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Culver Academy at NJSP - Culver Academy has played a pretty difficult schedule to date, without much success. But they are battle tested. The Jays are prepping for a pretty difficult stretch of games to finish the season. Hopefully they aren't looking past the Eagles this week. I think it'll be a good game, but I'm taking the home team. North Judson 28-14 LaVille at Knox - I don't think Knox can stop the Lancers. And I don't think they can score enough on the Lancers to keep it close. This will end up being another running clock as LaVille will mix things up and score quickly and often. LaVille 49-8 North White at Caston - Caston has scored on every opponent they've played so far even though they've lost soundly to all of them. North White has trouble scoring against a pretty weak schedule. I think the Comets will move the ball against the Vikings and put up their first W of the season. Caston 34-21 Pioneer at Triton - Could this be the year Triton exorcises the demons for both Bremen and Pioneer? They certainly weren't rattled playing at Bremen. So I'm curious to see how they handle the mental game against a solid Pioneer team. Triton's D is legit. I think they'll hold the Panther offense in check, but I expect Pioneer to get a special teams score (or two). Triton is the better team on paper, and I think they'll get it done this week. But it won't be easy or pretty. Triton 28-16 Winamac at Culver - Maybe the game of the week in HNAC play! Triton throttled the Cav offense last week to the tune of 66 total yards. Culver will have a lot more success this week! But Winamac has played through the gauntlet of their schedule already and they're due for a strong finish to the season. I think this one comes down the last possession. I'm taking the Cavs at home. Culver 22-21

When the Northern State Conference split up, Bremen, Glenn and Jimtown should have grabbed up Valley, Rochester and Fairfield to form a new conference. It would have been a very solid northern Indiana football conference! They could have also pulled in Mishawaka Marian and Culver Academies to make it an 8 school conference if you don't mind the private schools in there. It's not too late!! Someone make it happen! 😃

Definitely some better games on the docket this week. I see LaVille and Judson winning comfortably, but the other games should be good ones.

Oh you're certainly welcome to your prediction! I just thought maybe you had seen something on film or heard something that might give Pioneer an edge that I had not considered. I think anyone who writes off Pioneer is making a mistake. There's too much history and pride in that program to think they'll take their lumps quietly! I haven't made my prediction yet. I don't see this being a blowout by any stretch, though I don't see Pioneer winning by three scores.

Pioneer by 20? What have you seen that makes you think Pioneer is that much better than Triton?

Another week in the record books. Some observations... * LaVille is really good. Up 63 at the half? Wow. How do you even do that? Nine scores in 24 minutes. I know Caston isn't good, but that's pretty incredible. * Pioneer losing by 24. Surprising for sure! I saw on Harrells discussion board that the Panthers only dressed 29 for the game last night. Injuries? Or just very low numbers? It's been 25 years since Pioneer has had a losing season. Seems possible this year, though I'm not ready to throw in the towel on them just yet. I expect a close game with Triton next week. * Knox doubling up on Glenn surprises me a little. But if you believe the Sagarin ratings you have to see that the upper half of the HNAC this year is better than the South division of the NIC. LaVille, Knox, Judson and Triton could all compete with Jimtown for that title. * Three HNAC teams in the top 100 according to Sagarin. Again, take it with a grain of salt, but still. That's pretty impressive for a small school conference in the middle of corn country. Looking forward to next Friday! Some good games on tap with LaVille/Knox, Pioneer/Triton and Culver/Winamac.

Hammond Central 46, Pioneer 22. Final. Shocked by this one!

Triton 42 Culver 0 Final Hammond Central 32 Pioneer 14 End of 3rd

Triton 42 Culver 0 Final

Triton 21 Culver 0 half

I expected LaVille to win all of their games so far. But I did not expect their average margin of victory over Bremen, Triton and Pioneer to be 41 points. So, they exceeded my expectations.

Caston at LaVille - So far I think this LaVille team has exceeded expectations! They still have some pretty good teams to play, but with the exception of about 15 minutes of the Triton game, they've dominated every minute! After disposing of Caston this week, the next three games should tell us a lot about the Lancers. But then I thought they might have their hands full in their first three games too! And they cruised through those. Anyway, this week will be a nice scrimmage. LaVille 56-0 Culver at Triton - Triton will celebrate homecoming this week by hosting the Cavs. Culver has given up a lot of points to the good teams they've played so far. That will probably be the case this week as well. Schuh is on a mission for 2,000 yards. He needs 200 a game and he'll get it again this week with some to spare (depending on how many carries Younis gives him). This shouldn't be much of a contest. Triton 42-8 Knox at Glenn - I'm not sure what to expect here. So far HNAC teams have had their way with their former NSC foes. If Knox wins this one, it will say a lot about the quality of the NIC small school division this year. And as an HNAC homer, I'd love to see the domination continue! But this is at Glenn, so I don't see a blowout. I will take the Redskins in a close one. Knox 28-24 North Judson at Winamac - If the Jays can shut out Knox, I don't know how the Warriors will score on them. This should be a rather lopsided event. So far, Judson has done a nice job of getting multiple guys some carries. Is this the week Mr. Allen sets himself apart with a big game? IF he gets the carries, he could go for a couple hundred in this one. NJSP will cruise. North Judson 52-0 Pioneer at Hammond Central - It would be easy to pick Pioneer big in this one since HC hasn't played much of a schedule, even though they are 3-1. Not so fast my friend! Sagarin's predictor rating makes Pioneer only about a 6 point favorite. So this one could be more competitive than most might be tempted to think. However... I still believe Pioneer is better than their record would indicate. Both losses are to very solid teams! Despite what Sagarin and Harrell say, I'm taking the Panthers by a good margin. Pioneer 40-14

You keep talking about Triton next year, but this is the year they've been looking at for a while now. Triton's line is senior dominated and very experienced! Next year the skill guys won't have the support up front they have this year. If they're going to make a run, it's gonna be 2022.

Triton has a solid team for sure. But saying they should go far in the tournament overlooks the fact that Pioneer and North Judson are in their sectional. We'll see in the next three weeks how those three teams line up, but I'm not making Triton the Sectional 41 favorite by any stretch. I would say that NJSP is the team to beat while not counting out perennial powerhouse Pioneer.

Will there be any close games this week? Maybe Knox and Glenn?

Very proud of the guys last night! They proved that they have the mentality to win! I was definitely thinking “here we go again “ early in the first, but the defense stepped up and they played great on both sides of the ball. How that Bremen team beat Marian I will never understand. But hats off to the Trojans! They played a great game!

Triton 51 Bremen 10 Final

You're sandbaggin' @MarshallCounty! Bremen can't be that bad. Do you really think Triton could go up to Mishawaka and beat the Knights on their home field?

Here's my weak attempt at some predictions... Caston at Pioneer - Despite their 1-2 record, Pioneer is a better team than some predicted prior to game one. This team is in the hunt for second place in the HNAC. And since they have the other contenders at the back of their schedule, their young guns will have time to improve. This is a game to work on execution and consistency. No problem for Pioneer this week with a second half running clock. Comets will get a score through the air. Panthers 42-6 Knox at North Judson - Definitely the game of the week! I know the Jays were highly touted entering the season. They haven't had a chance to really prove that yet as their schedule has been very weak to this point. Knox will tax the Jay's defense for sure! I look for this to be a high scoring affair and a lot of fun to watch! In the end I think Allen and Co. will be too much for the Skins. North Judson wins a wild one at home. Blue Jays 42-35 LaVille at Winamac - LaVille has beaten three pretty good teams in beat-down fashion! They are impressive! I have no idea how Coach Hostrawser is supposed to handle his games with the lower tier teams in the conference. It'll be like putting a muzzle on the heifer when she comes to the feed trough! Name your score, Lancers. LaVille 63-0 Triton at Bremen - On paper this should be a good game, but I have my doubts. Triton doesn't know how to beat Bremen, simple as that. If there's a year that the Trojans should compete with the Lions, this is definitely it! If Triton can get on the board first, they'll have a shot. But if Bremen gets off to a strong start, the Trojans will fade. I think Schuh will have another good game with 150-170 yards. And the passing game looked much better last week. Still, I just don't think Triton has the mental toughness to win this one. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm taking the Lions. Bremen 28-21 West Central at Culver - Could it be that West Central is actually pretty good this year? It's been a few years, but these Trojans have had some good seasons! I think this could be a good game! I expect the Cavs to pound out yards on the ground and put up points. But will they slow down the Trojans who are scoring at a pretty good clip. Ultimately, West Central's opponents so far haven't prepared them for a physical team like Culver. Cavaliers 33-21

The only way Triton wins this game is if they score early and build some confidence. Triton loses this game most seasons before the kickoff. It's a head game, and the Trojans don't think they can win. Years when this game should be close on paper, it usually isn't. Let's hope it's different this year.

Nothing that the Lancers won't handle easily. LaVille is currently ranked 24th in this week's Sagarin rankings. That's 24 overall! And #1 in 2A. They've beaten three pretty decent teams very handely. Bremen's win over Marian was a big boost to LaVille's ranking I'm sure. They wont stay that high even if they keep winning, but it's pretty cool to see them that high right now. How high did Pioneer make it back in 2018? Seems like they were in the top 25, but I don't remember for sure.

Triton leading Caston 39-8 at the half.

Try this link. Pioneer games are usually broadcast here. https://team1sports.com/pioneertv/?B=403359

What happened to North Newton?

Culver at Knox - Knox is putting up some big offensive numbers this year! That should continue this week. The Skins should win pretty easily at home. Knox 49-13 LaVille at Pioneer - I can't see the Lancers repeating the beatdown of last year's sectional final, but I also don't see this one going down to the wire. LaVille by 2 TDs and a field goal. Lancers 31-14 North Newton at North Judson-San Pierre - North Newton might win a few games this year, especially in the weak Midwest Conference. But they won't be competitive in this one. Blue Jays 55-7 North White at Winamac - Maybe the closest game of the week. Winamac should get their first dubya of the season. Warriors 21-14 Triton at Caston - Triton will re-focus after last week's second half beatdown. I hope they work on the passing game Friday night, although they certainly won't need it to win this game. The Trojans will roll. Triton 48-6