BLACKGOLD2007

I appreciate you throwing Penn into this mix, but as of right now the lack of playing time from the starters and how poorly they played Friday in a full game I think I have to give CP a 14+ point nod. I don't know if our D is ready for that smoke. Especially if we cannot get to the QB.

I think CP walks in heavy favorite. Carroll will likely have a 5 game winning streak going into sectionals and by the time they play they will be on a 7 game streak. That is a team with confidence. Plus if they are playing at home, then they have the crowd support as well. I think CP is running with the mantle best team from the True North. They will likely run into Carmel at Semi-State.

They have a chance for Semi-State. They get out of that sectional and need to put together a great game against CP. Once you get that far, anything is possible at Semi-State. They may not win it all, but they have a chance to make a run.

We have connections with the two schools up the Detroit area (OLSM and Brother Rice), the Catholic school in Toledo and we could even reach out to Chicago schools to see if we can get a game on the board. We could have had Carmel in the schedule the last two seasons. This year would have been very eye opening as how we measure up this season. I know he had a TD, I would say he was around 100 yards with 3-5 receptions. They did not get the ball off to him often because the QB did not have much time to get the ball out.

The thing that is most frustrating is that in games like this, we should be excited about the victory, but the very obvious issues of not playing full games have become very apparent. The father's are very tired of playing this bad competition.

Carroll and CP will be meeting for the Regional game this year. Elkhart is a fraud 20+ sacks in two games and Penn finally plays four quarters in 4 games and looks rusty. They have a walk through with NP this week and another potential four quarter game against St. Joe. Right now, Penn has potential to make things interesting, but too many mistakes against a bad Elkhart D.

Penn left a minimum of 14 points on the field last night. Elkhart cannot sustain blocks they have given up 20+ sacks in two games. Elkhart has athletes but against equal or better talent they are not competitive. Penn has suffered from not playing full games over the past four weeks. Stupid errors, 3 turnovers and not able to execute and get the ball in the endzone in key situations will not get the job done against a CP, Carroll or anyone else south of us. Penn coaches and administration need to take a hard look at the schedule and find a way to ramp up their schedule. If you wont leave the NIC then send the JV to play the South Bend Schools. If that makes them mad oh well. We are having a hard time filling out the schedules for freshman and JV anyways, in situations where both squads need to play on Friday, 3rd and 4th string of the JV combine with the freshman team and they play the varsity teams from South Bend. At this point it does not matter if they win the game, this experience will help them more than playing no one. Penn HAS to get Ft. Wayne, Indy and at minimum another Region team on the schedule ASAP.

Yes Bardo has played in the last two games. St. Joe slowed him down enough that it forced the Elkhart O to hold the ball leading to 13 total sacks. If Penn can do half of that, this will not be a close game. Penn's return special teams are dangerous. The O for this area is dangerous. The D is becoming more aggressive as the season goes on.

That is what I am feeling. The D has become very aggressive in the pass game, multiple sacks per game. I think Elkhart can score, but idk if they can stop Penn.

Sitting on the Home side? It should be an interesting game. I think Elkhart has the emotion in the beginning of the game, Penn overwhelms them in the end.

I understand that St. Joe doesn't like Penn, but if Penn gets beat and then they beat St. Joe we are looking at a three way tie for the conference champ. If I were St. Joe I would rather be playing for the outright conference championship against Penn on week 9. Elkhart has athletes, but are they disciplined enough to execute and win the game? Penn has destroyed the teams Elkhart struggled with this season. I think Penn comes out the clear favorite, Rice field will be popping tomorrow night, but I think Penn drops 40+ and wins by at least 3 scores.

1997 Fort Wayne Snider 13 1 119.70 1996 Ben Davis 12 2 109.78 1995 Fort Wayne Snider 11 1 109.61 As a Kingsmen I take issue with this stretch of metrics. We beat Snider in 97 in semi state straight up. I can understand 96 since the two schools split, Penn won when it mattered the most. and 95 we beat Carmel who beat Snider. oh well.

https://indianahsfootball.homestead.com/pastfb/jhchamps.htm#load What is this? Is the rating a Sagarin rating?

So Penn will still need local games. But playing all three SB schools in a given season is not sustainable. Penn I think should keep Valpo and Mishawaka ( I would move Waka to game 9) 1 - Valpo 2 - HCC or MIC team 3 - Fort Wayne School 4 - SB School (3 year rotation) 5 - Elkhart 6 - St. Joe/Marian (2 year rotation) 7 - Michigan school (OLSM or Brother Rice) 8 - Cathedral or Ohio team. 9 - Mishawaka Weeks 4-8 can be interchangeable. I understand conferences have their specific number of conference games, I think that the NLC/Mishawaka could understand why saving Mishawaka for week 9 is the best option for the two schools and area. The draw a Penn Mishawaka game would have if both are undefeated at this point would be huge. People would actually be talking about Northcentral Indiana football in a relevant way again. Penn depending on the Indy area team they play, the Fort Wayne game, and the week 7 and 8 games could easily be a 4 loss team any given year. But, we will actually know what Penn has going into the playoffs. Same could be said for Elkhart.

Elkhart has wins over teams with a combined record of 6-18, this is not to downplay the importance of the win from St. Joe, but it is so hard to tell how quality a team is when we don't play top level competition on a regular basis. This includes Penn, with Penn's combined record being 15-20. I think it is time that the big schools in the NIC either leave or be asked to leave the NIC. This I think will help those two bigger schools moving forward but also help St. Joe and Marian possibly expand into the NLC or find better competition outside the South Bend area.

I clearly cannot figure out the rest of the NIC teams just don't want to fit in the box I am trying to put them into. NP v Marian, both teams are down I am hoping for a shootout. My guess is who knows anymore. Washington v Adams, Adams is small in numbers but looked physical in their opening drive against Penn. Otherwise they got steamrolled. Washington has let me down this year. Another idk in this situation. I want a tie Riley v St. Joe, I am going to take St. Joe, but that could be the kiss of death for the Huskies as I don't pick games correctly. Penn v Elkhart, after the showing Elkhart gave against St. Joe, I want to assume Penn is better than St. Joe. There is zero way they were over looking St. Joe. I think Penn gives up a couple TD's but will score another 40 + points again this weekend.

Same could be said about Penn.

I would venture Indy schools didn't want to pay him what Carmel could.

🤷‍♂️time will tell.

I agree I thought those Mishawaka teams were good, but they don't seem to get over that hump. I think they have had only a few trips to semi-state and only one visit to state. I just do not trust teams from the Elkhart/St. Joe county areas anymore.

I don't disagree. I think most of the NIC schools would like to see Penn leave in Football, which actually open it up as a small school conference and they could bring back some of the smaller schools that left. If Penn left in all sports then I think the more natural route would be head west to the DAC, I think Elkhart may try to squeeze into the NLC, if not they may tag along with Penn as a package deal. At this point idk if the DAC would even be interested in Penn and Elkhart. I think the SAC bigger schools would be interested in teaming up in a conference. SAC Big - Penn, Elkhart, Snider, Carroll, Dwenger, Homestead and Northrop that is a decent division (worst case you go to Ft. Wayne 3 times in the regular season). 6 conference games 3 non. Penn gets to keep Mishawaka and Valpo on their schedule and could go search after a game with another DAC school (CP or Mville) or head south and do a meet and greet with Westfield, HSE or Fishers.

One thing I am worried about is how little Penn's starters are playing right now. I know that Penn used to blow teams out by half and get backups reps, I am very leery of comparing current Penn teams to teams 2017 and back. Almost all of those Penn starting teams were capable of competing at least up to Semi-State. Now, Penn isn't even a lock to get out of Sectionals. I am still very skeptical of Elkhart, but Bardo might be the key to this Offense becoming prolific. Their D is what will undo them when they play a team that take Bardo away.

Goshen is a modest sized 5A team that got taken to the shed against a 4A team. The size of the school in the situation of Penn coming back against Mishawaka had nothing to do with the outcome of the game. Mishawaka came into the game more prepared and with more passion. Penn eventually got their feet under them and was able to exert their will. Only giving up 6 points over the next three quarters. This was against an unproven Penn, and to this point in the season Penn is still unproven. We have seen 4A and 5A teams upset their larger counterparts in the past, yes it is the exception to the rule. Mishawaka, Penn, Elkhart and Concord are about as reliable in the playoffs as used diaper. They should have brought Wright back. They would pop off another 4 or 5 season run of state titles.

Penn beats Warren, change my mind.... hahahahaha In all seriousness I am kidding I just want to bring you two into agreement, that no Penn would not beat Warren.

They played Goshen. That is like claiming that Penn is back because they have held their last three opponents to 20 points total while scoring 165....They played Riley, Washington and Marian. That isn't a pat on the back. They took care of business like they were supposed to. Mishawaka lost credibility when they crapped away a 16-0 lead over Penn and lost by 6. No team from North Central Indiana should be taken seriously right now. Concord on down, we are all paper tigers until I am proven otherwise.