NE8_Fan

Well, the NE8 title comes down to this: Columbia City: 37 ppg; 9.25 allowed per/game Norwell: 45.13 ppg; 3.5 allowed per/game I think this will be much closer than some are predicting. Both teams have stout defenses and both have multiple running threats, especially Columbia City. Both with very able QB's with Columbia City having the edge in WR's. Defense definately goes to Norwell as they lead the ENTIRE state in defensive scoring average. NE8 conference record for points allowed in a conference season is 28 points (Leo in 2020) and Norwell is sitting on 21 points allowed in conference play. My prediction.....Norwell 28 Columbia City 17

At this point in the season this would be my rankings: 1. Norwell: Showing why they were the conference favorites coming in. Only question is who will be the first conference team to score on them? 2. East Noble: Have shown they can put up points in bunches but can the defense stop others from scoring enough? Big test this week. 3. Leo: Had a change of gears last week against New Haven and went back to ground and pound. Can their defense stop top teams from out scoring them? We"ll find out tonite. 4. Columbia City: Been on a tear since the Delta game. They win tonite and they will jump the loser of the Leo/East Noble game. 5. New Haven: Every team will have to account for Graham every week. Man.....if New Haven had a solid line......they would be SCARY. 6. Dekalb: Hard team to figure out. Solid play so far from Irk and Overbay.....waiting for Wiley's return... 7. Huntington North: Game against East Noble turned some heads....then Columbia City turned those heads away....in NEED of a signature win. 8. Bellmont: I fear they have a LONG road ahead rebuilding still....

Norwell is a team I really like in 3A this year.....too bad they will run into Chatard in the regional. A ton of experience returns from last year, really good on the offensive and defensive lines and deep at the skill positions. They have outscored opponents 139-7 this year so far on giving up a score to Mississinewa. Shut out a traditionally strong Leo team. Will get a better gauge of them when they face East Noble and possibly Columbia city, both good 4A teams.

Bellmont @ Huntington North: The Vikings were taken out behind the woodshed last fri, Bellmont seems to have signed a lease for back there.....this game may be over by 8:30.......Vikings 42-21 Columbia City @ Dekalb: Columbia City is on a roll (again) this time of year, Dekalb is a tough one to figure out with some offensive firepower but no defense. Col City stays hot....Eagles 35-17 New Haven @ Norwell: The Dogs got bullied physically by Leo last week....not a good sign when you have to go to Ossian. Knights 45-20 GOTW- East Noble @ Leo: These two gave probably the two most exciting NE8 games of the year last year and this year should be no different. Question is who returned enough to get the upper hand after MASSIVE graduation losses from last years games. East Noble has been strong on the ground and Leo seems to have put more emphasis on the running game lately. QB advantage to EN having a returning starter but overall skill players advantage to Leo with a few more weapons. Toughness and a big play here or there could win/lose this game along with special teams. East Noble gets revenge. Knights 28-27

Friday, Sep. 16 Bellmont at Huntington North ©, 7 pm Columbia City at DeKalb ©, 7 pm East Noble at Leo ©, 7 pm New Haven at Norwell ©, 7 pm Norwell running away with the conference? Is Columbia City a legit threat or is it the early season schedule? East Noble vs Leo rivalry renewed this week after the incredible games last year. Mylan Graham NE8 POTY?

Dekalb @ East Noble: after a close on last week against Hunt North, I think the Knights have a "get right" week. Knights 42-13 Hunt North @ Col City: Got a gut feeling on this one....Eagles wont be able to stop the Vikings ground and pound. Vikings 28-24 Norwell @ Bellmont: this gets ugly early.......Knights 56-7 GOTW Leo @ New Haven: almost a coin toss here. Leo has not shown any flashes of being able to take a game over yet. The Dawgs have lightning in a bottle in Graham and a running attack (QB running too) for the Lions to deal with. Lions have been up and down the first three weeks....if they are down at all this week, thats game. Bulldogs 26-24.

Friday, Sep. 9 DeKalb at East Noble ©, 7 pm Huntington North at Columbia City ©, 7 pm Leo at New Haven ©, 7 pm Norwell at Bellmont ©, 7 pm second week of conference play....

Unpopular opinion incoming......Haydock is HIGHLY overrated. Yes I know he has a blue ring at Harding and a red one at Woodlan (should have been blue but he coached them out of it). Won at Harding in 2A with "city" talent in a rural class but also couldn't coach that talent over physical, disciplined teams (Eastbrook, NorthWood). Left Woodlan in shambles when he left after the Harding talent pipeline dried up. He isn't going to take Wayne anywhere higher than mid level SAC at best and by luck of the draw maybe a sectional title game. Just my opinion....

Bellmont @ Col City.... Eagles roll....35-14 Eagles East Noble @ Hunt North..... Vikings are much improved, but Knights are still the Knights.....42-14 Knights New Haven @ Dekalb.....Bulldogs have too many weapons, and BEST player in NE8.......41-10 Dawgs GOTW: Norwell @ Leo......Knights pursuit of 1st NE8 title begins this week. Leo has kept the Knights under wraps the last 6 years, especially with their defense, BUT this year after 2 weeks the Lions are giving up over 270 yds rushing a game. Not what you want to see with Norwell coming to town. This is not the Lions defense of the past few years and I think it will show this Friday night.....35-21 Norwell.

Friday, Sep. 2 Bellmont at Columbia City ©, 7 pm East Noble at Huntington North ©, 7 pm New Haven at DeKalb ©, 7 pm Norwell at Leo ©, 7 pm Time to start conference play and a BIG one in the first week.

If the Knights can avoid giving up big plays through the air they will come home with the win

Col City over Delta: Step up from Busco....Eagles still get the job done. 24-10 Eagles East Noble over Northwood: Knights offense was on last week, so was the D. Much tighter game this week. 21-14 Knights Dekalb over Garrett: Barons edged by Angola, Railroaders taken behind the woodshed by the Jets. Get right week for Barons. 28-7 Barons Norwell over Heritage: Good win last week for the Pats, good game last week for Knights. Norwell cruises. 42-14 Knights Hunt North over Jay County: Vikings put up some points vs an always game Eastbrook squad. Better results this week. 35-21 Vikings Leo over Angola: Hornets knocked off an NE8 team last week in Dekalb, not this week. Close game with players on Leo injured. 24-21 Lions Eastbrook over New Haven: Dawgs winning score got my attention last week....then I found out Marion played as many as 14 freshman. 35-21 Panthers South Adams over Belmont: another ACAC opponent for the Braves....another loss. 42-21 Starfires

Friday, Aug. 26 Columbia City at Delta, 7:30 pm East Noble at NorthWood, 7 pm Garrett at DeKalb, 7 pm Heritage at Norwell, 7 pm Huntington North at Jay County, 7 pm Leo at Angola, 7 pm New Haven at Eastbrook, 7:30 pm South Adams at Bellmont, 7 pm Week 2 on the way. Biggest improvements usually happen from week 1 to 2.

Dwenger by 10 Wayne by 3 Carroll by 12 Northrop by 3 Homestead by 21

Heritage on the rise, Belmont not so much. Heritage by 14 Busco a consistent team, Col City improving in year 2 of new offense. Col City by 10 Dekalb returns some weapons, so does Angola. Dekalb by 3 Eastbrook always tough, Hunt North not. Eastbrook by 21 Leo new coach/offense, Kokomo ground and pound team. Kokomo by 10 Mylan Graham show begins against a solid Marion team. New Haven by 17 The year of the Knights? If so, tonite starts it. Norwell by 24 East Noble graduated ALOT. Plymouth a good gauge for the Knights. East Noble by 28

2 week non-conference schedule starts Bellmont at Heritage, 7 pm Churubusco at Columbia City, 7 pm DeKalb at Angola, 7 pm Eastbrook at Huntington North, 7 pm Kokomo at Leo, 7:30 pm Marion at New Haven, 7 pm Norwell at Mississinewa, 7:30 pm Plymouth at East Noble, 7:30 pm

NE8 Storylines: 1) Does Norwell crash the 2 team (Leo, East Noble) party atop the NE8? Leo is back-to-back champs with EN as previous champs before that. Norwell has beaten/upset them the last two seasons. The Knights UNDOUBTEDLY return THE most talent in the conference (Bolyn, Graft, Zeddis, Colbert, Bailey). Is this the year they get the monkey (Leo) off their back and get the W over them? If they can, they put themselves in great position to take the title. 2) Leo changes coach/offense. The Lions rushing attack has been DOMINANT in the NE8 the last 2 years. With a new coach and philosophy out in Leo, where do they go? There will undoubtedly be a learning curve. Fans have been asking for a change, be careful what you ask for.....a change in philosophy may very well result in a change in the win column. Time will tell. 3) Major talent graduated across the NE8. Who are the new players to watch? Leo (Livingston, Allen, Sheron, Crawford), East Noble (Zolman, Munson, Hood), Col City (Bolt), New Haven (Williams, Carswell) graduated big time players that have been Friday night fixtures for 3 yrs. Who steps in and fills the limelight these kids left? 4) New Haven will likely field the best player on the field every game they play this year in Mylan Graham. Kid has EXPLODED on the recruiting trail this summer. With that said, who do the Dawgs have to get him the ball with Jakar Williams gone to University of Findlay? If they can find a way to get this kid the ball in space, he is ELECTRIC and can take it to the house from anywhere on the field. The big question mark.....can the O-line give the new signal caller time to find Graham. If they do, the Dawgs could be sneaky good this year. 5) Dekalb possibly set to make a rise up the standings? Dekalb returns some real weapons in QB Tegan Irk and WR Donnie Wiley and have a young sophomore stud at RB (name?). The younger classes have some talent coming up. Is it time to start looking at the Barons?? 6) New turf fields. Huntington North and Dekalb have joined the party and have new field turf leaving Belmont as the ONLY NE8 team without. Get with the times Decatur.... 7) Post Bolt era begins in Columbia City. Feels like Greg Bolt had been at Col City for about 8 yrs now. Where do the eagles go now? Coach Fox installed a new offense last year predicated on running the ball in Bolts last year. The Eagles have one of the best RB's in the conference back in Ethan Sievers along with a young stud at WR in Stratton Fuller. Another team that could DEFINATELY sneak up on some people this year.

Not sure about scrimmages, but I am seriously considering leaving the confines of Ft Wayne to see the AC/Eastside game.....should be a banger!

I believe a transfer QB from Fort Wayne NorthSide

With the new season upon us, here are some questions going into the Ft Wayne area conferences title hunts. #1. Is this the year a new face enters the SAC race? since the "new" SAC formed in 2015, the top of the conference has primarily consisted of the usual suspects in Snider, Dwenger, Homestead and Carroll. Wayne (2018) and Concordia (2016) and Luers (2021) have made some noise in the past few years, does NorthSide add their name to the list as a conference contender in 2022? Loads of talent and transfers....another subject....can the coaching put it all together? #2. Transfer news has been hot this off-season with known names in new places. Is this a trend or the new norm in the SAC? #3. Is this the year a new face sits atop the NE8? NE8 conference talk has always centered around Leo and East Noble but is this the year Norwell usurps BOTH teams to claim the title? Loads of talent returns while the 2 normal powers lose loads of talent.....all the stars may be aligning down in Ossian. #4. ALOT of Lineman talent has been developing in the 260 the last few years (Livingston, Moore, Allen, Tippman, Wigington, etc). Who, along with Bolyn (Norwell) are big men to pay attention to this season? #5. Does anyone pose a threat to the Blazers in the NECC? Laban Davis is gone but ALOT returns for Coach Mason's Eastside team. Can ANYONE give them a challenge before another inevitable date with Luers in the playoffs? #6. Is it time to rename the ACAC (Allen County Athletic Conference) to the Adams County Athletic Conference? Adams Central and South Adams has had a stranglehold on the conference recently and looks to again this year. Who will be the program to rise and break up this top 2 ruling party? Is Heritage close to making that happen? #7. More turf fields this year. If I'm not mistaken, Dekalb, Huntington North and Angola will break in new turf fields this year. Who else is on the horizon? #8. New QB's on the scene. Becker (Carroll), Williams (New Haven), Davis (Eastside), Clark (Luers) are gone. ALOT of yds and TD's have graduated, who becomes the new signal callers to pay attention to? Dickerson (BD to North) has to be one along with Haupert's (Snider) progression. #9. Are run first/power running offenses becoming extinct? ALOT of talk about Leo changing staffs and people looking forward to Leo throwing the ball this upcoming year. When did throwing the ball become more important than grounding out physical wins? Is exciting offense more important than winning to the fans/parents? #10. The AP Traction/OPS effect in the city. Alot of opinions on this. Two great training organizations that have gone head to head the last few years with OPS gaining ALOT of ground. Has also spurred alot of controversy in Topic #2. Kids recruiting each other to play together at different schools. How far does this go??

This year SHOULD be a 3 Horse race with defending champ Leo, Norwell and East Noble leading the pack. My thoughts are: 1/1A: Leo/Norwell: I only say this because I believe defending champs have earned the right to be considered favorites until someone knocks them off there perch. With that being said, that very well could come in week three for Leo. Norwell UNDOUBTEDLY returns the most talent of all the NE8 teams this season. Best lineman in conference (Bolyn), check....best RB in conference (Graft) check, best returning defensive unit (scoring), check. BUT....Norwell's achilles heel in the past few years has been the Lions and they have had a VERY difficult time putting points on the board against Leo. Will that change with a completely new staff and offensive/defensive system for the Lions? Lions lose possibly the MOST talent to graduation in Livingston (WVU), Allen (Rutgers), Sheron (Davidson) and Crawford (Illinois St). They will need to replace their defensive line and 3/5 of their offensive line. They do return , I believe, the #2 lineman in the conference in Colin Butler as well as Lb's Baker and Holcomb, DB/WR Zeisloft and, possibly their most important piece 2 way starter Ethan Crawford. This guy, though, is not sold on the Lions being successful in a spread offense right away. There may have been a reason the Lions ran a power running attack under Coach Sauder the last few years. Who's their QB is a question that needs to be answered and answered quickly. NE8 title implications get much clearer after week 3. 3. East Noble: The Knights will ALWAYS be in the race for a conference title based on their coaching staff and consistent talent level coach Amstutz develops in Kendalville. He is an offensive mastermind when it comes to finding holes in a defense and putting his offensive playmakers in a position to make plays. This year he will need to find new playmakers for his 2nd year QB (Brazel) to get the ball to. The Knights lost a LOAD of offensive talent in Zolman, Munson, Carrico, Christian and bigs Hood and Charles. Some new faces will need to grow up fast with back to back games against Leo and Norwell in weeks 5 & 6. Expect East Noble to be very much in the conference race going into the week 6 matchup with Norwell..... 4. New Haven: The Bulldogs will, more often than not, have some of the most athletic teams in the conference still feeding off the closing of Harding and absorbing the majority of those kids. They may also have the top overall player in the NE8 this year in Mylan Graham who has absolutely blown up on the recruiting trail this spring/summer. Their most glaring weakness is their offensive and defensive lines. If they EVER want to be a serious title contender these areas MUST get better for the Dawgs. A new QB (NorthSide transfer) could help the post Jakar Williams era and keep the aerial attack a threat for Coach Booher's team this year. New DC in coach Mullen could add a little fire/spark for this year. Big Match-up with Leo in week 4 looms early. 5/6. Columbia City/Dekalb: these spots could be interchangeable in my eyes. Columbia City has been a team on the brink for more than a couple years now While Dekalb has been up and down but, I believe, they return the best QB in the NE8 in Tegan Irk. Col City enters the post Gregory Bolt era, which has felt like 10 yrs, into a new running attack scheme resembling Coach Adamson's wing T attack at Eastbrook...makes sense since Coach Fox has history there. Biggest question mark is how will the Eagles incorporate young stud receiver Statton Fuller in this run heavy scheme? Expect the Eagles to get better in their new run first schem scheme in its second year. Dekalb's Irk will have able bodied WR Donnie Wiley to throw to along with Logan Motoya (50 ypg). Mitch Snyder returns in the running game (60 ypg). The Barons return their top 3 scorers but graduated their top 3 tacklers. Dekalb is a program to keep your eye on in a couple years with successful classes on the horizon.... 7. Huntington North: this is a program that HAS to get better isn't it? New facilities on the way and a more than able leader in Coach Prescott the Vikings seem to have good numbers and size on their roster the last few years. Losing top RB last year to Luers definately didn't get the season off to a good start. They lose, well, they lost alot in their top 2 rushers and receivers and dual threat QB. Could be another long season for the Vikings. 8. Belmont: Coach Hall begins his 3rd season at the helm for his alma mater Braves. The Braves return top rusher Issaac Bodkins in their triple option attack. but graduated QB Ulman who ran the option. They did steal a win from Dekalb last year and may steal another win this year from someone over looking them. Nevertheless, I just can't see the Braves making too much noise if any this year.

I concur.....Eastside didn't just beat Luers, they beat them up physically.....by ALOT. Weather could have played a roll but bad weather or not, Luers was NOT stopping the running game of Eastside last year. Carson Clark was great, but THE best player on that field last year resided in Butler.......

I know Fort Wayne Community School's policy is....well there is no policy. Former superintendant basically didnt want to deal with transfer issues so all the FWCS (Snider, Northrop, NorthSide, SouthSide, Wayne) were instructed that they were NOT to challenge any transfers within the district. Hence, the strong (Snider) stay strong and the weak stay weak. And then there's always Dwenger and Luers to choose from as well.

Yes....my mistake, they are and have been AP traction for a few years now

Class of 2024 WR Mylan Graham (New Haven) went to the OSU camp without any offers and comes home with an offer from the Buckeyes. Athletic, fast receiver who trains with same athletic training organization as Austin Mack (Luers, OSU, NY Giants, SF 49ers) in AWP out of Fort Wayne.