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Wanted to take a second and give some props to the Fairfield Falcons and their 8-0 undefeated regular season. Heck of a job by Coach Matt Thacker going 8-0 in his third season at Fairfield. After going 1-9 in each of previous coach Bob Miller's final seasons, the Falcons went 0-9 in Coach Thacker's first season in 2018. That season Fairfield only averaged 3 points per game on offense while giving up 55 points on defense. Last year saw improvement to the tune of a 6-6 record and a sectional championship appearance. This season, the offense has averaged 38 points per game while the defense is giving up just under 8 points per game. Look at the turn around in these final scores from 2018 to this year: Opponent 2018 2020 Point Differential West Noble 6-51, L 41-7, W +79 Angola 0-70, L 29-17, W +82 Garrett 0-44, L 36-7, W +73 Lakeland 6-62, L 42-0, W +98 Churubusco 8-62, L 24-6, W +72 Best of luck to Fairfield in a tough 2A sectional 35. They got a good draw with a first round home against a Central Noble team they defeated 32-6 in week 3, then a likely home game against Ft Wayne Bishop Luers in the semi-finals. More likely than not they would have to travel to Eastside for a sectional championship rematch, but I would anticipate a closer showing than last year's result.

Don’t sell yourself short, Judge. You’re a terrific slouch.

Let’s leave the commentary to the OOB Forum and stick to the topic of this thread.

O i know why he does it. I swear to God I do!!! But I dont read the Sagamore so explains why I never see them anywhere else.

Just making a general observation about the SIAC folks in general (Memorial more specifically) being less than optimistic as to their team’s prospects in recent years despite still taking hardware home at seasons end. I recall when Reitz was on that roll from 2007-10 and were legitimately a Top 10 team All Classes some of that time and they had that fierce rivalry with Cathedral. If you even questioned Reitz’ superiority back then a Panther with dueling pistols was at your doorstep. Apparently a league memo was issued sometime in the last 5 years. These past few years the general SIAC demeanor is “Well......we just hope to win that first Sectional game”, “We’ve got little chance this week”, and, finally, on the doorstep of LOS, “We’re just lucky to be here”. I guess that’s why I chuckle when I hear the word “Darkhorse” referenced to playoff caliber SIAC teams - especially undefeated ones.

LOL I was going to mention I was using my Obama phone but I didn’t want to bring up politics.

Fascinating stuff..... just fascinating

Looks like South Putnams answered some questions. I swear to God they did

6A NOTE: This is simply for fun and to generate discussion. This is how I predict the 6A postseason to pan out at this moment. Obviously it’s hard to predict every single game that is going to happen before sectionals have even started so this is just for fun. I’m sure some of my choices will change after week 1 of sectionals. Would love to see others predict their sectional winners and happily welcome anything anyone has to say about these picks. Let me know where you think I’m wrong at and if there’s something you strongly disagree with me about! Let’s all pray for a Covid-free postseason, all these teams to remain healthy and for some great football. Sectional 1: Lafayette Jeff and Merrillville will meet for the sectional title in what should be a great game. Jeff hasn’t been tested a whole lot this season but they’ve taken care of everyone they were supposed to. Merrillville hasn’t had a tough schedule either, other than their 45-28 loss to a very good Chatard team. Jeff’s strength is their O-Line and have a top 3 fastest kid in the state at RB. Merrillville has athletes all over the field and good size. Merrillville has a better roster but will they be as well coached and prepared as the Bronchos? Can Jeff get revenge for their 27-20 loss to the pirates last year in sectionals? I’m torn on this one. Jeff has 2 defensive lineman committed to Cincinnati and Eastern Michigan. Merrillville has ATH JoJo Johnson who is expected to commit to Michigan State soon and also have a DE committed to Bowling Green. My mind is telling me Merrillville but my heart tells me the Bronchos breakthrough and win only their 6th sectional title ever and first since 2002. Pat Shanley has one of the most impressive rebuilds in the state at Jeff and is building something special in Lafayette. Prediction: Lafayette Jeff 42 Merrillville 40 Sectional 2: Penn and Elkhart should meet in the title game for what will be another great game. Elkhart defeated Penn 20-19 in week 5. It is great for the state and 6A football to have another great football program in the North like Elkhart. Can they take the Kingsman down for the second time this season? Prediction: Penn 28 Elkhart 24 Sectional 3: I think Carroll takes down Warsaw fairly easily and Homestead takes down Snider again. Homestead sent a message to 6A with a huge 70-41 win against Carroll week 7. I think this one will be closer and either team can absolutely win. Prediction: Homestead 34 Carroll 21 Sectional 4: HSE and Fishers meet again after HSE beating the tigers 21-9 in week 4. I’ll take HSE again in this one. Westfield should handle Noblesville easily in their game although Noblesville has been competitive all year and hasn’t lost an HCC game by more than 21 all year which is impressive despite a 2-7 record. Westfield played HSE week 5 with the rocks winning 14-3. Both teams are solid but I think Westfield is the best team in the north by a decent margin. I would be shocked if they don’t win by more than 11 this time around. But as always, anything can happen in high school football and HSE is certainly a good enough team to win this ballgame. Prediction: Westfield 43 HSE 17 Sectional 5: Pike vs Carmel round 2 will be very interesting. Carmel won 45-44 in 2OT week 4. Pike is 3-6 but a great football team. Full of athletes and have gotten so much better over the past couple of years. Carmel is 7-2 with losses to the 2 best teams in the state. I like them to win by 14+ in this game. Brownsburg vs Avon in a rematch where B’Burg won 47-29 in week 4. This is a rivalry game and anything can happen but Avon is having a down year compared to the past few years. Give me the bulldogs by 12-18. Brownsburg vs Carmel in the title game is a tremendous game. Brownsburg’a only loss is to Westfield in OT. Other than that game and the game against St. Xavier, they have dominated their opponents. Can one of the HCC’s top dogs take down one of MIC and the states premier programs? Carmel is playing great and I really don’t know what will happen in this game. It’s hard to pick Brownsburg due to recent MIC vs HCC matchups in the postseason in recent years. Prediction: Carmel 37 Brownsburg 34 Sectional 6: Ben Davis will have their way with Southport. Tech and Perry are probably 2 of the worst 3 teams in 6a. I guess I’ll take Tech since they have won football games this year. Ben Davis will rout Tech in the title game. Ben Davis beating North Central 42-20 in week 9 showed 6A they are not a team to be taken lightly despite a 4-5 record. Also took LN to overtime. No one should be sleeping on the giants this postseason. Prediction: Ben Davis 66 Arsenal Tech 10 Sectional 7: Somehow Lawrence North only beat Lawrence Central 28-21 earlier this year. This one will not be nearly as close. LN by 35+. Warren Central vs North Central is a rematch of NC beating the warriors 10-0 in week 2. While NC losing big last week to Ben Davis is surprising, I’m writing it off as just a bad night for them, they are still a great team. You’ve got to consider O’Shea a top 3 coach in the state with the job he’s done with NC. Already taken down many great MIC teams since he’s been there and them going 6-3 this year is extremely impressive. Warren is 2-5 this yet and obviously fielding one of their worst teams in a very long time. That being said, they are still Warren Central. They could very well win this game. Their offense has a tough task against NC. I’ll take NC by 14. Lawrence North vs North Central will be a rematch of a 27-21 win by the wildcats in week 4. My heart tells me LN is a significantly better football team with a lot more firepower. My mind reminds me the panthers still have Kevin O’Shea as their head football coach. Lawrence North’s competitive 28-13 loss to CG sways me enough to pick them in this game. Prediction: LN 26 NC 21 Sectional 8: CG is the best team in the state but they have shown they can be beat, despite being extremely dominant over some great teams. I think they’ll flex their muscle over Columbus North and win by 35+. Columbus East vs Franklin Central could be closer than some may think. CE hasn’t had a difficult game since week 3 but they have dominated like they were supposed to since then. FC is 1-8 and went winless in the HCC. Their 2 closes losses were 7-14 against HSE and 13-20 against Noblesville. Will their gauntlet of a schedule pay off in this game? Give me Columbus East by 21. Is Columbus East a trap game for CG? I don’t think so. CE is certainly a solid team but it’s hard to imagine them keeping this game within 3-4 scores. Prediction: CG 45 CE 10 Regional 1: Lafayette Jeff vs Penn This would be an interesting game and a matchup of 2 very different programs. Penn is one of Indiana’s most accomplished all time programs but has been on a decline recently. Lafayette Jeff is top 15 in all time wins but has hardly any postseason success to show for it. Jeff was awful for about a 10 year stretch until Shanley took over in 2016. Penn isn’t as good as they’ve been historically this season but they are still a good football team. I haven’t had the chance to watch time since they played Valpo week 1 but I thought they looked good back then. Prediction: Lafayette Jeff 42 Penn 35 Regional 2: Homestead vs Westfield I’ll always have great respect for non-Indy 5A and 6A schools who give the state some parity when it comes to the postseason. Homestead has impressive wins over Dwenger and Carroll but it’s hard to forget them almost losing to Noblesville last year in sectionals after also having a great regular season. Westfield is battle tested and i am extremely high on them. I think Westfield is just too talented and too well-coached to see a slip-up here. They have a special team this year. Prediction: Westfield 55 Homestead 14 Regional 3: Carmel vs Ben Davis Carmel beat Ben Davis 31-9 in week 7 of this year. Although I think Ben Davis is playing really well, I have a hard time seeing them keeping up with Carmel. The greyhounds are on a roll right now. Could Ben Davis win this game? Yes. Do i think they will? No. Prediction: Carmel 38 Ben Davis 21 Regional 4: Lawrence North vs Center Grove Rematch of the week 8 matchup when CG won 28-13. Everyone knows what each of these teams are capable of. LN’s QB/WR duo of Donaven McCulley and Omar Cooper is the best in that state. CG is fielding one of the states best D-Lines of all time along with a great backfield on offense. I can’t get a grip on how close this one would be. I love seeing dominant teams like CG run the table and go down in history but I love how electric LN’s offense is. I really hope these 2 meet again. I would love to pick LN to win this game and I think they are more than capable of doing that, but it would feel silly to me to choose CG to lose when they’ve risen to the occasion every game this year and then some. Prediction: CG 42 LN 27 Semi-state: Westfield vs Lafayette Jeff Most will not know this, but Jeff actually won the last meeting between these 2. They beat the Shamrocks 27-24 in sectionals in 2017. The prior two years, Westfield beat them 38-14 in 2015 sectionals and 46-27 in 2016 sectionals. Jeff has unfortunate luck with their placement in the Indiana state classes and sectionals. I believe they are the 2nd or 3rd smallest school of the 32 6a teams and prior to last year, were stuck in a sectional with Westfield, Carmel and Noblesville for 4 years. They could do some real damage if they were in 5a every year. Westfield has proven week after week they are the real deal this year. They went to state a few years ago and have consistently been a threat in the HCC and in the state tournament. They are the more talented team and going 8-0 in the HCC is incredibly impressive. They have one common opponent in Harrison (WL). Westfield beat Harrison 34-10 in week 2. Jeff beat Harrison 76-55 in week 4. I have a hard time imagining them losing this game against Jeff. They will give CG all they can handle in the state title game. Prediction: Westfield 40 Lafayette Jeff 20 State championship: Westfield vs Center Grove I am more confident in these 2 meeting up i the state game then a lot of the sectional games I had to pick. Westfield is blessed to be in the north and I think they are just simply a better team than anyone they would play up until this point. CG is going to have to go through a gauntlet to get here. But by now I think everyone knows how talented and good this team is. If they run the table and win a state title this year, they will go down as one of the best teams in Indiana in a very long time. If they are dominant and don’t have a game within, say 17 points or so the rest of the way, I would put them among top 10 best teams in Indiana of all time. But again, all that talk is for when the job is complete. As far as this game goes, it will be a brawl. Westfield will not back down from this game and have no reason to believe they can’t win this game. Jake Gilbert is a tremendous coach and I strongly believe his team will be in this game. I want to pick the Rocks to win this game, I really do. But you’re just not going to have me pick against CG at this moment in time. Depending on how these teams play in the postseason, I wouldn’t even shy away from picking Westfield to win this game if CG has some scares along the way and Westfield dominates their path. Westfield is that good and CG will have their hands full. With that being said, I’m riding with the Trojans in this one. Prediction: Center Grove 24 Westfield 14

Cheers to the beginning of the playoffs - let’s hope each team stays healthy and avoids any cancellations. I believe Sectional 19 is one of the best in the state. Leo, Northridge, and East Noble are heavy favorites, but don’t sleep on NorthWood, Columbia City or Angola. Would not be surprised to see any of these six teams take home the Sectional 19 crown. Match ups I’m excited for week 1: Leo at Northridge and Columbia City at East Noble Leo at Northridge: Leo has proven to be a tough team for several years. This is one of their best teams they’ve had. Junior class is extremely talented (although what happened to #33 Mason Sheron??). They are strong defensively and offense is solid. Northridge is going to give them everything they have. They are a little banged up and coming off a tough loss vs a very good Mishawaka team. As an NLC fan, I’m hoping they learn from their mistakes and take Leo down the wire. My prediction — Leo scores at the end to make score look worse than it is: Leo 24, Northridge 14. Columbia City at East Noble: It’s never going to be an easy task to travel to the defending State Runner-Ups home turf. However, Columbia City has shown a ton of poise and is a sleeper in this Sectional. They will ride or die with their QB who has a great frame and big arm. Unfortunately the Eagles have a couple injuries which could let East Noble run loose. EN may have the biggest size in this sectional. From lineman to secondary they look and play tough. Their 24-0 loss to Leo is overshadowed by several costly turnovers and a couple key injuries (though Leo still would have won, IMO). Nonetheless, East Noble will pull away in this matchup: 28-14.

For the record, I've never been to Tri County except to drive by on the highway. Been to North Newton for multiple sports. In every school in Northwest Indiana, kids walk to the football game. Kids walk from places that you and I wouldnt walk. For the record, South Central and LaCrosse have no basketball bleachers on the far side. Has nothing to do with who goes to the games. Neutral sites regional and semistate football games would lose the IHSAA money and, would lose the 'feel' of having a home team. That's not debatable. More people attend home games than road games. Always have. Always will. I've been to at least 10 semistate games (I assume you have been to some, too) at several different schools and you have to admit it is the ultimate in drama. Senior boys who have played on this field all their lives play one final game there to reach the state finals,. I was told the IHSAA likes that atmosphere. You can call me or them liars but that's what I was told. I dont like the all-inclusive state playoff. They do. the larger point you are missing is: It is the ultimate of hubris for you to assume that your opinion (or me to assume that mine) has never been considered. The subject of neutral site playoff games has has come up. I've asked. I was answered. A message board argument is unlikely to break new ground.

Past 2 years. I miss the edit option I swear to God I do

... and just realized @Coach Nowlin already beat me to this with his topic/post earlier. I just hadn't read it yet! Sorry for the duplicated kudos/story

Congratulations to former Columbus East Olympian and Indiana University starting Center, Harry Crider, on being named a Captain for the upcoming season! He’s a stud.

The IHSAA by-laws are very clear. Games are not practices. So if the first thing they missed is the game last Friday and they did not have a Saturday practice scheduled then missing this Monday thru Thursday would only be 4 practices missed.

Yep. Fantastic D (especially the line) that really dictated the game and never allowed Carhedral to get into any rhythm. Didn’t have much success running on first and second down and were forced into obvious passing downs were CG could pin their ears and bring pressure.

LOL. We were a much different team last year - senior heavy across the board, experienced line, etc. This year we are young everywhere, except at QB and he is out with an injury. We will have our hands full this Friday in a tough match-up with Northview.

I vaguely seem to recall another SIAC “Darkhorse” that managed that gauntlet quite nicely last year.....all the way to blue. In conjunction with some of the best pregame “Lou Holtz” remarks in the history of the GID.

this is what I do know: Lots of energy spent by adults on dissecting reasons in an unprecendented season we are coming to a close on, the Covid Season. Be thankful any week your team you support gets to play: Have compassion for those teams and communities who cannot play any week. All the other conjecture is just sad.

It is statements like these that discredit the idea of using Sagarin Ratings as a method for seeding sectionals. The Sagarin ratings are either accurate or they are not. After nine games, there should not be holes in the rates or the method. I am not making an argument for the ratings, but many on this site do. So, how does a few out of conference games make "big adjustments"?

Rumor is they may be back, TC was out of school last week so contract tracing went back to the last time they were around the infected individual (not a FB player) which was the Friday before.... I could be wrong but I believe they will be cleared this Friday at 3. Per rumor source 🙂 Believe it will be a dogfight with all their players available!

So seems like the weeks that Attica had issues fell on weeks that they were to play a good team, thats called a quinsedence The notion that Attica came up with Covid or stretch the truth on their covid to avoid playing good teams is far different than the fact that they had it to cause the cancellation I know you can see the difference.... For somone who doesn't care, you have spent some time and energy ..... NOT CARING.

Sectionals Week 1 Jennings County at Martinsville Mooresville at Madison Slim pickins this week! Pretty straightforward, too.

Pale not Pail.

After Hamilton Heights JV games at West Lafayette then at LCC we’re cancelled, HH JV now playing at Kokomo JV 6 pm tonight 10/19.

Again, Hit the REPORT button if you feel like there has been some sort of violation of our policies.. I am one of 7 folks on the leadership team..... I promise, being a "booster" does not give you special treatment, however, we would absolutely take your $30 donation. I really do not see what exactly you are speaking of: Just a bunch of gray area mentions.... What is the exact issue you have:? Parke Heritage is or is not open? I do not know? Parke Heritage is or is not putting all thier sports kids in a bubble"? Again, know Idea ..... My issue with last week posts was the notion that a school such as Attica was purposelfully playing the "covid" card to avoid playing tougher competition. that was the issue. Pretty cut and dry. And lets see what exactly was done about it.... I steered the conversation away from that, nothing more, nothing less. No warnings, no suspensions, no PM's sent to @JohnnyFootball Very Senstive Morning for you OldBleacherfan.....

My yearly tradition. Best of luck to all schools, and thanks to all the Seniors who have dedicated themselves to their community, schools, and programs for all the years. Sectional Speech

And speaking of needless quarantines, I know of one very large school in Indiana that through the last 3 months and the many, many kids who were quarantined because of supposed "close" contact, a grand total of ZERO of them ever came down with any virus. None.

More like a team wins semi-state and one member of the team, who isn't sick, is needlessly quarantined because some kid in Algebra may have come down with something a oversensitive and likely inaccurate test says is Covid, shutting an entire football team down because of idiotic protocols.

The Fairfield Falcons I have always followed them since we played them in our 1st Regional win many moons ago (2009) and love what Coach Thacker has done in short order for the Falcons. Conference Champs: Tough Sectional but fun opportunity awaits FAIRFIELD FALCONS Coach: Matt Thacker, 14-15 in 3rd year at school DATE OPPONENT EASTERN TIME OA 38.1, DA 7.8 Aug. 28 Osceola Grace W 57 6 Sep. 4 at Central Noble 2A W 32 6 Sep. 11 Fremont 1A W 44 13 Sep. 18 at West Noble 3A © W 41 7 Sep. 25 at Angola 4A © W 29 17 Oct. 2 Garrett 3A © W 36 7 Oct. 9 Lakeland 3A © W 42 0 Oct. 16 at Churubusco 1A W 24 6 Oct. 23 Central Noble 2A 7:00 pm Sectional 35 ©NORTHEAST CORNER CONFERENCE GAME went 0-9 year one under coach Thacker, to 6-6 and a sectional championship appearance in 2019, to 8-0 this year SECTIONAL 35 (EASTERN TIME) Woodlan [1-8] 7:00 pm Oct. 23 Prairie Heights [0-9] Oct. 30 Eastside [8-1] 7:00 pm Oct. 23 Bluffton [8-1] Nov. 6 Whitko [4-5] 7:00 pm Oct. 23 FW Luers [3-6] Oct. 30 Central Noble [4-5] 7:00 pm Oct. 23 Fairfield [8-0]

Ok, then that settles it. Ohio state is in the second tier nationally. I couldn’t be happier.

This week could prove to be one of the craziest weeks ever in the WRC. You had all 3 Fountain County schools cancel football games scheduled for last week. FC cancels out of cross country regional and volleyball sectional. In the same county, Covington (even though their superintendent sent out a memo basically suspending all sports until further notice) go ahead and participate in the cross country regional and volleyball sectional. Rambler Dan (same county) played volleyball Saturday. Herbies (same health dept. as Fountain County) went on with business as usual. NV and the D1’s appeared to be the same, but the D1’s missed a football game to no fault of their own. And then in Parke County you have RP who has announced going back to school on elearning, canceling out of their volleyball sectional, not playing football, but allowing their cross country runners to run in the regional. I heard the Wolfs were going back to school this week like normal. I think they played everything business as usual last week outside of their football game with FC. So what happens this week? Are we seeing a prime case of the haves and have nots playing out? Will everyone play football? Can 1 county school basically shut down while the other school goes on business as normal? Can the D1’s, NV’s, Herbies go on while their neighbors try to pull the plug? Does someone bring up title 9 if a school doesn’t play in volleyball sectional yet plays in football sectional? Buckle up, sit back, and enjoy this crazy week in the WRC!

This weeks PSA brought to you by from_the_sidelines007 Hey All! The Gridiron Digest is inside of $500 of reaching its $3300 goal to meet paying the bills. If you are a GID follower and take part in the daily or weekly input right here and can spare a few extra dead presidents, Coach Nowlin and the ole Sherriff, along with the other powers that be, can close the book on the 2020 worries to pay the bills. Please consider giving at: https://gridirondigest.net/clients/donations/2-2020-21-budget/ Many thanks! as always, the game is better from_the_sidelines007

Frankfort Hot Dogs.

Out of these 15 #1, 2, 6, 12, and 14 are in same sectional

Congratulations.... u were able to turn a really good post / discussion into more meaningless covid ramblings.

Winner of the this sectional wins state.

Don’t have any brothers Sherlock, but nice try... Also, at Pioneer we don’t wait for the classes 5 to 10 years down the road to start winning games. Get excited about youth league and jr high scores all you want... Those leagues are for teaching fundamentals, not win-loss records. If our freshman come in knowing wing t fundamentals and how to get to the ball on defense I’m a happy camper. We know the conference is going to be more competitive in the coming years. Judson is going to be a problem next year. Hendryx will get Winamac turned around. Laville has a great young qb and a lot of youth getting valueable reps this year. I’ll still take the Panthers 🙂 Im done on this subject for now you know what they say about arguing with idiots....

The CG Spotlight casts a large brightness....... My stories are meant to shine a light on those programs who may not have such a large light to be shined historically. I think that is my entire point here.

Two years ago Fairfield played a varsity schedule with basically no seniors except one (he was a cross country runner), a small handful of juniors, a nice group of sophomores and a handful of freshmen. They gave up 493 points and scored 27. They gave up over 70 points twice and over 60 twice. This current group of seniors that are 8-0 never quit. Coach Thacker has done a remarkable job.

I’d have to agree. I was just telling my wife last night that just a few years ago they were on the verge of not having a team and I think they may have only played a JV schedule that year to undefeated this year. Great story.

Kyle Neddenriep did an awesome job covering this game on twitter. I was watching his updates while at the Delta vs NP game. We had quite the discussion when the 4th down call came up...punt to CG with no timeouts or go for it. That's a tough one. Touchback is most likely, you are just trying to get the ball out of there, right? So you're looking at losing 25 yards of field position or go for the win? Gutsy call, and you are 100% right, Coach Ralph would have gone for it. You have a play you like and it doesn't work out. You trusted the offense to get the job done. And you handed the ball off to your best playmaker...he gets the first down...game over. You punt the ball, and CG still may drive the field and score. That's what makes this game so fun!

I like that Whiting didn't give up on their season to give their young men the oppotunity to play their final 2 games of the season and hopefully into the playoffs. Good Luck Oilers !!!

Im gonna go with West Washington. Yes, they were great last year but losing their coach the way they did. Great story.

I was wondering to myself how a team with a Power 5 D1 commit QB can be a “darkhorse” 🤔🤔

I struggle to see Eastbrook as a darkhorse, they are a top tier team in 2A, and have been for a few years. I guess I don't know the definition of dark horse, I see it as a team no one is expecting to do much.

It should be reversed. LCC could be the dark horse but they’re a huge unknown and only beat Benton Centrals 28-14. SA is definitely the North favorite. I swear to God they are

How is South Adams a dark horse in the north? They’re number one, and LCC has been having Covid issues all year.

Illinois pretty much plays all playoff games on Saturdays, except for a few Friday night games around Chicago in the first and second rounds. My family members there talk about the special atmosphere of earning the right to play on Saturdays because that meant you made the playoffs. (Not to open that can of worms.) But yes, semi state definitely could be Saturday doubleheaders (3pm and 7pm) at neutral sites. One reason most coaches don’t like Saturday games is that they think their opponents who play on Friday get an extra day of game prep on them. Everybody playing Saturday changes that equation.

I don’t like the neutral site for regionals or semi-state. Small community schools sometimes wait a lifetime to host one of those games. The opportunity to create memories in your hometown forever is priceless.