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Week 4 in CI: Bloomington South (2-1) @ Bloomington North (2-1) - These teams split two games last season with the Cougars winning the regular season game in overtime after taking a huge risk in going for two instead of kicking the PAT to send the game into a 2nd overtime. The Panthers got revenge in the sectional with a thumping of the Cougars. This game represents a veteran North team against a talented but young South team, and I see the Cougars having the edge in this game. North senior QB Dash King comes into the game red hot and he was responsible for 332 total yards and four rushing TDs and completed 10 of 11 passes in their win over TH South. That doesn't bode well for a young South secondary that is prone to giving up big passing plays as they gain experience. South has shown they can move the ball on offense and put up points and are averaging 33 ppg in their three games so far, so maybe this game ends up being a high scoring affair. South soph QB Duncan Combs has been pretty effective for the Panthers so far. South's discipline was atrocious in their game with TH North and while I haven't seen the stats from that game, they had a ton of major penalties that went on for the entire game. They are young but that can't happen against North. South has a strong runner in junior Braylen Townsend who can keep the chains moving and is very capable of taking the ball to the house, so maybe the key to a South win is controlling the ball on long drives and using clock, keeping the ball out of King's hands. (JH's site prediction - Bloomington North 31 Bloomington South 30) Indy Roncalli (1-1) @ Columbus North (3-0) - The Bull Dogs have been pretty dominant in their three games so far with a surprising thumping of Decatur Central and then two breathers against Columbus East and Southport. They really get tested in the next two games with the Catholic schools up next in Roncalli and Chatard, with Roncalli up first at the Bull Dog's field. Roncalli beat a young Bull Dog team in Indy last season 38-10, so the Bull Dogs will be looking for revenge. I have no knowledge of Roncalli's team, but they played a highly talented Chatard team close in a low scoring game and lost 9-3 in a game that Chatard won in the trenches. So, it's pretty evident that the Royals have a strong defense. The Bull Dogs will respond with their own weapon on offense in junior dual-threat QB Asher Ratliff who has been extremely impressive in the Bull Dogs three wins and is a threat with both his arm and his legs. I assume this game will boil down to Ratliff vs Roncalli's defense. I don't know much about Roncalli's offense, but I did find some stats from the Chatard game and the Royals had 210 yards of total offense with 110 yards passing and 110 yards running. Royals sr QB Jayden Buchanan was 14 of 27 passing and jr RB Zack Dozier ran for just 27 yards on 6 carries to lead the Royals in that category. (JH's site prediction - Columbus North 24 Roncalli 21) Terre Haute North (1-2) @ Terre Haute South (0-2) - Another crosstown rivalry, with the Braves seeming to have the advantage over the Patriots. TH South beat TH North last season 34-0 and have a two-game win streak in the series with THN last winning in 2021, 20-14. The Patriots are an improving team that finally broke a 14-game losing streak, and they could give the Braves a pretty good game which is probably predicated on having back their stud running back, Zyeiar White, who averaged over 200 rushing yards a game in their first two games. For whatever reason, White didn't play in the Bloom. South game so I don't know if it was for an injury or disciplinary reasons. White transferred to THN from THS so the Braves know him well. With White in the game, the Patriots could give the Braves all of the trouble in the world. Braves QB Brady Wilson had modest numbers passing in the Bloom. North game and was 8 for 16 for 86 yards and no picks. RB Tyisaac Corbin had a nice game and ran for 120 yards on 18 carries. If the Patriots have White back, then they could very well win this game. If not, I expect the Braves to come out on top. (JH's site prediction - Terre Haute South 42 Terre Haute North 28) Southport (0-3) @ Pike (2-1) - Southport has shown no improvement since last season and the last time they had a winning season was in 2019 when they went 7-4. Pike is off to a good start at 2-1 and I don't see the Cards having much of a chance in winning this game barring a rash of turnovers and critical penalties by the Red Devils. Pike blasted Southport 46-14 last season, and this appears to be another game with that kind of result. Southport's head coach, Alex Bettag, is 2-32 in his 4th season there and you have to believe his seat is red hot right now. (JH's site prediction - Pike 42 Southport 17)

I saw an item that the TH North player that went to the hospital during the South game, is okay and he had a stinger. Needless to say, that is great news and that was a scary sight to see him laying out on the field the way he did.

I thought I would add that South's JV team which went unbeaten last season, has picked up where they left off and are 2-0 on the season after beating THN in Terre Haute, 21-6. They opened the season with a 29-14 win over Col. East, with the Martinsville game being cancelled with the varsity tilt being finished on Saturday after the weather delay. The freshman team which was unbeaten but tied last season, is not off to a good start and they got thrashed by Col East 41-0 and then had their games against Martinsville and THN canceled with no explanation of why the THN game was cancelled which was to be played at South.

White didn't play and I don't know if it was for an injury or for disciplinary reasons which they never comment on. I haven't seen any stats on the game so I'm in the dark on that. THN got both of their 4th qtr TDs in the last four minutes of the game with major penalties hurting South which was a problem the entire game, and the secondary giving up big plays. I remember on one play late in the game where THN had a 4th and 21 and they completed a pass play for 31 yards to set up one of their two late TDs. You would have to think if Coach Johnson hadn't taken Townsend out near the end the 3rd, the Panthers would have had two more TDs when you consider the backup RB fumbled the ball away twice deep in Patriot territory. Yeah, I hope the best for the injured Patriot player. When he didn't move at all while on the field before they put him in the ambulance, that is really concerning, yet I haven't heard anything on his situation. I haven't listened to a WGCL broadcast since the season started so I'm surprised Joe is still at it after he said last year was it for him. I've always like Joe, but he can't keep game situations straight anymore so if I have to go to a broadcast on any games where there are more than one station covering it, I will avoid his game coverage.

Week 3 results in CI: Bloomington North 41 Terre Haute South 29 - The game was tough to try and pick a winner and while the Cougars led for much of the game, they never did completely separate themselves from TH South, and the Braves stayed close. North led at the end of the 1st, 10-6 with THS grabbing a 13-10 lead early in the 2nd before North took a 24-13 lead at the half. North outscored the Braves 17-16 in the 2nd half for the 12-point win. The Cougars had 474 yards total offense while THS had 293 yars. North's QB Dash King was 10 for 11 through the air for 157 yards with no picks, and he rushed for 175 yards on 22 carries with 4 TDs all on the ground. TH South QB Brady Wilson was 8 of 16 for 96 yards and no picks, while they rushed for 197 yards on 28 carries with Tyisaac Corbin rushed for 120 yads on 18 carries for the Braves. Columbus North 45 Southport 14 - As expected, the Bull Dogs rolled over the Cards at Southport and they dominated all three of the major offensive categories. Southport's TD came in the 1st when they tied the Bull Dogs at 7-7, and their only other TD coming in the 4th. The Bull Dogs ended up scoring 25 points in the 1st qtr to take at 25-7 lead and never looked back. Columbus North had 412 yards of total offense while Southport had 145 yards. Bull Dog QB Asher Ratliff had another excellent game and he was 19 of 29 for 193 yards and two TDs while rushing for 59 yards and one TD. I didn't get any of the Cards individual stats. Bloomington South 37 Terre Haute North 20 - TH North was coming off a big win at home against Mooresville to break a long losing drought, and I thought maybe that they had a little momentum going for them coming into this game, but South grabbed a quick 14-0 lead at the start of the game and never were really challenged after that although the Patriots scored two TDs in the 4th to make the final score a little more respectable. The Patriots gave the Panthers their quick 14-0 lead at the start of the game on two bad snaps in a row with the first one being recovered at the Patriots five-yard line with RB Braylen Townsend scoring on a run. After the ensuing kickoff, on the first down play, TH North snapped the ball into the end zone with the Panthers recovering for a quick two TD lead. South ended up taking a 23-6 lead into the half and had a 37-6 lead with two minutes left in the 3rd. A TH North player went down around the two-minute mark in the 3rd period and looked seriously hurt as he was not moving on the field at all after the injury. There was about a 25-minute delay as they attended to the injured player and I didn't see him move at any point while he was down. They stabilized him on a board and an ambulance came on the field and transported him to the hospital. I never did get his name and I haven't heard anything on him since he was taken to the hospital. When play resumed, South coach Johnson called off the dogs and put a backup QB and RB into the game, with RB Braylen Townsend not getting another carry in the game. South coughed up the ball twice on fumbles in the 4th by their backup RB with South deep in Patriot territory both times, and that along with South's young secondary getting burned at the end, accounted for both TH North TDs in the 4th.

Bloomington North 17 Terre Haute South 13 (6:03. 2nd)

Bloomington South 23 Terre Haute North 0 (3:50, 2nd) After two straight drives by South being stymied by major penalties, the Panthers finally had a "clean" drive and scored on a 24 yard TD pass from Duncan Combs to WR Myles McCay. A bad snap on the extra point try caused the holder to get tackled on the try.

Bloomington South 17 Terre Haute North 0 (end of 1st) South connected on a 36-yard FG just before the end of the 1st after a drive was stalled by two penalties.

Bloomington South 14 Terre Haute North 0 (10:25, 1st) TH North is having a terrible time snapping the ball and on their first down after the South kickoff after their previous score, the ball was snapped into the end zone with South recovering the ball of a TD.

Bloomington South 7 Terre Haute North 0 (10:32, 1st) TH North received the ball to open the game and on a 3rd down, a bad snap got by the Patriot QB and South recovered at the THN 7 yard line. After a five yard penalty, RB Braylen Townsend scored on a six yard run.

It's the TV dollars that are driving it and the conferences are being paid big for network coverage. Still, I hated that they have encroached on the night that had been reserved strictly for high school games. I'm taking in the Bloomington South/TH North game tonight and I am recording IU's game for later viewing.

I meant to add JH's prediction on the games so here they are: Bloomington North 35 Terre Haute South 28 Columbus North 42 Southport 14 Bloomington South 45 Terre Haute North 21

Week 3 in CI: All games are within the conference this week so there are just three conference games. Both Bloomington South and North finally play at home against the Terre Haute schools after being on the road for two straight games to start the season, while Columbus North travels to Southport. Terre Haute South (0-1) @ Bloomington North (1-1) - This looks to be a tough game to call. From an offensive standpoint, this came has the makings of a possible shoot-out with both teams capable of putting up points quickly. After opening the season with a narrow loss at Mooresville, the North Cougars are coming off a 45-0 blowout win at Bedford NL. North took an early 14-0 lead and never looked back with the game going to a running clock in the 3rd qtr. I didn't get any stats to speak of, but North senior QB Dash King had a 50-yard TD run in the 2nd qtr of that game. TH South had their home game with Floyd Central canceled and ruled a no contest, so they are coming off a two-week break after losing their season opener at Plainfield, 31-27. The Braves doubled the yardage on the Quakers but lost the game because of three thrown picks. Good luck to anyone trying to predict the score of this one. Columbus North (2-0) @ Southport (0-2) - This game sure has blowout city written all over it. It may be a quick game with a good chance of a running clock to start the 2nd half. The North Bull Dogs are coming off their 2nd big game of the season and shutout city rival East, 42-0. North outgained the Olympians, 470 yards to 59 for East. Bull Dog junior QB Asher Ratliff had a big game, passing for 178 yards and two TDs, while also rushing for 137 yards and two TDs on just 8 carries. East did manage two picks in the game with that pretty much being their only positive to speak of, considering it sounded like their defense spent a large part of the game on the field. Southport lost to rival Perry Meridian 42-7 after losing to them 40-10 last season, for their fourth straight loss in that series. The Cards have lost big in their first two games of the season, and they had similar offensive problems to that of Col. East in their game with North. Southport's junior QB Gavin Combs was just 4 for 10 passing for 24 yards and the Cards rushed for just 26 yards total and had 50 total yards of offense in the game. Terre Haute North (1-1) @ Bloomington South (1-1) - With the Patriots coming off a big win over Mooresville at home to snap a 14-game losing streak, they naturally will be pumped up as they travel to South in the Panthers first home game of the season. I still believe South will win this game somewhat comfortably, but they better be wary of the Patriots. Against Mooresville, THN junior QB Harrison Wetzel was 8 for 14 for 158 yards and two TDs and no picks, while senior RB Zyeiar White carried the ball 33 times for a big 239 yards and two TDs. They had 470 yards of total offense in that game. South lost a heartbreaker on that road at Martinsville, giving up the winning TD with just 18 seconds left in the game, 41-35. South soph QB Duncan Combs has been a pretty steady QB so far and it appeared the coaching staff finally started opening up the pass attack with him in the 2nd half of the Arties game. His numbers on the season have been good but not great so far as they break him in, and I believe they will be more aggressive with him in the TH North game. Panther junior RB Braylen Townsend has been great in the first two games of the season, and he has 388 yards rushing in those two games for 5 TDs (1 receiving TD.) TH North will certainly be keying on Townsend to try and slow him down and good luck with that. South needs to shore up their protection on punts since the Artesian blocked one that went into the end zone and was recovered for an Arties TD, and they almost got another on in the game. South will certainly work on that this week. South's young secondary had all kinds of problems with the Arties and their veteran senior triplets on offense, and that's certainly a work in progress.

Actually, I found out later today that Cruz did play in the TH North game and had guided them to the 20-0 early lead before ending up losing the lead and game.

Week 2 results in CI: Bloomington North 45 Bedford NL 0 - North grabbed an early 14-0 lead and never looked back in getting the shutout. BNL is in for a loooong season, and may not win a game in the HHC. Jeff was thought to be the team most likely to finish last in the HHC, but they already own a win over Seymour. I didn't see any stats on the game. Columbus North 42 Columbus East 0 - I don't have any details on this game but I do know that the Olympians got an early pick on North and that was their highlight of the game for them (I believe.) A blowout was pretty much expected in this game and that was what happened. Martinsville 41 Bloomington South 35 - This was expected to be a close, competitive game and it was as South snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the end of the game. South scored with 44 seconds left in the game to take a 35-34 lead and then let Arties march 80 yards down the field in 26 seconds for the winning score and South couldn't do anything with the remaining 18 seconds. It was a young South team against a veteran Martinsville team and the Arties triplet seniors on offense in QB AJ Reynolds (19 of 27 for 207 yards and 58 rushing yards with two picks), RB Austin Prior (18 carries for 107 yards) and WR Hunter Stroud (9 receptions for 78 yards and 44 yards rushing) probably accounted for 95 percent of the Artesian's offense, with a big o-line helping the cause. South was led by soph QB Duncan Combs who was 14 for 20 for 143 yards and one TD with no picks, while junior RB Braylen Townsend had another big game with 30 carries for 196 yards and four TDs (one TD receiving.) South learned a lot from this game going forward and Martinsville will have a good season, but being in the highly competitive Mid-State Conference, just how good of a season remains to be seen. Perry Meridian 42 Southport 7 - I thought this game would be close but it followed the same pattern as it has in recent seasons with the Falcons blowing the Cards away. The Falcons will still struggle to win games this season, but they still got their annual win over Southport who accounted for one of the Falcons two wins last season. Terre Haute North 36 Mooresville 32 - I doubt few if any saw this game result coming except maybe folks at TH North. I don't have any details on the game except that Mooresville had a 20-0 lead early in the game and then proceeded to get outscored 36 to 12 by the Patriots the rest of the game. TH North snapped at 14-game losing streak dating back to the 2022 season. Floyd Central @ Terre Haute South - Game cancelled and went down as a no contest.

A big game like New Pal/Decatur Central was called after it was 21-all at the half. Both teams are in the same general area, so why couldn't they have played that game out today instead just calling it a no contest? I was kind of looking forward to see how they game was going to turn out.

I see there were problems with transportation, but before that, why did they find it necessary to try and play the game at Greencastle? Why couldn't they have rescheduled it at TH South where it was scheduled to be played on Friday before the postponement?

Good point. Coach Johnson is a good coach and we can take it to the bank that he will reevaluate everything after going two games deep into the season. Like it is at every level of football, opponents copycat and will be looking/scouting the weaknesses so we have some tweaking to do. He has been rather conservative with Combs at QB and he may want to open things up like he did in the 2nd half of the Arties game. The secondary is the biggest problem right now, and I don't know if there is a quick fix for that other than getting more pressure on the QB.

The way the Panthers responded after the Arties recovered that on-side kick was a bright spot. It came after the Arties had just ran the ball down the Panthers throat for a score in the 3rd. The Arties are going to have a good season, but I agree that they are not that dominate of a team. As you pointed out, their QB is certainly capable of some really bad throws, but he came through at the end for them to pull this game out.

Two starters back from last year (one on the front seven and one in the secondary) on defense really showed. The Arties wouldn't have been able to open the holes up against last year's front seven. There's no such thing as a good loss, but this game was kind of a lessons learned situation for a young South team and the coaches have to take a good hard look in how they managed this game.

Martinsville 41 Bloomington South 35 (Final) Incredible. South let the Arties go 80 yards with under 44 seconds left in the game as they lost a heartbreaker. The Arties scored the same way at the end of the first half. South's young secondary has a lot of work to do to shore things up. Martinsville's experience as well as their big o-line were the difference in the game. Still, the Panthers had no business losing this game the way they did.

Bloomington South 35 Martinsville 34 (0:44, 4th) South scored to take the lead on a nice drive with just 44 seconds left in the game with Townsend scoring on a one yard run.

Yes. They seemed to be pretty careful in the play calling with Combs.

Martinsville 34 Bloomington South 28 (10:41, 4th) South scored on a 14-yard pass play to RB Braylen Townsend.

Martinsville 34 Bloomington South 21 (end of 3rd) South has the ball deep in Arties territory to start the 4th.