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Bloomington North 0 Columbus North 0 (start of 2nd)

Week 8 games in CI. There are four games and only one game looks to be competitive to me. Bloomington South won the final conference championship with a road win over Col. North last Friday and will finish their regular season with two out-of-conference foes. As usual, my picks are in boldface. Bloomington South (7-0) @ Brebeuf Jesuit (1-6) South travels to Indy to face a team that is still trying to recover from heavy graduation losses. These two teams played in one of the high scoring games from last season with a total of 125 points being scored with Brebeuf coming out on top 68-57. In that game, Brebeuf's Matthew Geske passed for 559 yards and five TDs, while running back CJ Harris rushed for 167 yards on 15 carries. Those two players are gone as well as a host of other players that were key in that shootout. On the other hand, South's Braylen Townsend rushed for 337 yards and five TDs in that game, and he will be back lined up in the backfield and looking for a similar performance. South's rushing attack is even more formidable this season with the addition of Shaun Cooper whom I like to say is running back 1b with Townsend at 1a. Both running backs have similar numbers this season as they give each other a breather, with Cooper rushing for 815 yards on 109 carries and 15 TDs, while Townsend, who missed almost the equivalent of two games because of a gimpy ankle, has rushed for 795 yards on 120 carries and 14 TDs. Brebeuf can expect a heavy dose of those two this Friday. South QB Duncan Combs is 78 of 105 passes for 1227 yards with nine TDs and one pick. Combs hasn't had the need to pass for many TDs since South almost always goes exclusively with their running game when they get into the red zone. Combs likes to target South Florida recruit 6'5 TE Jalen Williams who had a big game against Col. North last Friday. South averages 440.7 ypg on offense while Brebeuf averages 238.4 ypg with the Braves being led by QB Carter Cosgrove who passes for 84.4 ypg, while running back Jasir King averages 43.4 ypg rushing. Brebeuf got their first win of the season last Friday, but that was against a very bad Indy Arsenal Tech team. I can see this game ending with a running clock. This is the last tuneup for South before hosting Center Grove to end the regular season. Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington South 45 Brebeuf Jesuit 21 Columbus North (4-3) @ Bloomington North (4-3) Okay, this is the game that I believe will probably be competitive. The question for me is which Col. North team will show up for this game. Will it be the one that is down after getting beat solidly by Bloom. South on the Bull Dogs' homecoming night or will it be a team that looks to make amends for that game? These two teams went two overtimes last season before the Bull Dogs pulled it out with a 35-34 win. The Cougars have won three straight games (TH North, Jeffersonville, and Col. East) by a combined score of 134-3. Meanwhile, the Bull Dogs have lost big to the three toughest opponents on their schedule coming into this game. Col. North seems to rely mostly on their passing attack while Bloom. North seems to have a more balanced attack. The Cougars are led by QB John Bargen who has thrown for 1095 yards on the season with 10 TDs and three picks. Their running game is led by jr Brayden Johnson with 430 rushing yards on 91 carries and three TDs, while soph Carter Matthew has rushed for 251 yards on 43 carries and three TDs. While I don't have the stats for the Bull Dogs, they are certainly led by the arm and legs of QB Asher Ratliff. This could be another game between these two teams that goes down to another overtime or two like last season, but I'm still going with the home team. Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 31 Bloomington North 24 Lebanon (6-1) @ Terre Haute North (0-7) This game has blowout written all over it. 4A No. 14 Lebanon travels to Terre Haute to play what is probably the worst 5A team in the state, and one of the worst teams period in the state, and I can see a running clock to start the 2nd half. Terre Haute North has been blown out by every team on their schedule and to rub salt into the wound, they got shutout by winless Southport, 36-0, last Friday and to make matter worse, they had a running clock on them to start the second half of that game. While I'm not going to bother to research it, I'm pretty sure that the Patriots have had a running clock on them in all seven games they have played this season. No need to go into detail on this game other than what I have detailed since it should get really ugly like every other game on their schedule. Harrell's site prediction: Lebanon 45 Terre Haute North 17 Southport (1-6) @ Terre Haute South (5-2) Coming off their first win of the season, the Cardinals travel to Terre Haute to face the Terre Haute team that is the opposite of the one they played last Friday. Southport's high coming off that first win will quickly dissipate in this game since this game also has blowout written all over it. Terre Haute South, coming off a road win at McCutcheon, 34-7, has won five of their last six games by mostly solid margins with their only loss in that stretch being a blowout home loss to Bloom. South. Going into this game, the Braves are tied with Col. North for second place in CI with a 2-1 record. The Braves can probably name the score in this game. Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute South 42 Southport 14

Southport shutout Terre Haute North, 36-0.

Anyone know who won that big game of gridiron giants in Southport and Terre Haute North? Just curious as to who got their first win of the season. I haven't been able to find a score on it yet.

I might add that the South Panthers won the conference title in the conference's last season. Sullivan 28 Edgewood 21 (final)

Bloomington South 55 Columbus North 24 (final) The subs played out the last three minutes of the game. This game looked like it might be a shootout with the Bull Dogs scoring two TDs in the 1st qtr as the Panthers were giving up too much cushion to the Bull Dog receivers, but once they tightened that up, the Panthers pretty much dominated the game on both sides of the ball.

Bloomington South 55 Columbus North 24 (3:35, 4th) After a pick by South that was run back deep into Bull Dog territory, Townsend scored his third rushing TD of the half on about a nine-yard run.

Bloomington South 48 Columbus North 24 (7:55, 4th) South RB Braylen Townsend scored on a 16-yard run to pretty much put this game away.

Bloomington South 41 Columbus North 24 (9:44, 4th) South RB Braylen Townsend scored on about a 10-yard run to extend the lead again.

Bloomington South 34 Columbus North 24 (end of 3rd) The South Panthers are at the Bull Dog 19-yard line when the 4th starts.

Bloomington South 34 Columbus North 24 (2:24, 3rd) North scored on about a 30-yard pass play on a drive after taking a huge gamble on a 4th and 2 in their territory which they barely made.

Bloomington South 34 Columbus North 17 (8:12. 3rd) South scored on a short pass to extend the lead. They got hit with an unsportsman-like penalty after the TD and North decided to take it on the extra point with the kick being blocked.

Bloomington North 42 Columbus East 0 (final)

Whiteland 35 Mooresville 7 (half) Edgewood 14 Sullivan 14 (half) Owen Valley 28 West Vigo 8 (near end of half)

Bloomington North 35 Columbus East 0 (4:36, 3rd) It's a running clock from here on out.

Bloomington North 28 Columbus East 0 (half)

Bloomington South 28 Columbus North 17 (half) South scored on a 25-yard pass play with under one minute left in the half. Columbus North was able to move into FG territory with five seconds left and kicked what I believe was a 37-yard FG with no time left on the clock. South will get the ball to start the second half when that begins.

Bloomington South 21 Columbus North 14 (5:23, 2nd) South Panthers scored on a 65-yard pass play.

Bloomington South 14 Columbus North 14 (6:53, 2nd) South scored on a 39-yard pass play as this game seems like it's going to be a shootout.

Columbus North 14 Bloomington South 7 (8:16, 2nd) After giving a gift first down to the Bull Dogs on a 3 and 4 after jumping into the neutral zone, they got burned on a 41-yard pass play as the Bull Dogs regained the lead..

Bloomington South 7 Columbus North 7 (11:31. 2nd) The South Panthers scored on a five-yard run by Shaun Cooper.

Columbus North 7 Bloomington South 0 (end of 1st) South has the ball deep into Bull Dog territory.

Columbus North 7 Bloomington South 0 (7:00. 1st) The Bull Dogs took the opening kickoff of the game 66 yards with QB Asher Ratliff scoring on a short scramble.

I spoke too soon when I said that the Bloom. South/Col. North is for the CI championship. Only South can clinch that championship with a win since Col. North still has games left with Bloom. North and TH South. I also saw that South running back Braylen Townsend will play against the Bull Dogs barring a setback before the game, so South will have their 1-2 punch in the backfield. Townsend has missed the better part of two games because of a gimpy ankle and has 643 yards and 12 TDs on the season in four games and part of the 1st qtr in another game, while Shaun Cooper has 724 rushing yards and 13 TDs while playing in all six games this season. I saw an update today on South QB Duncan Combs and he is currently connecting on 78 pct of his passes on the season so far. Bloom. North QB John Bargan has passed for 920 yards and 10 TDs in five games so far this season.

You are spot on as far as the scheduling goes as an independent. It can be a real hassle and I think the ADs at both Col. North and Bloom. South would want to avoid that if possible, and you are right about Center Grove and Carmel rejoining the MIC over the scheduling hurdle they faced each season. If both those schools don't move on to the HHC, they may very well end up being independent at least for one year. I wish I was inside JR Holmes' head as to what he's thinking and planning.