npcougar15

Some story lines for each game. Does Marian prove they are still going to be a force come playoff time with a shellacking of Bremen? The Lions have been on both ends of a butt kicking thus far this season, can they get back to their mid-2010 form or is Bremen going back into a recession? Elkhart shouldn't be challenged at all this game. If their offense doesn't put up 45+ this Friday I think the Lions would be underperforming so far on that side of the ball. Is Penn back? probably the most intriguing game in the state this week. Lots of discussion after this one no matter the outcome. Can Washington break the 7 point mark? Or is the West side waiting for girls basketball season to give SB something to cheer about? NP took 2 from the red devils last year in two close games. Will Lowell challenge the cougars or is NP going to be an early clear favorite in sectional 17 A lot of hype coming from both Riley and Adams going into the season that has since been silenced; who has enough to get a win and be declared SB champions (Sorry Clay and Washington I can't imaging either one of you beating Adams or Riley). Is this going to be the darkest day in Jimtown football the last 40 years? Clay oh Clay you continue to amaze me year after year, at this point it's tough to imagine Clay ever getting back to a competitive level. Could be a huge set back for the St. Joe program to lose this one. Does Barron have the Falcons believing enough to pull off a pretty big program win?

Bremen at Marian - MARIAN - not sure what to make of Bremen thus far. Elkhart at Morton - ELKHART - probably won't be much of a challenge for the Lions this week. Cathedral at Penn - CATHEDRAL - I'm picking the Irish until Penn proves me otherwise. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see this being a close game and maybe even a kingsmen win to send shockwaves throughout the gridirondigest Kankakee Valley at Washington - KV - Anybody playing a SB school is usually a safe pick. New Prairie at Lowell - NP - its been a fun little rivalry the past 8 years with some real great games. I just think NP is simply better this season. The inferno is always tough to win at so game might be closer than most think. Osceola Grace at Jimtown - OG - Why do I have a suspicion OG is going to win this one? Adams at Riley - RILEY - I have no clue Clay at Hammond Central - HC - no explanation needed. St. Joseph at Glenn - ST. JOE - The top athletes of St. Joe will be too much for the falcons to handle. Baron might have something up his sleeve though.

Concord at Jimtown- I think Concords top talent is better than Jimtowns top talent and that will be the difference. Fairfield at Adams- Who knows Glenn at Riley - Both played bad teams last week and squeaked out some wins. I think Glenn wins this one. Marian at Culver Academy- Marian just doesn't have there usual spice this year. New Prairie at Goshen- Does NP pitch another shutout? Northridge at Elkhart - Probably 2 of the more hyped up teams in the area, I think one of them is overhyped. Elkhart with an easy win. Penn at Portage - Is Penn starting to look like the teams of the past 21st century? Penn goes 2-0 in the DAC before real tests begin. Clay at Twin Lakes - SBSC needs to take a good long look at the colonial program. It's gotten real bad. St. Joseph at Mishawaka - Caveman with a blue collar 3+ TD win. Washington at Bremen - No Idea. Lions come through with a W I guess.

Chuck Freeby tweeted out something along the lines of "SBSC's computer system had a glitch in it requiring all staff to "reapply" for their job" So any staff that hasn't done that yet still shows up as vacant I believe.

I agree there are A LOT of 3A-5A schools piled on one another in the northwest part of the state. Sounds to me like the IHSAA needs to have some by-law stating if BOTH schools agree to play on a Saturday then go for it. This situation is circumstantial and needs to be addressed as such.

There isn't one benefit to neutral site games other than the "even playing field" argument. If you get the privilege to host a sectional/regional/semi-state championship; there is nothing better than having thousands in your community come together to pack the stands and cheer on their team while standing along the fence line and end zones on a cold November night. On the other hand there is also nothing quite like the privilege in going to an opposing teams packed stadium with your faithful fans and bringing home a trophy to ruin their entire year. If neither one of those gets you going then you don't belong near a football field on Friday night. Also, I understand games get played on Saturday...It happens. Weather postponements, traveling conflicts, field availability, etc. all play a role in it. But to schedule championship games on a Saturday at a neutral site would set Indiana high school football back 20 years.

I don't understand why anyone would possibly think moving playoff football to Saturday would be a good idea. Why would you want to compete against college football? Why would you want to compete against families doing weekend fall activities? why would do you want a championship game being played in the middle of the day? I see highlights of high school football being played in the middle of the day in other states and it just doesn't feel right; doesn't have an atmosphere that draws you in. Friday nights in the fall are reserved for high school football and everyone knows it. Change for the sake of change isn't a move in the right direction. I understand the push for neutral site games to "level the playing field" for championships. But in no way would that benefit Indiana high school football long term. Not only would it be a logistical nightmare for schools, officials, concessions, facilities, staffers, PA announcers, etc. it just isn't conducive to a great atmosphere that should be present for big time games.

North Valpo @ Penn - Valpo - No reason to think Penn is going to win this one Elkhart @ Concord - Elkhart - People seem pretty excited for this years Lions squad St Joe @ Lakeland - St. Joe - Downey's 2nd stint gets off on the right track against a lesser opponent Adams @ Northridge - Edge goes to Adams - Northridge is just way too hyped up this season. Kudos to the run last year, but I don't think 2022 is going to go so well in Middlebury Laporte @ New Prairie - NP - NP should have a good team again, LaPorte might come out inspired or they might come out behind the 8 ball after the off-season changes. Mishawaka @ Marian (Mish) - Cavemen - If Cavemen have the answers at the QB position they should have a championship level squad this year. South Northwood @ Jimtown - NW - I got a feeling Northwood will surprise like they seem to do every 3-4 years. Bremen @ Laville - LV - Laville has been on a better trajectory the last 4 seasons. Glenn @ Boone Grove - No idea Hammond Central @ Washington - Hammond Central - They gotta be better than Washington, right? Osceola Grace @ Clay - DT contraction update after this match-up.

If I were to guess some things just caught up to the Cougars that they were able to get away with the first 3 weeks of the season. Don't think he was hurt (the kid had like 35 carries that game). Frustrating game to watch from a NP perspective, but I think they did learn from it.

Hopefully the O-line can put it together; that will be the key to a successful season for the cougars. No surprise about the defense, should be improved. Sinka really impressed me last year as a sophomore; the kid is a hard runner and hits the hole and falls forward. Guarantee to get you 3/4 yards every time he touches the ball. I hope the coaching staff finds ways to have Ryans, Sinka, Kmiecik, and Mungia on the field all at the same time. Frustrating last year when Mungia and Sinka would constantly sub in for one another. Just have them both in at the same time and make the defense respect both weapons.

my NIC big school predictions: 1-3 Penn, NP, Elkhart. - throw them in a hat and pick them out in any order, I don't think too many plays are going to separate these 3. NP pound for pound will be the best in the conference but I'm not too sure they have enough to pick off both Penn and Elkhart in the same season. Penn will be it's usual self the last 4 years; do just enough to share a conference title while getting beat up by like-sized schools. I could see Elkhart running the table if they have the athletes that people say they do, but they aren't going to be my favorite until they prove it on the gridiron consistently. 4 - Marian - They have lost a lot the last 2 years and seem destined to take a step back as St. Joe appears to take a step forward. I could see Marian surprising a few people this year and pick off one of Elkhart, NP, or Penn. Don't think they have the jimmy and joes this year to contend for the NIC. They have a culture set up nicely for post-season success at this point. 5 - St. Joe - They have to be better than what they have been the last 5 years right? Don't think they will end up at the top of the conference just yet but it was a big off season for the Indians. Look for them to be way more competitive week in and week out. 6 - Adams - I don't think Adams will necessarily have a bad team but they just seem to come up short of expectations year in and year out. Realistically Adams has maybe 2 opportunities for wins this conference season.

That explains a lot about why JG has in my eyes; always underperformed going back to the NSC days. I've always thought Glenn had the community support and athletes to put together a Bremenish type program if they want it. But as each passing season goes by it's more apparent that it's a culture issue in Walkerton preventing it from having a solid program competing for championships. Fortunately or Unfortunately for a small town rural school like Glenn to burst onto the football scene it will take a military/discipline focused coach plus player buy in to right the ship. So be it, they have solid baseball and basketball programs, maybe JG just isn't capable of being a football school?

knowing absolutely nothing other than who should be returning and who graduated this is exactly what I expected. NP brings back every skilled position except Fronk (which I think is a huge loss. NP is playing in the state title game last year). They lost A LOT of skill/size/experience on the OL; There defense should be solid as they have a couple of senior studs on that side of the ball. Overall NP should be competing for championships again this upcoming season. There does need to be more deceptive play calling coming through the headsets, NPs lack of deception and originality prevented last years team from having a great offense. It allowed defenses to commit when the motion back started his motion. Finally caught up to them during the semi-state game when Northridge just flew to the ball on the first step. A few reverses a game would of went a long way last year...

Pretty much agree with this. Lost quite a bit in the non-glamorous positions but return enough studs around the field that they should be challenging for trophies again. I think Fronk will be a huge loss; kid was a just a gamer all over the field, not to mention arguably NPs best kicker/punter ever. I know it sounds crazy from the outside but even after an 11-3 season I still have some questions regarding coaching. The lack of deception among other things (specifically offensively) all season long finally caught up and cost the Cougars a trip to Lucas Oil. I know I'm not the only person to feel this way...

Congrats to Northridge on the hard hard fought win last night. Still in shock over the last 3 minutes of that game. I know nothing about MV but I saw some highlights of their game vs EM on twitter last night, they look like they have some absolute studs on that team. I'm sure NR will be big time underdogs but I'm guessing thats right where they want to be.

he is closer to 350 than he is 300. The kid is just massive plain and simple. Excited that it's finally game day, hoping for a good entertaining hard hitting football game with the Cougs coming out on top. Should be a great atmosphere in New Carlisle with a perfect championship weather!

I'd bet that the Northridge contingent will have no problem filling the visitor bleachers as they are on the smaller side.

Looks to be about as good of Semi-State football weather you can ask for in northern Indiana tomorrow night. I don't think field conditions will be that big of a factor in this one. Looking forward to the game and what should be a great atmosphere at Amzie Miller Field.

Since we are on the topic of field conditions. Do the Northridge faithful think playing on NPs natural grass will affect their team at all? NPs field has been in pretty good shape this season and I don't think the weather leading up or during the game will affect it too much; but you never know.

Exactly. We are a totally different team offensively than we were in August and September; hence all the bemoaning back then. At the beginning of the year we were 1 kid offensively (when everyone was upset) and it caught up with us during the Marian game. Finally, we started to get multiple athletes involved, which NP has quite a few, started throwing out different looks and different ways to get everyone involved and it has made us a very tough team to match-up with. NP could play in a phone booth with all the beef up front or they can spread you out with their athletes. Should be another hard hitting game and I know Northridge is going to come ready to play.

NP and Lowell have been apart of some good games the last 7 years. Their first meeting could of gone either way and I don't see this one being any different. I think both teams have found their identity the last 7 weeks and are firing on all cylinders right now.

This exactly. #21 (the kid who initially got blasted from behind) was trying to get too #62 (the kid that did the late hit) but a coach saw it coming and was blocking #21 from going after him. I watched the video about 15 times trying to find a kid going after a coach and just realized nobody knew what they were talking about.

Congrats to Penn on winning 2 trophies in one of the their worst seasons in 50 years. They won the games they needed too. I'm amazed that Chesterton has never won a sectional title before. Surprised by the total butt kicking Marian handed the Jimmies last night. Marian showing 3A they are still the cream of the crop by beating up on an undefeated TV team as well as a Jimtown team that looked poised to make a run of jimmy old. NP did exactly what they needed too and that was thoroughly dominate St. Joe. Should be a another good game in Lake County next week as NP vs Lowell meet up again in the regional for what has become a WIDE open 4A north.

I'm well aware that Penn's schedule was front loaded this season, and that has a lot to do with their performance/results. Chesterton had a lot of hype coming into this year and has had a solid season, but if you look at their last half of the season what have they done to show that they would "roll" you guys? Not saying Chesterton won't or can't win but I just don't see this being a blowout by any means.

Really some intriguing matchups this week for the sectional championships. My head thinks Penn wins this matchup to keep the Yeoman haters at bay for at least 1 more week. The teams seem to be trending in opposite directions; outside of the NP game, Penn has pretty much rolled the last 6 weeks. While Chesterton is 3-3 and hasn't really done anything impressive against good/average competition (Merrillville has a pretty darn good team this year though). NP should win comfortably against the Indians. Not only did the Cougs score a 35-0 win earlier in the year over St. Joe but NP is obviously better in any metric you look at. With that being said, funny things happen in championship games and St. Joe has pulled off some post season runs after a subpar regular season before so you can't over look them. I said it after week 1 - if NP doesn't win a championship this year it will be a disappointment - well they haven't got a trophy yet so hopefully the Cougars take care of business come out with a W. This Marian Jimtown showdown is going to be a good one. I go back and forth who I think will pull out a win. I know Marian has speed and athletes around the field but Jimtown (I don't know as much about them) seems to also have some studs for themselves and are currently on a 9 game win streak. Should be the game of the week and a real fun atmosphere in elkhart county.