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Mississinewa at Marion--In my opinion this is the CIC game of the week. Marion is fast and has some very good skill players. Their offense runs thru Thomas and is very dangerous. Marion's defense is very good. Misssissinewa has several weapons and may be bigger up front than Marion. Mississinewa is still having success with QB by committee. Misssissinewa has a very solid and good defense. This game will have a State Finals atmosphere. In the end Mississinewa pulls out the win and advances. Eastbrook at Eastern--Eastern struggled against Alexandria last week as Alex gave the win away. Eastern has a very good running back but Eastbrook's defense is solid and will shut down the run game. Eastbrook wins this one to advance. Madison-Grant at South Adams--Great turnaround for MG. The future of the program is bright. They still have some things to do before they can start competing for a CIC title but they are going in the right direction. South Adams is just too much for MG this year. MG starts getting ready for the basketball season as South Adams wins this one but not by as much as one would think they would. Would be nice to see all 3 CIC teams advance to regionals. In another year or two the CIC could have teams playing for Sectional Championships in 4 different classes. Let's hope that this is a move in the right direction for the CIC and some day have 2 or more teams playing for a State title. Good Luck to the 3 remaining CIC teams this week.

Mississinewa and Marion is one to watch. Mississinewa beat a heavily favored Delta in week 1 of the sectionals. Mississinewa also beat a very good Pendleton Heights team in week 1 of the season and then in week 2 beat New Haven. Mississinewa lone loss is to Eastbrook in which Mississinewa played without their top player who was out with a high ankle sprain. Marion has a tougher schedule than Mississinewa. Marion has speed where Mississinewa has size and speed. These two teams have met at some point in the sectional and have not played each other in the regular season despite the schools being 8 miles apart. Another sectional final to watch is Eastern (Greentown) and Eastbrook. Eastern is undefeated and scrimmages Mississinewa every year. Eastbrook lost to Delta and Marion. This game is going to have a State Championship atmosphere. This game is going to be tough for both teams.

Ole Miss MG Eastbrook Eastern

Nope, just said that it would be nice. Eastbrook won the first round and I hope they make it to State as well. Madison-Grant is a long shot

Mississinewa at Huntington North--Huge win for the Indians over the heavy Sectional Favorite according to the Sagarin rankings. Delta had an almost 60% chance of winning the sectional followed by Marion at 38% and Mississinewa at 7%. Huntington North has a total of 3 wins. Those 3 wins came against teams with a combined record of 2-28. Mississinewa uses this game a tune-up for the Sectional Championship next week as they cruise to a win. Look for a continuous clock the second half. Tipton at Eastbrook--Tipton is a young team that plays a lot of sophomore's and junior's. Eastbrook plays a number of underclassman that have Varsity playing experience. This game is going to be a closer than one would think but in the end Eastbrook pulls away late in the 2nd half for the win. Eastern at Alexandria--Is Eastern the real deal? They are undefeated and beat a very good Lapel team. This game could be a good close game depending on which Alexandria team shows up. In the end Eastern wins this one to advance to the Sectional Championship game against Eastbrook. Union City at Madison Grant--Both teams are on a 3 game winning streak. MG hasn't lost since their first win. MG has the tougher schedule of the two teams which will help them. Beginning of the season I said I wouldn't be surprised to see MG make tournament run and this week the run continues as they advance to the Sectional Championship Game. Something that could happen but probably won't happen is to have 3 CIC teams in the State Finals. Wonder if any conference has had 3 teams play for a State Championship in 3 different Classes? I know 3 teams from the same conference have played in the State Finals but 2 of the teams were in the same class. Would love to see 3 CIC teams in the State Finals. Good luck this week to all CIC teams.

Would like to see Eastbrook play Eastern for the Sectional Championship and Mississinewa play Marion. Both are very likely. Eastbrook has the tougher route to get to the Sectional Championship game as they play Tipton a young very good team. Mississinewa on the other hand plays Huntington North that has only won 3 games all year against very weak teams at that. The 3 teams they beat had 2 wins between all 3 teams all season. Good Luck to all CIC teams this week

Congrats to the CIC teams that advanced. Eastbrook handled Blackford. MG scored a season high with 67 points. Alexandria didn't score as much and held Elwood to fewer points than a couple of weeks ago. Mississinewa made a statement by beating a very good and talented Delta team who was the favorite to win the Sectional.

Was referring to this year's Eastbrook/Mississinewa game. The game was a good game despite Mississinewa missing a key RB/DB and a few others. It will be a good game this week. Over all in the sectional Marion has a fairly easy road to the Sectional Championship game. To me the Mississinewa/Delta game is the Sectional Championship game as it will have that type of feel to it. I can't be there because of work but wish I could be. Yes it was the worst weather for a game that I had ever been too. I was surprised to that Delta didn't try onside kick. If I remember right that game was one where the kick went into the wind and the ball came back towards the kicking team a few times. The locker room situation there needs to be addressed as there is room to build them closer to the stadium, even if in the endzone area. They just did some major construction and are still working on some of it and one would think that this would have been addressed.

Eastbrook's can be seen from the locker room. It's tough to see but not that hard. Mississinewa actually had a couple of injured players and the game was still close and competitive. Plus when these two play the intensity is unreal. It's like IU/Purdue games records can be thrown out as the rivalry is so big. The rivalry trickles all the way down to the youth teams. The Mississinewa youth program played in a football tournament at Eastbrook and received shirts that said Eastbrook on them. During the summer conditioning program kids wore the shirts and were told to turn them wrong side out so Eastbrook could not be seen. Eastbrook is good year in and year out even in a down year they find a way to win. Mississinewa has let downs on both sides of the ball. They also run a very complex offense that is sometimes unpredictable and other times very predictable. Using 3 QB's has created a different look. This week will tell if Mississinewa is in for a long run. Either way the winner of this game has to go thru a very good and fast Marion team to win the Sectional.

Mississinewa's kicker has hit from beyond 40 yards more than once this year. Delta and Mississinewa pretty evenly matched. The last time these two played each other it was a very cold snowy, sleeting, freezing rain, and windy night at Delta. This time it is at Mississinewa and the locker rooms are both field side where the clock can be seen from the locker room. At Delta the visitor's had a 2-3 minute walk/jog over to the locker room and no view of the clock. Mississinewa ended up with a delay of game to start the second half because of this. Mississinewa didn't play well in that game at all and Delta had their number that year. This game will be close

Peru at Oak Hill--Peru has a couple of decent wins and Oak Hill is riding a 3 game winning streak. Oak Hill's offense has seemed to show up at the right time. Oak Hill wins this one. Tipton at Frankton--Frankton has talent unfortunately none of the talent has showed up on the football field this year. Tipton is young starting a number of sophomore's and junior's. Tipton snaps a losing streak and runs away with this one. Eastbrook at Blackford--Just a couple of weeks ago these two met at Blackford. Blackford led at halftime. The injury bug has hit Blackford and they lost their QB. This week Eastbrook leads at halftime and rests primary players most of the 4th quarter as they cruise to the win. Alexandria at Elwood--Alexandria scores early and often so they can scrimmage the second half of this one. Alex by a lot MG at Taylor--Talyor has a nice field and scoreboard but MG is ready to pitch another shutout to make it 3 in a row as they win by how ever much they want. Delta at Mississinewa---This one is a tough one. Delta manhandled Eastbrook but then lost to Pendleton Heights. Mississinewa only lost to Eastbrook. Delta has the tougher schedule. Mississinewa has been able to rest players the 4th quarter a lot this year. Mississinewa is at full strength this week and the Campbell brothers are running all over everybody the last few weeks. Delta will put up at strong defense to try to contain the running game. Mississinewa has shown a little bit of a passing game but hasn't really needed it all season. Mississinewa has also showed a kicking game aka field goals. This game is at Mississinewa and the crowd will be large and loud. In the end Mississinewa pulls out the win on a field goal by Sallade.

Mississinewa Oak Hill Tipton Eastbrook Alexandria Madison-Grant

I keep thinking Blackford is 3A forgot they moved back down to 2A with the realignment. With that said wonder if Blackford will lead at halftime in the rematch? With the injuries Blackford is going to struggle to lead at all.

EB MG Alex Ole Miss

Oak Hill and Alex--Oak Hill has had up and downs all season. Alex got an old fashioned beating last week after getting a beat down the week before. Oak Hill may have the edge on this one on paper but Alex has a lot of talent that is out to prove themselves on Senior Night. Alex pulls out a close one this week MG and Frankton--MG goes on a winning streak this week and hands Frankton another loss Eastbrook and Elwood--Is there any question on this one? Question is will Elwood score? Doubt if they do as the running clock begins after the 1st quarter Mississinewa and Blackford--Mississinewa is coming off a great offensive week with over 400 yards rushing against Alex. Blackford had Eastbrook scared the first half last week and forgot how to play the second half. This week Blackford tries to jump out quick but gets shut down as Mississinewa runs away with it this week. As far as Sectionals go: Mississinewa has a tough road to just to make the Sectional Championship MG may very well win the sectional and at very least play for the title. Oak Hill depending on which Oak Hill team decides to show up depends on how far they go in the Sectional Eastbrook will make the Sectional Championship game and will probably go on beyond that but the Sectional is no cakewalk. Alex and Blackford could make some noise in the Sectional but may struggle due to injuries Elwood is planning for next year already and hope to win 1 game next year Frankton is warming up the bus for basketball

Speaking of Basketball, if what I am hearing about Ole Miss basketball is true the rest of the CIC better watch out. A transfer from Ben Davis came in and brought all the college scouts with him. Mississinewa may actually have some height this year. However some say there may not be enough basketballs on the court for all the players to score. The bench may go 9-10 deep.

They have the numbers and have had the numbers for at least 4-5 years. The talent is there as well to do it. They want 3 teams. Varsity, JV, and Freshman. The Freshman team plays a lot of the JV teams and wins. The freshman team has played Cathedral a few times over the past 3-4 years. Some CIC JV games the Freshman play the JV and Mississinewa's JV goes and plays another JV team outside the conference. Other weeks the Freshmen team plays a JV/Freshman team from outside of the CIC. The last couple of years the Freshman have not been dressing Varsity games and those that have had to earn it. This have even applied to home games where most teams dress everybody. So the talent and numbers are there it's just a matter of trying to figure out the best way to use the talent and numbers.

Carson Campbell played he entire game. Cade was limited and played very little because of his ankle injury.

Blackford and Eastbrook--Blackford will put up a fight but unfortunately the Bruins run out of steam as Eastbrook pulls out the win. Mississinewa and Alexandria--Mississinewa runs away with this one and looks forward to next week. Elwood and Madison Grant--MG gets the win and scores more in 1 game than they have all season. Frankton and Oak Hill--Eagles will win this one it's just a matter of which Eagles team shows up. Oak Hill Golden Eagles wins this one but not by muc Remember Mississinewa lost to Eastbrook without Cade Campbell. He was hurt during the PH game but Ole Miss went on to win. Perhaps if he was healthy the game might have had a different outcome.

I have to agree with you that the "best players" don't always play. A few years ago the 2nd leading tackler on the team came off of the bench as the smallest defensive lineman at 205lbs. This same kid also led the team in forced fumbles and fumble recovery's and not by 1 or 2 but several more than that according to one of the volunteer coach's that year. As a program they have issues but not any different than any other program. Sometimes the "best players" are those that come off the bench. Mississinewa being a 4A school and the numbers that they have need to really work on becoming a 2 platoon team. 11 offensive players come on the field as 11 defensive players come off the field. Granted many will play both ways but this needs to be developed and will help reduce injuries and fatigue.

Funk has a younger son that is a 6th grader and may be better than the older son. Funk has had offers at different levels but loves Mississinewa and has a nice home right on Main Street. If anything I would have thought he would have took the job at Bluffton since that is where he is from.

Eastbrook MG Ole Miss OH

Alex has had a passing attack the last few years. Defending the pass has been a problem for Eastbrook in the past and offensively Eastbrook didn't pass too much either. However this year they have found a little more of the passing game and a way to defend the passing game. Alex may pass the ball and score but Eastbrook will run the ball and eat of up clock time. It could be an interesting game. Eastbrook should win but you are correct in saying "any given Friday, no win is guaranteed." Elwood and MG next week would be more of who can find the endzone first.

Eastbrook Blackford Mississinewa Oak Hill

Alex @ Eastbrook--If Alex can go to the air and connect they will be able to jump out early but Eastbrook's run game takes a lot of time off of the clock as they cruise to another W. Eastbrook by at least 3 TDs Blackford @ Elwood--Blackford's starters get a much needed rest the second half. Mississinewa's JV held Elwood scoreless. Elwood may score once in this game but Blackford wins by a lot. Frankton @ Ole Miss--Frankton has a lot of work to do. Ole Miss will get to rest some starters again this week as they cruise to the endzone a lot. The running clock keeps Ole Miss under 70 points. MG @ OH--This one could be interesting. OH was shut out last week. MG has hung with some teams. This one can go either way. In the end OH is just a little bit too much for MG.