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1. Brownsburg @ Ben Davis 2. Lawrence Central @ Lawrence North 3. Noblesville @ Zionsville 4. Bloomington South @ Bloomington North 5. Evansville North @ Floyd Central 6. Franklin @ Terre Haute South 7. Plainfield @ Harrison 8. East Noble @ Leo 9. Mississinewa @ Columbia City 10. Roncalli @ Mooresville 11. Fairfield @ John Glenn 12. Indian Creek @ Franklin County 13. Lawrenceburg @ Batesville 14. Yorktown @ Delta 15. Brownstown Central @ Triton Central 16. Central Noble @ Manchester 17. Greencastle @ Linton-Stockton 18. Heritage Christian @ Winchester 19. North Posey @ Evansville Mater Dei 20. Rochester @ Lafayette Central Catholic 21. Wheeler @ Bremen 22. Clinton Prairie @ North Vermillion

May in particular was impressive that night. I don't know how many passes I've seen slip through his fingers through the years, but he had glue on them that night! I agree that Triton is capable of stopping long scoring drives. They have a bend-not-break defense that's been pretty effective against everyone but Knox. Judson had 275 rushing yards last time against Triton, but only 7 points. They had several turnovers as I recall. This game will be different! I certainly believe Triton is good enough to continue this run. I just hope they are mentally prepared to do what it takes.

North Judson is much better than they were that night, and Triton clicked in every possible way. Check out the passing line: That isn't happening again. Judson will adjust! If NJ and Triton meet in the sectional final - and they definitely should - it will be a totally different game. Triton won't be able to duplicate that performance again. The second meeting will be won in the trenches, not through the air.

Ha! Didn't even think about the implications for Triton. I don't think the Trojans can beat either AC or Carroll. Maybe not even North Judson or Park Tudor! (But I think we'll be okay against Culver.)

West Noble at Knox - The Chargers' best win was probably over Eastside back in early September. Sagarin says both teams have played comparable schedules. So I don't think WN being in the NECC will help them much. I like Knox winning soundly at home this week. The Redskins are on a mission. Knox 42-21 LaVille at Whiting - I've never been there, but for some reason I'm thinking Whiting has a nice turf football field. If that's true, it'll be a lot of fun for the Lancers! They'll be able to dip into their entire playbook and rack up some offense against the Oilers. LaVille 52-7 South Newton at North Judson - Nothing to see here. The Bluejays will be methodical as they wear down the Rebels front seven. Lots a yards on the ground and a couple of big play-action throws for Judson. North Judson 49-7 Triton at Culver - Looks like it could be another sloppy night. That won't help the Cavs out any. But I am glad it's in Culver and not on the Trojan Tundra! We want the field in great shape for the sectional championship next Friday against the Jays. Triton should take care of business easily. Triton 55-6 Caston at Carroll - Running clock to begin the second half. Caston's season was made last week. This week they'll find out how overmatched they are in the first 2 minutes. I think Carroll has a chance to give Adams Central a run for their money in the Regional. Carroll 63-0

Won't Adams Central also bump to 2A if they make the finals of 1A again? And if LCC can win the 2A regional, 1A will be WIDE OPEN in 2024.

Line the HNAC up against the top 8 teams from the TRC and the HNAC teams are favored in 5 of those games.

Interesting that LaVille's SOS would be higher than LCC when the Lancers play in the HNAC and LCC in the Hoosier. I always pictured the Hoosier to be much superior to the HNAC. And LaVille's non-conference games were not exactly big hitters this year (Bremen & John Glenn). I suppose last week's games against Andrean for LaVille and Winamac for LCC played into that some. But to me it appears the Hoosier conference was really off this year. And the HNAC was pretty solid for a small school conference.

I think Sagarin is pretty accurate by this point in the season. It's interesting to see that Knox is #4 in 3A, even with their weak schedule (for 3A teams). West Noble is #15. WN had to come from behind last Friday to beat Marian. Knox handled Lakeland easily. I'm hoping Knox has another good showing this week. If so, they should take care of business.

It would seem that West Noble / Knox is the only one with a questionable outcome this week. But who knows...

Sectional Semi-finals this week. Who you got? West Noble at Knox, 7:30 pm LaVille at Whiting, 8 pm South Newton at North Judson, 8 pm Triton at Culver, 7 pm Caston at Carroll, 7 pm

NJ sagarin rating went up by virtue of beating Pioneer. Triton’s sagarin went down after beating North Newton. Judson is now rated higher than Triton.

Wow! What a night for the HNAC winning 6 of 7 possible games. I would say every team met or exceeded expectations! Great job by Caston and Culver to come up big in their games. Knox with a convincing win! LaVille gutting out their W. Triton cruised as expected. Judson looked good as they took down the Panthers.

Knox at Lakeland - Lakeland will be one of the best teams Knox has played so far this year. Sagarin has them right up there with Glenn, LaVille and Triton. But I think Knox is a notch better than all those teams. Redskins 36-21 Andrean at LaVille - This is the year LaVille gets past their nemesis! Not that Andrean is any worse than normal. I just think LaVille finds a way to win at home. Lancers 24-21 Winamac at Central Catholic - Winamac's season ends in Lafayette. Winamac is definitely an improved team since early in the season, but Central Catholic is just too good. Knights 42-0 Pioneer at North Judson - Probably the game of the night for HNAC teams! Pioneer stepped it up this year for sure! But injuries hurt them, and even with the return of Toloza, I don't think it will be enough to extend their season. I'm going with the home team. Blue Jays 28-16 Triton at North Newton - Here's a game for those who want seeded sectionals. It's 1 vs 8 in a showdown! Trojans 55-0 Culver at South Central - This could be close for a half, but the Satellites will pull away in the 2nd half, mercifully ending the season for the Cavs. Satellites 34-13 Caston at North White - I think Caston has what it takes to win this game if they play focused and confident football! They should get a boost from playing the Vikings close in week 6. I'm going with the upset. Comets 22-14 I'm not a proponent of a qualifying playoff system that limits the playoff teams to the top half of each class, but interestingly enough, Caston would make the playoff cut in that scenerio even with a 1-8 record (according to Sagarin).

Opening Week Games: 1. Beech Grove @ Muncie Central 2. Culver Academy @ Lowell 3. Hobart @ New Prairie 4. Pendleton Heights @ Greenfield-Central 5. Danville @ Tri-West 6. Lawrenceburg @ Centerville 7. Scottsburg @ North Harrison 8. Twin Lakes @ Boone Grove 9. Western Boone @ North Montgomery 10. Andrean @ LaVille 11. Bluffton @ Alexandria 12. Eastbrook @ Frankton 13. Evansville Mater Dei @ Tell City 14. Greencastle @ North Putnam 15. Sullivan @ Southmont 16. Clinton Prairie @ Covington 17. North Miami @ Southern Wells 18. Pioneer @ North Judson

Harrell's Predictions for this week: PREDICTION: Knox, 35-28. PREDICTION: LaVille, 24-21. PREDICTION: Central Catholic, 38-10. PREDICTION: North Judson, 28-24. PREDICTION: Triton, 59-0. PREDICTION: South Central, 38-24. PREDICTION: North White, 35-24. Harrell has the HNAC going 4-4.

I won't be shocked if Caston pulls out the upset. These two played a one score game a few weeks back and the Comets are battle tested playing in the HNAC. Carroll should win this sectional easily.

HOOSIER NORTH ALL TIMES EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL GAMES W-L Pts OP W-L Pts OP Streak Knox 7-0 283 54 9- 0 366 98 Won 9 LaVille 6-1 213 82 8- 1 261 119 Won 3 Triton 5-2 213 113 6- 3 264 147 Won 1 North Judson 4-3 198 112 5- 4 276 162 Won 1 Pioneer 3-4 168 153 5- 4 225 187 Lost 1 Winamac 2-5 93 210 3- 6 129 260 Lost 1 Caston 1-6 104 245 1- 8 122 283 Lost 2 Culver 0-7 50 353 0- 9 90 449 Lost 10 Here are the final conference standings. I think my biggest surprise is seeing North Judson at 4-3 in the conference. They played everyone tough and could have easily won a couple more with some breaks going their way. LaVille found a way to win some really close games and came up just short against Knox. But congrats to Knox for running the table and taking home the hardware. Most of us thought they would be right up near the top, but they proved to be better than I expected. Triton beating NJ like they did was probably the most surprising single game outcome for me. If they meet again it won't go like that a second time! Even though Sagarin has Triton a score or so better than both Judson and Pioneer (and ahead of LaVille), I think Sectional 41 is a toss up for any of those three. I believe the Trojans would get either Pioneer or North Judson at home in the sectional final, so that might give Triton a bit of an edge. Overall, the final year of the current HNAC configuration was a really competitive year! Maybe the most balanced year since the formation of the conference. It was really a lot of fun following the games each week! Good luck to all teams in their sectionals, and to Knox and LaVille as they join the INSC beginning next year!

I watched the film of the Pioneer / Judson game. It looked like it was pretty sloppy, both the wet field and the undisciplined play. Lots of penalties on both sides! And the turnovers hurt Pioneer. Hopefully both teams can play a little cleaner game this week. I'm hoping this is LaVille's year to get past the 59ers!

Triton up on Winamac 28-0 still in the first.

Culver at LaVille - Despite the weather, this should be a good senior night for the LaVille crowd. Hoping everyone stays health as LaVille romps over the Cavs. Lancers 51-0 Knox at Caston - This will be decided early and finish with a running clock. McLaughlin will have a crazy big night! (Isn't is incredible what that guy has done! School career rushing record in his sophomore season! Wow!) Six TD's and 5 conversions. Redskins 46-0 North Judson at Pioneer - Getting Toloza back is great for the Panthers! And this week should help the frosh QB get a little more comfortable under center. You always want to win every game, but this week is about preparing for next week. However, I think Pioneer will play with a little more intensity at home and win this one by going 2-3 on 2 point conversions, ending the Jay's regular season with a disappointing 4-5 record. Panthers 22-21 Triton at Winamac - After pummeling Culver and handing West Central their only loss, it sounds like the Warriors had a little trouble hanging onto the ball last week against Caston. It could have been a much larger margin. Unfortunately Winamac got a nasty draw having to head to Lafayette to meet up with the LCC Knights. That won't go well. So this week is Winamac's chance to turn some heads. I think they'll play inspired ball and make this a decent game, even without their main RB. But Triton should have plenty of weapons to take this one on the road. Trojans 28-14

I'm really intrigued by these two Pioneer / North Judson matchups. I don't think there's any reason for either team to hold anything back for next week. They have played each other enough to know what the other team wants to do. I am wondering if these two might look to move their regular season game to a week earlier in the season next year when the conference adds two new opponents. It's certainly not ideal to play a team two weeks in a row. And this would be a good time to switch things up. Does anyone know if next year's schedules are firmed up yet?

Harrell's predictions for this week: jh PREDICTION: LaVille, 49-7. jh PREDICTION: Knox, 42-10. jh PREDICTION: Pioneer, 28-27. jh PREDICTION: Triton, 31-17.

Good to know, Coach! Thanks for straightening me out! This actually makes a selection to the all-region team from 1A & 2A schools mean a lot more!

Knox at Lakeland, 7:30 pm Andrean at LaVille, 7:30 pm Winamac at Central Catholic, 7 pm Pioneer at North Judson, 7:30 pm Triton at North Newton, 7:30 pm Culver at South Central, 7:30 pm Caston at North White, 7 pm How many HNAC teams have a reasonable shot to be sectional champs? It appears that all but Triton have tough games in the first round!