BLACKGOLD2007

That Penn Valpo game was hard to watch from a defensive stand point. Both Offensive teams had their way. Penn was able to force 6 punts and stop Valpo in the last seconds. But, Valpo had multiple long scoring plays (as did Penn) and Valpo was able to score twice inside the 10 yard line on 4th down. I think Penn will be dangerous from the QB position, he is fast and a great runner. He has some touch issues on his passing but that can be cleaned up over time. Valpo's young QB looked good under pressure. He is able to move the ball with his feet, but has a good arm. I think the lack of D is concerning for both teams. Penn has the benefit of playing no one after week 2 (Sorry NIC friends) while Valpo has Merrillville and CP still to compete with. Valpo will be a player in 5A north if they get their D sorted out.

Big win for North on Friday night!

Penn v Valpo 49-42. Penn wins on a last second sack. ZERO defense was played in the 3rd quarter. Penn scored 21 points and I think Valpo matched it. Over 1100 yards of total offense between the schools. Valpo is big (per usual) all over the field and their QB looks like he will be able to handle the pressure of the DAC.

I know this is not Indiana, but there is a small town in West Virginia....the town of Poca They are the Poca Dots.

HAHA, This is a great list. You did great!

Just have to win to prove everyone wrong...Problem is neither school has a hard schedule.

IFCA COACHES' POLL PRE-SEASON 1. Ben Davis (0-0) vs. Indianapolis Cathedral (0-0) Friday 2. Center Grove (0-0) vs. Westfield (0-0) Friday 3. Brownsburg (0-0) vs. Fort Wayne Dwenger (0-0) Friday 4. Warren Central (0-0) at Fort Wayne Snider (0-0) Friday 5. Crown Point (0-0) vs. Lowell (0-0) Friday 6. Westfield (0-0) at Center Grove (0-0) Friday 7. Indianapolis Cathedral (0-0) at Ben Davis (0-0) Friday 8. Carmel (0-0) vs. Homestead (0-0) Friday 9. Hamilton Southeastern (0-0) at Carroll (Fort Wayne) (0-0) Friday 10. Fort Wayne Snider (0-0) vs. Warren Central (0-0) Friday 10. Fishers (0-0) at North Central (Indianapolis) (0-0) Friday 12. Lawrence North (0-0) at Lawrence Central (0-0) Friday 13. Noblesville (0-0) vs. Mount Vernon (Fortville) (0-0) Friday 14. Lawrence Central (0-0) vs. Lawrence North (0-0) Friday 15. Carroll (Fort Wayne) (0-0) vs. Hamilton Southeastern (0-0) Friday I have not been high on Penn, but not even in the top 15? I haven't looked to see if there is a full listing of the 32 teams in the bottom half of the class is a shocker to me...let alone Carroll is at 15.

Not surprised. How many times have there been clean sweeps across of the either side of the state?

I know this is off topic, but are we doing a pick 'em this year? Snider looked that bad?

I was there when the streak was like 135. We had won 30+ games, in a row, against our rival Mishawaka. The team that broke the streak was Mishawaka. They won four straight and since then we have gone 9-1 against them.

@Frozen Tundra I sure miss the days of winning state titles.

Preach.

What school is the Crimson Knights?

Elkhart at Concord, 7 pm Hammond Central at Washington, 8 pm Bishop Noll at Riley, 7:30 pm LaPorte at New Prairie, 8 pm Mishawaka at Marian, 7 pm Adams at Culver Academy, 7 pm St. Joseph at Lakeland, 7 pm Valparaiso at Penn, 7:30 pm There is a lot of hype around Elkhart this year, people around the program are expecting big things from the Lions, but let's see if this crop of talent can put it together on the field. Can Riley take the next step after an amazing regular season last year? LaPorte v New Prairie a stable in the Week 1 rivalries in Northern Indiana. I expect another solid season out of the Cougars and for them to avenge their Week 1 loss to LaPorte from last year. Mishawaka v Marian, Mishawaka will take care of business, but can Marian build on their improvements from last year. Washington and Adams are in tough Week 1 games, I anticipate Culver Academy and Hammond Central to walk away with the wins. St. Joe has not seen the north side of 5 wins since the 2018 season. Can Downey get the Huskies... back on track. Valpo v Penn there is speculation out there that this is the last game in the rivalry. With Penn looking to end it on a 3 game win streak. Penn and Valpo have been .500 with one another going back to 2016, in regular season play.

My brother and I were saying if the Gold Rush and Wild Bunch was on the sideline that would be fine, but in the endzone that would be bad. lol I think we are ready for a fast start to coach Pete's reign as Master and Commander.

That would work better for Penn and Elkhart, Idk if the NIC is going to let their two largest schools and fan bases leave in just football. It may be an all or nothing situation.

I agree.

Those sports already fill out their schedules with teams from those current regions. So, going from a conference of all local teams to a smaller conference that may require driving two-three times that season, is not unfeasible because they are already doing it. The rest of their schedules will likely stay close to the same because the AD's at the other schools may not want to go shop around and try to fill the spot Penn and Elkhart left. The conference can create rules that their conference games are on the weekends to eliminate missed class time and diminished study time. Sadly we cannot jump on the 465 and be on the other side of the city in 20 or so minutes. The luxury of dense population is not in our favor. It won't happen, but if these schools made the decision that they wanted to improve their athletic competitiveness across all sports I think this would be a good step. Penn and Elkhart joining the DAC or an elite conference of Fort Wayne schools helps everyone in the North.

This is exciting to see another Fort Wayne Talent come to South Bend. I hope he has an outstanding season at Snider.

I am surprised at how low you put Snider on this list. Snider would have won 6A North last year. Unless you think they take a step back this year?

I think this is the most logical based on how the season ended last year. The only outlier is Carroll, but their recent history against Indy schools and current program stability warrants a top 10 inclusion.

You are right, it probably isn't that easy. But, if schools want to play the top teams around the state, the AD's are going to want the game on nights where the largest % of the local populate can come out. Up hear it isn't as uncommon to travel to play schools on the east and west edges of our state.

But, in the non football sports Penn regularly plays teams from Ft. Wayne and the Region during the regular season, during the school week. Good AD's should be looking to make those weekend or Friday night games. This is not anything different for those teams.

@temptation what are the differences you are seeing in these teams? We know East Central is without their stud do it all Mr. Football RB. But, are they in reload mode? How much has Chartard lost with graduation or transfers? Is Carmel going to stop underachieving?

If those schools don't mind the drive...A Penn, Snider, Carroll, Homestead, Dwenger, Elkhart and Warsaw conference would be tough. That is 6 conference games with 3 non conference games where these schools can take on teams from Indy. Since W/L records don't matter in the tournament, these schools would be 100% ready for what is too come in the playoffs. For example Penn would go West for sectionals and would see top talent from teams like Snider and Carroll. That would make playing CP in sectionals more palatable.