crimsonace1

Yes, they will be. Get out a map of the state and it's pretty easy to tell why. Again, the IHSAA almost never splits up traditional rivals and especially schools from the same county. There is no "parochial school exemption."

New Pal is not "literally next door to Roncalli." It's a good 15-20-minute drive between the schools. And more importantly, they are in different counties. Roncalli's sectional included the two other 5A Marion County schools - Cathedral and Decatur Central. New Palestine's sectional included Greenfield-Central (a conference and county rival), plus Anderson and Muncie Central - the only two other 5A schools east of Indianapolis that didn't fit neatly into any other field. Those four schools are in contiguous counties and also currently in the same basketball sectional. You had to put four teams together and those four made perfect geographic sense. Zionsville was also moved into that sectional despite being not really a geographic fit. Understanding how the IHSAA has historically grouped sectionals going back 100 years helps. They almost *never* split up county rivals or traditional rivals unless there's an issue where there's 9 teams in one natural grouping and 7 in another (or 5/3 in 5A/6A).

They are in the same county. Generally, traditional rivals and schools within a county are grouped together in a sectional.

I remember that coming up during the 2016 Bucket game. IU was up 26-22 and had fourth down deep in its own territory in the final seconds. Rather than risk a blocked punt, they took an intentional safety on the game's final play. IU radio analyst Buck Suhr says "you can hold all you want in the end zone here because, even with the penalty, the game's over if you do. It's a safety either way."

Kokomo just announced they're looking for a game and willing to travel.

It's because of this that a team trying to take an intentional safety at the end of a game can hold in the end zone, because the foul results in a safety, which ends the game (and a declined penalty, assuming the offensive team downs the ball in its own end zone, would also end the game), correct?

Out of curiosity, is it illegal participation instead of an illegal touch because the WR is no longer considered an eligible player once he steps out of bounds without being forced and thus cannot participate in the play?

Teams are going to go through rebuilding cycles. Those who follow the program expected last year and this year might be one of them with the Class of 2020 graduating and a really small senior class this year (and there was some regression last year with a lot of new players and an unreal amount of injuries and they went 8-2), but NP has more than held its own in 5A (2 state titles and a state runner-up in six years), to the point where they've achieved the points necessary to stay up three times. Coach Ralph has lost nine games at NP and every one except the 2017 sectional loss to Zionsville has been to a ranked team (and Zionsville is always underrated because they play in a 6A conference). Nobody feels like these players are being "punished" because of the success of teams that came before. The attitude here has been "we've earned the right to play in 5A. It's a bigger challenge. It's going to make you be better. Embrace it." If NP goes back to 4A next year, it will be interesting to see some new (and familiar) teams again, but it'll also be weird because we've gotten used to the October and November path being games against Zionsville, Columbus East and Whiteland.

Eastern Hancock has picked up South Putnam, whose game with Edgewood had been canceled. Rematch of the legendary 1985 semistate game that was decided by a millimeter on a pass to the back of the end zone. TA was EH's DC in 1985. He once told me he was pastoring a small church at the time. The game came down to one play - a pass ruled out of bounds - by the slimmest of margins - that clinched the win for EH (which would go on to win the Class A title the next week). Nearly the entire team and coaching staff were in the pews that next Sunday. South Putnam went on to win the Class A title the next year.

This is actually Year 3 of the cycle - it was extended last year due to COVID screwing up enrollments but the SF points were applied and will be applied again this fall when the realignment takes place (unless the IHSAA punts another year). As I understand it, if New Palestine does not win the regional, they go back to 4A next year.

And it's filled. Lewis Cass is hosting Delta tonight. Not sure if it was someone who saw it on GID or social or some digging around on the phones, but it's a last-minute game for both teams.

Shelbyville at Delta had to be canceled due to COVID concerns. Delta posted on its Twitter feed it is looking for a game tonight or tomorrow (9/3 or 9/4). If anyone has an open week, have them contact Delta AD Tilmon Clark at tclark@delcomschools.org.

New Palestine averages 6-3, 277, but Roncalli's line is enormous.

New Palestine is $6 if you buy at the gate, $5 if you buy online in advance. We learned this week Brebeuf Jesuit is $7 online in advance and $10 at the gate (or if you buy online less than an hour before kickoff). When I started going to HSFB games as a student 30 years ago, $3 was the going rate.

Very few small township schools had football. They didn't have the numbers for it.

LC is currently undergoing a significant renovation/expansion, so Lawrence Township is certainly expecting the school's enrollment to grow, although the township is already pretty built out. There really aren't any other sandboxes for them to play in - go back to Conference Indiana (which would add significant travel times). Is open enrollment hurting? Who knows.As of the latest DOE report, Lawrence Township has 1,348 students who live in the district and go to another public school (which is the second-highest among Marion County townships to Warren). Assuming a sizable number of those end up at Mt. Vernon, that would likely affect LC a bit more. But Lawrence Township also has 1,293 students coming in from other districts (which is second in the state to Penn - once you take out the two school districts that run large online charter schools). You also have the issue of Lawrence Township has three large private schools in or near its district - Cathedral, Chatard and Heritage Christian, all of which provide nearby options. Cathedral and Chatard are not too far down the road from LC. Heritage is a little closer to LN.

They've consolidated because both communities are rapidly losing population and could no longer financially sustain multiple high schools. One could argue the consolidation's net benefit on athletics was limited as a number of Anderson Highland and Muncie South families transferred to other districts (Pendleton Heights ended up with a not insignificant number of Highland kids) rather than go to/play for what had been for decades a fierce rival.

None. They usually come out around now. They were announced Feb. 28 two years ago and in mid-February in 2017.

Of note, ALL of Illinois' classes (except football) are asymmetrical. Classes 4A and 3A have 22.2% of schools, the remainder are split equally among 2A and 1A. (Football in Illinois - the tournament fields and classes are determined *after* the season once the qualifiers are announced).

One thing, too, is basketball drives the bus at a lot of rural one-county schools. Connersville may not have much of a football tradition, but has traditionally had a very good basketball program that punches above its weight. Blackford is going through the Luke Brown experience. Jay County has long had a solid basketball program. Benton Central (which has the largest school district in the state geographically) was a girls hoops powerhouse when Jan Conner was there and remains a pretty solid program. Same with Huntington North under Fred Fields. Jennings County, Bedford North Lawrence (which encompasses about 80% of Lawrence County's population), et al - good basketball traditions. Franklin County (which actually doesn't encompass the entire county - a few townships go to Batesville) had a tremendous football program when Alex Smith was there and in the years after, but they've dealt with a population decline as have a lot of rural counties. Basketball is a *big* part of the culture in a lot of rural communities and that seems to be the focus of the youth/community development programs. In the communities mentioned above - Connersville, BNL, Benton Central, Blackford all have fairly large gyms. The community support is very good at a lot of those schools for *basketball*. It's just hard to drum it up for football for whatever reason.

Even with that, the vast, vast, vast majority of people attend the school district where they live.

Of note, New Palestine has about 500-800 homes either under construction or approved, with a few more neighborhoods in the approval process. It needs about 400 more students in the high school to get to 5A, but I expect it'll get there in the next decade.

As long as the status quo remains, Cathedral will likely be bouncing between 5A and 6A depending on which part of the success factor cycle it's in. All of that undeveloped and rapidly-developing land near Hamilton Town Center feels like Noblesville, but is in the HSE district. HSE has shown a willingness to cap its high schools at a certain enrollment and build new when they grow large. It's likely Carmel won't ever split the high school no matter how big it gets. Gotta keep the swimming title streak alive.

Whiteland will be 6A sooner rather than later. Two relatively-new exits off I-65 have been built in the Clark Township half of their school district and it's growing fast. Plainfield is also in a fast-growing area although it will need some time to get to 6A. I'd expect to see it get there in 6-10 years. Wouldn't be shocked to see Franklin eventually join them but it will take more time. Greenfield-Central has been 5A but likely won't get to 6A as their enrollment has been leveling off and declining for some time. Another to look for is Mt. Vernon, which is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. They will be 5A either this cycle or next, and likely won't be long before they jump to 6A. Cathedral and New Pal are actually 4A schools by enrollment. While New Palestine is growing fast, it will probably be a decade or so before it hits 6A enrollment.

You can add Yorktown in ... Tod was an assistant coach there in-between his stints at Highland and Delta. And his son attended Pendleton Heights as a freshman, so you could add them in, too.