FinePrint

Wow! This is interesting! Might just be a new contender in the 3A north! Pioneer is still the king, but the margin for error is shrinking fast!

Ok. Right. So let's throw out a scenario... Team A is in a rivalry game with Team B. Team B's all-state quarterback must sit out the first half for disciplinary reasons. As a result, Team A racks up a 35-0 lead at the half and a running clock is mandated for the second half. Team B receives the second half kickoff, runs their no huddle offense and scores in 2 minutes. Team A receives the ensuing kickoff and decides not to run a play, but take consecutive delay of game penalties until the entire third quarter ends. They run one play to begin the fourth quarter and then continue to take penalties without running a play until the game ends. Team B never gets the ball back again and their star player cannot help them mount a comeback. Could this happen under the current rule?

So in a mercy rule running clock scenario, the clock is supposed to stop for a delay of game penalty?

The clock management by Tennessee the other day reminds me of a situation this year where the leading team took a delay of game penalty with less than a minute left in the game in order to avoid punting. Since the clock continues to run after a penalty, is there any provision in the rule that prohibits a team from taking consecutive penalties in order to simply run time off the clock? I realize it would be an extremely unsportsmanlike act (and I have no idea why anyone would want to do it), but is there something that would prevent a coach from running out an entire quarter by just taking delay of game penalties?

Warsaw 35 Penn 18 Final

Warsaw 28 Penn 18 End of 3rd

Plymouth 14 New Prairie 14 Half

Warsaw 14 Penn 12 Early 3rd

I agree! That score was an eye-brow-raiser! I didn't think Northfield looked that great against Triton last week. The 2-8 Trojans had the ball inside the Norse red zone four times. But Northfield's D stiffened and they ended up winning 21-8. So good job by the Norse to come back with a great game against Southwood!

How will any venue be able to enforce this rule when people offsite fly drones over the field? I'm sure if a person is on the school's campus this rule could be enforced. But how can they enforce this when people are off campus? Shotguns maybe? 😉

I wasn't at the game. Doesn't appear that it went very well. 3 picks I think. Couldn't stop the wishbone. Our line is definitely a work in process with a couple of freshmen starting. Hot much experience there across the front.

I'm from Triton, and I can assure you that Coach Brown is a master at convincing boys that the team needs them, and then getting those kids to buy in! Give him enough time and he'll have the best athletes from the school on the field.

Friday, Sep. 20 Crispus Attucks at Pioneer - Attucks has won three games, but even Triton has played a more difficult schedule than the Tigers. So don't read much into that. Pioneer will be much better than their visitors from the city. 38 zip at the half, running clock to start the 3rd. Pioneer 54-7 Glenn at Knox - This game will give all of us a little more info to speculate about the Pioneer / Knox matchup in a couple weeks. If the Redskins can't handle the Falcons pretty soundly, they won't have anything for Pioneer. Glenn is better this year for sure, but I think Knox will control the game from start to finish. Knox 28-7 LaVille at Caston - No contest here. LaVille will control both sides of the ball all night long. Probably a shutout. LaVille 52-0 Triton at Culver - Triton is very young and inexperienced in the trenches. The Cavs will exploit that weakness all night long. I look for big nights for the Culver trio of wishbone backs! They can pick their poison. But Triton will move the ball on offense. Culver has given up quite a few points. I think Triton will hang around for 3 quarters, but a late Culver 8 minute drive will seal the win. Culver 28-14 Winamac at North Judson - Game of the week! This should be a good one! Just like the matchup in Culver, this will be contrasting styles. I like what Winamac has going on and if they can avoid turnovers, I'm giving them the edge in a close one. Winamac 27-21

According to the 19-20 classifications, enrollments are: Caston - 211, Culver - 239, Triton - 270, Pioneer - 288, NJSP - 331, Winamac - 376, LaVille - 386, Knox - 571 It seems Caston is experiencing exactly what Culver and Triton were feeling in the old NSC (related to football). It was difficult to compete year in and year out. Pretty hard to build excitement for the program when you get trounced 5-6 times a year! Personally I would love to see Bremen (509) replace Caston in the conference. The Lions would bring excellent competition in almost every boys and girls sport!

I see the possibility of some good games this week!

I'd say there's a pretty good chance Bremen gets their first of back-to-back wins tonight... probably their only two W's of the season. Triton players have a mental block when it comes to Bremen. They don't believe they can beat their county rivals. I think Bremen wins easily tonight. Hope I'm wrong! But I doubt it.

Well, looks like the odds on the "No" answer to that question just went up by about 50%! Ha!

Friday, Sep. 13 Bremen at Triton - This is the only game with some intrigue this week. Triton has only beaten Bremen 2 times in the last 35 years. I think Triton is capable of competing, but they won't. Bremen has been looking forward to a winnable game on their schedule. This will be a large Bremen win, one of only a couple on the season. Next week against Clay is the other one. Bremen 35-13 Culver at West Central - Culver should control the game with methodical drives that end in scores. Not a ton of scoring in this one, but I don't think it will be close. Culver 28-6 North Judson at Knox - Rivalry games can be unpredictable! I love a motivated underdog in a rivalry game! But I don't think this one will live up to the last couple of close games. The Redskins should run away with this one. Knox 35-14 Pioneer at Caston - The only question in this game is: Will either Lewellan be tackled tonight? The Panther JV won't be able to keep from scoring. Running clock won't help. Pioneer 76-0 Winamac at LaVille - The Warriors will probably get on the board in this one, but I don't see them moving the ball with any consistency. The Lancers will score easily and often. LaVille 45-7

There doesn't appear to be much excitement about this week's docket of games. None of the games should be close. I'm still waiting for Knox to do something that will convince me they have a shot at Pioneer. A big win this week would help. Culver should run all over WC. LaVille will destroy Winamac out of frustration. And Caston won't get a first down against Pioneer. Triton MIGHT be able to give Bremen a little challenge, but I'm not holding my breath.

Frankly I was a little disappointed with Caston. They weren't much better than last year. I don't see them getting a win. I think they crossed the 50 once. Triton is not a great team, but they completely dominated this one. As for Triton, I see them fighting it out with Culver, Judson and Winamac for 4th place in the HNAC. Best of the rest battle.

Friday, Sep. 6 Caston at Triton - Triton got rolled up pretty good last week at LaVille. My take away is that LaVille is pretty dang good. And I don't think Triton is really that bad. Caston is certainly improved this year and I think they'll get a win or two. But not this week. I'm going with the Trojans. Triton 34-13 Knox at Culver - It seems Knox may have found some offense this year. If that is the case, they will be dangerous in the HNAC and could be a factor in their sectional. I heard that Ditmire was not a one man show last week, which will help them through the season. It won't matter this week though. Knox 28-6 North Judson at North Newton - The Jays are sitting at 2-0 with wins over Culver and Caston. North Newton at 1-1 with a big win and a big loss. To me this is a toss up. It sounds like Judson got a little fortunate against Culver. And after losing many weapons from last season, I still need to see some proof that they are a challenger this year. I'm going with NN in a close one. North Newton 28-21 Pioneer at LaVille - Definitely the game of the week! Maybe the game of the year in the HNAC. I think LaVille has the weapons to beat Pioneer this year. They are pretty solid all around with experience in the offensive skill positions. Maybe Pioneer is still trying to figure some things out. They will definitely get there by the time sectional play rolls around! I would not be surprised if the Lancers win this one at home. But no way I'm picking against the Panthers who have yet to lose a HNAC game! Pioneer 30-24 Winamac at North White - Winamac's offense will get rolling in this win over the Vikings. I'm thinking this one will be a shootout with both teams finding the end zone regularly. Winamac 48-35

This. This. The Lancers have to get over the hump one time and they'll get the respect they may deserve. But until they do, Pioneer is still the champ.

We hear about bad sportsmanship a lot. Here is a post from the Triton Trojans facebook page. This was posted on Saturday after the LaVille game: This afternoon, the Triton Athletic Department received an e-mail from one of the officials from last nights Varsity game against LaVille. The official was commenting on the sportsmanship of the Trojans. Please read the e-mail below: "The Triton Trojans (staff and players) showed exemplary sportsmanship last night as they suffered a tough loss against the LaVille Lancers. It is difficult for a team to hold their composure when the other team holds such a commanding lead, but the Triton Trojans held their heads high for all 4 quarters of play as we had 0 unsportsmanlike fouls to report. A special shout out to #58 Jeremiah Farrell for his positive attitude as he was always trying to be verbally positive with his team even when the loss was imminent. He tried to set the tone of playing for pride, and we officials saw his positive attitude and wanted to make sure his gestures did not go unnoticed. High Schools need these types of athletes that show such such pride in their achievements, and their failures." Thank you to Coach Younis, staff, players, and especially Jeremiah for this outstanding display of sportsmanship! #TrojanPride

Should be a great atmosphere over in Lapaz Friday night! I'd love to head over there again this week, but I'll be in Bourbon supporting the Trojans! I believe LaVille is good enough to beat Pioneer this year, but I just can't pick against the Panthers! Those guys know how to win big games. And if there's any knock against the Lancers in the last several years, it's that they have struggled to close out the big ones. Should be a lot of hype heading up to this one... and rightfully so!!

Friday, Aug. 30 Culver 52, South Central 22 Knox 34, Rochester 27 LaVille 59, Triton 14 © North Judson 46, Caston 0 © Pioneer 50, Winamac 0 © Most of these winning margins were even larger than I anticipated! I thought Caston would score a couple. I didn't see Culver putting up 52! Not completely surprised by the LaVille trouncing of Triton, although I was hoping for a better fight by the Trojans. Triton has some decent skill on the offensive side of the ball. Just have to get a rhythm going. Pitney has a good arm and is pretty accurate. I'd like to see him throwing 25-30 times a game. Knox and Pioneer took care of business. Good for them.