Ballhawk

Sheridan goes for win #700 Friday night at Clinton Prairie. I have a book of Sheridan football history and I'll share some historical info with you. I believe they used to play Wabash College back at the turn of the 20th Century.

3 POINT GAMES Northwestern @ Cass - Jack is back! Jack is back! Go Kings! Twin Lakes @ Benton Central - the Native Americans get caught looking at the windmills. West Lafayette @ Rensselaer - sorry Coach Nowlin, no truck horns on this night. You might hear some good classic rock before the game though. Central Catholic @ Tipton - those pesky Catholics desecrate the new turf field at Tipton. First they pee on the goalposts and then sprinkle holy water on the midfield Devil. Western @ Hamilton Heights - the Huskies are tough on their new turf field. Eastern @ Carroll - I flipped a coin and it came up Comets. Taylor @ Clinton Central - somebody has to win. The Titans will run through the Kirklin Cemetery on their way to Michigantown and a win over the Bulldogs. Gibson Southern @ Southridge - last year's state champs aren't ready to give up their title. Mooresville @ Decatur Central - the home of the state flag is a can't lose pick. Northview @ Owen Valley - remember Mark Patrick calling them Ken Owen Valley back on Channel 8 many moons ago.

Delphi @ Tri Central - I'll take the Oracles because somebody has to win. Eastern @ Carroll - I'll take the Comets even though I still hate Eastern from basketball over 40+ years ago. Forgive and forget? Like heck I will. Sheridan @ C. Prairie - Coach Wright is 124 years old and he can still remember beating Clinton Prairie on a 42-15 back in 1970-something. Of course he can still remember if you missed a tackle or a block 40 years ago too. Taylor @ C. Central - I'll take the Titans because somebody has to win this game too. Coach Gilbert's last two coaching stops battle it out for supremacy and to see if the red or green tie is greater. Bad week to be a home team in the HHC.

You should hold out for a Zima and a slightly used pair of Zubaz!

Here are the enrollments: Western (4A) - 840 West Lafayette (3A) - 754 Hamilton Heights (3A) - 731 Twin Lakes (3A) - 655 Northwestern (3A) - 605 Rensselaer (3A) - 521 Benton Central (2A) - 508 Tipton (2A) - 454 Lewis Cass (2A) - 413 LCC (2A SF) - 296 With enrollments like this you think one or more of those schools could at least field a team to knock off the Red Devils. There are some strong traditions with some of these programs. One or two weak classes shouldn't be an excuse.

There really hasn't been any other real strong teams in the Hoosier in the past few years, with the exception of the occasional Rensselaer, Tipton and LCC teams. I think the real question is who emerges to challenge? There's a lot of football tradition in the Hoosier, but some teams have stepped backwards. Who will step up?

Week 4 Pick 'Em Games; Brebeuf @ Guerin Catholic Center Grove @ Ben Davis - Giants have to win a big game sometime Lafayette Central Catholic @ West Lafayette New Palestine @ Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Terre Haute North @ Terre Haute South Western Boone @ Tri-West Winchester @ Centerville Bedford North Lawrence @ New Albany Fishers @ Hamilton Southeastern Penn @ Cincinnati St. Xavier

1 Point Games Benton Central @ Western - the Bison are finding the HC portion of their schedule a little more difficult than Delphi and Seeger. Hamilton Heights @ Northwestern - Huskies continue their good start to the season with a win over the improved Tigers. 2 Point Games Rensselaer @ Twin Lakes - Bombers rebound from HH defeat. The Indians are struggling. Central Catholic @ West Lafayette - RDP over LCC. CC might be able to hang for a while with the Red Debbels. 3 Point Games Knox @ North Judson - I'll go with the upset, or is it? Triton @ Bremen - Triton can't shake the b curse. West Central @ Culver - I'll take Culver and a butterburger to go. Cass @ Tipton - Jack over Indiana's only Blue Devils. South Vermillion @ North Vermillion - I'll take the Wildcats in the Vermillion County championship. Covington @ Fountain Central - the Mustangs bust the Trojans. Decatur Central @ Martinsville - DC bounces back from a couple of tough losses to defeat the Artesians. Franklin @ Whiteland - if I'm Franklin I'm taking the field with "Warriors, come out to playayyy"

Sheridan @ Delphi - the Mighty Mighty Blackhawks have had a lot of big wins at Berto Field. This week won't be any different. Eastern @ Taylor - take the Comets and get out of Center as fast as you can. Southern Wells @ Carroll - just how good are the Cougars? I think you find out in Weeks 5, 8 or 9. However, this is Week 4 and they roll da Raiders. Frontier @ C. Central - I mean Frontier lost to a homeschool team last week, therefore I'll pick the Bulldogs just for that reason. The Dogs have been thumped the past two weeks by Sheridan and Prairie, but they bounce back this week against the Falcons. C. Prairie @ Tri Central - the Gopher coach has won more games in his first 3 weeks at CP than he did in 3 years at Cville. They'll win this week and then face a test with the Blackhawks coming to town next week.

Covington @ Fountain Central - The Battle for the Beef House! (hey it's close to both schools). I'll take the Herbies to get their first win of the year. Beef House speed can't keep up with a herd of Mustangs. Parke Heritage @ Attica - the Wolves stumble into Bruce Field and walk out with most likely the only win of their season. Ramblers in shambles this year. Riverton Parke @ Seeger - gonna go with my heart and my gut and take the Patriots in a close one. I'm still not sold on the Panthers. So. Vermillion @ No. Vermillion - the Falcons give up so many points. The Wildcats get just enough stops to pull out the victory. Barring any major upsets this is the conference championship.

Did you gag from the smell of stale beer, cigarette smoke and BO? Has bulletin board material now turned into electronic equipment material? Do coaches have time to monitor all of the social media accounts? Do coaches really care?

The players and coaches at those schools probably aren't there now, so this makes no sense. Two wrongs don't make a right. If they're leaving starters in and not allowing younger players an opportunity they are only hurting themselves in the long run. You don't sharpen kids up by dominating weak competition. You give them a false sense of superiority. But good luck with that strategy as I'm sure it will take them very far.

Pick 'Em Games for Week 3; Jasper @ Evansville Reitz Chatard @ Roncalli Monrovia @ Linton Zionsville @ Westfield Crown Point @ Merrillville Brown County @ Cloverdale Whiteland @ Decatur Central Paoli @ Springs Valley Homestead @ FW Luers Bremen @ Mishawaka Marian

3 Point Games Cass @ Benton Central Northwestern @ Central Catholic North Montgomery @ Southmont Rensselaer @ Hamilton Heights Tipton @ Twin Lakes Western @ West Lafayette Kokomo @ Logansport Muncie Central @ McCutcheon Crete-Monee @ Andrean Crown Point @ Merrillville

Eastern over Delphi Carroll over Taylor Prairie over Central Hawks over Tri Central

Fountain Central @ Riverton Parke - I'll take RP because this is their year. Or was it next year? Or next year? Or the year after that? North Vermillion @ Covington - the Falcons pop the Trojans. NV with a nice bounce back win. Seeger @ Attica - my profile pic is an old-school Seeger helmet. Gotta go with the Indians over the Ramblers. South Vermillion @ Parke Heritage - will the Wolves become the Turkey Run of the WRC? Did all of the Terre Haute kids move back or to RP?

It's sad that your #1 team in the conference got waxed at home by Linton 64-15. Granted the Miners are a good 2A team, but is the WRC just that bad this year?

I left a game out.

Taylor @ N Miami Carroll @ Delphi - The Bacon Bowl! I'll bet the pork burgers are pretty tasty too. Northwestern @ Eastern Sheridan @ C Central - I heard CC's coach said Coach Wright was older than God. He may be correct. Wes Del @ Tri Central Frankfort @ C. Prairie - it's sad that the Hot Dogs don't dominate Clinton County football. At least they're better than Rossville.

They win the Hamilton County middle school championship every year it seems, but the problem for them is they have one middle school and all other large districts have 2-4 middle schools. The other schools are better off in the long run with player development from more kids getting reps and competition for positions when they move to high school.

With that record they're apparently not recruiting very well either.

Here are the Pick 'Em games for week 2; Danville @ Mooresville Eastside @ Adams Central FW Snider @ Carroll (FW) Franklin Central @ Indianapolis Roncalli Cathedral @ Brownsburg South Putnam @ Owen Valley LaVille @ Triton Crown Point @ Andrean Evansville Reitz @ Vincennes Lincoln Brebeuf @ Tri-West

2 Point Games North Newton @ Rensselaer - Spartans short on players and this one will be ugly. Seeger @ Benton Central - when is the last time the Bison were 2-0? Clay @ Twin Lakes - because I have to pick someone. Tipton @ Elwood - how did Tipton lose to Frankton? They sure can't lose to Elwood too. West Lafayette @ McCutcheon - if WL beat Harrison they'll certainly beat the Mavericks. Western @ Western Boone - Stars are tough at home on the carpet. 3 Point Games Maconaquah @ Cass - is it Lewis or Jack? Anyway, I'll take the Kings. Northwestern @ Eastern - Tigers win the battle of directional schools. Hamilton Heights @ North Montgomery - as much as I've never liked HH I can't see them losing to the Chargin' Chargers. Guerin @ Central Catholic - Guerin wins the Bishop's Cannon from the Knights. Attica @ Tri-County - this is probably both team's best chance to win a game this year. I'll take the Cavs at home. Sheridan @ Clinton Central - you cannot expect me to EVER pick the Hawks to lose to CC. I HATE GREEN!!

This is his first year there and it sounds like he inherited a dumpster fire, but since he's in the HOF is he just coasting? (I say this in jest) I trademarked Beef House Speed, but you may use it just this once. He doesn't like to make picks. He just likes to critique ours.

Last week of non conference play. Who’s the early favorite? Attica at Tri County - it's like picking which ugly girl do you want to dance with. I'll take TC at home. Fountain Central at Crawfordsville - ugly girl selection #2. I'll take the home team again. Athenians with the W and a 2-0 record vs. Fountain County. Linton at North Vermilion - NV may put up a fight but the Miners are a true 2A south contender. Linton pulls away. Seeger at Benton Central - most years you take Seeger and it's over by the half. Not so fast my friend. Bison win under the windmills. South Newton at Covington - SN is 1-0 for the first time in a while. Covington went to Indy and beat the city speed. I'll take the Trojans to win. South Vermilion at Sullivan - the Arrows shoot down SV. West Vigo at Parke Heritage - the Vikings rape and pillage the Wolves and burn all the covered bridges. Vikings win. Grand Valley Christian at Riverton Parke - RP with a W in a battle with a Michigan school. I hate Michigan so no way I pick them to come to Indiana and escape with a win.