BLACKGOLD2007

Agree. It just boils down to the lack of ability with the current conference schedule. We should have two Region teams (Valpo, the Ville, or CP) each year, a top Fort Wayne school each year and two Indy schools yearly. That leaves 4 games for local rival games. That is a lot of travel, but at this point it is what is needed to be considered competitive. Heck even if Penn could join the DAC it would be an upgrade in competition. Ville, Valpo and CP all on the schedule yearly, NC can have Mishawaka still and go to Fort Wayne and pick up Carroll or Snider. If they aren't available you can swing for the fences and go Center Grove, @Grover is saying they have openings they need to fill. Pipe dreams.

If you look back into the 90's Penn's schedules were not that strong, but they had two top 5A teams on them. Valpo and BD followed by Mishawaka. The rest of the schedule was not that good. This could have at least mirrored closely those schedules with at least having Carmel an Indy school on the schedule. But, I am just an alum that rants on the internet.

Do you think Mishawaka is better than Carmel, even after the tough year Carmel just had? My beef with the decision to drop Carmel, isn't directly about Mishawaka, it actually is more about how the administration allows these decisions to be made over doing what is actually best for the program. Scheduling St. X and Cathedral were awesome pick ups...but we have been uncompetitive for like 5 years now....Carmel being on the schedule would have kept the schedule palatable. Penn is about to play one of the weakest schedules in 6A next year.

I would gladly take that thumping yearly over playing our schedule next year. However, there has been an article locally that quoted our coach as to looking forward to the new challenges of the NIC... Penn v Center Grove wont happen.

Because Corey cares so much about conference titles, he wont do this, but you want to give your underclassmen good experiences...Have your JV play most of your NIC games....Send the Freshmen to play the rest....who cares about winning the game at this point. We want these young men to get better....well have them play the NIC varsity teams their Freshmen and Sophomore years....Keep the JV playing the JV's of Valpo and Mishawaka but, send them to play Marian and St. Joe...those are good games. Send the JV to play Riley and the Freshmen to play Washington and Adams. I am torn on sending the JV to play Elkhart as well as NP, but if the Elkhart program continues to slide, then screw it. pipe dreams. At that point I see the NIC kicking Penn out.

Dikos should send the JV to play these schools then.... Dikos wants a three peat....do what is best for your team, don't worry about hurting feelings. Dikos gets it, Corey does not.

I understand that having a 3A school that you roll over is not helpful, but play a team like Morton or Portage that is the same thing. Just a bigger classification of school. You need to play games in which your back ups will see playing time against Varsity level players. Also, gives you an opportunity to rest and recover. It cannot be a murderer's row, where your team will be dinged up going into the playoffs. Keeping a local "rival" on the schedule does more for the community than, an outside pushover. Marian and St. Joe benefit from us coming in to their place. But, I admit, I am arguing out both sides of my mouth, complain about the softness of the schedule and then advocate for having softer teams on the schedule to give your team a blow.

This was Penn's issue for most of the 90's they were state contender's but until they started playing BD yearly, that is when Penn takes off and wins 2 out of 3 titles in 5 years. The 95 title I think was a team that transcended their schedule no mater what.

Preach I agree

I am sorry, I wasn't thinking about that. I guess it would be the class of 23.

Administration and Coaching must not want to. Winning the NIC is just too important. The NIC should join the Pac12 in fate.

This is game is the culmination of my frustration. Keeping Mishawaka on the schedule would not be so frustrating if you have Carmel and at least another quality 6A on the schedule.... But we get Mishawaka on top of Adams, Washington and Riley....This is possibly the worst schedule Penn has played since 98. I would rather play Carmel, Valpo, Mishawaka and a top Fort Wayne team or Indy area school and go 1-3 in those games then be undefeated and get owned at home in game one of the Sectionals... We have seen schools send their JV to play teams of similar quality and the IHSAA doesn't punish them, Penn can do the same thing. This opens up 3 additional games a year for Penn to add quality opponents.

The senior class from CG went 3-1 in state final games. The Warren class went 4-0 in state final games, winning each game by double digits each game. That is impressive.

The CG class of 22 went 3-1 in State finals games. That is amazing, only senior class to be more impressive is the 06 Warren class that won 4 in a row, and won every game by double digits.

The crazy thing is how quickly Moore turned CG around. They have had some bumps in the road. But, his first season they go 5-5 and season 2 they are playing in the state finals. King had good teams going into the playoffs but couldn't generate any momentum in the playoffs. Moore has developed a Juggernaut. Seasons that were not what we come to expect from CG: 04, 05, 06 and 17 all ended around .500....They went 9-2 in 07 that ended in sectionals and a 7-3 season in 10 that ended in sectionals. Other than that they are competing for Regional, Semi or State titles. They are the measuring stick of how a program in Indiana today. Very impressed with the CG community and with Coach Moore.

I hear you about all these teams being on the schedule for Penn, But, Penn does need to play teams where they can get backups playing time. Not saying that is the case with NP, because for the most part Penn has not played NP well over the years. I am so furious that the AD went along with this garbage. Penn fans should just not show up to these games, listen on the radio, watch on RRSN, but don't give these schools the gate. If I had a slew of papers I would throw them into the air.

Penn administration and coaching seem to care more about the perception of a winning program then actually having a program that is respected by the Indy teams....Penn is an after thought in 6A football... They pissed away their chance against CP to maybe prove something, and now with this laughable schedule, it wont get any better. Adams, Washington and Riley provide you nothing in prep for what is ahead.

I mean, at this point why are we even considering playing this schedule. Cory is good man, but he needs to do what is best for his team. Playing Adams, Washington and Riley does 0 for your team. But, we would rather win an NIC title and maybe a sectional title....if we can even get through Carroll. Unless we have one of those teams that transcends how bad our schedule is, we wont be seeing Regional or semi-state any time soon. The lack of competition we will be facing with those three teams on the schedule is a joke.

Not any time soon, it needs to happen, but wont.

This is the dang truth. We could have kept Carmel and added someone and just sent the JV to play Washington and Riley. Those schools made it very clear that they don't want to play us at all. Then insult them with not even sending our 1s to beat them. This program will go no where in the 6A tournament as long as this keeps up. Corey is a good man, but I think it is time he hangs it up or sees the truth, we cannot win at this level if we are not pushing ourselves and actually challenging ourselves. BARF.

Penn Drops Carmel in favor of Mishawaka..... We will be an undefeated paper giant going into sectionals for the foreseeable future. GAH. #droptheNIC

And we will forever be a mediocre program in the eyes of 6A football. IDC how down Carmel is, they are better measuring stick than Mishawaka. BOOOOOOOOO the NIC 7 game schedule.

I wish I could give you records of the JV and Freshmen team, however Penn doesn't post results on their sites. I am currently scrounging for the info. I doubt I will find it. For a large 6A school, they really do a crap job at getting and putting info out.

I am assuming this is Tackle football as well. This sounds like fun. Can schools that have an 11 man also have an 8 man?

Do they play on a smaller field?