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with absolutely no disrespect intended to Guerin, Brebeuf, Ritter, Scecina, or any other Catholic HS, would be nice to see a "Commander-in-Chief" type trophy for the historic "Big 3" Catholic programs...Cathedral, Chatard and Roncalli. I guess this year, it would be going to Chatard.

Hmmmm....smells like someone in here thinks their kid isn't getting a fair shot. If anyone thinks Hurley doesn't play the kids that help the current configuration of his team the most, they are smoking crack.

I think the crew just had a bad night. I'm moving on. Easiest picks ever. Columbus East Floyd Central Seymour Bedford North Lawrence

Since stats don't interest anyone, I'll stick with the game notes. I tried harder on the score predictions this week. Castle 49 Central 6 - The Central sideline does a facepalm in unison when an unidentified Sophomore excitedly yelps, “He took it to the mojo dojo casa house!!!!,” after Maximus McCool reels off a 36 yard touchdown run. In an unrelated note, the IHSAA anoints Maximus to the top spot of its “Top 100 Best Names” list. Bosse 28 Reitz 42 - In a quest to burnish his offensive legacy Cory Brunson has his charges practice a fumblerooski, double reverse, flea flicker, halfback pass. He scuttles the play when nobody can pronounce its moniker without laughing: The FuRooDoReFleaHaPa. Mater Dei 28 Harrison 6 - After pointing out to his team that they have scored more than twice as many points as Harrison, Coach Goebel enthusiastically exhorts his troops to carpe bellator! The ol’ ball coach seemly forgets that he is the only native Latin speaker in the room. North 23 Jasper 17 - Jasper staff member finds lost MaxPreps password and promptly enters 141 yards rushing and 80 yards passing for every game since 2004 - In honor of both Jerry Brewer and Jasper’s inceptive MaxPreps entry for the Memorial game on 08/23/2019. Vincennes 6 Memorial 32 - Vincennes nabs Michael Penix Jr. and Memorial snags Sam Hartman in the IHSSA’s newly implemented mid-season Transfer Portal…at least in parallel recurring dreams that Coach Salters and Coach Hurley have been having for the last eight days. Neither QB materials in time to stop the Tigers from taking out their lone-loss frustrations on the Alices.

Hang by his nuts? You must hate success. I’m sure you could find a volunteer job on staff and offer your great insights. I’m guessing every teams fans base in the SIAC would love to hang on to Hurleys nuts, all the way to 5 state title appearances and two titles in two different classes. If you find a better set of nuts to grab on to please let me know.

The only issue with #4 for Tigers is how hard he throws. The young man has a CANNON. Throwing to the 2nd string WRs late in the Reitz game, several passes went right through the WR's hands. Yes, they were "catchable" balls but not many 2nd string high schools WRs can handle that kind of velocity. Perhaps if he gets to throw to frontline guys, he will have more success.

Columbus East (2-5, 2-2 HHC) at Jeffersonville (0-7, 0-4 HHC) Jennings County (3-4, 0-4 HHC) at #8/#10 Floyd Central (6-1, 4-0 HHC) New Albany (2-5, 2-2 HHC) at Seymour (4-3, 3-2 HHC) Madison (1-6) at BNL (4-3)

imagine the tears from down south as they type up their "Indy Lutheran should be moved up to 4a" posts. other than that, no probably not

Hot Take: Lutheran could compete for 3A this year if you removed Chatard from the equation

Columbus East Floyd Central Seymour Bedford North Lawrence

This week’s games (week 8): Columbus East (2-5, 2-2 HHC) at Jeffersonville (0-7, 0-4 HHC) Jennings County (3-4, 0-4 HHC) at #8/#10 Floyd Central (6-1, 4-0 HHC) New Albany (2-5, 2-2 HHC) at Seymour (4-3, 3-2 HHC) Madison (1-6) at BNL (4-3) Notes: -Floyd Central moved up to a tie with Decatur Central for #8 in the media poll. They also finally broke into the coaches poll where they are ranked #10. -With a win, Floyd Central will clinch at least a share of their first HHC championship since 2003.

Sure. When I say scores I’m meaning TDs. So for example when I say 4 scores, as a baseline I’m meaning anywhere from 24-28 (missed PATs/successful PATs). Not accounting for field goals, safeties, 2pt conversions (I think Bosse is the only team that consistently goes for 2). So admittedly, predictions using a “scores” term is fairly broad, but simply evaluating a little more closely rather than just predicting who will win.

Any thoughts to the Memorial offense seeming not very well coached this year? RB’s running into each other in split back formations, very limited in how they have spread the ball around, and #5 from what I’ve seen is the 2nd best option on offense and they won’t play him. Defense is well coached as always. The offense doesn’t seem to be. Easy answer is injuries but in limited action #4 made tough throws. Can’t always make square pegs fit in round holes.

Cathedral played really well last two games, big improvement since start of the season. Playoffs gonna be brutal hard to believe just a few regular season games left already. Irish 49 Roncalli 14

An example back then if one had been arguing for a running clock mercy rule in NCAA during the era of I-option offense. Did not the U refer to the Husker 3-3-5 D as "prehistoric" in their game prep for the 84 Orange Bowl against that invincible Nebraska team?

No, opportunity does.

Feels like a true blender conference this year-the dream of the NFL: parity and the offspring of Bobby Cox's balls theory of tournament draw.

Go Rebels.

You and your buddy kinda turned it in to an anti p/p thread. I swear to God you did

Not sure what can be assessed comparing games. Pioneer had chances to win against Triton and Pioneer got avalanched in first quarter against Knox. NJ got spanked by Triton and led late vs Knox. I believe Triton has the best athlete in Shively while Knox has the best two running backs and they are dudes. should be interesting.

Fair enough point.

Began there in 1976. Have been in a new facility on S. Arlington since the early 90s.

Oak Hill vs Blackford--Oak Hill may have players injured but Blackford is still no match for Oak Hill. Oak Hill runs away with this one and gets back in the win column. Madison-Grant vs Eastbrook--This may be the best game of the week. Eastbrook is down this year and MG is pretty good. In the end MG wins this one by a TD and spoils homecoming for Eastbrook. Elwood vs Mississinewa--Mississinewa plays JV most of the second half with a running clock. Mississinewa wins Homecoming again. Alexandria vs Frankton--Frankton started off hot and then fizzled out. Alexandria rebounded last week and won. Alexandria by 2 TDs. By the way it is nice to see MG, Eastbrook, Alexandira, and Mississinewa all ranked in the AP and/or Coach's polls in their respective classes.

Indy Howe HS used to only have stands on one side of the field. The other side backed up to a wooded area.

Mod22 112 28 Fballfan15 112 28 CoachSnyder 110 30 WCGrad92 110 30 Ballhawk 110 30 Donnie Baker 110 30 Mongo 108 32 LC_Bears_04 108 32 foxbat 108 32 CoachDurham 108 32 Bears62 106 34 gonzoron 106 34 WarriorBroncho77 104 36 nmsu_aggie 104 36 First_Backer_Inside 104 36 Coach Anderson 104 36 Sailors 102 38 Obi-Wan 102 38 CamB31 100 40 FarmerFran 92 48 footballer_02 92 48 Huskyfan50 88 52 skeeterman 78 62 Muda69 70 70 Jumpman 58 82 FootballGuy18 54 86 QB Eagles 16 124 AllGasNoSectionals 12 128

Just kidding. Love that this rivalry is back. Great for the sport. Irish 38 Royals 13

The only thing that does and should matter to the Coaches and the players is etching another year on the K of C Victory Bell. Cathedral leads the series 22-12 overall and has won the last 12 meetings between the two, but the bell only exchanges during regular season match-ups. Cathedral holds the bell currently after a 2010 regular season game won by the Irish 41-10.

Looked up the article from the game and it said penalties were 7 to 7

It for sure does not make sense for Penn to continue playing football in the NIC. I'd say one of Penn's biggest challenges over the past 10-15 seasons has been to adapt, evolve, and develop young players while playing in a conference that, for the most part, has not required that type of progress. I'm not sure that any of Penn's programs really benefit from the arrangement either. I need to note the format over these past 9 seasons should have been a boon to Penn given there were only five conference games in each season. Now we're staring down the barrel of a 7 conference game season like it's 2001 again. It makes sense for Penn to explore its options. Independence would be better than being in the NIC, but that would be a close second to full membership in the DAC. Joining the DAC when invited 22 years ago would have been the visionary move--one that would have paid dividends many times over by now--so I'd say it's most sensible to see if that invitation still stands. It's important to be in a conference with like-sized schools. It's arguable that all of the DAC football teams would be no worse than the third best NIC team in any given year. The year over year familiarity is important as I think it gives the best measuring stick for program growth as compared to one off or home and homes with out of conference opponents. Those games are important, sure, but meaningful competition within the conference year over year is equally important. I'd be a little less excited about the DAC's round robin format given that leaves just one out of conference game, but I'd assume any move to bring Penn in would alter the scheduling some. Even the DAC's scheduling didn't change the overall competition would be better, and Penn could still get an Indy metro team like they used to when it was just BD and some duneland teams on the schedule. Because of those factors, I'm less inclined to believe that a wide-ranging and variable independent schedule serves Penn's interests better at this point. I also think that the developmental levels of the program would likely suffer in an independent arrangement--although not any more than they already do. Penn's freshman are playing Elkhart (twice!) and Edwardsburg this year. I might be wrong, but yikes. As you noted earlier, Penn's other teams travel often to The Region, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and elsewhere as a part of their schedules. It's necessary because there are so many more competitions in most other sports. Schedules would change slightly, but the rest of Penn's programs would still have a significant number of local games even if they were in the DAC.

Carroll 63 - Northrop 7 - Blowout city and it could be worse than the score I predicted as Carroll will run up the score as the have done already this year Homestead 56 - Concordia 6 - Sparty gets it going against a hapless Cadet team Luers 49 - South Side 13 - Another blowout coming in this one Wayne 28 - North Side 20 - I trust the Generals more than the train wreck that is going on at North Side. There isn’t enough space here to condemn the embarrassment that is going on at State and Clinton right now Snider 42 - Dwenger 20 - Panthers are too much for the Saints this year. Tough decisions coming in Saints land

TOP 100 GAMES – #1 Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei (6-0) 49 Anaheim (CA) Servite (4-2) 0 #4 Hollywood (FL) Chaminade-Madonna (6-0) 35 Coconut Creek (FL) (4-2) 27 #6 Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco (5-1) 42 #68 Rancho Santa Margarita (CA) Santa Margarita (4-2) 7 #7 Buford (GA) (6-0) 43 Suwanee (GA) Collins Hill (1-5) 0 #8 Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph Prep (4-1) 61 Warminster (PA) Archbishop Wood (1-4) 0 #9 Miami (FL) Central (2-2) 54 North Miami Beach (FL) (1-4) 0 #10 Norman Park (GA) Colquitt County (6-0) 56 Tallahassee (FL) Lincoln (4-1) 16 #11 Galena Park (TX) North Shore (5-0) 42 Houston (TX) King (4-1) 6 #12 Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas (5-1) 38 Miramar (FL) (2-3) 6 #14 Miami (FL) Columbus (6-0) 44 Miami (FL) (2-3) 0 #15 Austin (TX) Westlake (5-0) 58 Del Valle (TX) (1-5) 0 #85 Pinson (AL) Clay-Chalkville (6-0) 36 #16 Alabaster (AL) Thompson (4-1) 33 #17 Hochston (GA) Mill Creek (6-0) 47 Lawrenceville (GA) Central Gwinnett (2-4) 7 #18 Kahuku (HI) (6-1) 59 Honolulu (HI) Moanalua (1-5) 0 #20 Corona (CA) Centennial (4-2) 58 Temecula (CA) Chaparral (4-2) 19 #21 Plantation (FL) American Heritage (4-1) 48 #57 Fort Lauderdale (FL) Cardinal Gibbons (3-2) 7 #22 Gainesville (GA) (6-0) 35 Sugar Hill (GA) Lanier (4-2) 0 #23 Chandler (AZ) (6-0) 49 Queen Creek (AZ) Casteel (4-2) 28 #24 San Mateo (CA) Serra (5-0) 45 Mountain View (CA) St. Francis (2-3) 17 #25 Akron (OH) Archbishop Hoban (6-0) 57 Cuyahoga Falls (OH) Walsh Jesuit (6-1) 7 #26 Marietta (GA) Walton (5-0) 44 Dallas (GA) North Paulding (5-1) 24 #28 Chatsworth (CA) Sierra Canyon (6-0) 34 Sherman Oaks (CA) Notre Dame (4-2) 10 #29 Belleville (MI) (6-0) 35 Westland (MI) Glenn (5-1) 8 #31 Massillon (OH) Washington (7-0) 28 #95 Washington (DC) St. Johns (3-2) 7 #32 Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha (5-0) 42 Upper Marlboro (MD) Rock Creek Christian Academy (2-4) 0 #33 Carlsbad (CA) (6-0) 35 San Marcos (CA) Mission Hills (4-2) 14 #34 Lakewood (OH) St. Edward (6-1) 42 Cleveland (OH) St. Ignatius (1-6) 7 #35 Charlotte (NC) Providence Day (6-0) 62 North Raliegh (NC) Christian Academy (3-3) 10 #36 Lehi (UT) Skybridge (8-0) 41 Highland (UT) Lone Peak (3-5) 15 #37 Austin (TX) Vandegrift (5-0) 51 Manor (TX) (3-2) 6 #38 Olney (MD) Our Lady of Good Counsel (4-1) 42 Leonardtown (MD) St. Mary’s Ryken (0-5) 6 #40 Toledo (OH) Central Catholic (7-0) 35 Toledo (OH) St. Johns Jesuit (3-4) 7 #41 Oradell (NJ) Bergen Catholic (5-1) 31 Wayne (NJ) DePaul Catholic (2-3) 13 #42 Saraland (AL) (6-0) 70 Foley (AL) (2-3) 20 #43 Humble (TX) Atascocita (5-0) 71 Beaumont (TX) West Brook (0-5) 0 #44 Chandler (AZ) Basha (5-1) 31 Phoenix (AZ) Brophy College Prep (4-2) 13 #45 Katy (TX) (5-1) 42 Fulshear (TX) Jordan (4-1) 35 #46 Greenwood Village (CO) Cherry Creek (6-0) 48 Aurora (CO) Cherokee Trail (2-4) 0 #48 Aledo (TX) (6-0) 60 The Colony (TX) (2-4) 14 New Orleans (LA) Holy Cross (5-0) 42 #50 River Ridge (LA) John Curtis (3-1) 41 #51 Draper (UT) Corner Canyon (7-1) 49 West Jordan (UT) Copper Hills (4-4) 7 #52 Chicago (IL) Mt. Carmel (6-0) 42 Chicago (IL) Brother Rice (3-3) 7 #53 Florence (SC) South Florence (6-0) 49 Hartsville (SC) (4-2) 21 #54 Yelm (WA) (5-0) 58 Lacy (WA) North Thurston (2-3) 7 #55 Orlando (FL) Edgewater (6-0) 29 Apopka (FL) Wekiva (3-3) 22 #56 Woodbridge (VA) Freedom (4-0) 64 Woodbridge (VA) Forest Park (3-3) 6 #58 New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr (5-0) 19 New Orleans (LA) Brother Martin (3-2) 7 #59 Rocklin (CA) (5-0) 42 Rocklin (CA) Whitney (1-5) 3 #60 Wilmette (IL) Loyola Academy (6-0) 21 Chicago (IL) St. Rita (4-2) 5 #61 Long Beach (CA) Poly (5-1) 26 Long Beach (CA) Millikan (4-3) 23 #62 Lee’s Summit (MO) North (6-0) 35 Peculiar (MO) Raymore-Peculiar (3-3) 14 #63 Greensboro (NC) Grimsley (6-0) 55 Greensboro (NC) Western Guilford (1-5) 0 #64 McKinney (TX) (6-0) 35 Little Elm (TX) Braswell (2-4) 14 #65 West Linn (OR) (5-0) 49 Lake Oswego (OE) (4-1) 14 #66 Brownsburg (IN) (7-0) 59 Zionsville (IN) (3-4) 21 #67 Chattanooga (TN) McAllie (7-0) 34 Chattanooga (TN) Baylor (5-2) 31 Seattle (WA) O’Dea (5-0) 16 #69 Sammamish (WA) Eastside Catholic (3-2) 7 #71 Philadelphia (PA) Imhotep Charter (6-0) 42 Philadelphia (PA) John Bartram (4-1) 0 #72 Cocoa (FL) (4-1) 38 Port St. Lucie (FL) Treasure Coast (4-2) 0 #73 Harrisburg (PA) Bishop McDevitt (6-0) 55 Hershey (PA) Milton Hershey (3-3) 14 #74 Greenwood (IN) Center Grove (6-1) 48 Indianapolis (IN) Pike (1-6) 17 #75 Miami (FL) Booker T. Washington (4-1) 37 Miami (FL) Jackson (1-5) 0 #76 East St. Louis (IL) (4-2) 54 Belleville (IL) West (2-4) 10 St. Louis (MO) Christian Brothers (4-2) 49 #77 Nashville (TN) Lipscomb Academy (2-4) 21 #78 Pittsburgh (PA) Central Catholic (6-0) 49 Canonsburg (PA) Canon McMillan (4-2) 6 #79 Destrehan (LA) (5-0) 49 Gray (LA) Bourgeois (1-4) 0 #80 Norfolk (VA) Maury (5-0) 68 Portsmouth (VA) Norcom (3-3) 8 #81 Severn (MD) Archbishop Spalding (5-1) 62 Laurel (MD) Pallotti (1-5) 0 San Juan Capistrano (CA) J Serra Catholic (4-2) 24 #82 Orange (CA) Lutheran (3-3) 14 #83 Indianapolis (IN) Ben Davis (6-1) 45 Carmel (IN) (4-3) 16 #84 Mission Viejo (CA) (5-2) 34 Honolulu (HI) Kamehameha Kapalama (4-2) 0 #86 Baltimore (MD) St. Francis Academy (2-5) 39 Oakdale (CT) St. Thomas More (0-2) 0 #87 Las Alamitos (CA) (4-2) 49 Fountain Valley (CA) (3-3) 10 #88 Frankford (IL)Lincoln-Way East (6-0) 41 Lockport (IL) (3-3) 0 Chanhassen (MN) (5-0) 21 #89 Mankota (MN) West (4-1) 14 #90 Murfreesboro (TN) Oakland (6-1) 49 Murfreesboro (TN) Siegel (4-3) 7 #92 St. Louis (MO) DeSmet Jesuit (6-0) 42 St. Louis (MO) University (4-2) 23 #94 Lafayette (LA) St. Thomas More (5-0) 35 Denham Springs (LA) (3-2) 3 #96 Chandler (AZ) Hamilton (5-1) 59 Gilbert (AZ) Perry (5-1) 34 #97 Concord (CA) De La Salle (4-2) 21 Oakland (CA) McClymonds (2-2) 0 #99 Lilburn (GA) Parkview (5-1) 34 Snellville (GA) South Gwinnett (4-2) 20 #100 Gahanna (OH) Lincoln (7-0) 20 New Albany (OH) (2-5) 7 ILLINOIS (5) Elmhurst York (6-0) 32 Downers Grove North (5-1) 21 New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central (5-1) 28 Bolingbrook (3-3) 7 (12) Batavia (5-1) 21 Geneva (5-1) 18 INDIANA Evansville Reitz (7-0) 34 Evansville Memorial (6-1) 0 Valparaiso (5-2) 26 Merrillville (5-2) 24 New Carlisle New Prairie (6-1) 35 South Bend Riley (6-1) 12 KENTUCKY (1) Louisville Male (5-1) 43 Indianapolis (IN) Roncalli (3-4) 0 Corbin (6-0) 34 Paintsville Johnson Central (4-3) 6 (9) Paducah Tilghman (7-0) 63 Russellville Logan County (5-2) 20 MICHIGAN Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (5-1) 20 (4) East Grand Rapids (5-1) 0 Clarkston (4-2) 44 (14) West Bloomfield (4-2) 36 (12) Lake Orion (6-0) 35 Rochester Adams (3-3) 0 OHIO Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (4-3) 38 Cincinnati Elder (4-3) 7 Indianapolis (IN) Cathedral (5-2) 39 Cincinnati (OH) LaSalle (4-3) 26 Louisville (KY) Trinity (4-3) 17 Cincinnati St. Xavier (3-4) 3

Was great to see former Center Grove standout Russ Yeast having an excellent game as a starting safety for the Rams.

Seriously? Avon received votes?

That was an interesting slate of games on Friday in the NLC...it turned out to be the best week of the year. Every one of the games were close and I wish I would have been able to watch all of them. I feel like this week will be the complete opposite, as the matchups are fairly lopsided in my opinion. Concord at Mishawaka: Probably the best game of the week. Both teams are coming off of tough losses last week. Having seen both teams in person, I feel Mishawaka is the better team here. Watching Mishawaka on Friday, they are a really good football team. If Concord is able to stop a couple of Mishawaka drives and scores, they may keep it close. I don't see this happening. Mishawaka 38 Concord 17 Plymouth at Northridge: Plymouth lost a heartbreaker last week with that walk off field goal...however...I really like it when the kicking game has an impact in games. I feel like, in my lifetime, the kicking game may be removed from football and that makes me sad. Northridge played a good game against Concord. I don't see Plymouth getting a win at Northridge, but I hope they make it competetive. Plymouth is headed in the right direction. Northridge 37 Plymouth 10 Warsaw at Goshen: This one is lopsided, however, I said the same thing with Wawasee and Warsaw and that proved to be incorrect. I see this game possibly having a running clock at some point. Warsaw 49 Goshen 7 NorthWood at Wawasee: NorthWood won a nail bitter last week and Wawasee played Warsaw very well. I don't think Wawsee will keep up with NW's offense and this should be a running clock as well. NW 42 Wawasee 7 Thoughts on the NW / Mishawaka Game: This game highlighted about the only way NW will make some noise in the playoffs. They will not be stopping teams like Mishawaka from scoring...only slowing them down. Friday, they only had the ball 2 times maybe 3 in the 1st half and could not stop Mishawaka's running game. NW played fairly mistake free football and did not allow big plays. This game remined me of the NW / Warsaw game a few years ago. I also feel like this game is what the boys needed, knowing they could compete with a team like Mishawaka (bigger, faster and runs the ball the whole game). I am curious as to what happened to NW's football field. Typically the school take great care of their grass field...it was a hot mess express on Friday and I am sure that Mishawaka was not happy with what they saw as it was a muddy mess in some places. Any who...the regular season is winding down and the NLC shows again that it is a very competetive conference and will more than likely have a shared champion.

Quarterback? We don’t need no stinkin quarterback. By rule, doesn’t one of them have to score this week?

There should not be any P/P in 1A. Fire away if you must…..

Maybe LCC in 2015 or 2019, but not the four-peats in 2009-2012 and probably not the 1999 or 1976 teams. Incidentally, I believe that @BendNotBreak and others responded skeptically to your post about the current AC team winning in 90% of the 1A championship games over the years, not that the current AC team isn't competitive or above average. No one is saying anything bad about the current AC team in their own right. There is, however, a difference in being an above average championship team, which typically tends to get you to LOS, and being a team that could claim to be classified as the top 5 out of 50 teams in the last 50 years. You might be able to make a claim of top 10 out of 50, pending the results of this season, but top five looking at the 2009-2012 LCC teams, that monster Pioneer 2018 squad, and the likes of the Sheridan squads in the 2005-2007 seasons and also the 1998 squad is not that likely a feat. Matter of fact, I'd even contend that there are some squads that didn't make it to LOS that would be in the running for top squads. That Pioneer squad from 2009 and the Sheridan squad from 2011 were probably the second best teams in 1A in those respective years that never even made it to LOS.

This is the problem with “do overs.” A thorny question, and one for which ther3 is no clear cut answer. My sense is that safety fouls, e.g., blindside block, facemask, etc., will be enforced. You can’t just pretend they didn’t happen. Same with unsportsmanlike fouls.

I’m not the only one who feels that way. https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2023/09/27/arizona-high-school-ref-shortage-women-officials/ ‘Without refs, it’s only recess’: Former ref says recruiting women could be answer to high school officiating shortage Sept. 27, 2023 PHOENIX – Every year, hundreds of Arizona high school football officials come together in one room to discuss the upcoming season. For too many of those years, Anne Montgomery was the only woman in attendance. Still, Montgomery always wanted to be in that room. She even continued working as a high school official while striving toward her dream as a television anchor, which included a stint as one of the first women to anchor ESPN’s SportsCenter. She also was among the first women to work in the Valley as a sports anchor. She’s been the lone female voice in a lot of rooms. Montgomery was an official for 40 years, refereeing games in Arizona for 29 of them before retiring in 2019. She also has authored six novels along the way. “Over the years, other women have appeared, but for the most part they don’t stick around very long,” Montgomery said of her days as an Arizona Interscholastic Association referee. Many men don’t, either. Montgomery’s experiences as a ref exemplified one of the AIA’s biggest challenges: recruiting and retaining officials in all sports. A quick look through social media sites or on YouTube will explain why. Abuse of officials by parents, coaches and athletes is rampant. Many officials decide it isn’t worth the stress. The result is a growing shortage of high school referees and umpires across the country. In Arizona over the past few seasons, the AIA has required high school football programs to play a Thursday night football game to compensate for the shortage of refs. Montgomery is not surprised by the downward trend in one of the most important roles in Arizona high school sports. She believes the constant bombardment officials take is a reason many are leaving the profession. Ultimately, that will damage high school sports. “Without the ref, it’s only recess,” Montgomery said. “If people want to continue treating us that way, they’re going to end up going to a field, and there’s not going to be a game. You can’t play without us.” She believes the solution to the officiating shortage could be recruiting more women into the profession. “There are so many more girls who play high school sports now that they like sports,” Montgomery said. “Recruit them, teach them, make them feel accepted and you’re going to solve a lot of the problem of not having any officials.” The officiating shortage is not an Arizona-specific problem. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the United States lost approximately 50,000 high school officials between the 2018-19 school year and February 2022. Still, according to the NFHS, more than 3.2 million girls participated in high school athletics during the 2021-22 season – just below the average before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. More than 51,000 girls played a high school sport in Arizona during that season. Anne Montgomery, a former official and ESPN SportsCenter anchor, emphasizes the need to recruit more women to officiating roles in Arizona high school sports. (Photo courtesy of Anne Montgomery) Additionally, Arizona has become one of eight states to offer girls high school flag football during the 2023-24 school year. Montgomery believes the new sport provides the AIA a perfect opportunity to find more officials. “That’s football,” she said of the flag game. “It’s the same idea, so I would go out and recruit some of those young ladies and say, ‘Look, football is a great sport, whether it’s flag or tackle. Would you like to be involved in the game and get paid for it?’” The high school official shortage has especially affected tackle football. Friday Night Lights has turned into a Thursday Night Showdown for about 15 high school programs each week in Arizona. On Sept. 14, for example, powerhouse Saguaro High School played Shadow Ridge High School in Shadow Ridge’s only Thursday night matchup of the season. Fourth-year Shadow Ridge coach Sean Hegarty said that, while the schedule is a challenge for a mid-week game, his players needed to roll with the punches. “It definitely moves things up. It’s a little more difficult at times, but you make do with what you have,” Hegarty said. “The boys have to adapt. Coaches have to adapt.” Zak Hill is in his first season coaching Saguaro, following two seasons as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He understands the difficulty of the AIA’s recent officiating struggles. “I’ve heard about the referee shortage, and it seems to be a growing concern,” Hill said. “More people don’t want to jump into that world, and it’s a tough world. You’re getting criticized every game. There’s a lot of stress involved and not a lot of compensation.” Both head coaches praised their players and coaching staff for their ability to maneuver around the difficult circumstances. Saguaro is nearly an hour east of Shadow Ridge, but Hill said his players are emphasizing the “student” first in student-athlete. They are proactive with schoolwork and deal with the grind of being a football player. Hill’s players understand the dedication of being a student-athlete. Hill said the players in his program understand how difficult officiating can be. Making the referees’ lives as easy as possible is important for Hill, his staff and players. Matt Kuffel, assistant principal and athletic director at Shadow Ridge, noted that the shortage of officials takes an even greater toll on spring season sports than it does on football. Kuffel said programs that play numerous times a week are affected more heavily. Sports like baseball and softball experience a domino effect when the AIA is unable to find officials to assign to freshman and junior varsity games. “If they’re full, now all of a sudden you get a cancellation,” Kuffel said. “Those cancellations will lead into pushing games back. Now all of a sudden you’re not playing two days a week, or three days a week. You’re asking some of your varsity programs to play four days a week.” And there is another trickle-down effect. Kuffel said game management has become more difficult for the program for a number of events. Some games have been pushed to Saturdays due to the official shortage, and hiring support people to work those games has been a struggle. Montgomery has been the lone female voice during a majority of her professional sporting career. Whether it be officiating on the field, or describing events to people on the television screen, she has been an ambassador and opened the door for future generations to come.

I’ve shared my opinion in other threads, but to summarize what I would do with my magic classification wand, if I had it. 1A: smallest 32 (no P/P) 6A: largest 32 2A-5A: divide them up evenly…spread out the byes based on some metric if you wish Rolling 3 or 4 year SF cycle. I could lean to either one. Would you have to reclassify and move some teams around every year? Yes. Is this insurmountable? No.