NeonDeion

CIC play starts this week. The conference was represented much better this week, going 5-3. Eastbrook at Alexandria - Rematch from a BARNBURNER in the First Round of Sectionals last year. Townsfolk of Alex still have nightmares of the Bodie Howell scamper from that night. Both teams lost a lot of production with graduation, and new names will leave their mark as Mr. Howell did, I'm sure. Slightly more impressed with the play of Alex upfront so far, and that'll win the game. Elwood at Blackford - Elwood put it on Tri-Central in the Rock Bottom Bowl. Elwood has a few good pieces, but the low numbers won't allow them to be competitive after this week. Blackford took a way worse beating than I thought, but they did score 36, and that could make things interesting on Friday. Blackford kids know they won't have many chances after this, so expect a Herculean effort. Elwood wins in OT with another Mireles Miracle. Side note: Powerhouse Wes-Del might just make it to the 2nd round of Sectionals for the first time since 2017. 156 on Tri-Central and Blackford is quite the feat to hang your hat on. Score it while you can, I suppose. Mississinewa at Frankton - Mississinewa looked better against Marion, or Marion was just that much worse; unsure on that. Hard to get a good gauge on Frankton after playing Tipton then Lapel, but there are some bright spots for the young Wells Warriors. Branham kid is a good athlete and shows flashes of being a good player, but I think Mississinewa is still too much. Indians 35-14 Oak Hill at Madison-Grant - OH has confused me with their 0-2 start and a rough showing against Norwell, especially after a brutal loss to a good Eastern team. MG's 2-0 record carries little weight, but they are still physical and play quality football. Lots of dislike between these two, with a little extra fuel this year due to some staff movement. Oak Hill's Double Dive and Waggle are the difference-makers. Ott will be key to OH winning. Oak Hill wins 33-21. Final Standings Prediction: Mississinewa Oak Hill/Alexandria Eastbrook Madison-Grant Frankton Elwood Blackford

I hear a lot about the Maconaquah passing attack, but I watched their Sheridan game and was really impressed with their running back. Go Argylls and Squires this week!

@hhpatriot04 Personally, I’d call those exact copies. Great work.

Madison-Grant does Vegas Gold and Oak Hill does Old Gold.

The "O" links creating their chain stripe are a cool touch. Not a huge OH fan, but I do like that.

@hhpatriot04, all of those look accurate except Oak Hill. They do a gold helmet with a white logo and navy accents. It is really, really similar to the gold that MG uses for their helmet. Pretty sure the Grant County faithful refer to one as Vegas Gold (MG) and one as Old Gold (OH).

I was wondering the same. According to my good friend ChatGPT, 2009 was the last time it happened. Eastbrook beat South Adams 26-18.

Happy to help as well wherever you need it @hhpatriot04

Rough, rough start for the Central Indiana boys. 1-7 in the conference, and the one win was a 4-point game against a team with 142 straight losses. On to Week 2. Sheridan at Alexandria - Alexandria outplayed Greenfield-Central for 45 minutes but couldn't finish. They'll figure it out this week. Alex wins 49-28. When was the last time an Alex back sat at roughly 500 yards after week 2? Wyatt Fuller might be flirting with it by Saturday morning. Wes-Del at Blackford - Wes-Del gets another one, but not by 70. Blackford plays them tougher, I'm hoping. Wes-Del wins 35-14. FW Concordia at Eastbrook - Adamson & Co fix went wrong last week and take it out on Concordia. Kelly is going to be tough with a few more starts under his belt. Elwood at Tri-Central - I feel like these two are sister programs. Sad that both of these programs have fallen to where they currently are. Tri-Central wins a slugfest, 16-6. Lapel at Frankton - Lapel looked really good against Hamilton Heights, and Frankton not so much against Tipton. In my opinion, Lapel has a great chance to represent the north in 2A. Madison-Grant at Southwood - Madison-Grant was the only winner, narrowly escaping Bellmont. They'll bully Southwood and have their way again this week. Bud's boys won't have much for Brady's. MG wins 35-7 Mississinewa at Marion - Mississinewa had ugly, old tendencies show with 100+ penalty yards. Like Alexandria, I felt like they outplayed Norwell and just came up short. No Mondays is weird to see as well. Marion won't put up much of a fight, and the Tribe gets things rolling early. Mississinewa wins 42-7. Oak Hill at Norwell - Oak Hill played a tough Eastern team really well. Sectional 35 will be fun with those two and Tipton squaring off. Oak Hill gets it right this week and wins 34-21.

FAFO warning from Faulkens was not on my bingo card for the week.

I believe wrestling is the only sport that has a seeding process for the state tournament. I'd say the closest thing to it would be the heat system used in the Track and Swimming/Diving tournaments.

Speedy secondary and D-line may serve them well, but will Pioneer have anyone to jump and compete for the football with #9 for SA? If not, it will still be a long night even with quality pressure and coverage. He is a special player and a hard matchup. I will take South Adams by 8

Ole boy may have not coached football (he may have and I am unaware), but any transfer rule has to be directly or indirectly tied to Troy Dulaney who ran was Yorktown's head wrestling coach. Real life Buddy Garrity, except Troy's name was listed as head coach and not booster.

Aside from the head coach on the sideline, what did Sheridan bring back to be ranked 4th? It is the Preseason Coaches' Poll, so it ultimately is not that deep, but I am curious to hear others thoughts. They lost their top three rushers, top two receivers, and five of their top six tacklers from last year. Whereas the #8 team, who Sheridan barely snuck past to win the sectional, Monroe Central returns their top three rushers, a 1300 yard passer, and return four of their top six tacklers. Nothing against Sheridan personally, I just find the Coaches' Poll annoying when it values off the field relationships over on the field play.

Elwood's new coach is Sammy Mireles as of 1/25 per AD's Facebook. Father of the three Mireles standouts for Elwood.