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Blackford Eastbrook Alex Mississinewa

Alexandria at Blackford--Blackford is improving and seems to have things clicking. Alexandria is good but as usual it depends on which team decides to show up for the game. In the end Blackford pulls out the win. Frankton at Elwood--This is the battle for last place in the conference. Elwood is trying to figure things out still with the new coach. Frankton has some talent but can't seem to find it to put together a win. This week Frankton wins their first and probably only game of the season. Madison-Grant at Missisinewa--Mississinewa's homecoming night and are coming off of a tough loss. MG is much improved from the last couple of years. Mississinewa is just too quick, big, and strong for MG as Mississinewa runs away with the win. Oak Hill at Eastbrook--Somehow Eastbrook had their first 2 games on the road and the first 3 conference games at home. That is a very favorable schedule for CIC play. Eastbrook knocked off Missisinewa last week in a close game. Oak Hill beat Elwood last week to get a some confidence heading into this week. It is Eastbrook's homecoming so they will be pumped. Could Oak Hill play the spoiler at Eastbrook? Probably not as Eastbrook cruises to the win.

Blackford Frankton Mississinewa Eastbrook

Oak Hill Blackford Alexandria Mississinewa

Elwood at Oak Hill--Last week Elwood played with a continuous clock the final 3 quarters. Oak Hill doesn't have the offense that Mississinewa does but still has enough to get rid of the goose egg in the win column. Oak Hill wins this one but will be closer than it should be. Frankton at Blackford--Frankton has some talent but has trouble finding it all at the same time. Blackford is trying to figure out what they need to do to compete with Mississinewa and Eastbrook later this season. Blackford shows a strong defense this week and pulls out the win. Madison-Grant at Alexandria--This game will be a close one and may be the closest game of the week. Alexandria has some weapons and will need all of them to show up this week. Madison-Grant took a thumping last week but this week they put some points on the board but unfortunately it won't be enough. Alex wins this one by but not by much. Mississinewa at Eastbrook--This game will determine the CIC Champs. Too bad this game couldn't be played at IWU, Ball State, or Lucas Oil Stadium so everybody would have a seat to watch this one. Mississinewa played the starters only 1 quarter last week and still set a school record on points scored in a game. Eastbrook showed last week that they can put some points on the board. Eastbrook is 0-2 against 4A schools this year while Mississinewa is 2-0 against 4A schools. Eastbrook took a couple of games on the chin to start the season but will be prepared for this week. Mississinewa's QB by committee and situation will pose problems for Eastbrook. Mississinewa has a power back and speed backs. Eastbrook has a lot of speed. Mississinewa has the size but Eastbrook may be quicker off the line. This game will be decided in the trenches. Mississinewa wins this one but this game will be the lowest scoring game for Ole' Miss for the regular season. Too bad this game wasn't the final game of the regular season.

Alexandria Blackford Mississinewa Eastbrook

Alex at Frankton--Alex barely got by Wes-Del in the opener and then lost to Wabash. Frankton has talent but can't seem to find it all on the same night. Alex is getting some votes in the 2A polls. John Harrell as Frankton winning this one but he has been known to be wrong. Alex wins this one in a close game. Blackford at Oak Hill--OH is trying to figure things out. I thought Blackford would be 2-0 this week but they opened against a very good Monroe Central team. Harrel has OH winning this game by scoring more points in one game than they have all season thus far. In the end Blackford starts CIC play 1-0. Madison Grant at Eastbrook--MG has made a lot of improvements and was able to keep a good Tipton team at bay. Eastbrook has had the toughest opening 2 games that they have every had and lost both to 4A schools. Eastbrook is still ranked #10 in the IFCA poll but has dropped out of this week's AP poll. Eastbrook though gets things going despite MG's improvements and wins. Eastbrook wins by a TD. Elwood at Mississinewa--Mississinewa moved up to #4 in the IFCA poll and #5 in the AP poll. Mississinewa is just too big up front for Elwood. The Campbell brothers get the 4th quarter off this week along with the rest of the starters as they begin prepping for Eastbrook next week. Elwood may score but won't be until the Freshman come in for Mississinewa. Mississinewa wins this one by as much as they want to.

Eastbrook 4th? Maybe 3rd but that is even doubtful. Blackford, MG, and Alex are all improved but they all will struggle to shut down the running attack of Eastbrook. Yes Eastbrook lost a lot of key players, but this is becoming the norm with Eastbrook. Remember these kids practiced against all the kids lost and now that it is their chance they are taking advantage of it. Mississinewa is getting into the same thing. Loosing a couple of key players every year, yet still stay at the top of the CIC. Remember Mississinewa went undefeated in 2016 and lost all but 1 offensive lineman as well as the majority of the defense yet won the Sectional in 2017. Eastbrook lost a lot in 2015 and many said that they wouldn't do much in the post season as their sectional reign was over and they went to the State Finals in 2016. Point is Eastbrook and Mississinewa may loose a lot each year but they don't rebuild they both reload. Alex has had talent the last few years yet only managed to finish just above .500. Blackford was a surprise last year and everybody said that they were going to knock off Mississinewa and Eastbrook, yet they lost back to back weeks to both of these teams by not a little but a lot. MG is improving and they will surprise some teams this year but they are still a year or two out from being towards the top of the CIC.

Alex Eastbrook MG Lapel Mississinewa Blackford Oak Hill Tipton

Alex @ Wabash--Wabash had a good team a few years ago but not so much now. Alex either really looked past Wes-Del or Wes-Del is much improved. Alex had a wake up call last week and may really show what they have this week against Wabash. Wabash could surprise Alex but in the end Alex pulls out the win to enter CIC play 2-0. Eastbrook @ Delta--Delta is another tough game for Eastbrook. Delta thumped Muncie Central last week and shut them out. This week Eastbrook comes to visit with a very quick offense. Eastbrook will not be shut out this week. Second week in a row that they play a 4A team. It is possible that Eastbrook enters CIC play 0-2. Delta is #19 in this weeks 4A IFCA poll. Eastbrook fell to #3 in 2A. In the end Eastbrook pulls out the win in a nail biter to enter CIC play 1-1. Eastern @ MG--Eastern beat Oak Hill last week. MG gave Tipton all they could handle. This week Eastern has another CIC team to contend with. Could this be an introduction to the CIC for Eastern as they are rumored to be the next team invited should someone leave? In the end MG pulls out a victory and shows that they are not going to have to wait until the end of the season get their first win of the season. Frankton @ Lapel--Two schools of the same school district. Lapel plays their second CIC team in a row. This could be their introduction to the CIC play like Eastern. Frankton has a lot of work to do this week if they want to challenge Lapel. Lapel wins this one and Frankton will have to wait a few more weeks before they can claim their first victory of the season. New Haven @ Mississinewa--Mississinewa pulled out the win last week despite running only 5 offensive plays the entire first half. Mississinewa never threw a pass last week. That just leaves the question as to how good is Mississinewa? They moved up to #6 in the IFCA 4A poll. They did receive 1 first place vote in the preseason poll. New Haven is still trying to figure out the current coach's system. This is supposed to be the last meeting of these two schools with Mississinewa replacing New Haven with Marion next year. Mississinewa wins this one big. The Campbell boys run all over New Haven and Mississinewa still may not throw a pass this week. Mississinewa enters CIC play 2-0 and a top 5 ranking. Southern Wells @ Blackford--Blackford was a disappointment last week. Southern Wells didn't fair to well against Fremont, Blackford's former week 1 opponent the last few years. Blackford figures out what was wrong last week and pulls out the victory to enter CIC play 1-1. Southwood @ OH--OH lost to Eastern last week while Southwood pulled out a close one against Maconaquah. This is another neighborly game between two schools that have kids living across the street from each other. Oak Hill is out to prove that they figured things out this week in practice. Oak Hill pulls out a close one to enter CIC play 1-1. Tipton @ Elwood--Elwood has some talent but very young with a new coach. Tipton had their hands full with MG last week. Tipton may be young but is just too much for Elwood. Tipton wins by however much they want.

Mississinewa won at Pendleton Heights even though they only ran 5 plays the entire first half. They never threw a pass. Pendleton is a very well coached team and not a push over. Next up is New Haven which should be improved from last year. Marion is fast and Eastbrook did keep them in check but had trouble defending the pass. Eastbrook's run defense was good but did allow 2 big runs of 61 and 62 yards that both went for TD's. Eastbrook will have another test this week with Delta. Eastbrook is not a push over team and will still challenge Mississinewa with their speed and run defense. Blackford surprisingly lost. I thought Blackford would handle Monroe Central. Perhaps Blackford isn't as good this year as last year. This week will tell. MG is the sleeper in the CIC. They have some size on the line. They are going to shock somebody in the CIC. Frankton has a better team that what played this past week. They have to figure things out if they want to stay out of the cellar of the CIC. Alex should have beat Wes-Del by however much they wanted. But then again maybe Wes-Del has improved and is better than what we think. If Alex doesn't figure something out they will finish just about Elwood. Elwood is going to take some time to figure things out. They have to get the feel for the new coach's system. However nobody should take them for granted or they will sneak up and surprise some one.

Mississinewa has a couple of volunteer coach's on the staff. These coach's typically have a full time job that limits how much time they can spend at practices. Usually the 6th grade head coach, which the team is part of the youth league, is one of the Volunteer coach's but he is there to learn the system to help build the program and prep the kids for junior high and high school play. All of the other coach's are paid. The bigger the program usually the more money but also the more coach's. There are some of the large programs that have coordinators and position coach's for the JV, and Freshman teams as well as the varsity. These coach's are assistants to the Varsity coach's. Some schools only pay the head coach, offensive and defensive coordinator, JV head coach, and Freshman Head coach. All other coach's are volunteer coach's. Many times these programs are very easy to detect because the coach's are different every year and the program struggles because of the lack of consistency. The program may have one successful season where they are above .500 and then have several under .500. Another way to tell is the head coach turnover. Because he can't get paid coach's his staff changes every year making it difficult to build off the previous season.

Mississinewa has a couple of volunteer coach's on the staff. These coach's typically have a full time job that limits how much time they can spend at practices. Usually the 6th grade head coach, which the team is part of the youth league, is one of the Volunteer coach's but he is there to learn the system to help build the program and prep the kids for junior high and high school play. All of the other coach's are paid. The bigger the program usually the more money but also the more coach's. There are some of the large programs that have coordinators and position coach's for the JV, and Freshman teams as well as the varsity. These coach's are assistants to the Varsity coach's. Some schools only pay the head coach, offensive and defensive coordinator, JV head coach, and Freshman Head coach. All other coach's are volunteer coach's. Many times these programs are very easy to detect because the coach's are different every year and the program struggles because of the lack of consistency. The program may have one successful season where they are above .500 and then have several under .500. Another way to tell is the head coach turnover. Because he can't get paid coach's his staff changes every year making it difficult to build off the previous season.

Mississinewa has a couple of volunteer coach's on the staff. These coach's typically have a full time job that limits how much time they can spend at practices. Usually the 6th grade head coach, which the team is part of the youth league, is one of the Volunteer coach's but he is there to learn the system to help build the program and prep the kids for junior high and high school play. All of the other coach's are paid. The bigger the program usually the more money but also the more coach's. There are some of the large programs that have coordinators and position coach's for the JV, and Freshman teams as well as the varsity. These coach's are assistants to the Varsity coach's. Some schools only pay the head coach, offensive and defensive coordinator, JV head coach, and Freshman Head coach. All other coach's are volunteer coach's. Many times these programs are very easy to detect because the coach's are different every year and the program struggles because of the lack of consistency. The program may have one successful season where they are above .500 and then have several under .500. Another way to tell is the head coach turnover. Because he can't get paid coach's his staff changes every year making it difficult to build off the previous season.

Based on these numbers in the next realignment Ole Miss could drop down if teams are moved up due to success factors or have an increase in enrollment. Oak Hill could drop back down to 2A again depending on the enrollment cut off and success factor. Blackford, Frankton, and Eastbrook could all jump up the 3A. If Blackford, Frankton, and Eastbrook move up to 3A and Mississinewa drops to 3A, I wonder if Ole Miss, Blackford, and Eastbrook end up in the same sectional? If they do it would be a tough one to get out of depending on who else is added.

Yes MG does have 38 players this year according to the coach in today's Chronicle-Tribune. They also return some experience running backs. They need to work on their blocking for the RB's to have success. MG will struggle but with being in the CIC they could be a sleeper in the 1A Sectional and do well in the State Tournament. Their schedule will help them in the State Tournament as long as there are no major injuries. They will probably struggle in the CIC this year but give them a couple of more years and they will be challenging everybody again. They are in the same situation as Mississinewa but on the opposite end. Mississinewa is a 4A School in a 2A/3A conference where MG is a 1A school in the 2A/3A conference. I don't think MG plays a 1A school except for the scrimmage.

Blackford at Monroe Central--This will be a good game and will show if Blackford means business. Monroe Central has been a very good team the past few years while Blackford is building. In the end Blackford pulls this one out in OT. Eastbrook at Marion--Marion is ranked #1 in 4A because of the success of last season. Most of their defense starters have graduated and only 1 or 2 return. Offensively JT Thomas is very quick and will get some snaps at QB, RB, and WR. Eastbrook graduated a lot last year but also had a number of underclassman get significant playing time. Eastbrook taking on Marion will be a classic. Tickets have been on sale for 2 weeks. In the end Marion pulls out the victory but it will be closer than many think. Lapel at Elwood--Another year another coach for Elwood which means another new system. When will Elwood start paying their assistant coach's? Lapel wins this one in the 1st quarter and plays the JV and freshman most of the second half. MG at Tipton--MG has a few more players this year which will help them out. Tipton is young but is just too much for MG. MG will score but not often as Tipton runs away with it. Ole Miss at Pendleton Heights--This game will show how good Mississienwa is without Heisman Skeens. QB may be based on situation. PH has a much stronger schedule and will challenge Ole Miss every play. In the end Ole' Miss pulls it out in a close one. Oak Hill at Eastern--A little neighborly rivalry across county lines. Some players may live across the street from each other yet play on different teams. This will be a good game. Oak Hill is out to prove that they are improved from last year. Oak Hill moves up a class this year so they are out to prove that they will be a team to watch in 3A. Oak Hill pulls out the victory but a TD. Tri-Central at Frankton--Frankton shut out Tri-Central last year. Tri-Central's coach is in his second season and has had a year to examine and figure out what talent he has. Frankton is improving and this will be the 3rd season in this system. Frankton is just too much again this year for Tri-Central but Tri-Central does score this year. Wes-Del at Alexandria--Wes-Del is improved from last year and will challenge Alex early. Alex has too much talent on the team and are out to improve on last years 4 wins. Alex over Wes-Del.

Marion graduated almost all of their defensive starters. They will be good and have a high power offense. Will be a good test for Eastbrook. Next year Marion opens against Eastbrook and then plays Mississinewa in week 2. Preseason IFCA poll has Marion as #1 in 4A and Mississinewa as #9 in 4A. It is interesting that both teams received 1 vote each for #1. Eastbrook is #2 in 2A.

Mississinewa opens against Pendleton Heights and then in week 2 plays New Haven. Both very good football teams. Eastbrook opens against Marion at Marion. Both will be tested early. Marion is currently ranked #1 in 4A by MaxPreps. Hopefully Ole Miss and Eastbrook can pull out the victories.

Hopefully with these types of numbers Frankton might be able to go 2 platoon, something that Mississinewa hasn't been able to do. Being able to give kids breaks during the games reduces injuries and pays off in the end.

Skeens is going to play football at Wabash College. Not sure if he is going to be moving to wideout or to DB. He did play as a wideout in the North/South All Star game. McCoin was recruited to play football but chose to play baseball at Indiana Tech. He will be a sophomore at Indiana Tech this fall. Eastbrook has the philosophy of "we don't rebuild we reload" and it has worked very well. They lost a lot yes, but they return a lot as well. Some will change position or even play more at one of the positions they played last year. They will still be strong and fast. May not be as big as last year up front but will still have some size. Mississinewa will be huge up front this year compared to the last couple of years. They may be as big up front as the 2017 team when 3 or 4 the lineman were right at or over 300lbs. They return both Campbell boys that have speed. The QB position will be the tough spot to fill and may be QB by situation and opponent. They may be more of a running team this year than the last two again depending on the QB. Funk returns at LB where he was underclassman All State last year. Cade Campbell and Funk both have the potential to be All State this year. Ole Miss has around 13 or 14 Seniors and many of them this will be their 3rd year of Varsity playing time. Mississinewa also is getting into the philosophy "reload not rebuild." Oak Hill returns some players but also will have some new faces in the lineup. They have holes to fill and may be the sleeper in the conference. Blackford will be the team in the CIC that will challenge both Mississinewa and Eastbrook for the CIC title. With the Mississinewa/Eastbrook game being early in the season Blackford could be playing for at least a share CIC Championship when they play Mississinewa the final game of the season. Coach Sehy is showing what he can do. He started MG in the right direction and left for Marion but the Marion politics didn't agree with the way he was doing things. The kids are buying into his system and it shows. Blackford will not be the "pushover easy win" like Mississinewa and Eastbrook have been used to. Blackford may take both teams to the wire to decide the winner. Madison Grant hopefully the numbers are up from last year so players can get a break during the game. Being the lone 1A team in the conference they will struggle against everybody purely because of the depth of the other teams in the CIC. However, because of the CIC play they will be prepared for the post-season so they will probably finish towards the bottom of the conference but should experience post-season success. Elwood has another new coach. This makes their 3rd coach in less than 4 years. They will struggle again this year and may not win a game as they rebuild under the new coach that was recently hired. Just have to wonder what type of summer program they had this year? Alexandria could be another spoiler in the conference and surprise some teams. They have had talent that hasn't produced consistently but when they do produce they have been a dangerous team to play. Frankton will be there with MG and Elwood. They are still trying to figure things out. The days of the Statue of Liberty 20 times a game are gone and the younger kids are slowly forgetting about it. Once they get things in line they could be a team that will give the top teams a run for part of the game. They are still a few years out from competing an entire game with Mississinewa, Blackford, and Eastbrook. Real question is should be with MG dropping to 1A how much longer will they stay in the CIC? Blackford almost left the CIC a couple of years ago and joined another conference with Jay County and Southern Wells until Jay County backed out. Is Blackford still looking to leave the CIC? Mississinewa being the lone 4A and still growing how much longer will they stay in the CIC seeing how they are having success in the CIC in all sports. Eastbrook wants to keep Mississinewa on the schedule no matter what so if Mississinewa leaves will they follow with them? If a school leaves the CIC who would be the replacement school? Lapel? Marion? Western? Eastern? Kokomo-Taylor?

I spoke with an AD last spring about officials for all sports. He said that it is getting harder and harder to find officials for games. He said football isn't as bad as others. He said the hardest sports to find officials are baseball and softball with baseball being the hardest. He said many of the umpires want to do 2 games not 1 in a day. Saturday's usually aren't a problem getting umpires and baseball typically plays a doubleheaders. Softball usually isn't hard finding umpires because there is a typically a Varsity and JV game to umpire. He went on to say that his school installed lights to the baseball and softball fields which has made it easier to get umpires. Baseball and softball usually start at 5 at schools without lights and sometimes even earlier. Many of the licensed umpires work until 4 or 5 so getting to the games before the scheduled start time is difficult for the umpires. He moved all his start times to 6 and is trying to schedule JV/Varsity baseball doubleheaders like softball does and he hopes this solves his umpire issue. In Football varsity games start at 7 or 7:30 typically but when an official has to be there 60 minutes before kickoff and they get off of work a 5 and have an hour drive to the game it makes it difficult on the crew to make sure that they have a full crew for the game. JV football games start at 5:30 and many times there is only 1 game that takes just over an hour to play. Not every school has a freshman team. Some schools have a combined 7/8 grade team and others have a team for each grade. If they have separate 7th and 8th grade teams, then the officials do both games in just over 2 hours some times 3 but the first game starts at 5 or 5:30. Getting younger officials is something that is needed but the younger people that would be interested in officiating have jobs that they don't get off until 5. If the younger people work at a factory they are typically on 2nd or 3rd shift because they don't have the seniority to hold day shift. Perhaps AD's need to look at ways to start games a little later and maybe that would help with getting officials. Another thing that the AD told me is that he has had officials call a day or two before and cancel because they were offered more money by another school for the same date to officiate/umpire a makeup game. AD's complain that some sports aren't making enough to cover the costs of the officials/umpires, playing field preparations, coach's salary, uniforms, etc but when the games start at 4 or 5 due to not having any lights or because "that's when we have always started games for this level" philosophy attendance is down. Who wants to pay to get into a game that starts at 5 and is over by 6:30 when the fan can't get there until 6 because of work and the drive to the game? I am not an official but have considered it but part of my problem is I don't get off of work until 5. Many times I am done with work for the day by 3 or 4 but I have remain available for work until 5. I am also the "on call" person for the medical company that I work for the last half of the month. The other person that I split on call with would cover me but not every night. I could check emails during timeouts, breaks, etc as I have a hour or two to call people back or send someone out so this would be flexible. By the time I get off work at 5, go home to change clothes, grab something to eat, and hit the road to get to a game it's 5:30.

Eastbrook seems to be able to rebuild every year and shouldn't be counted out of leading the CIC. Mississinewa has some holes to fill after the loss of Skeens. They have a good solid running game and the line is large. I think there are 13 or 14 Seniors this year so they should be the team to beat because of being the 4A school in the CIC. Blackford is going to be right behind Ole Miss and Eastbrook. Coach Sehy has the Bruins believing in his system and have made huge improvements in a very short time. MG numbers are still questionable and being a 1A school numbers will be an issue. MG will have a very tough regular season and may have a shot at a very good postseason. Elwood and Frankton well these two still have some work. Seems like Elwood can't keep a coach more than a couple of years. Frankton is still waiting to run the Statue of Liberty a lot. Alexandria could be the team that challenges Blackford for the 3rd spot in the conference. Oak Hill may be the spoiler this year but they are also rebuilding still. Should be a good season and could this be the year that the CIC has 4 teams go past Sectional?