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Triton 28, Caston 0 end of 1st Pioneer 14, Culver 6 first

It doesn't appear there will be any really good games this week. Maybe someone will surprise us... Culver at Pioneer - Playing at the Panther Pit is always a challenge. Culver won't put up much resistance for the Panther Wing T offense. It should definitely be a running clock soon after halftime. Panthers 54-0 South Central at North Miami - I'm pleased that North Miami has jumped right into the HNAC and made themselves at home! Unfortunately not quite the same for the Satellites. It's the battle of the HNAC newcomers this week. Gotta give the edge to the Warriors. It'll be a long drive home for South Central. Warriors 49-6 Triton at Caston - The Trojans could come into this game a little flat thinking they can win just by showing up. I think Caston will punch them in the mouth before the Trojans wake up and take over. Caston takes the 7-0 lead in the first, then gets shut out when the Triton kids decide to play. In the end it will be a lopsided win. Trojans 42-7 Winamac at North Judson - It won't matter who thinks this is a rivalry game and who doesn't. Winamac won't have 50 yards of offense all night. Judson will do whatever they darn well please. Running clock at halftime. Bluejays 66-0

Here we go... Week 7! Friday, Oct. 4 Culver at Pioneer ©, 7 pm South Central at North Miami ©, 7:30 pm Triton at Caston ©, 7 pm Winamac at North Judson ©, 7:30 pm

No question NJ is just as advertised. Triton has a pretty stout run defense, but Judson was just methodical. Their first drive took 10 minutes to drive 80 yards for a score. From there Judson had short fields most of the night and took advantage of that. A couple of TDs passes to Wilcox shooting the gap. They really looked good. And Judson's starters got to play basically a full game, so that's good for them. The size of Triton's O-line was an issue. They just don't have the size to handle big boys. It showed up against Winamac and was very clear this week. Triton will be fine. They'll match up better with Pioneer and North Miami.

Caston at Culver - Caston surprised me with their big win last week. I'm not surprised they won, but I am surprised they won by 5 scores! Based on that performance, I have to pick Caston this week. It should be a pretty good game. But I don't think Culver will be able to keep up. Comets 28-14 North Judson at Triton - I don't think anyone will be able to slow down Judson this year. They are really good! If Triton can limit turnovers and keep their heads in the game, they might be in it at the half. But this won't be close in the end. Triton is a top 10 1A team for sure, but the Jays are just that much better. Bluejays 42-14 Pioneer at South Central - Pioneer will put this one away early. Running clock in the 2nd half. SCUM might get on the board with a big play through the air. Panthers 49-7 Winamac at North Miami - I was impressed with Winamac's size and strength last week. They have a bright future if the guys stick with it and continue working! But this year they'll take some lumps. I think NM will be too much for the young Warriors from Winamac. I'm taking the Miami Warriors in this one. Warriors 35-14

I watched a little of the Pioneer / NM game Friday night. I was impressed with both teams! The top half of the HNAC conference is really solid. Triton still has Judson, Pioneer and North Miami - along with Caston - to finish the season. That'll be a tough stretch, but will show the Trojans what's needed to make any type of tournament run.

I'm ready to start looking at next week's games. Will any of these be competitive? Friday, Sep. 27 Caston at Culver ©, 7 pm North Judson at Triton ©, 7:30 pm Pioneer at South Central ©, 7:30 pm Winamac at North Miami ©, 7 pm

Triton up 21-0 at the half, but they are not sharp! They’ll get pummeled by Judson next week.

And it had major implications for conferences as well. Bremen was the only 1A in the NLC at the time, and the 2A & 3A schools wanted Bremen out of the conference because they were penalized for playing that game. However, if I remember correctly, each school could choose 1 of their 10 games to eliminate from the playoff point calculation. So most of the NLC teams would eliminate the Bremen game even though they would be highly favored to win most years. It truly was a convoluted system!

There must have been 8 teams per class that qualified under that format. I know Bremen lost to North Judson in the first round of 1A in 1979. Then TV beat Judson in round 2 before winning the state title the third week. So there had to be 8 teams. And wasn't it a point system? Not a vote. I know Bremen went 7-3 in the regular season that year, but qualified over teams that had better records because Bremen beat several schools from 2A & 3A, which gave them more points.

Anyone interested in this week's matchups? Bremen at Jimtown - I've got Jimtown with a solid win. 35-7 Glenn at Knox - Give me Knox by quite a bit. 42-20 Tippecanoe Valley at LaVille - I can't imagine LaVille keeping this very close, but if they can slow down the run maybe they can make it competitive. I'll take Valley. 28-14

North Judson at Culver - No comments necessary on this one. Culver is completely outmanned and probably won't have 50 yards of offense - at least not against the NJ varsity. Bluejays 56-0 North Miami at Pioneer - This is the most intriguing game of the week and the one with the most on the line. (Potential 2nd place finish in the HNAC) Both teams are getting votes in the 1A polls and the winner will solidify themselves as one to watch in the tournament. I tend to think playing at Pioneer is going to be tough for the Warriors. Pioneer gets a solid win in this one. Panthers 30-14 South Central at Caston - I'll pick this one to be the closest matchup of the week. The winner avoids the HNAC basement. South Central moved the ball through the air on Triton, but couldn't punch it in against the Trojans 1st team D. I think they'll have success against the Comets on the offensive side. But will they be able to slow down Caston's offense? I think this will be a last possession type of game. A lot of offense on display. Satellites 34-28 Triton at Winamac - Triton needs to play a fundamentally sound game to prep for next week's showdown with powerhouse Judson. Having a good game plan and executing well will build some confidence for the big matchup. Winamac will continue to improve and as long as they can stay positive through this tough stretch of games, they should finish the year with 3 conference wins. Trojans 49-7

Harrell's picks for this week: jh PREDICTION: North Judson, 49-3. jh PREDICTION: Pioneer, 31-28. jh PREDICTION: South Central, 38-24. jh PREDICTION: Triton, 31-10.

Interesting to speculate, but I would take the Panthers by 3-4 scores. Judson is probably bigger than those Pioneer teams, but I don't think they're as athletic or as disciplined as Pioneer was. That Kiser-led offense was a machine. I'm looking forward to seeing the Jays firsthand in Bourbon next week, and they may prove me wrong. But I just don't see it at this point.

Same for Triton. Ahead 48-0 at the half. Final was 48-12.

Week 5. Looks like there could be a couple of good games here. Friday, Sep. 20 North Judson at Culver ©, 7:30 pm North Miami at Pioneer ©, 7 pm South Central at Caston ©, 7:30 pm Triton at Winamac ©, 7 pm

Friday, Sep. 13 Culver at Winamac - I was shocked last week to see the size of Culver's roster. It's really hard to win when you only have 20 or so players in uniform, knowing that many of them are just not ready for varsity action. (Attica must be REALLY bad!) If the West Central scores are any indication, Winamac should win this one by 3-4 scores. Warriors 34-12 North Miami at North Judson - I've picked against NM every week so far. They've proven me wrong each time! I dare you to prove me wrong this week!! 😆 Judson will roll at home... Jays 45-7 Pioneer at Caston - It's been hard to get a real good picture of the Panthers just based on their scores. But I still expect them to be a contender for 2nd place in the conference. They should get a solid win this week. Panthers 30-13 Triton at South Central - Apparently South Central likes to put the ball in the air. They'll need to be successful at throwing it around if they want to hang with the Trojans. Triton's run D is legit. In the end, I expect Triton to pick off a couple of those Satellite passes and roll to a win. Trojans 42-7

Jimtown at Glenn - Jimtown's win over Fairfield was a shocker! Not that they won really, but shutting out the Falcons with a running clock...Wow! I will have to take the Jimmies in this matchup. Jimtown 28-14 LaVille at Bremen - Triton has played both and I think this should be a competitive game. But I think Bremen's experience and skill position players will win the night. Lions 31-14 Tippecanoe Valley at Knox - How resilient will this Knox team be? Before the season they would have been favored in this one for sure. Now I don't know. Radtke should have them ready to go. I'm taking the Redskins at home in a high scoring game. Knox 35-28

Here are Harrell's predictions: Winamac, 28-17 North Judson, 42-14 Pioneer, 38-17 Triton, 38-14 I think he's got the winners, but he might be a little skinny on the margins.

Sorry I didn't get the schedule up yet. Thanks to those who picked already! Friday, Sep. 13 Culver at Winamac ©, 7 pm North Miami at North Judson ©, 7:30 pm Pioneer at Caston ©, 7 pm Triton at South Central ©, 7:30 pm

Triton 42 Culver 0 Halftime

Thanks for the info about North Miami! Good to have a Warrior fan on here. Good luck to all tonight. Hoping for an injury-free night for all teams. Should be a good night for football!

Friday, Sep. 6 Caston at North Miami - Is North Miami good? Or is Sheridan a shell of last year's team? We'll find out this week! If the Warriors blow out Caston this week, I'll give them more respect. I don't think this game will ever be in doubt, but maybe not a running clock type game. Warriors 35-14 Culver at Triton - Blowout #1. Triton will pound the line all night long and break enough big ones to score a lot of points. The Triton D is stout. It's a shutout. Trojans 41-0 North Judson at South Central - Blowout #2. Judson rolls from the opening kick. Probably a running clock for the entire second half. Jays 50-7 Winamac at Pioneer - Blowout #3. Pioneer doesn't lose like they did last week without taking it out on someone. The Warriors will feel the brunt of the payback. Panthers 46-13

I was not at the game, but did watch it later. I doubt anything was wrong with the starter. The second QB was actually expected to be the Triton starter this year, but a change was made for the opener against LaVille. Both guys will see action this year and I would guess the starter was replaced simply because the offense was sputtering a bit. Just changing it up to see if they could get a spark is what I would guess.

Here we go! Conference action begins this week. This week's docket seems to contain a lot of lopsided games. What do you think? Friday, Sep. 6 Caston at North Miami ©, 7 pm Culver at Triton ©, 7:30 pm North Judson at South Central ©, 8 pm Winamac at Pioneer ©, 7 pm