ptr

5A semistate game: Bloomington South @ New Palestine South travels to New Pal and is hoping their third straight trip to the semistate game finally gets them over the hump so to speak as far as reaching the 5A championship game. It won't be easy since New Pal is not used to losing games, period. New Pal's HC Kyle Ralph has racked up 153 wins at New Pal while losing only 14 times in 13 seasons. New Pal is averaging 45.8 ppg and has rushed for 2,998 yards on the season and passed for 1,734 ypg. Their defense has given up just 60 points on the year so far. I'm not big at all on computer rankings, but according to Sagarin's rankings, South's strength of schedule is ranked ahead of New Pal's schedule with South's schedule ranked at 34 and New Pal's at 40. But, strength of schedule is, again in my opinion, an overrated stat. IMO, South will try to shorten the game and keep New Pal's offense on the sideline (easier said than done) by running the ball with Braylen Townsend and Shaun Cooper lining up in the backfield, and they have almost similar rushing stats on the season. South is vulnerable in the secondary and because of injuries, they elevated a couple of JV players to fill in for the injuries, and those two players have a couple of games of experience starting with the start of the sectionals. My crystal ball sees New Pal winning the game by a score of 38-21. Harrell's site prediction: New Pal 35 Bloomington South 24

Bloomington South 55 Floyd Central 7 (final) With mostly backups in the game on defense, South scored on a 99-yard pick-6 to end the game. South did not attempt to kick the extra point, letting the running clock run out. It will be South's third straight trip to the semi-state with the unenviable task of taking on New Pal at New Pal, which was leading East Central late in that game.

You were talking about FC being a young team. South is just the opposite with a lot of senior starters that will not be back after this season.

Bloomington South 49 Floyd Central 7 (early 4th with a running clock) South scored an 8-yard run by Shaun Cooper on the first play of the 4th qtr.

I assume the two-point conversion on the second half TD was to put this game in a running clock situation to shorten the game. It helps to prevent any injuries to starters with a semi-state game coming up. At least, that's my opinion.

Bloomington South 42 Floyd Central 7 (early 3rd) South took the opening kickoff of the 2nd half on a 55-yard drive with a 37-yard TD pass to Sam Giles. Two-point conversion was successful and it put this game into a running clock.

Halftime stats; FC: 19-84 rushing (all by Sebastian Robertson). QB Jack Mull 12-23-1-150 passing. Luke Jacobi 7-109, TD receiving South: 18-108 rushing. QB Duncan Combs 9-14-0-127, TD passing, TD rushing. Braylen Townsend 10-82, TD rushing. Jalen Williams 3-78, TD receiving.

The Highlanders were their own worst enemy in the first half. A turnover on downs in South territory, a muffed punt, and a pick pretty much got them in their situation at the half. Both teams were hit by penalties, but FC seems to be hurt more by them. South's secondary gave up some chunk plays which is something they did in the both sectional games, but FC managed just the one TD in the half. I don't know if FC has been this mistake prone in previous games, but they sure were hurt by them.

Bloomington South 34 Floyd Central 7 (half) After a punt by Floyd Central, South went on a drive to score with 55 seconds left in the half to extend the lead. It was a rushing TD by RB Shaun Cooper. South will get the ball at the start of the second half.

Bloomington South 27 Floyd Central 7 (3:01, 2nd) After a pick, South went about 75 yards on a drive with RB Braylen Townsend scoring on a 15-yard run.

Bloomington South 20 Floyd Central 7 (11:01, 2nd) After forcing a three and out, the South Panthers took just one play to add to their lead on a 65-yard pass play to Jalen Williams.

Bloomington South 13 Floyd Central 7 (end of 1st) After Floyd Central scored, South's Sam Giles went 99 yards on the kickoff to immediately put the Panthers back on top.

Floyd Central 7 Bloomington South 6 (0:25, 1st) South's secondary gave up some chunk plays to allow the Highlanders to march down the field to take a one-point lead. South's secondary has been a problem of late because of injuries.

Bloomington South 6 Floyd Central 0 (2:55, 1st) After muffing a punt which was recovered by South, the Panthers went on a short drive for the first score on a QB one-yard keeper. The PAT was missed.

I'm expecting a close game, and I fully expect the Highlanders to be pumped up when they get off the bus. It's expected to be 60 degrees in Bloomington at game time and not much wind, with no precipitation expected. The Panthers have gotten off to slow starts in their two sectional games, while turning it on in the 4th qtr. They can't be playing with fire by continuing to do that.

Yes, key major penalties and turnovers have been a problem for South through the first two sectional games. Hopefully, they have their heads screwed on right for this game.

Regional game - Floyd Central vs Bloomington South: This will be just the second time that these two schools have met on the gridiron with South winning the only previous game back in 2019 in the regional that season. South won that game by a comfortable margin, but whichever school wins this game, I doubt it will be by a big margin either way. I don't know much about Floyd Central outside of their results in the HHC, and I saw the last quarter of their game last week against Evansville North, but it was so foggy, it was difficult to gauge anything. The one big intangible that favors South is they stay at home while the Highlanders have to make the long bus ride up to Bloomington. The Panthers, after beating their two sectional foes by wide margins in the regular season, had to fight for their playoff lives in both games. They trailed Terre Haute South by one point in the 4th qtr, before scoring a TD with 1:25 left in the game to win by seven points after a successful two-point conversion. They trailed Bloomington North by 14 points going into the 4th last Friday before turning to their running game and Braylen Townsend and they tied the game with 3:07 left, and won the game with a FG at the North one-yard line with 0:02 seconds left. South had 219 yards on the ground in 50 carries in the North game with Braylen Townsend rushing for 198 yards. The opposing coaches did a good job of recognizing South's offensive/defensive tendencies from their regular season games with them and made good adjustments to make those games close. South has also had to deal with injuries to their secondary and that has become an area of concern going into the FC game, and they are still tweaking that position. I've found some stats for both teams and I believe they are current. Passing: FC QB Jack Mull - 190.0 ypg with 17 TDs and 6 INTs and a .548 passing percentage. South QB Duncan Combs - 203.8 ypg with 17 TDs and 6 INTs and a .684 passing percentage. Rushing - FC RB Sebastian Robertson with 148.9 rushing ypg although he was bottled up in the Evansville North game with Jaxson Stone being the leading rusher in that game with 91 yards on five carries. South RB Braylen Townsend with 104.6 rushing ypg and RB Shaun Cooper with 102.3 rushing ypg. Total ypg: FC with 435.5 South with 425.1 I believe it will be a close game, and with the Panthers at home and not having to make that long bus ride, I'm taking them to win it by 7 to 10 points. Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington South 38 Floyd Central 28

I just now caught up with your post. There's no question the secondary has become a problem area for the Panthers, and the only solution I know at this point in the season after the injuries to that position is for the front seven to get more pressure on the QB. Stikeleather was expected to be a starter on the basketball team and I don't know enough about his injury to know how that will affect that. I haven't seen a preview of the upcoming boys basketball season yet.

I might add that this will be just the second time South and FC have played each other, with South beating FC in the regional back in 2019, 40-14. I don't think we will get a game with that kind of margin this go-around.

Congrats on the sectional title. It will be a tough game for both teams at South. Once the South game was over with last night, I caught the last quarter of the FC/Huskies game and my eyeglasses couldn't filter through all of the fog and it was tough trying to make out what was going on out on the field. Looking forward to the regional matchup.

Bloomington South 31 Bloomington North 28 (final) After South tied the game, they forced a North three and out and drove to the one-yard line with 0:02 seconds left, with a FG winning the game. South was outplayed for much of this game, but put things together in the 4th to win the sectional and move on against either Floyd Central or Evansville North. The Cougars finished their season at 7-4.

Bloomington North 28 Bloomington South 28 (3:02, 4th) After pulling within seven points, South forced a three and out, and after putting pressure on the punter they forced the punter to pull the ball down and run with it and he was stuffed. South scored from 30 yards out to tie the game.

Bloomington North 28 Bloomington South 21 (7:21, 4th) South scored on a pass play to pull within seven points again. They can't afford to give up any more big pass plays and need a three and out on North's next possession.

Bloomington North 28 Bloomington South 14 (11:55, 4th) After South cut the margin down to seven points, their secondary gave up yet another big pass play to set up another North TD.

Bloomington North 21 Bloomington South 14 (5:05, 3rd) North received the opening kickoff of the second half and went three and out. South went on a long drive to score on a four-yard pass play to cut the margin down to one score.