First_Backer_Inside

The Bell Game is back Baby!!!

To say LCC can just have Sectional 34 is a bit crazy to me. While there are only 7 teams in the sectional and 4 of those teams are struggling in regular season play, Lewis Cass and Rochester are both undefeated. Both haven't had the toughest of schedules by any means, but Rochester will be tested this Friday in the bell game against Valley and after this week we will know what Cass is made of after they play the remaining schedule of HH, West Lafayette, and Western. Wouldn't count those two teams out for Sectional 34. LCC is gonna have to earn it, not just show up. Last year, Rochester and Laville met in the first round of Sectionals. It was an 8-7 game at half before Laville scored 20 unanswered to win. Potential rematch there in the Regional, but both teams will have their work cut out for them in their respective sectionals. I realize Laville didn't lose anything from last years team, but this Rochester team didn't really as well. One significant player on both sides of the ball. I like what was mentioned up above. This 2A class is pretty solid from top to bottom this year. The tournament is gonna be a good one for sure.

Some great matchups this week in the TRC with the big one being the Super Bowl of the TRC this year, THE BELL GAME! First time both Rochester and Tippy Valley have been undefeated going into the bell game since 2007. Also, interesting matchup between Mac and Peru. I also think the Northfield and Manchester game will be rather competitive. Who ya got this week? Maconaquah at Peru ©, 7 pm Really liked what I saw out of Peru against Valley regardless of the score. I think they are a little more battle tested than the Braves, but wouldn't shock me one bit to see Mac win either. Second best game of the week right here. Manchester at Northfield ©, 7 pm Northfield will have the best player on the field in this game in Fisher. He's gotta make plays for them. Comes down to who can control the line of scrimmage, and Northfield has been doing that for a long time. Rochester at Tippecanoe Valley ©, 7 pm Someone has to dethrone the Vikings and I think the Zebras can get it done Friday night. Arguably the best back in the conference in Demming, with a great group of halfbacks that rotate with fresh legs. Offensive line is coming together nicely and playing some great ball as of late. I think this will be similar to the Knox game. Who can stop the other on defense. Going to be very physical on Friday night. Wabash at Southwood ©, 7 pm I'll keep saying it. Southwood isn't very deep, but they have two or three of the best players in the conference. Wabash keeps improving each week. Just not getting any easy games so far in the season. Whitko at North Miami ©, 7 pm Whitko scored for the first time all year so progress is being made. First win isn't going to come this week tho. That new style of offense is working for Coach Grant and his Warriors. They get the dub Friday night.

Great point! Before Lewis Cass joined the Hoosier Conference, they would play WL second week of the season. Up until about 2013, the series was very competitive. 2014 was the last year Lewis Cass played them Week 2. I was a sophomore on that team and I was in by the second quarter with the rest of my buddies playing WL freshman they were beating us so bad. That 2014 year was i believe coach Fry's first season as the head coach there and the Red Devils have been different ever since. Coincidence, I think not 😉

I wonder if they aren't the smallest 3A team in the state. It is because of enrollment that they are up right? Not because of SF

A large part of the problem lies in the size of some of the schools. Being a 2A school trying to reload to beat a school like WL year in and out is difficult. Even Rensselaer isn't the biggest 3A and have been 2A until recent. If youre gonna get a team that can challenge every single year, it has to come from either HH or Western in my opinion. The other teams in the conference will have that good class every 4 to 5 years that can challenge, but if you want someone every year I think those are the two teams that can make it happen. Most will say well WL is only 3A so there isn't much of a difference, but WL isn't your average 3A school by any means.

What will be interesting about the schools joining together (if it happens) will be the decisions on head coaches for different sports. Example being football. Two great coaches that have both won a lot of games. Only one can hold the title of Head Coach tho.

From what I have heard, it's going to happen eventually regardless of the vote. It's a bit of a travel from Wabash to Rochester and news could get kind of twisted in between tho so I might not know what I'm talking about and could be very wrong 😉

Another week of TRC games. Three teams sitting at the top of the conference. Who ya taking this week? Maconaquah at Whitko ©, 7 pm Who's the head coach at Whitko now? Are they even going to finish the season? Big question marks there. Whats not a question mark is the winner here. Mac takes it by a lot. Impressive win last week against a Northfield team that is struggling a little bit this year. Nonetheless, Mac making some noise this year in the conference. Peru at North Miami ©, 7 pm Probably going to be the closest game of the week in the conference. I like Peru just because of the teams they have played compared to the schedule North Miami has played. Doesn't mean North Miami couldn't come away with the win here. Rochester at Wabash ©, 7 pm Running clock for the Zebras again this week if they do what they are supposed to. Wabash has some athletes but struggles with stopping the run. Southwood at Northfield ©, 7 pm I'm going with Southwood here and I don't think it will be that close of a game. Southwood just has too many guys that can break it at any moment on offense. Its starting to cool down so cramps and fatigue are starting to become less and less an issue. Plays right into Southwood's hands. Tippecanoe Valley at Manchester ©, 7 pm Running game looked good for Manchester last week, but a little different opponent this week. Valley puts a running clock on them.

I see the Knox/NJ game being way closer than I thought it would at the beginning of the year. One key point that might go Knox's way is number of players going both ways. Idk about NJ, but Knox plays guys only one way. There might be two or three guys that go kind of one and a half, but for the most part they don't have them on both sides of the ball like NJ is going to do if I had to assume. With that being said, Knox can score and they can score fast. Almost too fast if thats possible! In the Rochester game, Rochester was able to wear the defense down because of long 10-12 play drives whereas Knox was scoring every two or three plays. So the offense was never on the field and the defense always was. Its going to be a one touchdown win for one of these teams. Knox has to get off the field on defense to win. NJ has to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to win. Last thing I'll say is I hope NJ has been working on their two point conversion offense and defense because kicking extra points against Knox will get you beat!!!

Week 3 is already one day away. Its conference play from here on out. Who ya got this week? Also thoughts on the conference two weeks in. Manchester at Wabash ©, 7 pm I'm taking Wabash here. Could go either way. I think the Apaches have the better athletes but who knows. North Miami at Southwood ©, 7 pm Southwood finally gets one in the win column. Good start for Warriors, but the Knights will have too many big plays for them to handle. Northfield at Maconaquah ©, 7 pm I'm going to take Northfield, but this might be the most interesting matchup of the week. Can Mac beat a good program team? Northfield is down this year but they always find ways to win. Can Mac get over the hump into the top tier of teams in the conference? Peru at Tippecanoe Valley ©, 7 pm Valley, but I want to see how well Peru plays against them. This Peru team is still a question mark in my opinion. Really good opponent in Logan week 1, and then Whitko week 2 which was a blowout. Whitko at Rochester ©, 7 pm Rochester, Running clock second half. Hopefully both teams get out of there without injuries.

I made this post before games even started. I did not say they were a lock. I did not say they should be first in the polls. I simply made them my pick for the North in 1A. If you saw how much money I lose making NFL picks on weekends you should be concerned if you're an NJ fan lol. My reasoning was seeing them in a scrimmage in July. For a 1A team, they had great size and speed at all positions. On top of that they are well coached and have experience making a deep run in the playoffs. So I picked them. I have already been wrong about part of the post in that I think Knox could contend with Laville in that conference after seeing them this last week. In no way did I mean to make it sound like AC and SA couldn't beat or even come close to NJ. Just made a preseason pick.

Hats off to the Benton Central head coach and his staff. First 2-0 start since 2011. Hope to see the bison win a few conference games this year. Only gonna make the conference stronger.

Didn't know that. After halftime then.

Laville and Pioneer will have a running clock by halftime if not sooner.

If only I could do this every time I throw together a 8 team NFL parlay, smh

Southwood vs Oak Hill will be a very good game for the first half. After that Southwood might get worn down by the lack of depth they have. 10 starters playing both ways and a lot of special teams. Tough to do in August.

A safety, 2-0 Winamac. Jk, Winamac does have a stud running back that didn't play in the scrimmage against Rochester, not sure what his name is, but got to see him on film in the Knox game. Very shifty and made some big time catches. I gotta think Pioneer will show lots of improvement from Week 2. Should be a close game in my opinion.

Tough first two games for the Knights. Their record will not reflect the type of team they are after week 2 if things go how I assume they will. Who's playing QB for Northfield anyone know? Rumor was it was the Fisher kid, but on maxpreps he's listed as a runningback. Sounds like Northfield might be a dark horse in the conference this year.

I was impressed with Laville's quarterback last year. All around great athlete. He can run, he can tackle, he can block, he can kick,......AND HE CAN PASS!!!!! Seriously tho, with the ball in his hands, he can break a big run at any time, or extend pass plays to hit a guy deep. You wanna win the game, gotta contain him in my opinion.

With the exception of Whitko, I think this might be the most level across the board for the conference I have seen in a while. No true dominant team like Valley was last year. Anyone can lose any given night if they don't show up to play. I think Valley is the front runner due to depth and last years conference championship run. By the end of the year when heat is no longer an issue, Southwood is gonna be one tough cookie. Rochester just outlasted them last Friday. They easily have the top three athletes on the field every night. As those couple of Freshman they play keep getting varsity snaps they are going to get tougher and tougher. Can't wait for this Friday and a whole nother week of games. Who you taking for each one? Maconaquah at Cass, 7 pm Oak Hill at Southwood, 7 pm Peru at Whitko ©, 7 pm Rochester at Knox, 7:30 pm Taylor at North Miami, 7 pm Tippecanoe Valley at Northfield ©, 7 pm Wabash at Alexandria, 7 pm Bluffton at Manchester, 7 pm

Thanks for the info. I graduated from Cass so it was more of just wanting to know how the 'ole alma mater was gonna look this year. We're trying to stay focused on Knox this week and going undefeated in the conference. I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about the other teams in Sectional 34 and their records tho 😉

Is Cass going to be able to make some noise in the conference this year, or did they just face a really bad Pioneer team? Also, what happened to Tipton? I thought they graduated some talent, but I never saw them losing to Frankton.

I don't know. Even if it's not I gotta think that just by pulling through with that non-throwing arm could be a little irritating. I don't want to sound like i'm an expert on the matter either. I don't have much experience with collarbone injuries. We had a running back that hurt his mid season and was back for the first round of sectionals, but everyone's body heals different and every position on the field relies on different parts of their body more than others.

I think someone said it already, but a collarbone isn't season ending. However, playing quarterback could be a problem. Throwing the ball like he regularly did before the injury could be a problem early on.