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So, I am putting my prediction for the MD vs Memorial tilt out there a little early. I am picking Wildats in a huge (YUUU-GE!) upset 17 - 14. No, I am not bettting the farm on this outcome but for MD to pull off the upset, some things need to fall into place IMHO. First, Memorial has a definite advantage if the game becomes higher scoring affiar so Wildcat D needs to step - BIG TIME and keep score low. The lower, the better! Cam Marx wins the game with a 49 yd FG as time expires, similar to the win over the undefeated and heavily favored North Posey team many years ago. Ironically, that game was played at Central Stadium which cannot be just a coincidence! Secondly, the girlfriend of the Tiger QB must break up with him just before the game. I understand this is the ultimate devastation these days so this should improve the Wildcats' chances immensely (JK - for entertainment purposes only!) Lastly, Tiger bus breaks down and team has to walk the last 5 miles to the stadium. A late fall heat wave, very specifically located along, and only along, their route, pushes temps well into the 100+ range. Tigers arrive late to the stadium with all starters suffering from acute dehydration and slight delirium. (Again, just kidding...no animals - or players - were injured while concocting this story!) In all seriousness, the Wildcats have a big challenge ahead of them but stranger things have happened. Fingers crossed for the Cats to pull off what would arguably be the upset of the tournament. But, as the great Tug McGraw once said: "Ya gotta believe!" Best of luck to both teams on a well-played and injury free game!

I'm seeing a 15% chance for rain in Clinton tomorrow... any word on if the game will be pushed back????

A little late but never too late-- Sectional 39 in Southern Indiana begins friday. A new configuration of teams, but still some old rivalries. 3 of the current top 10 in class 2A find themselves in the bottom bracket. First a little history-- From the sectional 39 roster of 23-24 only 1 team remains! The Brown County Eagles. Brownstown Central, Clarksville, Eastern (Pekin) and Switzerland County got moved to Sect 40 joining existing members Paoli, Crawford County And Tell City. Salem, down from 3A joined them. From 40 to 39 went Mitchell and 2023 2A Runner ups North Posey. Mater Dei went up, and both Forest Park and Perry Central went down. From 39, Triton Central went up to 3A Christel House disappeared from the tournament. From Sectional 37 to 39 came Greencastle, Linton, South Vermillion and Sullivan. I could go on but it gets crazy. I mean 37 is completely new as Cascade went 3A, North Put and Southmont to 34, North Knox to 1A and everyone else to 39. NOW.... 37 has the likes of Lutheran, Scecina, Monrovia, Heritage Christian etc... I guess the days of being in a sectional year after year have gone by the wayside. The draw was what it was. I'm not a fan of blind draw but am a fan of all inclusion. I would think any of the teams that landed in that top bracket are ecstatic about their draw. Greencastle starts off travelling to Petersburg to face the Pike Central Chargers. By Sagarin rankings the TIgercubs are 4th ranked in Sectional 39 (S39) with a 44.42 with the Chargers at 6 (33.03). Schedule strength certainly favors the 3-6 Cubs. They have been up and down, but you gotta think they are feeling confident after a 49-28 win on the road over 7-2 North Putnam in week 8. NP had only previously lost to unbeaten Cascade. This ended a 3 game skid for Coach Stephens. Of those 6 losses, 5 are to ranked teams in various classes- 4A 8-1 Northview, 3A 9-0 Cascade, 2A 7-2 Linton and 7-2 Monrovia, and 1A 7-2 South Putnam. Besides the topple of NP, they own wins over 4-5 West Vigo and an overtime win over 4-5 Indian Creek 17-14. Coach J J Howard's Chargers, in his 2nd year, have a chance to reach 4 wins in a season for the 1st tie since 2016. The big win for these guys was a 22-0 win over 4-5 Tell City. They opened 2-0 with wins over Clarksville 35-0 and 1A Tecumseh 49-20 but those 2 are a combined 0-17. Still, these were games they had lost in the past. Playing in the Pocket meant games with 7-2 3A Southridge and 7-2 North Posey both big losses, and Mt Vernon (3A 5-4) and Washington (4A 5-4) had 20+ point wins. They were in games with 1A 5-4 Forest Park (28-21 L) and 1A 5-4 South Spencer (27-19 L). It's about a 2 hour jaunt to PC high school and it will be just the 3rd road game of the year for Greencastle. History wise- The Tiger Cubs last sectional crown was in 1991 (2A) after they had captured 1A in 1990. Pike Central is still searching for a Sectional Title in football. They actually played for a title in 2022 after going 1-8 in the year, reaching the finale with 2 wins before a 569 loss to Owen Valley in Championship. The two lowest sagarin ranked teams drew each other in the next matchup. 5-4 Brown County hosting 1-8 Mitchell. By Sag numbers the Eagles would be favorites with a 16.78 to 2.41 rating advantage. But we are all 0-0 with fresh starts in post-season, and a draw that could have been bad for either team has to give each hope. In Coach Tony Bell's 1st season, the Eagles vastly improved from a previous 2 year mark of 1-19. Granted, their wins came against a combined 4-38 opponent WL. They were outmanned in games versus 7-2's North and SOuth Putnam 59-6 and 55-6. Also lost to 4-4 Cloverdale big 42-6 and 4-5 West Vigo 50-29. Wins came over 3A Owen Valley 30-21 1-8 Crawford County 24-0, winless Irvington Prep 57-0 and...well.. Mitchell. The Blue Jackets are also under a 1st year coach with Zach See. Their lone W came against 1-8 Crawford County 45-21. that 45 was about half the total points they scored all year. Looking at their scores for year, the one game that looked competitive was the 21-12 loss to the Eagles in week 6 at BC. In fairness, there were losses to 8-1 1A Springs Valley, 6-3 3A Scottsburg, 5-4 1A Perry Central and to 9-0 Paoli. Neither team could have asked for a better pull of the ping pong balls because a win in this game sets up a game with either Greencastle or Pike Central... which is better than perhaps a game with unbeaten South Vermillion, or 7-2 Linton/North Posey. But Post Season is where crazy things can happen. I suppose it's the whole point of the blind draw. historically- Mitchell has a 1983 Sectional title, Brown County has 1 as well in 1995 (3A). The bottom bracket starts off with a doozie. Probably the game in Sectional 39 on Friday Night. Unbeaten South Vermillion to host the Vikings of North Posey. The Wildcats under long time coach Greg Barrett have run the table in 2024, Barrett's 8th at SV. They average 44.0 points a game while holding opponents to under 10 (9.9). They have Clinton fired up. Yes, I am that old. It's not that SV hasn't been successful in recent seasons because they have- 8-2 last year, 7-3 in 2022, 7 wins in each 2019 and 2017. I've not seen a 9 win season in their history...or at least as far at John Harrell goes back. I've not seen SV hoist a sectional trophy in school history. They've come close a couple times- 2019 losing to WeBo in championship 56-14, in 2003 losing 34-6 to Cloverdale as well...in a 2-8 season under Rene Foli. The last 4 years have been one and done with losses to Cascade (24) and Linton (23). They will have the sentimental pull for the region. North Posey has been on a run since a 9-3 2021 season, with another 9-3 season in 2022 both ending with losses in sectional championships to Evansville Mater Dei. We, in Linton, can sympathize. in 2024 Coach Waylon Schenk led the Vikings as well as all of Poseyville, Griffin, New Harmony AND my momma's home school of Griffin (Go Tornadoes) on a ride to the state finals. Unfortunately they ran up against Fort Wayne Luers who won with a dominant 40-3 win. Still...as with all small towns hitching up for the ride, it's always a lifetime experience that gets talked about for generations. Coach Schenk had his Vikings hot with a 4-0 start with a 7 point win over 5-4 4A Mt. Vernon 35-28, 48-7 over 1-8 Princeton, 28-16 over 5-4 1A S.Spencer and 34-14 over 4-5 Tell City. The first big test was a failure in a 43-7 loss to power house 8-1 3A Heritage Hills. The 2nd big test was another blowout loss in a 42-0 battering from 3A 7-2 Southridge at Huntingburg. The Viks beat up 1As Tecumseh, Forest Park and 2A Pike Central last week 45-14. Course it goes without saying that both the Raiders and Patriots have put the hurt on many a quality team over the years. Folks will say they won 5 games against teams with sub 500 records, and 2 others over 5-4 teams. They still beat those teams with dominance. You can't talk about schedule strength without mentioning SV's trek in 2024. They have been in the Wabash River Conf for as long as I can remember. That is a conference mainly of small 1A schools, and thus their schedule locks them in 7 games vs 1`A schools. So you know schedule comparison favors North Posey. Not that SV plays nobody, and again, in these games the Wildcats generally dominated. The put the only loss on 8-1 North Vermillion easily 48-6, and had a dominant 49-0 win over 4-5 West Vigo to start the year. The only games that looked liked challenges were in week with 3-6 Sullivan, a 34-25 win, and a 20-7 win over 6-3 1A Riverton Parke. They also dispatched 5-4 Covington 48-14, and 4-5 Fountain Central 55-14. Look at the Sagarin numbers and you see dang near even numbers. SV 123rd in state at 57.53 NP 124th t 57.46. That makes it a pretty tough pick. I would imagine Anderson Field would be hopping rowdy which should give the Cats a boost as well...but the Vikings have been in big games, so I doubt that rattles them. As mentioned, no titles for SV, but NP has 5 including last year. but you gotta go back to 2005 for the next one. The Football Gods must have conspired in Football Heaven to pit these two long time rivals against each other in the opening week of Sectional 39. If you live south of Terre Haute, West of Bloomington and North of Evansville you probably are aware of the Sullivan/Linton rivalry somehow...be it Golf, Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Baseball, ....anything. Purple and Gold, and Red and Blue just don't mix well. This will be the 112th meeting between these schools, a mere 15 mile trek separating them on Indiana 54. For the Arrows, this is divine opportunity to end Linton's season at the Roy in Linton in the face of adversity. The Miners have taken the last 7 meetings, including a 42-20 win in week 4 at the Roy, as well as 10 of the last 11 games. Some of these games have come down to last possessions, or a single big play that changes the outcome. In terms of Rivalries, it's hard to beat this one; especially in small town football. Sullivan fan block showed up at the earlier game with a huge sign stating "Nobody Likes Linton...But you"... a play on the infamous Youll Like Linton signs coming into town. Well that may be true. Coach Mike Caton is in his 3rd year at command of the Golden Arrows, and it surely hasn't gone as he'd like it. A promising start with a hammering of 1A 2-7North Knox 48-6 bode well, but they lost their starting QB in that game. Next up a battle with the aforementioned Wildcats of South Vermillion fell to the black n gold 34-25. thus begun a tough stretch of 4 total losses, but very good competition- 8-1 4A Northview 35-0, 7-2 Linton 42-20, and 9-0 3A Cascade 42-6. that's a WL opponent of 33-3. Against lesser quality Sullivan thrived and dominated in back to back wins over 0-8 3A Owen Valley 56-0 and 2-7 3A Edgewood. THey've been in battles in the last 2 games of the season, each 1 score losses- 4-5 Indian Creek 21-14 and 4-5 3A West Vigo on a last second 1 yard plunge for the Vikings to pull out a 12-6 win. The Arrows have h ad recent success, having won a sectional in an 8-4 2020. They also played a whopper of a game against Linton losing 33-24 in sectional finale 2022. Reality says that this 3 win season is their lowest since a 3-7 2010 season, but no doubt the chance to turn the tide on Linton will have them more rejuvenated that had they drawn anyone else. Linton opened up with a doozie facing Marion Local from the cornfields of western Ohio. Who were they you ask? Just a small school from Maria Stein that had won 3 state titles in a row, 10 of the last 12 years! They came in with the nations longest win streak at 48, which now stands at 57. Certainly a challenge, and the Flyers demolished the Miners in front of the home folks 45-6. Like Sullivan, Linton saw their returning QB leave the game with injury. Linton's turning point came the following week in a 22-20 tough hard fought win over always stout Monrovia (7-2). They would have run the gauntlet except for a hickup at Boonville where the Pioneers (4A 4-5)nipped the Miners by one 21-20. Now, to be sure you don't accuse me of favoritism...I will point out that Linton's wins have come against a combined 11-34. Slightly improved if I count Phalen's win in week 9 as the Falcons were 5-2 I believe (16-36). But yes, Linton played only 2 teams with +.500 records, but as I have said with other teams...they took care of business when they were supposed to. THe Miners had a lot of success as a 1A school coming up the ladder of respect. They moved up to 2A with success factor in 2017 after 14 1A sectional titles, and it took to 2022 to get their 1st 2A title. They did reach the championship last year losing in an eternally memorable OT to Southmont 36-34 at Linton. Mater Dei has been the thorn in post-season 3 years straight 2019-2021 as well as Regional 2022. Coach Brian Oliver will undoubtedly have Linton ready in his 12th season at the helm. The thing is....these two teams know each other so well. 112 meetings. There really are never any surprises. Linton has the top Sagarin ranking in this sectional at 64.34, but the 3rd lowest Schedule Rating. THe Miners are 89th in the state of all classes in that rating. Sullivan is 5th in S39 at 42.30with the 2nd toughest rated schedule in this group behind only Greencastle. You have to look at the first meeting as well... I know a 42-20 win looks convincing, but Sullivan had taken the lead with 32 seconds before half on a 77 yard pass play, and were going to get the ball to start 3rd. All the momentum in purple. But Voigtschild returned the ensuing kick off 95 yards in one of those momentus talked about forever plays that put Linton up 14-12. Linton came out strong in 3rd with 2 scores to jump up 28-12. But as usual the Arrows did not pack up shop. They would score with just under 10 minutes left and bring the game to within 8 on a 2 point run. After a Miner punt they drove to the Miner 32 before imploding with a couple penalties and a bad snap. They punted to play field position, but Linton drove 69 yard scoring at 2:10 and taking a 36-20 lead. Linton would add a late TD after Sullivan fumbled the following kickoff for the final margin. Total yardage wasn't a blowout--366-295 Linton. First downs 20-16 Linton. miners with 177 rush 189 (surprisingly) passing... Sullivan 155 rush and 140 pass. It sets up for a classic rematch between old rivals whose older brothers, Dad's, uncles, Grandfathers....all could have played against each other at some point in this long history. Should be mighty electric at Roy WIlliams. There ya go.. just like the old days of super long posts by your old pal Miner Pride!!! Be Safe!!

“If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.” — William Tecumseh Sherman

Interesting we have the same thing happened in 2000's........ NORTH JUDSON was guilty and his name is @Spanky Harper True True

Could be a running clock in second half. I'm a little biased, but the Cougars have way to much offensive firepower. Frontier might get a couple, but they won't have an answer defensively.

We had a old coach named Jeff Pierce...he used to say every time there was a low flying plane near our practice field...which was a lot since we are located in the middle of a corn field(crop duster and a airport fairly close). He would say Linton spy...lol...we would be like what? In that plane...there are Linton people watching our practice...lol. We would always say...no way Coach Pierce...they dont need spies to beat us...lol Now every time a plane comes over we yell...Linton Spy! Anyway...I would love to hear stories like this...fun times! I miss Coach Pierce...he made everyone laugh...he was a great guy!

I'm using the same approach that scarab527 used last fall, so here goes . . . Sticking to the 100 game format just to keep things simple. First week will be 18 games, second 22, Sectional Championship week 24 games, Regional week 18 games, and then all 12 Semi-State games and all 6 State games. Round 1 Games: 1. Columbia City @ FW Dwenger 2. Culver Academy @ Lebanon 3. Danville @ Brebeuf Jesuit 4. Woodlan @ Tippecanoe Valley 5. Heritage @ Delta 6. Rushville @ Franklin County 7. Evansville Memorial @ Evansville Mater Dei 8. Heritage Hills @ Gibson Southern 9. Western Boone @ North Putnam 10. North Montgomery @ Southmont 11. Eastbrook @ Tipton 12. Heritage Christian @ Indianapolis Lutheran 13. Lapel @ Northeastern 14. North Posey @ South Vermillion 15. Carroll (Flora) @ Frontier 16. West Washington @ South Decatur 17. Providence @ Springs Valley 18. South Spencer @ Forest Park

I nominate Bobref as Mr. Football. He is a senior, and he's been one a long time.😊

Providence at Springs Valley the game of the Week? Winner could go to Semi state.

Mitchell (+14) at Brown County Rough first year for new coach Zach See. Hopefully he can get some growth next year and some more wins. Jr high wasn't too bad. Eastern Pekin (-38) at Paoli Pekin has same year as Mitchell really. JR high was about equal too. Really thought they would be more competitive this season. Paoli on other hand is what we all thought. Really good. They have 1 more game after this or 3? Cant wait to see it. 16 seniors but good teams at all levels will keep paoli in PLAC contention for many years. Tell City (-42) at Crawford County Crawford got first win last week after 35 straight loses. They wont win but Tell City after the injuries may just do enough to get out injury free. Crawford looks better even if score dont show it. I think they cover. West Washington (+4) at South Decatur i dont know why im picking them. Both teams are pretty bad. Taking the long bus ride team is usually wrong so i guess im just hoping for 1 more. I say WW pulls it out 21-20. Perry Central (-4) at Tecumseh Perry has been pretty mediocre. Surprises me really. But that's better then bad and that's what Tecumseh is Providence (+3) at Springs Valley I have honestly argued with myself all week on this. Both teams are good. Valley finally gets them at home. They will be amped up and ready to play the team who has ended their season last 2 years. Im sure Valley has been saving some things for this game. Im taking Providence, but won't be a bit surprised if Valley wins. Should be a great close game either way. Silver Creek (+1) at Connersville Dont know much about either so I'm taking home team. About all I know to do. Haha Charlestown (+52) at Martinsville Spread feels too high but Charlestown has really fallen off. Welcome to 4A i guess? Hopefully their future is better. Scottsburg (-31) at Owen Valley Owen Valley really fell off after having couple good seasons. Scottsburg will be ready. Think they cover. North Harrison (-7) at Corydon Once again banking on Corydon to cover and maybe even win against County rival. Hopefully they do after the tough week they had. Brownstown (-35) at Switzerland County Probably a beating. Spread feels low. Clarksville (+28) at Salem Same as above. Salem isn't that bad. Playing better as season goes on. Clarksville is really bad. Running clock incoming. Bonus Game of the Week: North Knox (+7) at North Davies Wanted to take North Daviees but they really don't blow anybody out. Won by 6 in meeting few weeks ago. This game js tough to pick too. JV for them seems pretty good. Maybe good teams coming?

This conspiracy theory is from a fan perspective. From 2015-2018, Columbus East played in one of the very few five-team sectionals in 5A. That means three teams got a first round bye and two teams didn’t. Therefore, you had a 60% chance of getting a bye each year. In those four years, Columbus East never got a bye. If you do the math, the probability of never getting a bye in that four-year period is 2.56%. Bob Gaddis was the coach of Columbus East at that time and if you knew him well enough or played for him you knew how much he hated for his players to get out of a routine. He felt like it could affect the team mentally. So once the season started, the routine was that you had a game every Friday night. If you had a bye, that threw the routine off. Because of this, some of his former players and I would joke around that he used his influence as a key member of the coaches association to ensure Columbus East didn’t get a bye so that the routine didn’t get thrown off. Let me be clear. We have zero evidence that this happened. We just thought it was quite the coincidence that the routine never got thrown off in those four years despite the 2.56% chance of never getting a bye.

Regardless of outcome, the IHSAA should be ashamed that we don't have some sort of seeding. Our neighboring states shake their heads on the no seeding/random draw. It's time to get something whether it's fully seeded or partial & random draw.

I'm thinking Carroll 35-0. Don't see Frontier scoring much on this battle tested Carrol team.

The only 2 that I can think of that can be said in a public forum would be: Does Your Back Hurt Sandy??? (In a very whiny, high pitch voice) and TACO MEAT!!! Please do not ask for an explanation for either.

Interesting...Spanky Roth has been sighted flying over North Judson practices every time the Jays play Winamac!

Wide open for sure, that's why I think if Lutheran wins a 3rd straight Title and QB Jackson Willis could gain some traction https://www.maxpreps.com/in/indianapolis/indianapolis-lutheran-saints/athletes/jackson-willis/football/stats/?careerid=9n0fpsi9crd88 https://www.indystar.com/videos/sports/high-school/2024/08/15/2024-indystar-football-preseason-super-team-lutheran-quarterback-jackson-willis/74786659007/

There doesn't seem to be a clear cut favorite like we had last year.

Conspiracy! I must preface this with “this is for entertainment purposes only.” I must also be clear that I don’t believe any of this but thought it was funny so I’m sharing. There is a hilarious conspiracy floating around Lincoln City. This is inspired from the past several years, especially during the Brady Allen years, there are almost always “mystery men” that show up on the roster. Who are these 2 or 3 270 lb 6’ 5” seniors that just showed up on the roster this year? Well, that is all fine and good and is what it is but this year–NO MYSTERY MEN. But wait, there’s more. There is a mystery man, but this man is no man and goes over a foot shorter and about 150 lbs lighter, but has way more power. Jett’s girlfriend–for those who aren’t aware, she is a student at Gibson Southern. The conspiracy was that Coach Hart was going to rig it so that we would play the first game of sectional (this came out BEFORE the draw–feeding the conspiracy further), and then today or tomorrow, she would break up with him and there would be pics of her and Zach Foster (GS QB1) on Twitter together. This of course would be devastating to poor Jett who can’t concentrate on the game and everything falls apart. My son says this has gotten hilarious as one of the boys at the lunch table says to Jett, (who is ticked this is even a thing) “that is some elite stuff from Coach Hart right there!” They continually give him a hard time since he is dating the “enemy”. Again, nobody actually believes this, but it was funny especially since it started before the draw.

Great promo. What was the reason Washington would not allow the HUDL stream? Didn't want a public execution broadcast worldwide?

Carroll Flora, doubt it will be close. Common opponent Clinton Prairie, Frontier beat them by 10, Caroll blew them out. Not a huge fan of transitive property in football, but I think this one is pretty glaring. While Carroll's schedule isn't anything to call home about, I doubt Frontier would go undefeated in it, but just my opinion.

Show me a kid in his era that played baseball that didn't try to emulate his delivery....you can't. RIP El Toro......

That's bold K9! I'm not following the STC star yet at this point but bullpups need to get buy the wildcats and flat landers first. That hasn't worked out well thus far?

that they’re good recruiters

Cathedral’s enrollment (and make up) is not at all the same as some of the other 6A programs being referenced in this thread.

He chased himself off by misrepresenting himself, being rude to administrators and spending a decade-plus trying to take this place over - not to mention posting tons of inane "let's throw garbage against the wall and see what sticks" content. We're better off without pot-stirrers like him.

This isn’t even the biggest controversy for HSF here in Wisconsin. WIAA recently suspended 2 high school programs for 2 full years from playoffs because the districts didn’t properly submit paperwork saying they were changing conferences. they found out this last week in the season finale that their seasons were forfeit…2 years no playoffs….because the AD or WIAA couldn’t get the paperwork figured out….kids did nothing wrong and receive 100% of the punishment