XStar

The practical side of me thinks it's a good move where they seem to fit better. The other part of me thinks not being in the same conference as Penn and Mishawaka Marian is a shame. I don't think they have any such rivalries in the NLC. Perhaps they will come with time but it's harder to create that type of rivalry with schools that are 30+ minute drives away rather than 5-10 minutes.

The "return on investment" should never be viewed in terms of wins and losses at the high school level. If a school does not want to participate in football in enough numbers for them to realistically participate, that's one thing. To say they haven't won enough to continue fielding a team is one of the dumbest ideas ever put forth on this board.

When was the last time Marian went to state? It's been awhile. I wouldn't assume they are the favorite. I do agree they were the 2nd best team this past season to Chatard.

Going to put West Vigo in the North?

Well we have to agree on what teams there will be before trying to set up sectionals that make sense. Mine has the 63 that HoopsCoach provided (after the Hammond edit). And you have to include some schools in Indy and north of Indy in the south. The numbers don't work without it. 32 - Spencer and Dubois counties and everything directly west of them. 31 - Washington/Harrison counties directly through Dearborn county. 30 - This is my hodgepodge sectional. Basically 2 clusters of 3 counties. Hamilton/Madison/Delaware that all border northeast Indy. Rush/Franklin/Decatur all east or a little southeast of Indy. 29 - This basically starts with Daviess county and grabs everything heading north towards Indy including Danville in southern Hendricks county and Washington in Marion county until it is full.

Taking out a Hammond school and putting one in from Terre Haute changes things. Moved John Glenn over to sectional 25 to take the place of the Hammond school. Moved Northwestern into 26 (out of 30). Moved Mississinewa back north to fill 27 (out of 30). Moved Guerin Catholic out of 28 to make room for West Vigo. Moved Guerin Catholic into 30 to replace both Northwestern and Mississinewa going north. Sectional 30 now only has 7. I actually like this a little better because I think moving Guerin Catholic to 30 balances everything a bit better than having them stay in 28. 25 - Calumet, Hanover Central, Griffith, Knox, Benton Central, Twin Lakes, West Lafayette, John Glenn 26 - Mishawaka Marian, SB Washington, Northwestern, Jimtown, Fairfield, Tippecanoe Valley, Peru, Maconaquah 27 - West Noble, Garrett, Lakeland, Woodlan, FW Concordia, Heritage, Bellmont, Mississinewa 28 - Western Boone, North Montgomery, Crawfordsville, West Vigo, Hamilton Heights, Speedway, South Vermillion, Tri-West 29 - Danville, Monrovia, Indy Washington, Washington, Owen Valley, Indian Creek, Brown County, Edgewood 30 - (only 7 in this one) Guerin Catholic, Alexandria, Yorktown, Rushville, Batesville, Greensburg, Franklin County 31 - Salem, North Harrison, Corydon Central, Madison, South Dearborn, Scottsburg, Charlestown, Lawrenceburg 32 - Mt Vernon, Evansville Bosse, Gibson Southern, Pike Central, Southridge, Heritage Hills, Vincennes Lincoln, Princeton

I took a shot at 3A with HoopsCoach's classifications: 25 - Calumet, Hanover Central, Hammond Clark, Griffith, Knox, Benton Central, Twin Lakes, West Lafayette 26 - Mishawaka Marian, SB Washington, John Glenn, Jimtown, Fairfield, Tippecanoe Valley, Peru, Maconaquah 27 - (only put 7 in this one) West Noble, Garrett, Lakeland, Woodlan, FW Concordia, Heritage, Bellmont 28 - Western Boone, North Montgomery, Crawfordsville, Guerin Catholic, Hamilton Heights, Speedway, South Vermillion, Tri-West 29 - Danville, Monrovia, Indy Washington, Washington, Owen Valley, Indian Creek, Brown County, Edgewood 30 - Mississinewa, Alexandria, Northwestern, Yorktown, Rushville, Batesville, Greensburg, Franklin County 31 - Salem, North Harrison, Corydon Central, Madison, South Dearborn, Scottsburg, Charlestown, Lawrenceburg 32 - Mt Vernon, Evansville Bosse, Gibson Southern, Pike Central, Southridge, Heritage Hills, Vincennes Lincoln, Princeton I like this alignment. Sectional 25 had a hole in it and West Lafayette makes more geographic sense than anyone else to fill it I think with Benton Central and Twin Lakes already in it as well. I put Mississinewa in Sectional 30 rather than 27 partially because they fit in geographically with schools like Alexandria and Northwestern and I think that program could beef up that sectional a little. Sectional 28 looks a little different with Chatard moving up. I put Western Boone in their spot and while I moved West Lafayette to 25, I shifted Tri-West from 29 to 28 so it still looks plenty tough to me. As for balance, I count 11 teams in the "new" 3A that finished in the top 100 in Sagarin in 2020. All 8 sectionals has at least one and only one (Sectional 28) has 3. I'd love to move one of those 3 to a different sectional but can't figure out a way to do it that makes sense. I think the teams in 31 and 32 pretty much have to be where they are based on geography but that's just from me looking at a map. That's the part of the state I'm least familiar with. Any thoughts? Complaints?

I don't think "Region" extends into St. Joe County.

Oh haven't you heard? After the brilliant leadership of Pete Buttigieg, we are thriving now. We even have two-way roads downtown!

I volunteer to be in charge of South Bend metro classifications.

Much respect for coming back and discussing your prediction even though it didn't prove to be entirely accurate. You were right in that Western Boone couldn't handle Luers speed and athleticism in the passing game. Particularly Glenn. That kid is something else. But they also couldn't stop the Western Boone run game at all to the extent that they didn't force a punt. I think many people may have seen both scenarios playing out in this game but not to the degree they did. I certainly thought Western Boone would have more success on defense than they did and did not expect they'd go the entire game without punting either.

They very well might run through 2A next year with no problem. BUT, I wouldn't be THAT confident with the defense they've shown this year. If they improve there, they could. But Western Boone ran all over them today with a line of underclassmen and that isn't the first time in the tournament their defense was exposed.

Whitestown feeds in to Lebanon doesn't it?

Don't quit your day job.

Western Boone had at least one more down if needed and that kick could've been good from another 15 yards out anyway.

Good thing no questionable calls went against Western Boone the entire rest of the game.

Son of former ND/Colt punter Hunter Smith.

Would not have taken the timeout after the first down that gained 5 yards. See what happens on 2nd down first.

Marsh is a stud.

Bet Webo wishes they had gone for 2 on the last touchdown now.

Why didn't Western Boone go for 2? If they get it, then even a Luers TD/XP gives them a chance to tie. Now they have to hold Luers out of the end zone which I wouldn't be confident in given the defense so far today.

LOL. The only thing simple is the mind behind it.

No denying the Luers are more athletic and dynamic, but just as truly Western Boone has been able to consistently run the ball right down their throats. Western Boone didn't need to play a perfect game at all. They've done anything but. Luers have avoided costly mistakes and that is clearly the difference.

Think I would've run the ball on the conversion. Right now the difference in the game are the 2 special teams errors for Western Boone. Missed xp and kickoff return fumble.

I'm not sure they figured out anything. Western Boone just didn't/couldn't block whoever was lined up over center on several plays.