irishuncle411

Lapel and Tipton both pull off the upsets. Good luck to both next week in their preparation and in the game next Friday at Tipton. Who is the early favorite in this one?

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I had hoped my mention of lunch ladies might inspire him to offer some thoughts on the state of the Eastbrook/Tipton game...or perspective on about anything. The GID and world at large needs some more CJB to bring some smiles and laughs. Or at least get a pot stirrer back on here that simply doesn't make everyone angry!!

Jimmies and Joe's or Run/Pass Game don't matter. Whichever schools lunch ladies prepare the better midday meal will determine this games winner. I checked Tipton's website...no listing of lunch menus in the month of October, but they have November all planned out and for the community to see. Makes me feel they will have a good Friday plan to get the boys ready to go. I checked Eastbrooks website...uh-oh, they're on Fall Break. Hope they make the sacrifice to still come in and make a solid post walk-through snack. Or maybe they and the boys peaked last Friday with Pizza Rippers and a Spicy Chicken Filet?

Looking up some things for this weeks matchups, but no Greentown Stats on MaxPreps? I know the RB is good...Downing kid I think is his name. But who are their go to guys? I know Eastbrook appears to throw it around more and QB must be good. They always have good RB numbers because of their scheume. Dollar kid from Lapel is only a sophomore and appears to be the real deal. Anyone to throw to on the Bulldogs? Tipton appears to be balanced as always. 1200 in the air...800 yard rusher...couple of 400 yard receivers... As far as predictions go I think Greentown/Lapel is a toss up. Latter has played better competition, but EG has record/rankings to say it doesn't matter. I'll go Lapel by one score late. Eastbrook/Tipton will be a good one. I think quality of regular season opponents is the difference maker. It'll be a tight one, but Eastbrook will have one or two things they haven't shown yet that Tipton won't be prepped for. CIC might work to their advantage as it doesn't matter what they run after week 2!!

Marion at Mississinewa - Indians will battle, but playing a weak 5A/4A schedule has the Giants better prepared than a weak 1A/2A schedule. Giants 35-Indians 21 Oak Hill at Bellmont - Eagles are good this year. Possible for one last hardware run in next few years for Ozmun? He'd be content with a sectional trophy and hope they get one if they drop back down and he stays longer. Alex at Eastern - Tigers will play hard early and keep it close. Greentown plays a weak schedule. I think it'll be close for a half, but Comets pull ahead after the break. Lapel at Frankton - Think the Bulldogs win this one big. Might be close for a quarter, but that is it. Tipton at Elwood - Tipton by 50. Elwood has no chance. Blackford at Eastbrook - Eastbrook by 50. Blackford has no chance.

What is most competitive first round game? I think it is between Lapel/Frankton and Blackford/Eastbrook...Bulldogs seem to beat who they should, but no one better. Other game I mentioned is purely on Elwood/Alex being so bad. Think you could make argument Alex/Greentown, but Tigers based on sectional Round 2 last year (Greentown 20-7)...but Alex appears to be worse this year. Who wins between Alex/Frankton in week 9 this year?

Box score from last week shows that Lapel vs Heritage Christian was a 1 score game going into the 4th quarter, but bottom must have fallen out for the Bulldogs in the 4th as they lost 41-19. I think they're just under the top tier in sectional 36. I'd say it's Eastbrook as the favorite and Tipton is barely a step behind them. Lapel/Greentown need some good bounces versus either of them to have a shot. Here's to a good draw for all of them!! Rest of the sectional is onto basketball season...hoping we get one.

Last week's game Frankton vs Oak Hill per MaxPreps - Frankton was 14/28 in the air with 98 yards. They only had 5 carries for -1 yards. Is Frankton OC an Air Raid guy and they've abandoned the run? Or are some of those ball carriers out right now? If they get back to ground and pound, they've got a shot. If they In last 3 weeks they only have a total of 8 rushing yards. And they haven't scored an offensive touchdown in past two weeks. I pulled all of this off of MaxPreps, so chance for human error that stuff was input incorrectly.

Oak Hill over Alexandria - No defense by the Tigers. Plus Oak HIll has a goal, win out and they can claim their 2nd in the CIC. Mississinewa over Blackford - Blackford will play inspired to make next week mean something (2nd place game), but Mississinewa has an athlete or two Blackford can't match. They pull away in 2nd half. Eastbrook over Elwood - Eastbrook by a lot. But Elwood got the W they need and can point to that improvements are happening!! MG over Frankton - MG in this one. Frankton has shown little ability to put up points. And last week being an anomaly, it looks like MG has a decent D. Sectional Draw tomorrow - Who does everyone hope for a first round matchup?

I think the legit point is IHSAA's role in keeping competitive balance...do they have one? should they? if yes, what should it look like? etc. etc. To me that's the main point of conversation that should be taking place...And I think it is an interesting one. Making accusations against a specific school and/or family to argue points within that conversation obviously won't be tolerated. That being said, New Pal is still well coached and solid. A 4-1 record shows no signs of slippage...But I did raise my eyebrows at the GC score. Are they that much improved?

Mississinewa over Alex - 4A program just proves too much against a 2A team. They've had successful years recently, but what holds them back from consistency? Eastbrook over Blackford - I think Blackford will get it close longer than expected either because they play well or because Eastbrook is trying to test some wrinkles before beating up on Elwood/MG, but Panthers play JV a good chunk of the 2nd half. Oak Hill over Frankton - Based on scores on John Harrell, the Def looks legit. Mississinewa hung 74 on Frankton but only 6 on Oak Hill. Looks like Frankton skill guys might double their turnovers!! MG over Elwood - MG appears to be trending up...I expect Elwood will show up, battle, and find a way to be in it the 4th quarter. But think their first W comes next year once new guy gets a full offseason. Overall Trends of CIC teams based on this crazy year.... Mississinewa - Down...Coming off some 3 straight sectional finals and two sectional trophies, they seem to be back into CIC territory. It'll be a quick out come tourney time Alex - Down...Beat an OK MG and a bad Elwood. Lost to an above average Eastern Hancock. They were trending up last year, but appear to be moving in wrong direction Eastbrook - Up. They play great competition in non-conference. As long as your competing for regionals consistently, you'll always be trending up in my opinion. Blackford - I could go either way. They'd been real down prior to current coach. But recent years has them trending up. Need to find a way to stay competitive and/or win 1 of the next 3. They'll make little noise come tourney time unless they get a good draw. Oak Hill - Up. Have only lost to good teams...and beat Mississinewa. Hope they get a good draw come tourney time and squeeze in an extra win or two. Frankton - Down. Barely beat Elwood. Haven't been in a close game since 1A Tri-Central in week 1 (they lost). I bet they're hoping week 9 vs Alex is a matchup they can win...need a good sectional draw to keep hope for next season. MG - Up. Moderately competitive vs Mississinewa/Oak Hill. Should win the next two before losing to Eastbrook and being 3-4 going into tourney. Will make little noise in the sectional. Elwood - Up. They had nowhere else to go, but scores and media show that right things are being done by players and staff. Long way away from competing in current sectional, but hopefully they win a few games next year.

Good to hear. Hope their recent years have been an anomaly and not the new norm.

Reason for optimism next season? Frankton young this year?

Did they pick up a new week 1, then? Tough opponent to open up the new stadium with...That is a big jump from their previous week 1 of Tri-Central.

So just because the Wigwam is of historical significance, we should try to keep it open to play bad 4A basketball? Anderson past 6 years...(2-22, 7-17, 11-14, 4-20, 3-20, 6-19). I remember watching games there and I'm honestly for keeping it open, but cannot make the argument to contract Anderson HS football b/c of bad records and argue that the Wigwam should stay open with those records I mentioned. Anderson can win in football. Get the right guy in there and they'll be OK. He's had success at the small school level, but I don't think current HC has the necessary experience to win consistently there. They seem to be trending downward in recent years....

All in jest, Eastbrook is clearly well coached and executes their system at a high level. Any ring is worth celebration.

I agree, Eastbrook needs to run more screens and get into some empty sets...I've been saying it for years. It's why they only have red rings

Heritage Christian and Lutheran are two small schools that could be on the list. Very strong performances this year and last!

Eastbrook over Alex - Too much firepower on offense and Alex will put up little fight in this one. Blackford over Elwood - I assume this one isn't being played...but haven't heard anything official. How I understood their schools statement, but they cancelled practices for 5 days. Don't they now have to get five more practices in before a sanctioned competition? Any idea on who Elwood could pick up? Mississinewa over Frankton - New guy uses this as an opportunity to build up confidence within his program. He will win his last 4 against the bottom of the CIC. Oak Hill over MG - Will win their last 4 against the bottom of the CIC. Any remaining games look like they could be competitive? Eastbrook - No Frankton/Alex - Maybe? Mississinewa - No Blackford/Oak Hill - Maybe? Elwood/MG - Maybe? Frankton/MG - Maybe?

5 of the top 15 are in the ICC

Sagarin has Ben Davis (83.2) vs. Indy Lutheran (82.4) being a coin flip. It is a crazy year for it. What's the word on Blackford...not playing tonight, but status on next week? John Harrell still has them playing Elwood next week...

Eastbrook has dipped in consecutive weeks in the Sagarin...they went from high 70's to mid60's I believe, which puts them within a single score with some teams in their sectional...Is it justified or can we chalk it up to it's simply a crazy year with Covid and we simply may not have a true handle on where teams stand? If Delta is able to compete with what looks to be a loaded MV team (beat New Pal), then Eastbrook's Sagarin will shoot back up...same could be said for Mississinewa if Pendelton competes w/ New Pal.

How does the CIC handle this from a conference perspective? Say an undefeated teams is forced to miss 1-2 games...can they still be crowned conference champion? Any idea how the AD's plan to handle it or a suggestion from GID community?

Per their Twitter account, they cancelled this Friday's game versus Madison-Grant and have cancelled all extra-curricular events from now until Monday. Sounds like it was a an issue with number of cases in the student body, not a specific team. First official cancellation for the CIC, though. https://blackfordathletics.com/2020/09/16/bcs-blended-learning-announcement-9-16-2020/