FlyingHigh

According to John Harrell, below is how the Sectional Championships will shake out. Any thoughts? North Judson over Culver 28-17 Carroll (Flora) over Clinton Prairie 24-21 South Adams over Union City 38-17 Adams Central over Triton 42-10 Parke Heritage over Riverton Parke 42-21 Indy Lutheran over Covenant Christian 42-21 North Decatur over Tri 31-28 Spring Valley over North Central (Farmersburg) 35-17 I think we'll see NJ vs. Carroll and SA vs. AC in the North, but I don't think AC wins by a 32-point margin. Triton has played a much tougher schedule and their young team is playing really well.

I agree with the "one week at a time" approach. It would be easy to look ahead to a likely regional matchup at South Adams. If that happens, I still think AC advances but they need to continue getting better each week and that won't happen if they don't focus on this week's opponent. Side note - the 2017 loss to Southwood wasn't an upset. SW had the better roster by far. Blair, Trexler and Lloyd were studs. I do agree that 2020 against SW was a letdown. Those teams were more evenly matched than in 17.

Wouldn't Eastside have to agree with moving the game? I have a hard time believing they’d want to move the game to turf.

Any thoughts on Triton @ Northfield? Seems to be 2 evenly matched teams on paper. Sagarin has Northfield as about 10-point favorites and JH has Northfield winning 28-21. @WalterSobchak How did Triton look against Winamac?

The last neutral site game AC played on turf was in week 3 against a talented and athletic spread team in Parke Heritage and the Jets looked fast and explosive. This isn’t a Jet team that is solely built on the Rick Minnich mold of “3 yards and a cloud of dust.” They can do that (and since your comments in another thread suggest you don’t believe this, I think you need to watch film from last week), but they’re more dangerous when they can utilize speed while getting to the edge. The wings will make cuts much easier on the turf. Whatever potential advantage Southwood gains from this move is definitely balanced (if not outweighed) by the advantage that AC gains. The sidelines of Minnich Field were submerged in flooded waters this weekend. Another inch or so of rain between tonight and kickoff would have made for ridiculous conditions - not to mention potentially making the field nearly unplayable for future games this postseason if they’re able to move on. This was the right move. We need to move past the fact that “we’ve never had to do this before.” It hasn’t been an option until recently and weather hasn’t prompted this situation in recent history.

I saw the Culver game, but I will admit that a single game sample size isn’t enough to judge how they’d stack up against Busco. I think I was coming off the high of the win last night! Winamac looked huge in that game and that size/physicality will be tough for anyone to deal with. The Winamac vs. North Judson matchup should be a fun one!

Is Blake Heyerly for 137 yards on 28 carries against that tough defense not imposing their will? They knew he was getting the ball the entire 2nd half and couldn’t stop it. In terms of “predictability”, every team has tendencies. You can use tendencies to your advantage if you are aware of them (see the QB keepers where Black ran free for big yards after pounding Heyerly up the middle). I do agree the passing game needs to improve, but the Jets won’t pass more than 3 times if the fullback is getting 5 yards a carry regardless The community appreciates your support of the youth program, but with all due respect, your experience in play calling at that level can’t be assumed to be the same experience at the HS level.

You may be right. I’ve seen MC and Winamac play. Not NJ. I’d still stand by my statement based on what I’ve seen.

This statement completely underestimates how good Busco is. May not have been your intention, but that’s how it seems. That team was as tough as Eastside physically. Busco would likely win every sectional in the north outside of #44. To downgrade AC after beating an extremely tough team - a team that took Eastside to the wire - seems like an overreaction. Are there things that need to be worked on? Of course. But I’d venture to say every team in the win column tonight would say the same thing.

I don’t think anyone should say it’s a done deal for AC to make it to LOS. We have a really good team with a lot of speed, but the ACAC point differentials prove nothing. The conference is incredibly down, so it’s hard to say how good this team really is. The only legit team we played beat us (Eastside in week 2 21-19). Busco presents a legit challenge in round 1. They’re physical and have experience in the skill positions. I’d like to see how the Jets perform against a good out-of-conference team before saying LOS is at all likely.

I don't have enough info on most of these teams to provide an informed top 12 list but here are some thoughts... Teams that should probably be higher: -Monroe Central: I think they return most of their team from last year and they have a fantastic program. They played South Adams competitively early last season. They lost bigger in the sectional matchup. -Churubusco: They're off this list, but I think they return about everyone from last year as well. Team that could be higher, but I won't put them there based on the fact that they have a lot to prove: -Adams Central: They lose 1 stud (Joe Collier - DE/OT), but all offensive production is back. Very strong senior and sophomore classes with more speed than AC has had for awhile. The Jets play Parke Heritage at Pendleton Hts in week 3, so that will be a good test as to how they match up with teams from the south. I wouldn't be able to bump AC above Southwood at this point based solely on the fact that they outplayed AC in basically every part of their sectional matchup (hit harder, played faster, etc.). I know Southwood loses the Farr to Rich connection, but you have to think that Coach Snyder will reload like he has the past several years. I don't think I'll bump AC above SA until they prove they can get it done in week 6 at home against their county rivals. I don't know anything about several of these teams, but I've heard good things about North Judson. I think they have played sophomores and juniors the last couple of years, which translates to a lot of juniors and seniors this year.

The great monsoon semistate of 2016! Most miserable weather conditions I've ever experienced for a sporting event!

I'm biased, but Adams Central's Minnich Field is the best natural grass field I've been on. We have a fantastic maintenance crew at AC that takes care of the field. There's no better example than the regional championship game against South Adams in 2019. We had just got 6+" of snow and the crew spent hours clearing the field and getting it in relatively fantastic shape for us to play on. In terms of other ACAC schools, I think Bluffton and Heritage have the best facilities. The locker rooms are fairly new and right next to the field and the turf fields look fantastic. Home and away stands are really nice and are good sizes. One of the more unique settings I've seen is at Tri High. We travelled there last year and their football field and athletic facilities were really nice (all turf softball field). The unique part is that it seemed like the football field was a quarter mile+ away from the locker rooms/school. I'm sure it wasn't that far, but it was definitely a walk and neither team messed with walking back to the locker rooms at halftime.

Topic on turf football fields (legit topic) --> Student-athlete safety debate (legit topic) --> School funding debate (beginning to veer off-course) --> Covid/Vaccination debate (Why????) --> Political debate (Why again???)... When did this forum become Twitter?

Care to explain this one @1st and Goal? I don't agree with banning endzone cameras at all. I'm curious if the argument is simply that it's an unfair advantage for those who have it vs. those who don't? If that's the case, then you'd have to outlaw Hudl Sidelines even if they're just using the press box view.

Pioneer's football success is historic and dates well beyond Jack Kiser and the Llewelyn brothers. To attribute the dominance of that program to those 3 players is misinformed. Below are some of the past years before Jack Kiser came in as a freshman. 2015 - 12-1, sectional champs, lost to LCC 31-14 2014 - 13-2, state runners-up 2013 - 10-3, sectional champs 2009-2012 - 38-6, no sectional championships due to running into the meat grinder that was LCC who won 4 straight state championships Their most recent state championship teams can definitely thank Kiser and the Llewelyns, but those teams would've likely won those games without them. The entire team was fantastic and just physically beat people up. If the success factor was in place from 2009-2012, Pioneer likely would have 4 state championships in 10 years.

I agree that JC could compete for a conference championship in a few years under Coach Zgunda. My only disagreement was with the previous statement that was made about JC being ready to move to a larger conference in that time frame due to their potential dominance of the ACAC in football. I think it will take awhile for that to happen, if it ever happens. It'll be interesting to see what happens with realignment because as it stands right now, Jay County is in a tough 4A sectional with Delta, Marion and Mississinewa I believe.

I don't think I'd go that far. Jay County will be far more competitive in the ACAC within a couple of years, but to go from 3 wins per year since joining the ACAC (1 in the past two years) to being too strong for the conference in 3 years is an exaggeration. The potential might be there eventually, but the conference is usually top heavy with strong teams recently from SA, AC and, a few years ago, Woodlan. Those 3 teams have had stretches of consistently winning lop-sided games in the conference. Since Jay County joined the ACAC, here's how their 3 wins per season stack up with the top 4 teams in those years: AC - 10 wins per year, 3 regional championships, 4 sectional championships SA - Just under 8 wins per year, 1 state runner up, 2 regional championships, 5 sectional championships Woodlan - 7 wins per year, 1 state runner up, 2 regional championships, 2 sectional championships Bluffton - 5 wins per year, 7-8 wins per year the last 3 years Jay County has the numbers, assuming Coach Zgunda can get them to come out, to eventually make its way to the top of couple teams in the conference, but it will take more than a great coach to get them to the point where they need to be promoted to a larger conference in 3 years.

Adams Central had to drop Monroe Central due to a schedule change in MC's conference. They picked up Parke Heritage and the game will be played at Pendleton Heights. The AC/Monroe Central matchup has been a good one over the years, especially in the postseason, but the matchup with Parke Heritage will give AC a way to compare itself to southern 1A schools (assuming AC doesn't jump up to 2A). Regardless of reclassification possibilities, this will be a good matchup for both schools.

This is huge for Jay County. Coach Zgunda should be able to turn them into a solid program. A school the size of Jay County should be much more competitive in football in the ACAC against schools around half its size. I'm assuming the primary hurdle will be to get kids to come out and to get the community to buy in to what it takes to build a winning program.

Has there been legitimate discussion within the SAC to create 2 divisions and allow schools to play a few non-conference games? I'd like to think this would help programs like NS and SS have a better shot at winning some more games, or at least be more competitive.

If a program feels like they need to do this to get the upper hand in a matchup, it speaks pretty loudly to the confidence in their team and in their staff to prepare for an opponent. I've never understood this and would rather give up our entire library of film - sideline and end zone - than purposely give a secondary, lower quality film. Like you said, some fields aren't set up well to have great film quality so you can't fault people for that. There have been several times, though, that teams are clearly using an iPad.

All of our games are broadcasted through a local media outlet and posted on YouTube just like yours at Triton. I have to say that the production value of the Triton games were great comparatively. It's not the best case scenario to break down film using full broadcasts, but it's nice to have the option in addition to the Hudl films we trade.

I’m sure Bellmont would fair much better as a rebuild in the ACAC. Coach Hall will do a solid job building numbers and tradition regardless of conference, though. I believe 2021 is the final year Bellmont is playing AC (not AC’s decision according to my sources), as I believe Bellmont is picking up Heritage for week 1 to replace AC. Probably a good move for Bellmont to have a better shot at picking up a win early in the season, at least in the short term, but I’m not a fan of the county schools not playing each other.

Southwood could still play tomorrow according to Blitz from Fort Wayne.