slice60

Very good points by Coach K & JQWL. When you learn about football programs with numbers so low they cannot field a team, I tend to think of the smallest of the small schools. This isn't the case for Crawford Co & you both pointed out several reasons why it's happening at CC & elsewhere too.

Surprising that CC is a 2A program (34th biggest enrollment in 2A, so not even near the bottom) but unable to get more kids to play. But as they say, success breeds success. Only 16 wins in 13 seasons certainly doesn't attract kids to join the program.

Who said quick kneel? FC uses shotgun 100% of the time. So the QB can take the snap, wait a moment then take a knee. Plus, the 40 second clock operator never resets the clock instantly at HS games. But I will give you this much-- milking 2:04 with 3 kneel downs requires proper execution to snap at 1-2 seconds, etc. So I am ok with handing off to the #1 RB once or twice. But the decision to hand off to the soph backup on 3rd down WHEN THE GAME CLOCK WAS ALREADY UNDER 0:40 ABSOLUTELY MADE NO SENSE. Heck, FC still had a timeout. If no one on the staff has the math skills to subtract 40 seconds in their head, call timeout. So the Coach could have made it easy for the players after the 3rd down running play-- tell the offense to stay in the huddle, let the play clock run, call timeout with :01 left or take a delay of game. That would have taken the game clock below 0:40, meaning a 3rd down kneel would clearly finish it. Whether it was a fumble or post-whistle doesn't really matter. There is 100% no doubt that FC took an unnecessary risk because the staff failed to understand how to manage the end game. But after re-reading your entire post, it's clear you just wanted to disagree with everything I said. You say the FC defense didn't play as well as usual? They allowed only 11 points, put up the only 1st half points with a Pick-6, won the turnover battle 3-0, sacked the elusive North QB 4 times & blocked an early FG. To their credit, FC did connect on a couple key 4th Qtr pass plays including a big-time 25yd TD pass on 4th & 9. But the FC offense only managed 7 1st downs which left the D out there for 29 minutes & a 69-45 play differential.

Thanks for clarification. So when the ball crosses the line of scrimmage, it's like a punt, right? If Kicking team touches it first but doesn't down it, then it's a live ball & the Receiving team can advance the ball. But the main takeaway is that the Receiving team will get ossession.

SLIGHT CORRECTION-- I watched video a few more times & now I think that the ball barely crossed the goal line just before it was touched. In that case, the ball is dead/touchback as soon as it crossed the goal line. So it doesn't matter who touched it first or who recovered it. Ref was right there to make the call with touchback signal.

Watched the posted video & it looks like a GS player (kicking team) touched the ball around the 1, knocked it into the endzone & then recovered it. By rule-- If the ball crosses the line of scrimmage & is touched by kicking team first, it is a dead ball & HH (defense) gets ball on 20 like a touchback. Doesn't matter whether ball was touched at 1 or in endzone. All that said, there was a HH player in the mix trying to jump on the ball but I don't think he touched the ball first. GS coach was probably lobbying for that.

You mentioned Noblesville's near monster upset of unbeaten Homestead. Some other close calls... Penn squeaked by bottom of DAC Portage 13-6 #12 Warsaw needed a late score to knock off Chesterton 35-28 Southport 41 Tech 40

Based on my ugly contest bracket, 6A was a minefield for the favorites... #4 Merrillville 27 #2T Laf Jeff 20 Carroll 42 #11 Snider 31 at Snider Westfield 42 #6 Fishers 14 #8 Brownsburg 27 #1 Avon 24 (revenge for when Avon knocked out unbeaten BB last year 38-0) LN 14 LC 7 Franklin Central 14 Col North 11 (near-huge upset: #2T unbeaten Homestead scored late to take 1-8 Noblesville to OT & then Homestead won 24-21) 5A Slicers knocked off Michigan City 14-10 @ City (Hmmmmm....where's that preseason article in which MC Coach Mason proclaimed that it would be either Valpo or City representing the north at LOS?) Castle 28 @ #8 Bl North 21 OT 4A Lebanon 32 Western 31 3A 2-8 Princeton 35 8-2 Edgewood 6 (35-6?!!!) 2A Andrean 27 #6 Boone Grove 0 1A Northfield 14 #3 Southwood 6

Gonna be a tough, tough matchup next week for Franklin Central traveling to CG. (Thanks, Mr. Obvious!) Like usual, the FC defense propped u the offense last night in the 14-11 victory over Col North. PICK-6 late 2nd was the only score of the half. Won turnover battle 3-0 thanks to D & S/T. DESPERATE PLEA TO FC COACHING STAFF. When you took over on downs with 2:04 & North holding 0 timeouts, you could have gone to Victory formation with 3 kneeldowns. You did not need to take the risk of 3 running plays. I almost had a heart attack when the ball was given to your big Soph RB with under :40 to go & he FUMBLED. FC was lucky to recover that. Can you hire a math teacher to join your staff for clock management purposes?

I heard that LJ QB Max Grimes hurt his knee on the final play of the 1st half & did not return. Can anybody confirm that?

Saw this tonite. As QB pulled away from nearly being sack, he used the ball to steady himself putting it on the ground momentarily & then the QB avoided a few more tackles for a nice gain. Many of the home fans around me erupted yelling "He's down! The ball touched the ground!" In an effort to be helpful (lol), I told the closest fans they were completely wrong. One guy told me to go sit on the visitor's side. I pointed out that none of the home team coaches seemed to be arguing that call -- a timeout had been called so they had time to argue if they wanted. He didn't accept that rationale either.

Well, we need to get the full scoop on that 1924 & criticize whomever is to blame! I bet those poor kids on the losing end never recovered. Maybe we can ask their Great-Great-Great Grandchildren for some stories of woe. Agree 100%. Back in my day, we were on the short end of a few 40-0 type games. Basic plays by 2nd or 3rd string was just fine. Kneeling down would be akin to taunting.

That's exactly why the IHSAA split 6A from 5A. Due to the large enrollment gap (Schools #1-11 at 3000+, schools 45-64 below 1800) & other factors, the largest schools were dominated the 64-team 5A tournament. So they added 6A in order to make it more equitable amongst those schools. And having a bye week is the best way for it to work. As many have TRIED to explain to you, this is essentially 6 different tournaments. Small schools are not at a disadvantage because they don't play those big schools in the tournament. Are there a few byes in almost every class? Yes. Is this completely fair? No. But you have byes in every IHSAA team sport tournament (which impact pitchers' availability in baseball!)-- it's almost impossible to avoid those without making some schools travel crazy distances in Sectionals.

Good point-- the IHSAA tried it out that way but this way works better. Plus, with more than 34 teams in 5A this year (& 33 next year), there were two 5A games last Friday which mandated a bye week for the rest. You guys wouldn't be pitching a fit if nobody got a bye week like it was back in the days when every class had the same number of teams. Does this mean DT & his followers are SOCIALIST??? (i.e. Everybody deserves to be treated exactly the same...if you have something, I should get it too.)

LOL. Oops. Well, I didn't say it was a perfect, well-thought-out idea...kind of like DT's ideas. Or we could have 5 games on Friday & 5 games on Saturday. LOS would need 2 shifts of employees.