BLACKGOLD2007

How about a conference made up of these teams: Riley, Adams, Washington, Goshen, Plymouth, Wawasee, St. Joe & Marian The biggest outlier here is Wawasee out in the sticks, but I think we would find this conference to be more competitive then some of our current arrangements.

To you, does it make sense for Penn to explore independence in Football but remain an NIC member in other sports?

I agree, but the SB schools and the Catholic schools could band together to have a small conference. Because where do they go? All independent? Maybe St. Joe and Marian can join the new small school conference that Glenn, Bremen and Jimtown are leaving for. Would the NLC consider St. Joe and Marian? I think NP and Penn to the DAC is a good option, Elkhart will likely go to the NLC.

Looking at the schedules this year of the schools from the "big school" division, Penn and Elkhart both full advantage of the available 4 non conference games, St. Joe played 3 teams from outside our conference and Marian played 4 teams from outside the conference for the first time this season. Each of these schools has to find 2 teams to drop, (Morton was a filler game for Penn, not sure about Elkhart). I think a fair compromise would be 6 game conference schedule and 3 non. This is forcing Penn to make a choice of Mishawaka or Carmel.... Or, Penn just needs to bite the bullet and go independent in football for the time being. I just don't see the benefit of going along with handicapping your schedule to play Washington and Riley (traditionally speaking) every year again.

So, I heard on a radio show before the games last night, Freeby said that the NIC is going to play 7 conference games? Has anyone heard anything different?

This is not a dig on St. Joe, but Penn played poorly last night. St. Joe made plays they needed to, but Penn took the old gun to their own foot method in their first two drives, which gave St. Joe confidence. Penn cannot afford to play this way next weekend against NP.

Parity?

The NLC is a conference no one wants to step up and claim the title.

Thank you Temp, for fixing the Carroll/Penn ranking. Penn decided last night they were going to play with their food for the first 15ish minutes. GETTING TIRED OF THIS!

shoot I am sorry, they played St. Joe. I was so frustrated by Penn's play and that it felt Penn was also playing the Refs, I forgot.

28-0 Final Penn wins

Penn TD 28-0

Penn returns a punt for a TD 21-0 8:34 in 3rd

Penn scores TD before half. 14-0 (should be 28-0)

Penn TD 7-0

Penn shooting themselves in the foot on O. Cannot convert on 4th. 0-0 still

Penn misses FG 0-0

Most South Bend teams in years past who have had good teams were still mentally soft. Force a turnover, block a punt or house a kickoff and they fall apart. Idk if this Riley team breaks that mold, but if NP can score fast or force a turnover and score fast, we will see what Riley is made of. Look forward to hearing score updates over the insanely loud pa system at Freed Field tonight.

Right now, as I just mentioned in the AP poll thread, until Penn beats Carroll, Carroll is the best team in our sectional. Penn's toughest game this year was Cathedral, and Penn looked like they have over the past 5 years+ against Indy teams. Penn has the horses to beat a good Valpo (first game of the season) and a good Mishawaka team...But, I don't think we win our sectional right now. If the Lord wills it and we do win the sectional, and come up against CP, I am taking CP in that game. I think this year is CP's best chance at getting to the Semi-state. I just don't think it matters who comes out of sectionals 1 or 2, we aren't beating HSE, Fishers, Carmel or Westfield. If anyone has a chance right now it is Carroll. A hard fought game at HSE and a tough loss to a VERY GOOD Snider team.

I assume that the NP coaches will have the boys focused on the game at hand, but kids are kids and it is easy to write off a team that is historically bad and think you will cruise through to the win. With the Penn game looming at home next week for NP, this Riley game could become a trap game.

Thank you for that info.

Simple and honest answer I don't know. I have not heard any news or grumblings coming from the Athletic department. Penn's best two options are the DAC or Independence in Football only. If the South Bend Schools and the Catholic Schools want to stay a conference, Penn can stick with them for all other sports. I think an Independent schedule will either see Penn broker a deal with local schools to keep them on the schedule or for them to fall off completely. If the South Bend schools don't want to play Penn on a rotational basis, we could either see Adams full time or not at all. The same could be said about Marian and St. Joe, Penn should play them either on a rotational basis or both if the South Bend Schools opt out. Keep Elkhart on the schedule. Valpo does not seem to be going anywhere and Mishawaka needs to go back to being the last game of the season. There is more hype when both teams are 7-1 or 8-0. Snider, Carroll and Homestead could be a rotational thing. Add one of the Blue Bloods of Indy (Carmel, BD, Cathedral, Center Grove), and add one of the teams from the HCC. Lastly add a team from out of state. Valpo Indy School Out of state school South Bend team Elkhart HCC team or filler Fort Wayne Team Marian/St. Joe Mishawaka This would be a loosing season for us based on the last 5ish years. But, a Penn team that can have a winning season or beat one or two of the "out of conference" games people will pay more attention.

Warsaw is similar to Penn, they are a 6A team on an island. It wasn't until the unification of Elkhart we got another 6A team inside a 1hr drive. With the problems that the NIC is about to have with three teams leaving the "small school" division, Penn is going back to playing Riley, Washington and Adams each year. Elkhart has the luxury of being tight with NLC schools, Penn will never be invited to play in that conference, and it does not make much sense for them to move that direction. Penn should move to the DAC, but that is a lot of travel week in and week out especially for JV and freshman games. (I looked at the other sports, Penn is consistently playing teams from the DAC and Summit during their seasons, this move would not affect them as much). There just aren't many options in the north central part of our state for bigger schools.

Until Penn can prove it, they should be ranked behind Carroll. They have two good wins over Mishawaka and Valpo, but the turd they laid against Cathedral gives me typical Penn vibes. Carroll is still the best team in our sectional until proven otherwise.