FlyingHigh

The ACAC would be a good fit for them in most sports. They would've struggled to win a football game this year outside of Southern Wells and maybe Woodlan depending on when the game was played. Conference play isn't as big of an issue in sports like wrestling, volleyball, baseball, basketball, etc. due to the size of the schedule in those sports. Wrestling is honestly the sport that conference impacts the least due to the nature of the sport's schedule. I can't imagine there would be much support in the Bellmont community to join the ACAC, though.

The gap in the ACAC will likely be smaller in 2024 than in the last few years, but I still expect AC to win the conference. AC will have a bunch of new faces in new spots, but I think they still have the talent and system to reload. A lot of their success will hinge on the development of the Soph QB Roach. Who replaces Bluhm, Currie and Wurm? They likely don't have anyone on the roster who will truly replace those guys, so can the team find a different way to be successful? Should be a fun season to watch play out. I think Bluffton will be the 2nd best team in the conference. They lose a decent amount of starters, but they have some really good athletes returning at RB. Heritage lost a lot of seniors, so their upcoming classes will need to fill a bunch of spots. I expect them to be decent, though. From there? I imagine SA will be the next best because I think they have one of the best programs in the conference and they'll find a way to succeed regardless of talent on the roster. I don't know how much they have coming back, but replacing Wanner will be the top priority I'm sure.

I think it means they could definitely beat heritage hills. Direct comparisons aren’t always a guarantee to be accurate, I agree with that. I do however think that AC would beat luers. We don’t have to agree. Glad for Luers, though. Fortunately snider and Luers were able to represent the 260 well, as did the Jets, just in a losing effort.

It’s hardly disrespect when there are easy, direct comparisons How?

Lutheran and AC definitely win 2A. AC beat bluffton 24-0 and Luers won 15-7. I think providence and South Putnam win 2A as well. Holding Lutheran to 21 and 14 points is an incredible accomplishment.

Proud of the AC guys for not giving up. That game went from potentially being a blowout to a one score game because of the determination of those young men. Watching this 2A game, it is clear to me that 1A was quite a bit stronger than 2A this year. AC beat Bluffton 24-0, Luers beat them 15-7. Luers is dominating North Posey. I think Lutheran, AC, South Putnam and Providence would all have won 2A this year and I don't know if a super strong argument can be made otherwise. I can say with strong confidence that neither of these 2A teams would've given Lutheran a game at all.

4 Semi-state games, 4 home match-ups for NE Indiana teams! John Harrell predicts 4 teams repping the 260 in Lucas Oil next weekend. How do we feel about the games? AC finally gets to host North Judson after traveling up there the last 2 years. North Judson is a really good program and they appear to have grown throughout the season after some losses in the HNAC. I expect it to be a hard-hitting ballgame, but I think the Jets are able to do too much for the Bluejays to be able to stop it. This Jets defense is big, tough and fast. Assuming they play disciplined against the North Judson offense, the Jets should be making another trip to Lucas Oil next week.

North Judson's results have been weird this year. Competed really well with Knox who is playing for a chance to represent the 3A North at LOS. Lost to Culver Academy who doesn't look like they were very special this year. Lost to Triton big and then turned around and smoked them in sectional. I'm assuming they have dealt with some injuries??? It's hard to compare seasons, but the losses this year were wins last year with the exception of Laville.

I thought that both sides looked equally impressive. At this point in the tournament, we shouldn't expect a running clock to begin every 2nd half. Considering Carroll was the top scoring defense in the state (regardless of the weak SOS), I'd say the Jets did a solid job. The only thing that I was disappointed in was settling for 3 before halftime after 3 failed attempts from the 5. Hard to argue with 200 rushing yards from Bluhm and 128 passing yards from Hamilton against the Cougar defense. I'd say that Carroll's ability to get down into the AC redzone a time or two kept the Jets from reaching the running clock. Defense played great, so don't hear what I'm not saying. Total team effort and one of the best complete games that I've seen out of our guys for awhile. Go Jets and I can't wait to see the town of Monroe enjoy hosting a semistate after 2 straight years of making the trip to North Judson.

Adams Central over Carroll: I think it'll be a similar game to last year assuming the Jets are ready to strap it up and play physical football. I have no reason to think that they won't be ready. I imagine Carroll is better than last year, but I think the Jets are as well. Bluffton over Luers: Some people may think this is an upset, but I think that Bluffton will surprise some people. Bluffton would beat Busco and Eastside by several scores and Luers struggled with both. I imagine Luers just wasn't mentally ready and the scores don't reflect their actual superiority over those teams in terms of talent on paper. This game will be won up front. Bluffton is the only team that AC has played all year that has matched their physicality on both lines. Call me an ACAC homer, but I don't care. Leo over Mississinewa: I don't know much about Ole Miss, but I know that Leo has some special players and their 2nd year coach looks like his kids have bought into his system. Snider over Mishawaka: Rematch of last year's regional where Snider won by 14.

I imagine Park Tudor will have a hard time with the physical run game of North Judson, so it'll come down to the Bluejays' ability to contain the QB. I expect North Judson to (finally) have to make the trip to Adams Central for the 3rd matchup in as many years between the two schools. AC is able to attack teams on the ground and through the air (a few times a game), which makes them more dangerous than last year in my opinion. The defense will have to be ready to stop the run game again this week I imagine. They've done it well all year outside of 2 drives against Madison Grant last week. If they get off the bus ready to go, I feel good about their chances to make it to their 5th semistate appearance in 6 years.

Sectional Championship week! NE IN is guaranteed to have 3 sectional champions due to local match-ups, but I'm predicting 5 sectional champions from the area. Fort Wayne North @ Snider (JH 38-17): I could see this one being a larger margin of victory for Snider than JH. North has had a difficult season and has gone a couple of weeks without playing a game. Snider rolls. Dwenger @ Leo (JH 35-24): There's a separate thread for this one, so I'll just say that I see Leo winning this one by 2+ scores. Delta @ Garrett (JH 28-17): Garrett will play hard and could give Delta a challenge, much like they did last year at Yorktown. Ultimately, I think that Delta's schedule prepared them better than Garrett's. Delta by 10+. Luers @ Manchester (JH 35-14): Luers should be able to pick the score of this one, but the Knights have underperformed the last two weeks. I don't expect a close game here at all, but can they take a step forward to prep for regional? Eastern @ Bluffton (JH 31-24): Bluffton should win by no less than 14 points in this one, setting up a regional rematch from last year with Luers. I think that Bluffton has a legit shot to beat Luers and make it to LOS. Adams Central @ Madison-Grant (JH 35-21): I would be surprised if MG can score 21 points against AC's defense considering they haven't given up more than 10 points to a team all year. A vast majority of the points that have been scored against AC have been on the JV. A 76-point total prediction by JH is surprising considering there may be no more than 5 pass attempts total in the game. The clock will be moving quickly.

Let's get this thread back to where it's designed to be and away from local small town drama/politics... The game of the week in the north is the rematch between Triton and North Judson. Triton got the best of the Blue Jays in a big way in the regular season, but JH is predicting a 1-point margin this time around in favor of Triton. It looks like Park Tudor at North Vermillion could be a good one, but I don't know anything about these teams. I don't expect AC or Carroll to have any problems making it back to a regional rematch assuming they stay healthy and play relatively clean football. It looks like there are a few good games in the south with North Decatur at Milan and Springs Valley at Providence. I don't know anything about these teams, but on paper it looks like a fun sectional final week.

I don't doubt that MG is a team capable of winning a sectional title, but not sectional 44. Strength of schedule aside (JH has AC 59 spots ahead of MG in SOS), AC has a win that isn't too far from an MG comparison: the Jets beat Bluffton 24-0 in crappy weather (likely would have been more had AC not run the same 2-3 plays over and over) and Bluffton has beaten Alexandria and Eastbrook...both teams that have beaten MG. I haven't seen MG, so it's possible that comparison is irrelevant next week but I think it'll take more than a middling CIC team to knock off the Jets.

Looks like South Putnam challenged Lutheran down to the wire. What’s the word on this one? Was Lutheran just rusty from two straight weeks of byes or is South Putnam just that good?