NLCTigerFan07

Well I went 35-7 on my picks during the regular season. Took the week off last week following the Tigers loss and the fact that they did not play this week (nor will they play this week, thanks IHSAA). Impressed that the Raiders were able to get revenge on NorthWood. About a month ago the Panthers took it to Northridge at home, beating them 42-8, only to lose on Friday night 28-7 in Nappanee. They certainly have a chance to win again this week against a solid Columbia City team. No surprise that Goshen, Wawasee, and Plymouth's seasons are finished. Can't believe I have seen an 0-10 season from the Rockies in my lifetime. If I didn't hate Plymouth so much, I'd almost feel bad for them. Really excited for the Mishawaka vs Concord rematch. Should be a great game and saw that it was picked for the Channel 46 GOTW. Will be interesting to see if the Cavemen can change the outcome with Justin Fisher behind center this time around.

I know Marian is Marian, and it certainly would not shock me to see them win Friday night, but from what bits and pieces I have read and seen this year with Tippy Valley, I could very easily see the Vikings winning that game. I know their schedule is nothing to the level of what the Knights have gone through, especially with the Three Rivers being extremely down this year, but they did beat the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the conference by a combined score of 89-22. They have some talented athletes on the offensive side of the ball and can score a lot of points. Add in a defense that has only given up double digits 3 out of 10 games and the fact that the game will be played in Death Valley... I really think this could/should be a great game. If it wasn't for the rematch between Mishawaka and Concord being selected for the Channel 46 GOTW, I would have really hoped Chuck Freeby and crew would have been at this game. I think it should be a great matchup.

Work has been super busy for me this week unfortuantely. Haven't been able to write up much. Another 4-0 last week, moving to 31-7 on my picks. A quick rundown for this week: Warsaw (7-1, 6-0) at Concord (7-1, 6-0): Conference Championship in Dunlap this week. I'll be making the treck from Ohio. Chuck Freeby and crew will be onsite for the Channel 46 GOTW. After seeing NorthWood carve up the Tigers through the air, I am not confident. Warsaw better hope it rains hard all night... Concord by 10 Northridge (5-3, 3-3) at Mishawaka (6-2, 4-2): Better team and home team wins this game... Mishawaka by 21 Plymouth (0-8, 0-6) at NorthWood (4-4, 3-3): Not much to say here either. Can't believe the Pilgrams are going to end up winless. Never thought I'd see that, at least not with Coach Barron on the sideline. Not that he is to blame, things look rough in Plymouth... NorthWood by 28 Wawasee (1-7, 1-5) at Goshen (3-5, 1-5): The RedHawks got back in the win column last week and their first NLC victory in years. They should add another one tonight... Goshen by 14

Work has been crazy for me this week so I haven't been as active and the below write up won't be quite as in depth as previous weeks, but here are what I see being the top 5 matchups in northern Indiana tonight: #1 Warsaw (7-1) at Concord (7-1): I admit I am biased in picking this one as the best game this week. Both teams are 6-0 in the NLC and the winner claims the outright conference championship. Warsaw is looking to win back-to-back NLC championships for the first time since 3-peating from 1999-2001, while Concord looks to add another conference championship this new millenium. The Minutemen have won at least a share of 9 NLC titles since 2000 (most of school in the conference). Will be a battle of contradicting offensive styles with Warsaw's "Bart Ball" ground game and Concord's impressive aerial assault. #2 FW Snider (6-1) at FW Bishop Luers (8-0): Others could certainly say this is the best game in the north part of the state this week, and I wouldn't argue. Luers is looking to cap off an undefeated regular season and their first SAC title since sharing in 2014. But in order to do so, they'll have to knock of the red-hot Panthers. The Knights have not beaten Snider since 2011! Can they get it done this week and claim ownership of The Bell? #3 Calumet (6-2) at Hanover Central (7-1): The Greater South Shore South Division title is on the line tonight. The Wildcats have absolutely destroyed their conference opponents this year, outscoring Wheeler, Griffith and Whiting by a score of 176-20. Can the Warriors upend them? Calumet has won back-to-back North Division titles, while Hanover Central is going for it's second conference title in history (2016). #4 Chesterton (6-2) at Merrillville (8-0): A potential Regional preview? The Pirates look to go undefeated in the regular season and win the DAC outright. They'll have to face a stifling Trojans defense. Should be a great matchup with Merrillville's high scoring offense (44 ppg) against Chesterton's defense (8 ppg). #5 North Judson (6-2) at Pioneer (6-2): In the 6 years since the Hoosier North conference was created, there has only been 1 school awarded a conference title... Pioneer. The Panthers had not lost an HNAC game from 2015-2020 until Winamac upended them in Week 2 of this season. The Blue Jays are seeking their first conference championship in school history, as prior to joining the HNAC in 2015, they were an independent. Nothing like being 6-0 in conference play and having to overcome the KING in the final battle!

I read in that thread that Logansport was looking for a game, but don't see them open on John Harrell's site. If they are in need of a game, a treck down US 24 to make this matchup.

Is this still accurate? Were they scheduled to play Anderson? Maybe Logansport could play against Ft Wayne Concordia

Yeah I am making the trip from Ohio over to Dunlap for the game tomorrow night. I was at first game of the season against Dublin Coffman and will be at the last regular season game. Then in 3 weeks (ridiculous) I'll be in Fort Wayne either at Carroll or Homestead for the Sectional Championship.

The only reason why I'm skeptical for the Tigers in Sectional 3 is the fact that they will go 21 days between playing games. October 15th - at Concord October 22nd - 6A BYE WEEK (7 days) October 29th - 6A Sectional 3 BYE (14 days) November 5th - at Fort Wayne (Carroll or Homestead) (21 days) That's a lot of freaking time to go without playing a game. I have no doubt the Tiger coaching staff will keep the team focused... but wow, I know Coach Curtis mentioned before the season he would much rather have NOT had the additional bye in sectional 3. Heck with 21 days though, that is a whole lot of time to get healthy AND craft up and implement some new schemes (at least defensively) that hasn't been shown on film.

Teams ranked/receiving votes in polls after Week 8: 6A: Warsaw (Ranked - 9th AP / RV - 12th Coaches) 5A: Concord (Ranked - 7th AP / Ranked - 7th Coaches) Mishawaka (Ranked - 8th AP / Ranked - 8th Coaches)

I am bumping this from the beginning of the season. I hope everyone on the GID is rooting for the Tigers this Friday night against Concord for the NLC conference championship 😄 If Warsaw wins, I will add another $30 donation! Go Tigers! ALSO - this is a callout to those who have not made a donation yet this year. I implore you to make a donation of any amount you can afford! Without all of our support, the GID cannot make it. Join the team and support!

I honestly think Warsaw got the short end of the stick (same with Columbus North in Sectional 8). The Tigers will go 21 full days from the end of the game this Friday night (10/15) at Concord until kickoff in Fort Wayne against either Carroll or Homestead (11/5). That is like an entire preseason camp. I agree. Warsaw has a great chance to win this week and finish 8-1 and NLC champions... but after watching NorthWood carve them up through the air, I can only imagine what Carroll will do to them, especially with that added motivation of REVENGE from last year.

Went 4-0 with my picks last week, 27-7 on the season. Honestly it's been rather easy this year though. There are a clear top 3 teams that make it pretty easy to select most weeks. This week though... could be a bit more difficult. Here are my Week 8 uneducated guesses: Goshen (2-5, 0-5) at Plymouth (0-7, 0-5): Someone picks up their first NLC victory tonight, and I feel it is safe to say it will be the team that already has wins in their record. Both teams have struggled to score points in conference play, but the RedHawks have played a much more difficult schedule. They should pick up a win for the first time since August. The Pilgrims are bad bad. Goshen by 14 Mishawaka (5-2, 3-2) at Wawasee (1-6, 1-4): The Warriors got a healthy does of Bart Ball last week against Warsaw and will feel the same pain once again tonight. Justin Fisher and company looked REALLY good against NorthWood and should have a nice tuneup as they get ready for the competitive 5A Sectional 10 in a few weeks. Mishawaka by 35 Northridge (5-2, 3-2) at Concord (6-1, 5-0): The Raiders got back into the win column last week, but are they really "back"? Tonight will be as good a chance as ever to show they should be taken seriously in 4A Sectional 19. However, the Minutemen are cruising right now after thumping Plymouth last week. Coach Koehler will have his squad focused on winning this week before having the chance to host a conference championship game next week. Concord by 17 NorthWood (4-3, 3-2) at Warsaw (6-1, 5-0): Twice in 3 years since Bart Ball has been in Warsaw, the Panthers have eeked out victories by 1 point over the Tigers. Obviously Coach Andrews and crew are able to put a good defensive game plan together against this style of offense, but last week they had no answer for Mishawaka. Will the extra week of preparation help NorthWood? It certainly can't hurt. Coach Curtis has to keep the Tigers focused on this one so they do not trip up before a trip to Concord next week for the conference championship. Warsaw by 12

I put this together last week and had some good feedback on it so figured why not do it again this week. Not as many high profile games this week as last week here up North (some BIG TIME games throughout the rest of the state though) but here are what I consider to be the best 5 games this week up here: #1 - Central Noble (6-1) at Eastside (7-0): Unfortunately this game lost a little bit of its luster after the Cougars lost last week to Churubusco. However, this game is still large in terms of determining the Small Division champ of the Northeast Corner Conference. For those not in the know, Eastside QB Laban Davis is the best player you haven't heard of. The senior has thrown for 1,055 yards and rushed for another 1,115 yards and a bazillion TDs combined. He's a stud. This game will go a long way in telling us if the Blazers can/will pose any sort of threat to Luers in Sectional 35. #2 - Wheeler (5-1) at Hanover Central (6-1): Another big time matchup between some smaller schools not getting any love in the polls. The Wildcats only loss this season was by 1 point at 4A Culver Academy, while hte Bearcats only misstep was a week 2 loss to 4A Kankakee Valley. The winner of this game guarantees at least a share of the Greater South Shore - South Division title and can win it outright with a victory next week. Which team will prevail? A Wheeler defense that has only given up 4 ppg on defense in conference play? Or a Hanover Central offense scoring 63 ppg in conference play? #3 - Penn (3-4) at New Prairie (6-1): A lot of people wrote of the Kingsmen when they started the season 0-4, but they have since won their last 3 games scoring 100 points on offense, while only giving up 6 points on defense. Impressive. New Prairie has been just as stingy on that side of the ball their last 3 games as well, only giving up 8 points last week to Indianapolis Tech after back to back shutouts the 2 weeks previous. The Cougars have to win tonight to keep their hopes of a division crown in the NIC. Chuck Freeby and the Channel 46 crew will be in town to broadcast the game. #4 - FW Dwenger (4-3) at FW Snider (5-1): Even though the Saints are coming into this game fresh off a loss to Luers in last week's Battle of the Bishops (and losers of 3 of 4), this is always a big game in the 260. The last 6 matchups between these two teams have been decided by an average margin of victory of 6 points. Always a close battle between these rivals. While Dwenger is out of the SAC title race, they would love nothing more than to spoil the Panthers chances prior to next week's matchup with Luers. Both teams can put up points, so there is potential for a bit of a shootout as opposed to a slugfest. #5 - LaVille (5-1) at North Judson (5-2): Another huge game between small schools with an impact on their conference race. The Lancers have a tough defense this year, only giving up 8.5 ppg. That's good for 12th in the state and 4th in class 2A. Their only loss was a 5 point margin to perennial power Pioneer, while the 1A Blue Jays only losses are to undefeated 3A Tippecanoe Valley and 4A Culver Academy. North Judson needs to win this week to keep their outright Hoosier North championship alive before a colossal weeek 9 matchup at Pioneer.

SB Clay vs John Glenn has been cancelled for tonight

Yeah an interesting Freshman schedule for sure @NRRaider2001 this year. Warsaw's team beat Wawasee 28-0 last night to move to 8-0 on the season. I know it is hard to truly predict future success, but both middle schools and the Freshman teams are having solid seasons and all levels of Tiger football are running "Bart Ball" and have been for 4 years now. Really excited to see the potential of what "could be" the next 5 years or so.

Never got a chance yet to post reactions from Week 7, but honestly there was not much to report on. Great to see Justin Fisher back in uniform and look like the stud he is in that Mishawaka offense. I mentioned it earlier, I have no doubt the Warsaw and Concord games would have ended differently if he played in those games, and I hope he stays healthy for the remainder of the seasons to have a shot at a tournament run. It will be interesting to see how NorthWood bounces back. They lost to Mishawaka in Week 7 last year, only to beat Warsaw the following week. I am curious if having back-to-back weeks of preparing for "Bart Ball" helped them last year and will help them again this year. Northridge got back on track over an improved and pesky Goshen team. The Raiders will have a chance to prove they shouldn't be taken lightly in 4A Sectional 19 if they can get at least 1 of 2 wins their last weeks of the season against Concord and Mishawaka. If they lose both games... tough way to end the season after how it started out. Meanwhile, the Redhawks should get back to into the win column for the first time since August this week and SHOULD have a good chance at finishing the season 4-5. Concord and Warsaw continued to roll over hapless Plymouth and Wawasee respectively. As long as both teams do not trip up this week, the matchup in Week 9 at Dunlap will be for an outright conference championship. But both Northridge and NorthWood are certainley capable of pulling off road upsets this week.

Teams ranked/receiving votes in polls after Week 7: 6A: Warsaw (RV - 11th AP / RV - 12th Coaches) 5A: Concord (Ranked - 7th AP / Ranked - 7th Coaches) Mishawaka (Ranked - 10th AP / Ranked - 10th Coaches) 4A: NorthWood (RV - 14th Coaches)

Except it is not when it comes to those schools in the SAC and SIAC... so it could and should not be used until it can be accounted for those schools.

Except Sagarin Ratings do a poor job or ranking schools in conferences that play a closed conference schedule. Just take a look at the SAC and SIAC ratings. They are all over the place every single week, and it is due to the fact that those conferences play closed schedules. Sagarin's formula does not appropriately account for this currently, and therefore do not accurately rank those SAC and SIAC teams. A perfect example is Sectional 24 ratings right now. You have a 1-5 Boonville team with a 58.58 ratings, while 7-0 Jasper has a 23.15 rating. Are you telling me you would like to see Boonville seeded higher than Jasper?

Even more specific for you @Crusty - http://scoreboard.homestead.com/football/leaders.htm#loaded

Just some interesting stats following Week 7 on the below teams according to John Harrell's site: 6A Warsaw is ranked 8th in Scoring Offense (35.86 ppg) and 3rd in Scoring Defense (13.86 ppg) and 3rd in Average Margin (22.00 points) 5A Concord is ranked 2nd in Scoring Defense (11.43 ppg) and 7th in Average Margin (17.86 points) Mishawaka is ranked 4th in Scoring Defense (14.00 ppg) and 6th in Average Margin (18.57 points) 4A Northridge is ranked 8th in Scoring Defense (14.57 ppg)

Hear hear! I have NO DOUBT in my mind that if he was HEALTHY and behind center against Warsaw and Concord, the Cavemen win both of those games. That is no disrespect to his younger brother who has played well himself, but Justin is a stud and the perfect athlete to run that style of offense. Would love to see Mishawaka and Concord battle for a Sectional 10 championship this year with Justin at the helm.

Just wait until next week and they drop for some unknown reason and you can complain again. Bingo

Side note - the Warsaw Freshman team beat Jimtown last night to move to 7-0 on their season. The schedule is a little different than the Varsity team's due to some schools not having Freshman squads. Here are the teams they have defeated: Fairfield, Michigan City, Penn, Mishawaka Marian, Mishawaka, Northridge, and Jimtown. Anyone else know how their Freshman teams are doing outside of Plymouth and Goshen who apparently do not have teams this year. Does Wawasee have a freshman squad? I know they do not have a JV team this year.

Two thirds of the way through the end of the regular season, getting down to the nitty gritty with some big games on deck the last three weeks of the season. Worst week of my picks last week, going 2-2, bringing my season record to 23-7. Onto Week 7 uneducated predictions: Concord (5-1, 4-0) at Plymouth (0-6, 0-4): The Minutemen proved they should never be counted out as top dog when it comes to NLC football. All the talk about Warsaw, Mishawaka, and Northridge earlier on this season, yet it's Concord who has won or shared the most NLC titles (9) since 2000. The Pilgrims are having their worst season, maybe ever. Based on @Rudy Football Almanac site, Plymouth has gone winless twice in its history. In 1924 (their first season) they went 0-5 and in 1940 they went 0-6, and have 1 win seasons five other years. I do not see this one being much of a contest. Concord by 28 Goshen (2-4, 0-4) at Northridge (4-2, 2-2): I think this one has a chance to be a close game and at least competitive. During the Raiders 4 game winning streak to start the season, they were averaging 34 points on offense and only giving up 3 points on defense. In their two losses since, they are only averaging 6 points on offense and giving up 39 points on defense. That is quite the down turn in Middlebury. The Redhawks got down early and down fast last week and never stood a chance with the way Warsaw's offense was rolling. This is a big game for both programs IMO. Can Goshen pull it together and get momentum into possibly a 3 game winning streak to end the season? Can Northridge figure out a way to bring back their mojo from the start of the season? I'm hesitant, but I'll go with the home team. Northridge by 7 NorthWood (4-2, 3-1) at Mishawaka (4-2, 2-2): Game of the week in the conference without a doubt. Two teams kind of going in opposite directions. The Panthers have won 3 straight and looked good doing it. Meanwhile, the Cavemen have lost 2 of 3 to good opponents. The crazy thing is, both teams combined have 4 losses on the season by a combined 20 points! Each of these teams are just a few plays away from this being a 6-0 vs 6-0 matchup. I know last week the NorthWood starting QB got knocked out of the game, so if this is going to end up being a battle of QBs who started the season as backups, I am going with the home team and backup QB that has more Varsity experience at this point. Mishawaka by 12 Wawasee (1-5, 1-3) at Warsaw (5-1, 4-0): Honestly I do not have much to say about this game. Warsaw should roll easily and will as long as they do not get caught looking too far forward to the final two week's matchups against NorthWood and Concord. At least the Warriors have been able to find the endzone in recent weeks, but the Tigers defense has not given up a touchdown the last two games. The Black Plague D will want to keep that streak alive in this county rivalry game for the "W" Trophy. Warsaw by 42