ptr

FWIW, the Indy Star high school beat writer gives his predictions on every Indy metro games on Thursdays, and here are some of his predictions for teams of interest on here. Whiteland 20 Floyd Central 19 Lutheran 21 New Albany 16 Bloomington South 43 Martinsville 26

I remember the game at Martinsville a few years back where the Panthers were up big in the 4th when a student upset over the score, turned the field lights off.

South went into the season with question marks with the line play on both sides of the ball after graduation losses, especially the o-line which had to be rebuilt. So far, both lines have played well with Coach Johnson praising the o-line for an outstanding effort against Lawrence Central in their scrimmage before the season started. North didn't present much of a challenge for them, so I'll need to see more against the better teams on their schedule, starting with their game at Martinsville this Friday. The annual South-Martinsville game used to be a fierce rivalry, especially during the Mo Moriarity/Bill Siderwitz era, but South moved on and sees B-North as their main rivalry. Despite moving on to a different conference, the Arties still see the Panthers as their biggest rival and seem to crank it up a notch or two above their normal playing level when the two teams play. Because of that, I'm always a little leery about this game.

I don't know if North can win a game in their inaugural season in the Mid-State Conference. It all depends on how fast their freshman QB progresses since the QB position is the straw that stirs the drink.

Pick 'em Selections They always like to say that a team usually improves the most from game one to game two, so we shall see. I hope my selections do the same since last week wasn't a particularly good week for my picks. Bloomington North @ BNL The Cougars took it on the chin in their near shutout loss to South, 44-6. The Cougars depth right now is a problem area, and they had a few players that were walking wounded that didn't play. Having more two-way players than they would like, they can wear down in the second half. They have two pretty good running backs and some speed at the WR position, but they have a freshman QB in Fisher Pugh who showed a lot of growing pains, and he threw two pick sixes in the South game. Meanwhile, BNL outlasted Martinsville in a tight game. The Cougars new coach will start the season 0-2. Columbus East @ Columbus North It will be interesting to see Frozen Tundra's take on this game. North won their game against a Whiteland team that's been decimated by graduation and returned just one starter on defense and three starters on offense. Meanwhile, East went on the road and lost to a Mooresville team out of the solid Mid-State Conference. North returns just four starters from last season--two each on offense and defense. I believe both teams are starting new QBs. I really debated this game, and my gut tells me I should go with the Olympians, but they haven't beaten a team outside of the HHC since the 2020 season, so I'm going with the home team Bull Dogs. This is an excellent opportunity to snap that losing streak to nonconference teams for the Olympians. Jeffersonville @ Seymour Both teams went on the road and lost last week with Jeff giving up 67 points to a Lawrence Central team that could make a lot of noise this season in 6A, while the Owls lost to a so-so Greenwood team. This is a tough game for me to figure out, so I'm going with the home team Owls. New Albany @ Indianapolis Lutheran Okay, New Albany surprised pretty much everyone with their home win over Providence. Can they keep it up on the road against Lutheran that beat the Bulldogs last season by a score of 17-0 in New Albany? I say no. Whiteland @ Floyd Central It will be a game between a young Whiteland team experience-wise and a veteran FC team that's coming off a big road win last week. FC by at least three TDs providing that they don't shoot themselves in the foot like they did last season.

Off subject, but Bloomington South has a transfer from BNL who has to sit out for the first six games, and I'm having trouble identifying his name and position. Would you know who it is? He was one of two transfers that came in this season with WR Maysen Lewis transferring in from Terre Haute South.

That's fine. I still think they will win the game by a wide margin.

I don't know what the Lol was about. The point was they lost to another very young team and FC should be a heavy favorite. Yes, Whiteland was coming off a 9-3 season and also had just four starters back to include just one starter on defense. It was a game of two very young teams in which someone was going to come out on top.

FWIW, Whiteland lost to Columbus North by a score of 14-7, and North has just four starters back from last season, two starters each on offense and defense. So, FC should be a strong favorite to win that game.

A repeat of last season's game. Like Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja vu all over again."

LC was labeled a sleeper team in the Indy area going into the season.

Bloomington South 44 Bloomington North 6 (final) North broke through with a score against mostly South backups in the game.

Bloomington South 44 Bloomington North 0 (mid 4th, running clock) After a North fumble, South scored on a 25-yard FG.

Bloomington South 41 Bloomington North 0 (1:28, 3rd) A 70-yard pick six by South kicked off a running clock.

Bloomington South 34 Bloomington North 0 (5:08, 3rd) South scored on a rushing TD on their first possession of the 3rd. A blocked PAT prevented a running clock.