Leaderboard

EM opens as the favorite. Not sure that’s accurate considering the bump in class. It’s going to take another big game from the defense. Really surprised how EM dominated Mooresville’s OL. It wasn’t just the Combs kid. Most of EM DL won their matchups all night, especially #69.

First, gotta say The Pit looks like a fantastic venue to see a game. Love the placement and layout. Sort of reminds me of the Reitz Bowl on a smaller scale. Had Vincennes won last night, I’d be pulling for the Tigers today. But with Lincoln bowing out, I’m hopping on the Pats train to StinkTown. My gut just tells me Chatard/HH are on a collision course. It’d be great to see those groups of linemen duke it out.

I just hope folks stop overlooking teams like New Palestine for playing "weak schedules" and start paying attention to what actually goes on out on the field. Your schedule doesn't mean a freaking thing. Executing on the football field, being disciplined, and having players/coaches that are 100% bought in does. Every time I think New Palestine has finally earned everyone's respect, they play a new tough opponent which brings out another group of clueless doubters. Stop it.

At the end of the day it was 2 great teams in what I thought would be a war. It was a war. class players and coaches. Great effort by both teams.

Why don’t you let us concentrate on Andrean and if all goes well we will deal with your ignorance then!

This didn’t age well.

Maybe.

I was unaware Bishop Dwenger and East Noble were in 6A.

The Hobart Defense is really, really good. Statistically there has probably been better defenses at Hobart, but on the field flying to the football. They are unreal. After the first drive they completely shut it all down save for a long 50yd run in the 4th by the NP qb. The Region as a whole is a little surprising. I think everyone knew Valpo would be good, MC was supposed to be but they fell on hard times. Merrillville I think was a wait and see. Andrean dropping to 2A gave people some hope they could make a run but nothing was for sure. Morton had the hype train with all the D1 (potentially) kids. And Hobart was a team building momentum but maybe not ready for prime time. I don’t know if I ever remember more than maybe 2 Region teams in a semi state, and I think all of them have a decent chance with Merrillville having the most daunting of the bunch....but certainly not a gimme for Carmel. Still think Valpo is the most likely to get through and that says a lot seeing how good Dwenger is. On top of that Hobart is very young, Andrean is young, so that bodes well for them sticking around next year for a good run. I don’t know if there is a golden age coming but certainly it’s been a renaissance year for the Region. I can’t imagine the 219 party that could be coming to Naptown.

Good size crowd....I was surprised how many showed up when I arrived. Tenderloin was HUGE....my wife took 1/2 her’s home. I liked the chili, too. Called them at Noon to confirm the chili, btw. Fun time!

Kudos to Hobart they just flat out put a whipping on NP. Hobart is real good and they just played out of their minds last night. Defense was one of the most active defenses I’d ever seen and NPs lack of deception let them run wild. Your kicker was phenomenal and put NP in terrible position all night long. Offense was EXTREMELY good at faking hand offs. Just all around seemed like a perfect storm for Hobart. Every big play went their way (scoop and score, pick before the half). If Hobart plays like that the next 2 games. They are your state champs.

There were a few things that annoyed me. The first like you said the talk about speed which I knew wouldn't have much of an effect because New Pal has great team speed of their own. Another was the talk of D-1 talent. To me when you look at it, it's not like New Pal doesn't have D-1 talent on their team. King is committed to Michigan State, Hook to Toledo, Spegal has interest for sure but I think colleges still lump him as a FB. There was plenty of talent on that field last night in both red and white. Which was why I said D-1 talent will have nothing to do with the outcome of this game. One other thing that was annoying were some of the comments by supporters of other teams making asnine comments. I couldn't agree with you more Coach. Many will wake up look at the box score and see 35-10. What they won't see was the preparation both teams put in. The physicality of the game and effort by both teams. Both coaching staffs had good game plans. In the first half Cathedral controlled the clock at times, mounted drives, were forcing New Pal to throw and getting pressure. They ended up with a TD and a FG instead of 2 TD's like I am sure they had hoped for, but New Pal's D had a lot to do with that. In the 2nd half New Pal set out to do what they wanted creating turnovers which put their offense on the field hit a huge pass play that was crucial. Then they did what they do best run the ball at the D and wear them down and Spegal starts to break big plays. It is definitely key to try and keep the Dragons offense off the field and score points, very difficult to do for 4 quarters because New Pal has great players on Offense and Defense that are very disciplined. New Pal has had my respect since the comeback they had in the State Championship against Snider (even though it was a loss). Schedule gets talked about a lot. Ultimately what matters is the play on the field by the teams. In all honesty Cathedral while they have a rugged schedule, they do so because they have no other choice. Being an independent after week 2 most teams are playing in their conference with no opening. So they pick up these out of state teams. They are fortunate CG and WC have moved their game to week 1 leaving an opening for CG in week 9. It honestly doesn't matter who is on your schedule when you have great coaching and players that work hard and develop their craft.

MV Fortville at Memorial, then head to FLA .

Another note: Danville Sophomore QB Payne was really good tonight. Give credit where it is due. You could tell the Alices had game planned to contain Schubert and the running game and they were largely successful at that. Payne made them pay with accuracy that he hadn’t really shown on film. Overall, it was a good showing by the men in green. Experience at this level of post-season play matters. And Lincoln took it to a team that has had plenty of recent tournament success. Lots to be excited about for a Vincennes team that only graduates 9 seniors. Good luck to the Warriors next week!

I climbed on this soapbox in our postgame show tonight as we waited for our postgame interview ... but for those who want to downplay New Palestine's schedule, the Dragons have beaten two regional champs this regular season (6A Center Grove 28-9 & 4A Mt. Vernon 49-7). There was another win against Pendleton Heights, a team that beat regional champ MV in the regular season and played them to the wire in the sectional final. I'm not sure too many teams in the state have two wins vs. semistate participants.

I have seen over the years the P/P vs Public argument on this board. Coach Ralph brings exactly what teams like Chatard, Cathedral, and others bring to the table. It’s not a secret ingredient it’s hard work in the weight room, great conditioning, great scheme with great coaches, and goals within games they try to attain. Charlie Spegal is special and New Pal will definitely miss him. That being said with Coach Ralph and his staff at the helm New Pal will continue to work hard and have success! you broke it down best. It was a tight game. Turnovers can change the outcome of a game in a heart beat. People weee all over Roncalli during their run. To be honest they weren’t special or that much better than everyone else. What they did was not turn the ball over and force you to turn it over ( same as New Pal did tonight granted NPbhas a special player in Soegal).. No matter what my favorite New Pal player resides in @CaptainHook‘s household for obvious reasons! Lol be sure to keep messaging captain!

Ben Davis @ Center Grove

Chatard line looked very impressive along with the running back Taylor. Was hoping Concordia would have hung around but they played them hard the first half. Hats off to Chatard, that's a pretty complete looking team.

Valpo should roll, the Merrillville-Carmel game could go either way, and both the Hobart and Andrean outcomes sound about right. Represent. Without question.

Andrean’s situation was complicated. They were 3A in size when they factored out of 3A to 4A. If I recall correctly, they were then bumped to 4A but their enrollment fell to 2A at the same time. They still had to spend 2 years in 4A but then only dropped down to 3A (even though their enrollment was 2A by that time). They then had to spend 2 more years in 3A before they could go back to 2A. In summary, it took them 4 years to get back to the class that actually matched their size. Memorial now has 2 points which will keep them in 4A during the next cycle. They need 4 more points to move up to 5A. Basically you receive 1 point for every “level” you win. One point each for Sectional, Regional, Semi-State and State cumulatively. Sorry for the digression.

Glad you enjoyed. The Acme has been around forever. A great spot for the local North Side folks................Snider, Dwenger, and Concordia as well. Good luck to Chatard next week. When they scored on their second play from scrimmage last night, I knew the young Cadets were in big trouble.

I heard there was a very rowdy out of control bunch from Chatard at the Acme last night. Btw, how was the tenderloin?

The great thing for smaller schools in the SAC is that you are going to play against a variety of schools that typically are bigger than you, some maybe a lot better.....but you will be better in the end. The negative is that your probably going to lose a fair amount of those games. That might not fit well in the video game mindset where if you are losing you just reset the game until you win. That mind set isn’t isolated to certain kids Concordia, by any means. That said, I’m no shrink so what do Iknow? I thought the kids from Concordia played their @sses off last night.....right to the end. They went down throwing roundhouses. BTW, Acme was a great recommendation for pregame last night. Thanks. Hope our folks weren’t too rowdy and tipped well. Thanks for ALL of the food recommendations.

There has to be something else. Something else that he is afraid of. Or maybe he's just not that passionate about football. I've heard kids say that as well. In my opinion, it's either that football isn't their passion, or that they are afraid of not being as good as they think they are going to be. They'd rather talk about how good they are, instead of going out and showing how good they are. I don't know the kid you are speaking of, so I'm not judging him personally. It's just what I've personally observed from kids who say that. The kids I respect the most are the kids who play for Caston. They go out and get whipped every Friday night. Then they have to deal with the critics telling them how bad they are. But they continue to fight every week. When it comes to the game of life, those kids will be the winners.

If it isn’t already obvious, IQ testing isn’t mandatory with ADs in Central Indiana. Sweet Jesus.......smh.

That would drive me crazy too. Mostly because it is simply wrong. This is a team that won a state championship a few years ago by beating the $hit out of everyone they faced. I'm sure there are a lot of teams in the state that would like to be "stuck at this level for 4 to 5 years now." Granted the team would better if all of the great athletes played football, but, I think those days are gone for all schools. More and more families are choosing to not allow their kids to play football. I can even see it at Chatard and especially at the grade school level feeder programs. But, to use losing* as an excuse at a school that is competitive every year and recently won a state championship is completely irrational. *I am not big enough therefore I am afraid of being seriously injured is a completely legitimate reason not to play football.

100%. Agree. This game completely lived up to the hype. Amazing atmosphere, biggest crowd that I have seen at Kelso field. Both teams left it all on the field. Thanks to these young men, for an exciting Friday night of football.

All I have heard is how good this Valpo team is... I think we got a chance... sucks we have to travel again. Kills my pay check getting off early to drive 2 hours. Be nice if they moved the game to Saturday

And if you’re talking about the 219 in general, there are teams in the final four of 4 different classes. Is NWI football coming back?

My first trip to Lawrenceburg tonight. At the risk of causing this thread to veer in a whole different direction ... how did it come to be called Stinktown?

Concordia hung in tough for a half. I was impressed with that. A very young team and they competed with one of the best teams in the state. It was just a matter of time though before Chatard pulled away. That is a good football team. Congrats to them and good luck the rest of the way.

Our injuries were too much to overcome. I was proud of this team because we had already lost 3 starting DBs/WRs and lost a 4th in the 1st half of the game. We had 2 OL out. Our RB playing injured. We had a lot of other injuries this season and guys that have come back. For this team to go 9-3 and win a Sectional and play a team like Bloomington South, I’m pretty proud of their team efforts.

Y'all are probably Bengals and Reds fans too. May God help the lost souls of suburban Nattown.

To start my recap..I just gotta say that it was so good to have regional football back at Inman Field. It was a full house on both sides..tailgates like I hadn’t seen all season..former players that I haven’t seen in so long. For a program that’s been fighting to get back to respectability, it was a big night for Lincoln football. The Alices shot out of a cannon, scoring on their first two drives. Rae Haislip picked up where he left off a week ago and Danville had no answer for him early. 14-7 Lincoln end of 1st. Danville scores the only pts in the 2nd quarter, botched snap on PAT. Both defenses tighten up. 14-13 Lincoln at the half. The 3rd quarter started well for the Alices, forcing Danville’s RB Schubert to fumble close to the goal line. But that’s where their good fortune ended. They would give it back on an interception in Danville territory. The Lincoln defense would hold, but 2 more TO’s deep in their own territory resulted in short-field TD’s for the Warriors...and that’s all it took. That’s how you lose at this stage of the tournament.. So really a one score game for about three and a half quarters when Danville broke it open off a second INT.

the only thing that annoyed me in this thread is when posters said that we hadn't seen speed or athtletes like Cathedral had. As Muda has so graciously pointed out, we are a suburb of Indianapolis. These boys have seen city speed since second grade. Played basketball and football against the top athletes Indy has to offer. Won a Basketball regional semi-final against Avon. Came within a shot of beating Ben Davis. Won a state championship in football defeating Zionsville, Michigan City and Decatur Central. To act like our boys had no idea what they were gonna see is asinine.

New Pal overrated. Spiegal Catalog can’t run between the tackles. BS is no bs. Bloomington South 73 New Palestine 0.

Spegal is great, no doubt, but, someone needs to talk about that O-line. The yards after contact are Spegal, but, those long runs were about great blocking. How many times did you guys fail to set the edge because your DE got hooked? Answer: a lot. New Pal won this game at the LOS, both offensively and defensively. Someone give me an Amen.

Friday night is what I’m hearing from powers at be... Darn.

Region sending 3 to Semis. NCC 2 teams. Ville vs Carmel Hobart vs East Noble Andrean vs Eastbrook

It looks like Concordia will be a tough out in the future. Good skill position players, very well coached (I really like their offensive schemes, especially the O-line), just need bigger and better linemen, which comes with age and reps. This should be a good team for the foreseeable future (provided the soccer team doesn't steal all of the good players). As I've said all year, this Chatard team is all about line play. Skill position players are a nice bonus, but, you could put me, Lysander, and Trojan88 in the backfield and we'd score 42 a game . . . ok, after the first series we'd all be on the sideline with hamstring injuries, but you know what I mean.

Slow start for the Panthers going down 9-7 with all the momentum to Eastside. The Panthers finally picked it up, Binkerd had a heck of a game with almost 200 rushing yards. Eastside has a very good young QB. Congrats to the Panthers on 4 regional titles in a row.

Nobody would listen

Stay classy Dragons fans.

Hate to say i told ya so but I TOLD YA SO On to semistate go Brickies

WeBo looking strong with 14 - 0 lead in 1st qtr over HC...but if I have to listen to these announcers for much longer, I may shoot myself... Adding insult to injury, the SRN radio guy just mentioned Evansville REITZ will playing at Triton Central tomorrow in the other 2A Regional Thanks Dumb A$$

Stinky, Stink, Stink 1.2.3 Those stands cant be filled by EC you ain't bringing more than the Bad Boyz Baby!

Stinky, Stink, Stink 1.2.3 That picture is like old bourbon get an updateed one please! Stands in the zone, they are new indeed Hopefully the fans can get a Tiger leap!

With VL moving to the SIAC next year this sectional alignment could really help them build on an already good program. They could take a few on the chin in the regular season then make a playoff run a regular occurrence.

In all fairness I have lots of respect for VL, but it's hard to take this game seriously when you have Southridge and Gibson sitting at home. Thank you IHSAA in your infinite wisdom.

Joseph?