Ballhawk

My comment was made in jest, but it is truly sad that anywhere you go you have to worry about something like this happening. I applaud them making security changes to ensure that fans who want to attend in person can do so in a safe manner. If it takes a little longer to get in, so be it. I'd think more people stay home because of a threatening weather forecast than the threat of being harmed. As for the game, I'd like to see Brownsburg get over the hump, but their recent tournament failures seem to always catch up to them.

I'm picking the purple team! Let's hope the weather is clear and there are no loud 'pops' in the area.

My apologies. I mistook WC for Frontier in the SN game. I'll still stick to my TC prediction. Sorry for the confusion.

I have my opinion but I will not share on here. Too many sensitive people in the world these days to hear what I have to say.

I watched WC vs. South Newton and was not impressed. SN should have beaten them. TC is on a winning streak and have played a tougher schedule, as Sagarin has TC at 249 and WC at 310. TC is also at home, so I'm giving them the edge as it is a long drive from Francesville to Sharpsville. I said a toss up, but honestly, having seen both teams play, I'd give TC a fighter's chance. I may very well be proven wrong (wouldn't be the first time), but why not be the homer and go with the HHC team?

The same old Sheridan that can't win any big games? The same old Sheridan that hasn't played in a semistate since 2012? I would love to see the same old Sheridan, because they'd be winning big games and titles. Winning the HHC doesn't really count for much in my book. The only thing the same is the coach. Sorry to be harsh, but I'm a long time Blackhawk and what I've seen the last 11 years is embarrassing.

Don't forget the green hat to go along with it. I'm not sure even that would help the Bulldogs against the preppies. I think it would be more intimidating to have a bunch of farm boys in Carhart to welcome the city boys to Michigantown. That would definitely get their attentioin.

Good information. Thanks for sharing. I agree, can't do anything about the schedule. I guess the only other item would be for the remainder of the WRC to step up their game and give you some better competition. It used to be that way, but now most teams seem to be shadows of their former selves.

North Vermillion over Clinton Prairie - if the game were at CP I might think differently. Might be the best game of all of the HHC sectional games. Eastern over Tipton - Blue Devils only win was over a winless team. Don't see the Comets slipping up in this one. Tri Central over West Central - Trojans vs. Trojans. I'll take the boys from Sharpsville over the boys from Francesville, especially at home. Carroll over Caston - Hoosier North fans will say Caston has a shot. I think the Comets get shot down by the Cougars by a bunch. Sheridan over Tindley - Tindley will bring some athletes, but the Hawks should prevail rather easily. Park Tudor over Clinton Central - u-g-l-y, you ain't got no alibi, this is ugly. I think three teams easily move on, with TC & CP in toss ups.

You're a fan, so you should feel this way about your team. I'm sure they appreciate the support. For the record, Seeger is a borderline 1A-2A school with a little under 400 students. SV is the largest 2A school with over 500 students, so not truly an apples to apples comparison. You should at least dip your toes a little deeper in 2A & 3A in the out of conference just to give you some idea of what you're up against. Beating up on weak or mediocre 1A opponents only gives you a false sense of confidence. As for this week's games, I see only NV as a slight favorite over the Gophers. If the game were at CP I might lean a different way. If Seeger were home I might take them, but the trip to Walton tips the scales to the Kings. CC has to be heavily favored over RP. It doesn't matter if they play on grass, turf or a cornfield, CC has athletes and they may slow down a bit, but not enough.

2 POINT GAMES West Lafayette @ Rensselaer Maconaquah @ Hamilton Heights Rochester @ Central Catholic Tipton @ Eastern Brownsburg @ Ben Davis Plainfield @ Harrison Clinton Prairie @ North Vermillion

Cass wins, but it should be close. Eastern easily over the Panthers. Prairie over the Trojans. Carroll big over the Cavaliers. West Central over the Titans. Tri Central in a close one. Sheridan gets the home win over Hagerstown. I think 5 of the 7 HHC teams live to play another week.

It looks as though my math skills are lacking as well.

2 Point Games Mississinewa @ Western Twin Lakes @ Boone Grove River Forest @ West Lafayette Rensselaer @ Griffith Northwestern @ Maconaquah Hamilton Heights @ Oak Hill Winamac @ Central Catholic Benton Central @ Seeger Blackford @ Tipton Hobart @ New Prairie Tri-Central @ Frontier

34 Benton Central at Seeger rematch of opening week and the Patriots win again 37 South Vermilion at Cascade the Cadets have played some tough teams pretty close, so I'll give them the nod over SV 34 Fountain Central at Park Tudor playing on the turf at PT gives the edge to the Panthers, but that 9-0 is against probably the weakest schedule in the state Clinton Prairie at Covington Gophers should be the slight favorites North Vermilion at Attica Falcons will take it easy so they remain healthy for the next week. They have a shot of at least making the sectional final 47 Parke Heritage at Covenant Christian CC on turf will be too much for PH, who'll blame it on overconsumption of elephant ears at the Covered Bridge Festival Riverton Parke at Cloverdale RP may be the only WRC team standing after week 1. Who would have predicted that? Whoever made these sectionals must’ve flunked geometry, I swear to God they did I would say it was probably more geography than geometry, but you never know with the IHSAA

I can't remember the year they switched the home side. The last year that I played on that field was 1979. Sheridan last played Westfield in 2004. My son was the QB for Sheridan. The Hawks won that game 53-7, and I remember well that the Shamrocks only score was a muffed punt returned for a TD. The Hawks were pretty fired up since everyone knew the two sides wouldn't play again and they wanted to end the rivalry with a statement. It was a great rivalry. Each side trying to sneak onto the other's field and burn an "S" or "W" on it. I don't recall it really being mean spirited though. You pretty much knew everyone on the other team and we really got along for the most part. You just competed hard when the whistle blew. I would say there are very few folks in Westfield that would remember any of this now. They just look at Sheridan as the little hick town to the north of them.

They do not have the talent to consistently compete year after year in the Hoosier. They are cyclical like most rural 1A schools. When Sheridan had the talent, they were the football kings of the conference, but every other sport suffered. Carroll could compete some years in the HC, but not every year.

Hopefully we find out. The Cougars have some athletes and a pretty balanced attack. My fear is can they overcome their schedule? Not the most challenging.

Four undefeated teams and Guerin at 6-2. Maconaquah sits at 6-2 also. I would question the schedule of Peru, and possibly Tippy Valley, but TVs big win over West Lafayette would surely grab attention. Chatard is Chatard, so no need to go further. Guerin is battle tested, as is Hamilton Heights in the Hoosier Conference. Let's see how HH comes out against West Lafayette tomorrow to use as a comparison. My thoughts would be the winner of this sectional would definitely be considered the favorite to win the 3A title, with Hanover Central a possible dark horse.

I'm going to have to disagree to some extent on 1A & 3A. In 1A I believe Carroll (Flora) and Adams Central are legit contenders to Lutheran. Lutheran is a safe bet, but all it takes is one game on one day, and it is possible for someone to knock them off. I also feel that Chatard may have difficulty just winning their 3A sectional, and possibly their first game of the sectional. There are 4 undefeated teams in 3A Sectional 28, and 6-2 Guerin took Chatard to the wire, losing in OT. It may be a breeze for the Sectional 28 winner after surviving that killer sectional, but I don't think it's time to just hand over the trophy.

I would agree. I have never understood the argument that there is such a significant difference between a school with 2,500 enrollment and a school with 5,000 enrollment. If you can't find 50-100 good football players in either school, that's your problem. In 1A 20 additional/less students can make a big difference. I still believe that 6A and 1A should be the classes with 32 teams.

Carroll at Sheridan - I hate to write this, but the Cougars claim the outright title. The Hawks defense is decent, but they cannot continue to run left every play and expect to beat a decent team. Eastern at Clinton Prairie - a month ago I would have picked the Gophers, but they seem to be limping towards the finish line. I'll go with the Comets. Taylor at Delphi - Oracles have finished strong, as they should with the schedule getting much easier (minus Sheridan) in the last half of the season. The Titans are probably looking forward to basketball starting. Tri Central at Clinton Central - this would be the Gilbert Bowl if both teams came out with neck rolls and ran the split back veer. This one is more like the Toilet Bowl. Someone needs to tell these teams to go back to the split back veer and they might win some football games. The old green/blue tie might have been on to something. I'll take the Trojans because I have to pick someone, and I can't pick the Bulldogs. Stay healthy this week and get ready for sectional play. The Bulldogs get an extra week of practice before they match up with the Park Tudor/Fountain Central winner.

Back in the day it was pretty good, but it did go downhill over the years. The old Westfield HS football field had a press box that it shared with the baseball field, which was directly behind the football field along SR 32. As the school grew they moved the press box for football to the old visitor side and changed the home/visitor side of the stadium. The football field was also one of the rare fields that went east-west and not north-south. It made it interesting during junior high games when the sun was setting and you were looking into it. It was bad for both teams. I still remember how mad Coach Wright was when Coach Hoskins wouldn't turn the stadium lights on so we could take the field to warm up. We had to sit on the bus (we dressed minus shoulder pads and helmets at home) until they finally turned them on. I know the 50+ point beatdown they received was partly due to that stunt before the game began.

I have to say after reading through this, I would have to agree that some type of sectional seeding would be a good idea, for fans. I don't really think that players or coaches care. You just line up and play whoever is next in line. As a former player on a 9-1 team that didn't 'qualify' for the tournament, I like the all-in format. The point system put a lot of 10-0 and 9-1 teams on the sideline without a chance to play in the tourney. A lot of you will also remember the 'cluster' system from the 80s that was an attempt to have teams play each other in a district format to determine who made the tourney. It didn't really work out well and helped lead to the all-in format. I do like the idea of a 32-team 6A and 1A. I would add that the 32 in 1A include the 32 smallest public schools. This is probably not popular, but comparing a rural 1A school to a private school in a metro area is certainly not apples to apples. Of course I would also like to see 8-man football as an option for not just new schools, but for schools that struggle to put 20+ players on the field. That's my $.02. I am willing to step in as the czar as of January of 2024, if the position becomes available.

2 POINT GAMES Bowman @ Benton Central Tipton @ Rensselaer Northwestern @ Twin Lakes Western @ Central Catholic Hamilton Heights @ West Lafayette Carroll @ Sheridan Seeger @ North Vermillion North White @ West Central North Judson @ Pioneer Bluffton @ Lakeland