CoachMack219

Arizona began this idea because of a 4A team's (Saguaro HS) dominance of the 4A division in Arizona from 2006 to 2018 where they won 11 out of 13 state championships including a run of 6 in a row from 2013-2018. There was the possibility for the first 2-3 years of "The Open Division" for the "once-in-a-lifetime class" to have to play in the Open but they have since tried to account for that by adding a multiplier to their formula that increases the chances 5 and 6A teams are selected instead of 4A teams who, unlike Saguaro, don't have as much of a chance against the big dogs. This is FAR from the dumbest idea ever. For the record, Saguaro won the Open division in 2021 as well becoming the first 4A to do so in Arizona knocking off some heavy hitters along the way much like some believe East Central can do to some of our heavy hitters. I think this would be a pretty awesome concept to see in Indiana. I do like the idea someone mentioned above about having to "accept" the invite to play in "The Open Division" especially if they're from a class below 5A. And based on final records after the regular season, their current postseason finishes, and the good ole eye test, my Open Division this year if I had a seat on the committee would have been... 1. Ben Davis 6A 2. Center Grove 6A 3. Brownsburg 6A 4. East Central 4A 5. Indianapolis Chatard 3A 6. Crown Point 6A 7. Fort Wayne Snider 5A 8. Westfield 6A

New staff or not, it's hard to not love the Giants in this one. Although, coach Buzz and the boys have made me eat crow with @temptation each of the past two Saturday's, I think the Giants will be too much for the 6A Northern Champions. I will, however, not be surprised anymore if Crown Point can hang with the Giants based on how they've played in back to back games where not many people (me included) gave them a shot to win one of those games let alone both. I didn't think Crown Point's O-Line could impress me anymore than they already had after Penn, and then they played Westfield... If they can find a way to control the line of scrimmage, again, they'll have a shot to win, again. If not, then the Giants roll as many are predicting already. Ben Davis 31 Crown Point 21

These two sentences sum up the game perfectly. The Snider defense was OUTSTANDING and that might be putting it mildly. I was extremely impressed with that unit. Thought the Pirates battled and fought hard but Snider was the better team and showed it for 48 minutes. Merrillville will be back, no doubt!

That seems reasonable. I've made a few predictions on this one and they range in the 24-17 neighborhood. The closer we get to kickoff my Region heart says Merrillville 24-17 (or 21-17) but my head/ brain says Snider by either of those same scores. Really excited for this one. Merrillville's improvement throughout the year makes this one a fun watch, for me.

The improvement factor is why you truly can't count them out. This is not the same Merrillville team from weeks 1-5 that struggled a little bit early on in conference play (bad loss to CP and had two not so great performances vs City and Portage). The O-Line improvement and development has been the biggest reason for their improved play IMO. Definitely think this one will be a good one. I'll be shocked if Merrillville gives up 38 in this one.

Saw this one on RSN about 10 minutes ago and it made me LOL for sure! I know the 'ville was banged up then but idk if the missing pieces close a 33 point gap by 26-30 points. As I said previously, Merrillville is much improved from early in the season but idk if they've closed the gap with the Bulldogs THAT much. Excited for the Snider matchup.

Both of these assessments on the 2023 Merrillville Pirates I would describe as accurate. My only add on (although elementary) would be that they truly are better in person than they are on film. May sound silly but when watching their game film, they didn't impress me much on offense, and defensively other than Stephens and the 4 D-linemen, I wasn't utterly impressed. But after seeing them play a few times in person, the defense is legit and the offensive line is much better than they get credit for. Looking forward to a great game, I'm taking the Pirates, 21-17.

Westfield 31 Crown Point 23. I hope I'm wrong and the Bulldogs pull off the upset needed to get to LOS, but we've tended to struggle up here with the likes of the Indy 'burbs.

Watching it live, I felt that should have and would have been called given how the last drive was officiated (3 holds on Valpo during the game winning drive attempt). I truly don't know if all of those were holds or not, I'm not going back to find out either, but it seemed to me that the crew was not afraid to throw a flag in a big moment which is why I thought the flag was coming for unnecessary roughness. I was about as shocked as the Merrillville players. Helluva game, and a well officiated one (when I was watching), just tough to not get that call there (if you're a Vikings fan).

Now THERE's a Dual Threat/ Running type guy. In a two year career had like 3,100 rushing and 3,900 passing, I believe. DeSomer was and is a freak but that's the type of guy I envision that you want to keep in the pocket as a DC, not the guy who has thrown for 5,300 and ran for about 900 in 3 years. DeSomer is the only name I would entertain (for the record) for this "name someone better" discussion.

You haven't watched him for 4 years unless you were attending Hobart Middle School games 4 years ago. Lol he is a Junior (2 years at Hobart and 1 at CP), those are his numbers through 3 seasons and I'd say those are far from "pedestrian." I wouldn't say the word elite (yet) either because elite is what Brady Allen and Danny O'Neil are, in comparison, but if you don't think he's the most elite region QB in (at least) the last 15 years, then idk what players you've been watching but I sure would like to see 'em. Lol

"Get better or get used to it." AMEN jets, AMEN!

Been a tough one to decide all week. I think I like the 'Dogs 24-17 but if Penn won, in any manner, I wouldn't be surprised either.

The first part of your statement, I can (sort of) get behind although I will say it wasn't even close to his fault that Hobart lost the 2021 and 2022 Sectional Championships nor did his play severely impact the result. Now, the part after "in my opinion" is blasphemous. He threw for 3,500 Yards in 2 years at Hobart and ran for less than 400 and at Crown Point has thrown for over 1800 this year already and despite his increased usage in the run game by CP, I would bet he still hasn't rushed for over 500 yards this year. Idk if I would call a career 5.300 yard passer (through almost 3 seasons) with about 800-900 career rushing yards "more dangerous as a runner not a thrower." He IS dangerous at extending plays with his feet and finding guys down field but that doesn't make him a "runner."