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I'm not shocked by the LaVille win over NJ. I think the Lancers should win the sectional on Friday. But I don't give them much of a chance with Pioneer. I watched some of the Knox game on Friday night and McLaughlin's body is taking a beating! He's obviously in GREAT shape, but how long can a guy handle that kind of physical stress on his body? But I do think he can take Knox to the finals.

Definitely the favorite, but not a lock by any means. You have to consider LaVille a real threat now long with South Adams.

Kudos to Frontier for taking care of business. But they haven't seen an offense like Pioneer's. It's a smooth running machine at this point in the season. Frontier's closest game of the year was handing West Central their only loss, who - by the way - has the 312th ranked schedule in the state. Just one better than the Falcons. This game will be kind of like that 2018 state final where everyone from the south was saying North Vermillion would give Pioneer a run for their money, then watched them get plastered 60-0. Sagarin's predictor rating has the Panthers favored by 38. I think that sounds about right.

I don't think that Pioneer game will be close at all. Sagarin has Pioneer, Judson, NM, Triton, LaVille and even Fremont rated higher than Frontier. There is literally only 1 team in the State of Indiana that played an easier schedule than Frontier. Pioneer will score on their first 5 possessions and roll to the win. North Judson may have a little trouble with LaVille, but playing at home will help and they'll win by a couple scores. North Miami will roll over Southwood. Fremont will hang with Triton through the 1st half, but Overmyer and the Trojans will wear them down in the 2nd half and win by 3 scores. Overmyer set the Triton single season rushing mark last week and hopefully has at least a couple games to add to the total.

Ok, I'm ready to say Pioneer is my favorite from the north. They handled Judson soundly last Friday and hung with 3A undefeated Knox until they wore down. (McLaughlin will do that to you.) I'm curious to see how long Frontier can hang around with the Panthers, but I don't see Pioneer getting beat by them.

I've got LaVille, Judson, Pioneer, Carroll, NM and Triton all winning comfortably this week. I think next week will really test a couple of the 4 remaining HNAC teams. LaVille and Fremont will challenge the Jays and the Trojans. Pioneer shouldn't have too much trouble with Frontier, but if the Falcons want to prove they are legit, beating Pioneer would do it! North Miami will cruise into the sectional final.

Triton was up 20 - 0 at the half and NM scored twice in the 3rd before Triton touched the ball (onside kick). Overmyer had an 84 yard TD in the 3rd and then Triton ran out the last 7:30 on the clock with Overmyer running the wildcat. Great game.

There's a good possibility 3 of the 4 sectional champs in the north come from the Hoosier North conference. They'll join South Adams in the regional. Personally, I think Pioneer could rep the north. But we'll see what happens this week when the Panthers visit North Judson.

Give me: Pioneer North Miami Caston Culver

No major surprises this past week. Will any of this week's games be close? Friday, Oct. 10 Culver at North Miami ©, 7 pm North Judson at Caston ©, 7:30 pm Triton at Pioneer ©, 7 pm Winamac at South Central ©, 7:30 pm

If not for South Central's attempts to throw the ball around the yard, that drive from North Miami to South Central might take longer than the game itself, especially with a second half running clock. Agree, no major surprises this week, although I do think Winamac might keep it a little closer than expected. Harrell has a 24 point spread. That might be about right.

Big defensive battle in North Judson last night. Each team scored on their first possessions of the game, then NJ adds a safety late in the 4th. A couple of missed opportunities for both teams, but you have to credit the defenses for stepping up! What happened to Caston? I thought they were moving forward. That had to hurt.

Triton came from a conference (NSC) where they got clobbered by the 4 best teams every year. There is no interest in getting back in bed with 3 of them again. I was disappointed to see LaVille leave for the INSC, and would love to see them back in the HNAC. Teams go up and down. Winamac will have some better years. Culver will have an athlete or two go through every-so-often that makes them competitive. Caston is improving. I think this is a good football conference for Triton. Can't see us going anywhere unless some of the other members jump ship.

I have to think Judson and Pioneer will play for the outright title in week 9. Triton will finish 1-3 and drop below NM in the final standings. Blowouts all the way around this week.

Caston at South Central - Caston by a lot Culver at North Judson - Judson by an awful lot Pioneer at North Miami - Until NM learns how to throw the ball, they won't beat really good teams. Pioneer by 2 scores Winamac at Triton - Triton by 3 scores

Caston at Pioneer - Blowout, even though Caston is better. North Judson at North Miami - Give me the Warriors at home. South Central at Triton - Blowout. Winamac at Culver - Close.

Carroll at Caston Culver at Attica Cass at Pioneer North Judson at Knox North Miami at Northfield Triton at LaVille Wheeler at South Central Winamac at West Central

As a player in the NLC from WAY back, I appreciate reading your content and analysis @NLCTigerFan07! Keep it up.

Here we go! Congrats to the Bluejays for taking care of business. One to go! Saturday, Nov. 30 North Judson vs. Providence, 11 am, Lucas Oil

South Adams at North Judson - It would be pretty hard to pick against Judson this week, especially considering the weather conditions tonight. The Jays are focused and ready to finally punch their ticket to Lucas! I don't know that this will be a blowout, but a decisive win for the home team just the same. Blue Jays 36-14

Friday, Nov. 22 South Adams at North Judson, 8 pm Thoughts on this week's matchup? Two completely different styles of offense! Who wins it?

North Judson at Taylor - Quite a run through the sectional for Taylor! They knocked off 2 HNAC teams on the way to the title. But this is where their HNAC dominance ends! Judson is just on another level and speed alone won't be enough to win this game. I have NJSP winning soundly. Blue Jays 42-7 North Miami at South Adams - The Starfires have been running under the radar in this part of the state! They seem to be scoring a ton of points! But NM is also capable of putting up impressive numbers! This seems to be ground and pound vs. air it out! If this were an NFL game, I'd definitely pick the team throwing it around. But when it's high school kids playing the game, I tend to lean toward the tried and true running game! I'm taking North Miami simply because they run an offense that is less prone to error. Warriors 36-28

Friday, Nov. 15 North Judson at Taylor, 7:30 pm North Miami at South Adams, 7 pm Who you got this week? The Taylor and South Adams wins were a bit of a shock to me, but we still could have an all-HNAC semi-state!

LaVille at North Judson - I was surprised LaVille kept this game as close as they did in week 2. The Lancers didn't look that good to me in their week 1 matchup with Triton. This time around I expect Judson to be more dominant. Running clock in the 2nd half. Blue Jays 49-7 Taylor at Pioneer - This appears to be speed vs. speed. Knowing Pioneer, I just don't see how Taylor will be able to stop the Panther's machine-like offense. It could be a shoot-out! But I think Pioneer wins this one comfortably. Panthers 42-21 Triton at North Miami - Triton was definitely distracted in the first matchup 3 weeks ago. I think they're focused again and I expect this game to be a battle from the opening kick. Both teams are coming in confident and ready to prove that they are the best team in Sectional 43. I'm taking Triton by 2 scores in the rematch. Trojans 28-14

How good are the top 4 teams in the HNAC? The only non-conference losses by any of those teams were to 3A Knox (Pioneer) and 2A Bremen (Triton) - who are both playing for sectional titles this week. I think the real measure will come in the regional game between either North Miami or Triton, and Madison Grant. An HNAC win in that game would absolutely solidify the HNAC as the best 1A football conference in the state!