NLCTigerFan07

Not over yet!

Are you watching the game? Carroll is crushing it on offense. Thankfully the Tiger offense is eating up clock on all their drives and limiting the Charger opportunities.

I meant it more as an expression than actually predicting only 14 points for Carroll. But if the Tigers chew up the clock, that will limit how many points can be scored in this game.

@Prospect Yeah Goshen scored 2 garbage time TDs with like less than 4 minutes to go in the game when Warsaw had their 2nd and 3rd string defensive guys in the game while leaving in their 1st string. Huntington North game was week 1, defense gave up some big plays that have not occurred nearly as often the last month or so.

Very impressed by the Rockies last week! Loved to see it, even if I have disdain in my heart for Plymouth 😉 Just a quick post for tonight's sectional semi-final round: Carroll (7-2) @ Warsaw (7-2): The Tiger defense has done well against the pass for the most part this year, but they will see their stiffest challenge with Becker and company. Key to the game will be Warsaw being perfect on offense (no turnovers, no penalties, scoring every drive). They have to control the clock and cannot get in a shootout with Carroll. If they can do this, Bart Ball can win this game... Warsaw by 1 Mishawaka (5-3) @ Goshen (1-5): Long tough season for the Redhawks finally ends tonight. I feel for Goshen (especially their seniors) as they only got to play 6 regular season games. Out of my own curiosity and not insuating that it is, but after 3 straight 1-win seasons (and only 5 wins in the last 4 years), is Coach Park on the hotseat at all? I'm not sure anyone else could do any better... Mishawaka by 28 South Bend Adams (4-5) @ Concord (4-4): Should be an good game for the Channel 46 GOTW. Both teams have had their various highs and lows this season. I'll take the home (and NLC) team... Concord by 7 Plymouth (2-5) @ Culver Academy (4-5): Can the Fighting John Barrons strike again? This one will be tougher on the road, and the Eagles have played extremely well in the month of October. I'll "root" for the Rockies to pull it out again, but again I think the home team wins it... CMA by 7 NorthWood (4-3) @ Leo (9-1): Lots of chatter on other pages picking the Panthers as a trendy upset. If the game was in Nappanee, I'd be more inclined. Should be an old fashioned slobber-knocker... Leo by 2

I will say, if there is one area of the Tiger defense that I feel confident in, it is the secondary. They have some really good athletes out there and have done well against teams passing the ball. The d-line has some good size as well, but the linebacker core is what scares me. Again, Becker is a stud as is the receiving core for the Chargers, but if the Warsaw defense can somehow force a few three-and-outs or turnovers by Carroll, then go on 10-12 play clock eating drives on offense, they'll be right in the game. I feel like it's dumb to say, but I wouldn't be surprised if Carroll won this game 42-14, or Warsaw won the game 28-14. Either seems entirely possible to me tonight.

I have to agree here. I have not seen anything posted by any Warsaw supporters thumping their chest saying they will beat anyone from Fort Wayne. If you can find it though, I'd be interested to see it. Since the NLC thread is pretty dead these days (it's usually me and 3-4 others at most) figured I'd pop over here to make a post about the Warsaw vs. Carroll game. In order for Warsaw to win the game, it will honestly come down to two things. Can the Tigers execute perfectly on offense (no turnovers and no/few penalties) and can they get multiple INTs on defense. If they can do these things (which they have done plenty of times this year), they will surprise you all and win this game. Best way to limit Becker and the high scoring Chargers offense? Keep them off the field. Only way this turns into a blow out is if the Tigers have multiple 3-and-outs and turnovers on offense. Otherwise, I see this one being close in the 4th quarter. Even though the game is at Warsaw, will it still be broadcast on Summit City Sports?

Just out of curiousity if anyone here knows - since supposedly the Mishawaka vs. Goshen game this week in the sectionals is going to count as an NLC contest due to their regular season contest being cancelled, is the East Noble vs. DeKalb game this week counting as a NE8 contest?

I've always been a fan of Marian and St Joe joining myself, especially with Mishawaka now in the conference. Of course, not sure how much that helps the Tigers, but both of those schools have great athletics across the board and would fit in well in my opinion. I like CMA too, never been too keen on New Prairie joining.

Is the $410 including my $60 pledge that could potentially be $90?

I will be deplugged these next few days, so early write up for the games this week: New Prairie (5-4) @ Plymouth (1-5): Not much to talk about here. Glad the Rockies will get in one last game to their season and happy to hear all things seem to be clear with Coach Barron. No reason to think the Cougars don't roll here... New Prairie by 17 Wawasee (3-6) @ NorthWood (3-3): Strange, strange seasons for these two. Wawasee was 1 of 2 (the other Warsaw) NLC schools to play all 9 of their regularly scheduled games. Impressed (?) that the Warriors were finally able to get back into the victory column over Goshen last week. Alas, those feel good feelings will subside by halftime at Andrews Field. Panthers are fresh off a forced bye week after a heck of a battle and victory over Warsaw two weeks ago. No reason to think this game won't go similar to the September 18th matchup... NorthWood by 21 Leo (8-1) @ Northridge (6-2): Tough loss by the Raiders at home last week, but the Cavemen are on a roll. Will Northridge be able to stop their 3rd run dominant team they've faced this year after going 0-2 against Warsaw and Mishawaka? The Lions are a popular "darkhorse" pick in 4A north this year (with most of the conversation being on the 4A south schools, plus Lowell and Hobart). I will be pulling for the Raiders, but my head tells me Leo will grind out a tough victory. Their defense has 5 shutouts on the year, and only once given up more than 14 points this season. That was in their only loss (17-34) to #2/#3 ranked Mooresville on short notice week 2. Only 1 Northeast 8 opponent put up more than a TD against Leo this year, and that was bottom dweller Bellmont. I just do not believe Northridge will be able to score enough points to win the game... Leo by 13

... and just realized @Coach Nowlin already beat me to this with his topic/post earlier. I just hadn't read it yet! Sorry for the duplicated kudos/story

Wanted to take a second and give some props to the Fairfield Falcons and their 8-0 undefeated regular season. Heck of a job by Coach Matt Thacker going 8-0 in his third season at Fairfield. After going 1-9 in each of previous coach Bob Miller's final seasons, the Falcons went 0-9 in Coach Thacker's first season in 2018. That season Fairfield only averaged 3 points per game on offense while giving up 55 points on defense. Last year saw improvement to the tune of a 6-6 record and a sectional championship appearance. This season, the offense has averaged 38 points per game while the defense is giving up just under 8 points per game. Look at the turn around in these final scores from 2018 to this year: Opponent 2018 2020 Point Differential West Noble 6-51, L 41-7, W +79 Angola 0-70, L 29-17, W +82 Garrett 0-44, L 36-7, W +73 Lakeland 6-62, L 42-0, W +98 Churubusco 8-62, L 24-6, W +72 Best of luck to Fairfield in a tough 2A sectional 35. They got a good draw with a first round home against a Central Noble team they defeated 32-6 in week 3, then a likely home game against Ft Wayne Bishop Luers in the semi-finals. More likely than not they would have to travel to Eastside for a sectional championship rematch, but I would anticipate a closer showing than last year's result.

"Fun" fact for the NLC this year. The two teams in Kosciusko County were the only ones able to play their season uniterrupted/as planned with no cancellations or rescheduling of new opponents to their 9 game regular season schedule. Here is to hoping ALL NLC teams stay safe through their respective tournament runs. Also happy to hear about Coach Barron. Hope he and the Rockies will be ready to go in the first round of sectionals. Here are my week 9 picks: Concord (4-3) @ Warsaw (6-2): Disappointing result for the Tigers last week in Nappanee. What a house of horrors Andrews Field is for Warsaw, with a record of 2-12 the last 14 years visiting NorthWood. The Tigers will have to put that game behind them if they want to capture a share of the NLC title for the first time since 2001. Concord is a second half rally against Eastside away from being on a 3 game skid. After seeing what Mishawaka and Northridge have done on offense against the Minutemen, I have faith my Tigers will pull out the victory at home... Warsaw by 13 Goshen (1-4) @ Wawasee (2-6): Without being too offensive (which neither team has much of - zinger!), not much to write about this game. After week 2, I truly thought the Warriors would find a way to win 4 games this season, and maybe even surprise with a 5th and have a winning record. Boy was I wrong. Wawasee is averaging 7 points on offense in conference games, while giving up 35 points on defense. As stated above, Goshen at least looked a little better against Warsaw and Northridge, but they do not have much of a defense either. Could end up being a shootout in Syracuse tonight... Goshen by 4 Mishawaka (4-3) @ Northridge (6-1): Game of the week in the NLC. Northridge has been impressive all year, even in their loss to Warsaw. A few untimely turnovers and penalties is what lost that game for them. However, we'll see what improvements the Raider defense has made in their second go around with "Bart Ball" (sorry Cavemen fans... it's what it is). The highest scoring offense (35.7 ppg) vs the lowest scoring defense (9.1 ppg) in the conference clash tonight. As much as I like the Raiders, Mishawaka has been on a roll the last 4 weeks. Before that, they were only 16 points away from being 7-0 coming into this game. I like the Cavemen in what could be the game of the year in the conference... Mishawaka by 2 If this is true, I love it. Great idea in my opinion. The two teams are going to play, and they did not get to play in the regular season. Why not have it count as a conference match-up? Fingers crossed this is true. Common sense to me!

Much like last year, I'll wager my yearly donation based on how my Warsaw Tigers finish the season: $90 - NLC Champions AND Sectional Champions $60 - NLC Champions OR Sectional Champions $30 - Neither Lets go TIGERS!

Exactly 😂

You are correct that head to head does not matter in conference title races. I was just pointing it out as part of that potential scenario (Warsaw 6-1 and Mishawaka 5-1) it would be interesting to see how it is decided (head to head matchup not included in that decision making process). If Warsaw and Northridge win, they will be co-champions, even though Warsaw won the head to head matchup.

Will be interesting to see how it's decided if both Warsaw and Mishawaka win on Friday. Warsaw would finish 6-1 in the NLC (including a victory over Mishawaka) while the Cavemen would finish 5-1 due to their lost game against Goshen. Any news if NorthWood is looking for an opponent this week with Plymouth not playing?

I never claimed this should be the ONLY list, just threw out potential settings that would have been nice. By no means am I an expert on ALL Indiana high school football fields and stadiums. Lighten up Francis

I feel like that would be best to guarantee field conditions for all teams. Good point, but I guess my answer to that is Ohio finds a way to do it so no reason why Indiana could not.

We all know and converse plenty about seeding sectionals, but are there any others out there that wishes Regional and Semi-State games were played at neutral sites? Every other team sport within IHSAA has neutral sites for these rounds, why not football? Is it really too much of a logistical nightmare? I find it hard to believe with how Ohio has done it for years. Imagine these neutral site regionals last year (just stuck to the North because, well, that's where I am) 6A Valparaiso: Merrillville vs. Warsaw Marion: Carmel vs. Homestead 5A Elkhart: Mishawaka vs. Valparaiso Laf Jeff: FW Dwenger vs. Harrison (WL) 4A Michigan City: Hobart vs. New Prairie Homestead: East Noble vs. Mississinewa 3A Plymouth: Knox vs. Mishawaka Marian Noblesville: Chatard vs. FW Concordia 2A Harrison (WL): Andrean vs. Lewis Cass Warsaw: Eastbrook vs. Eastside 1A Logansport: LCC vs. North Judson Bluffton: Adams Central vs. South Adams

I'm not sure I agree with this. I don't see any reason why seeding would lead to playoff qualifications in Indiana. This is because the state has just the right amount of teams playing football to host a 5 or 6 round playoff. No reason why seeding an all-in tournament can't be done.

Great news on Coach Barron. Hopeful for a complete and full recovery! As a side note - my picks were pretty daggone spot on last week. I think the first week it finally happened picking the winners and being close on the margins. Anyway, here are my picks for the penultimate week of the season: Concord (4-2) @ Northridge (5-1): Channel 46 Game of the Week will be in Middlebury tonight. Should be a great game. Concord got the job done late against a very good Eastside team on short notice, while the Raiders let Goshen hang around more than I thought they would. While the Northridge defense gets a lot of talk (rightfully so), the Minutemen have been fairly stout as well on that side of the ball. I expect this to be a low scoring affair... Northridge by 4 Harrison (4-3) @ Goshen (1-3): Appreciate the Raiders making the long treck up to Goshen from West Lafayette with both teams looking for an opponent this week, but I do no anticipate this being much of a game once the whistle blows. Harrison is averaging 41+ points per game, and have only once scored less than 40 points this season. That spells bad news for the RedHawks. If there is any sliver of hope, Harrison has given up some high point totals this year, but those teams (Westfield, Lafayette Jeff, Roncalli) are all much, much better than Goshen. This one will be ugly by halftime... Harrison by 28 Warsaw (6-1) @ NorthWood (2-3): If last week's game is any indication, "Bart Ball" should rule again in Nappanee tonight. However, I have a strong feeling the Black Crunch defense will have used last week's practice and game against Mishawaka and found what did and did not work. As always, the Tigers have to play fundamentally sound on offense. As long as they continue to do that, they will be just fine. Always a tough task to go to Andrews Field and get a victory though. Warsaw has lost 7 of their last 8 times on the road at NorthWood. However, I expect a different result this week for the Tigers... Warsaw by 11 Wawasee (2-5) @ Mishawaka (3-3): Much like my write up last week for the "W" game, two teams going in completely different directions. The Cavement have been impressive in back to back weeks with wins over Concord and NorthWood, while the Warriors might wish they were in the Northeast Corner Conference instead of the NLC. August seems like ages ago, and Wawasee will have to wait one more week before they have a chance to get back into the win column... Mishawaka by 29 @Slick John Picanos give me Northridge, Harrison, Warsaw and Wawasee 😂

Wow! Did not realize they hadn't played each other in that long. Not that it will be a game this year, but that is cool that they have had the chance to get this scheduled.

I understand that. My point was - @Coach Nowlin said both teams are "stuck" in 4A and 5A no matter what... but that is not true. If they win Regional Championships this year, they will both get bumped up ANOTHER class to 5A and 6A respectively.