constitutional Amendment 11 takes the public out of the ostensibly democratic process of governing how Illinois government employees behave. Maybe that's why the Chicago Teachers Union is so intent on attacking school choice. Why would parents send their kids to a school system knowing that they have no power, under the state's own constitution, to hold educators responsible for their behavior or for quality of service? No wonder enrollment is plummeting. I really wonder why any medium to large size business would want to operate in Illinois anymore, or why any individual who cherishes hard work, freedom, and personal responsibility still lives there.