XStar

Surprised the Western Boone at Danville game is not up for vote. IMO there's a very real upset chance there.

Western Boone goes south but there is still no shortage of teams in the north that could give Cass/Pioneer a game. Eastbrook hasn't lost to a 2A or lower team all season. Boone Grove hasn't lost all season at all. Andrean's 3 losses are to 4A and 6A opponents. Rensselaer Central will not be an easy out either. Finally, I never discount Luers at the 2A level either no matter what their record is.

This is the last potential roadblock Eastbrook has in clinching the CIC this season (sorry Elwood). They came out focused last week and really handled Alexandria far easier than I thought. A similar performance this week will have me thinking the Panthers are ready for sectionals......and more......

Question for Pioneer fans. Any sense on whether your team would rather be competing in the 1A or 2A tournament?

I'd like to see Lewis Cass win just because they play a more challenging schedule and I like to see that rewarded come tournament time. Also it's been 10 or so years since they've made noise at the state level and it's fun to see different teams get there.

You are right. I missed one of them. I don't believe so. Here was my reference. http://sagamoreconference.com/history/

Yep. I bet most people under the age of 50 didn't know the Sagamore Conference originally included Carmel, Noblesville, and Brownsburg (along with Crawfordsville, Lebanon, and Frankfort). I know I didn't. Carmel only shared the Sagamore title once before leaving which makes them the least decorated Sagamore Conference football program of all time. I'm sure that really stings! Anyway, I looked all this stuff up because I didn't know which team(s) historically had the most football championship. I could have miscounted but here's how the teams stack up all time (through 2018): 1. Danville (1999-present, 20 seasons) - 8 championships. 5 outright and 3 shared. 2. Noblesville (1967-1980, 14 seasons) - 7 championships. 6 outright and 1 shared. 2 (t). Crawfordsville (1967-present, 52 seasons) - 7 championships. 6 outright and 1 shared. 2 (t). Tri-West (1999-present, 20 seasons) - 7 championships. 5 outright and 2 shared. 2 (t). Western Boone (1982-present, 37 seasons) - 7 championships. 5 outright and 2 shared. 3. North Montgomery (1975-present, 44 seasons) - 6 championships. 4 outright and 2 shared. 3 (t). Lebanon (1967-present, 52 seasons) - 6 championships. 4 outright and 2 shared. 4. Brownsburg (1967-1985, 19 seasons) - 5 championships. 4 outright and 1 shared. 5. Frankfort (1967-present, 52 seasons) - 4 championships. 4 shared. 6. Southmont (1985-present, 34 seasons) - 3 championships. 3 outright. 7. Carmel (1967-1974, 8 seasons) - 1 championship. 1 shared.

This is correct. The last member of the conference to win a football title in 2009, they ended up winning it outright in 3 consecutive years (2009-2011).

Frankfort is right. I show them having 4 shared titles but none outright. Lebanon has actually won the title outright 4 times and shared it another 2 times. The other half of this answer is a perennial state power that was part of the conference originally but has not been in many decades. They left with only 1 share of the title which technically makes them the least successful Sagamore Conference football team ever haha. The team that has never shared the title is a current member and has won it exactly 3 times.

Looks like Tri-West fans get to cheer for Danville for a change. Since this thread is kind of dead this year, I'll give a little Sagamore Conference trivia that I found interesting. I believe every team in the history of the Sagamore Conference has won the football crown at least once. However, 2 schools have never won it outright. Can you name them? Also, every team in conference history has shared the title at least once except one. All of their titles have been outright. Can you name which one? Anyone who knows this without looking it up has my sincere respect.

I wouldn't hand it to them just yet. They are in the driver's seat but I don't think they are so good that they can afford to look past Alexandria or Blackford. If they play poorly against either one, they could easily lose. The way I see it, they will either stay focused, take care of business, and shove it in the face of those like @Scottish_Warrior OR they'll take their eye off the prize, drop one they shouldn't, and more or less prove him right. This team may not be as talented as last year, but they can accomplish some things last year's team didn't. First they beat their rivals Mississinewa. Now they can win the conference. If they can win their last 3 to accomplish that, the seniors go into the tournament with a chance to match or exceed last year's seniors for most wins over 4 years. Plenty still in reach for this team to accomplish.

Aren't they #1 in both polls?

Well I left such a large gap when I said 10-20 years because I was speaking off the cuff and didn't think it necessary to sit down and look at the year-by-year results to make my point. First I'd say that margins of 21 points or less don't really indicate a blowout. Are you really saying a 17-7 game can't be competitive? So I'd say even over the range you specified that there are 10 games I'd classify as blowouts, or at least not competitive. When Mishawaka beat you 26-10 did you consider that to be a blowout? I sure didn't. But let's look at that in more detail. First, eliminate the Geesman years. He was a great coach and dominated Mishawaka and actually won state titles. Not going to argue with him. I believe Yeoman is 16-5 against Mishawaka. Of those 16 wins, I think 5 have been blowouts. He's won by 33, 35, 39, 28, and 41. The funny thing is, 4 of those happened in 2007 or prior. So that's been one Penn blowout of more than 21 points in the past 11 seasons. Now let's narrow it down to after Bart Curtis took over Mishawaka in 2008 and made it respectable. Since that time, Penn is only 9-5 against Mishawaka with only 1 game out of 14 whose final margin was 21 points or more in favor of Penn. Certainly you can conclude that Penn has had the upper hand in the series but it's not hard to see that it's dominance in the series has faded, mostly since Geesman retired. So my apologies for leaving such a large gap in my initial statement. I'll be more specific and say over the past 11 years there's probably only been the 1 game between the two that I would consider a blowout. The rest have been reasonably competitive. I doubt there's anyone who has been more competitive on their schedule over that same stretch and I sure don't believe LaPorte will be.

I'm going to guess that the game has historically been the top gate for both schools over time and especially for NIC teams.

The Penn-Mishawaka games have been pretty competitive over the past 10-20 years I've lived in this area. Penn has won more than they've lost for sure, as they should with being the biggest school in the area. But Mishawaka has won a handful and I've seen a number of others that Mishawaka lost that still meets the criteria of "competitive". By that standard, Penn hasn't been competitive with the "elite" competition they scheduled for this season. If their goal is to have a full schedule of games more competitive than the Mishawaka game, they'd be wise to change conferences because Mishawaka has been the only team in the conference to beat them in how many years? 40 or so?

It's not perfect but is there a more objective way that has no flaws. Personally, though, I'm fine with not seeding sectionals.

Who did NP think they had lined up? Can't be many programs that would even consider the notion of adding such a road game a week in advance.

I know this has been touched on here and there before but here's a bit more on it. For the life of me, I can't figure out why both sides wouldn't want to continue playing this game. This article from Mishawaka's website sounds like them saying, "Don't look at us!" for the reason this game isn't being played for at least the next 4 years. https://cavemensports.com/2019/09/24/this-is-it-mishawaka-penn-football-series-ending-after-this-year/?fbclid=IwAR0yKDt2wwlExII2WrznZWnhjUQUFEEdFigDYCdriRYMLVfMBrzuo1jZXIE Rivalries are a regional thing and I've only lived in a few different areas of Indiana in my lifetime but for my money this is the best rivalry I've had the pleasure to witness. I feel bad kids in both programs currently in grades 7-10 because most all of them will go through their varsity football careers without having the opportunity to play against their rivals from 3 miles down the road.

How do you guys determine your matchups for the last week?

They are absolutely a contender. But they have a strong challenge within their own sectional. Wouldn't be surprised to see them in the state finals but also wouldn't be surprised to see Pioneer avenge their opening week loss and win that sectional.

I'm not going to say much about Ole Miss. I wasn't at the game last night so I haven't even seen them play this year. I hope they are legit because that will make this win by Eastbrook look better as the season/postseason progresses. I will say this regarding 2A. None of the usual suspects have really stepped up and shown themselves to be a juggernaut so far. The programs coming in from other classes like Luers, Andrean, and Pioneer have all already lost games I didn't think they would. Last year's champ dropped a game in which they allowed 40+ points after not allowing more than 20 in a game last year. This thing feels WIDE open to me, particularly in the North.

Eastbrook reaping the rewards for their schedule. No doubt in my mind the Marion/Delta games toughened this young group up and put them in a position tonight they probably would not have been in if they had not challenged themselves early. Congrats to the players on this win. Very impressed.

Did Penn pull a new QB from Marian after Powlus was injured?

Without Mishawaka, there is absolutely no reason for Penn to be in the NIC. That's my 2 cents. I don't know what the optimal solution is though. I just think it's dumb that the two rivals will soon not be playing one another on the gridiron annually.

Can anyone explain the MD Whiting matchup?