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Bloomington North 21 Bloomington South 7 (half) South looked out of sync while North played almost flawless ball. The only mistake by North in the first half was a fumble recovered by South only to have South return the favor by grabbing a face mask on the fumble play which gave North a first down instead of turning the ball over. The Panthers had better figure some things out at the half or their season will be kaput.

Bloomington North 21 Bloomington South 7 (5:03, 2nd) A breakdown in the secondary allowed for a long TD pass by the Cougars as North regained their 14-point advantage. South had secondary problems last week and it has carried over into this game.

Bloomington North 14 Bloomington South 7 (6:23, 2nd) South finally got a drive going without mistakes to cut into the lead.

Bloomington North 14 Bloomington South 0 (10:14, 2nd) North just scored on a drive with South just plain not looking right from a mistake and execution standpoint. They have their work cut out for them.

Bloomington North 7 Bloomington South 0 (3:37, 1st) Everything has been going North's way so far. A pick-6, a South missed 28-yard FG, and a fumble recovery by South in which they were called for a face mask penalty giving North a first down on the penalty instead of South having the ball deep in North territory.

Bloomington North 7 Bloomington South 0 (5:30, 1st) South drove to the North 12-yard line, but a FG attempt was wide right.

Bloomington North 7 Bloomington South 0 (9:42, 1st) South got the ball to start the game and as their QB was being hit on a pass, a pick-6 by North put them on the board.

I'm not involved in the pick'em contest on here, but I sure like the Highlanders to take the Huskies in this game, especially at home and after rolling the Castle Knights which was very impressive. On the other hand, I've got a gut feeling that Martinsville is going to make amends for the season opening loss to the Stars and will win that game tonight. The Arties have had a history of playing a notch or two above their normal playing level when it comes to the playoff season.

I fully expect a battle in this game and I know that the Cougars are very capable of springing the upset, but if South's running game, which is a strength of the team, is clicking, I expect the Panthers to prevail. Coach Johnson said after the TH South game last week that they needed to shore up the secondary which gave up quite a few third and long situations, and is missing a starting safety for the rest of the playoffs. I have no idea about how they are going to tweak that except for getting more pressure on the Bargen, the Cougar QB. I guess we will see tonight.

Do you think they will stay inhouse for a new head coach? If I'm not mistaken, I don't believe he won an out-of-conference game during his stint as head coach.

Half of the teams in CI (three teams) are still alive in the sectionals, but by the time the dust settles this coming Friday, that number should be down to one team. Here are the matchups with my favorite in the boldface. 6A Sectional 7: Southport (2-8) @ Warren Central (6-4) Southport got the draw they wanted in this sectional and opened with a comfortable win over Arsenal Tech for their second win on the season. That will come to a crashing halt as they visit Warren Central who should cruise comfortably in this game. I see the potential for a running clock in this game. Harrell's site prediction: Warren Central 49 Southport 7 5A Sectional 15: Bloomington North (7-3) @ Bloomington South (9-1) The Terre Haute South game should be a wakeup call for the Panthers. After trouncing the Braves during the regular season, the Panthers had to fight for their playoff lives in the sectional rematch and needed a TD with 1:25 left in the game to get the win and move on. THS had 455 yards of total offense and their QB, Maddox Woodcraft, passed for 351 yards on 14 of 23 passing. South's secondary got torched in that game although several long passes were 50/50 balls that were well defended but the TH South receiver managed to come down with the ball every time. South lost one of their starting safeties before the game in Rylan Stikeleather who injured an elbow and is out for the rest of the playoffs. South had the ball three times inside the Braves five-yard line only to come away with just three points on those possessions, and they had three turnovers in the game, so they need to clean that up. I'm sure that Bloomington North, which had a breather last week in a blowout win over Terre Haute North, took note of the new wrinkles that TH South threw at the Panthers, and will have made adjustments to their game plan with some new wrinkles of their own after their 36-7 loss to South back on Sept 12th. I'm going with the Panthers by 10 points. Harrell's site prediction: 35 Bloomington North 24

I certainly don't discount that the North/South game might be close. South thumped TH South during the regular season but gave South all they wanted in the game on Friday, with quite a few new wrinkles that the Panthers hadn't seen. South was their own worst enemy in that game after having the ball inside the Braves five-yard line three times and came away with just three points on those possessions. Two holding calls down there as well as a very short pass in the end zone that was underthrown and picked, contributed to all of that. They have to be better than that against a hot crosstown rival which will be fired up.

Thanks. I hadn't looked it up and just assumed they would not be hosting three straight games.

Bloomington South is hosting Bloom. North next week for the Sect. 15 championship and it will be two straight games of South hosting. So, I'm assuming that whoever comes out on top in the Huskies/Highlander game will be hosting South as long as the Panthers don't play like they did against TH South, and blow their game against their crosstown rival.

Evansville North won 55-7 over New Albany. It should be a very interesting game between the Huskies and the Highlanders next week. I'm really surprised by the margin of the win over Castle.

Bloomington North 49 Terre Haute North 0 (final) B-North plays B-South next week for the Sectional 15 championship.

Bloomington South 41 Terre Haute South 34 (final) This game was full of mental/execution mistakes by the Panthers -- their worst game of the season from that standpoint. The Panthers had the ball inside the TH South five-yard line three times in the game and came away with just three points from those possessions, and they also had three turnovers in the game. Their secondary play was the worst effort yet that I've seen this season. They move on to play crosstown rival Bloom. North and if they play like this, they will lose that game.

Bloomington South 41 Terre Haute South 34 (1:25, 4th) B-South just scored and went for two successfully to take a seven-point lead.

Terre Haute South 34 Bloomington South 33 (7:50, 4th) B-South's secondary gave up another big pass play with TH South scoring from the two yard line. If B-South's loses this game, they can look at the mental/execution mistakes made down inside the TH South five-yard line during the game.

Bloomington South 33 Terre Haute South 27 (11:50, 4th) B-South twice had the ball inside the TH South five-yard line and came away with just three points after missing a point-blank FG just earlier.

Bloomington South 30 Terre Haute South 27 (5:24, 3rd) On a 4th and 13, South gave up a big pass play to allow the Braves to close to within three points. B-South's secondary has been a big problem in this game. They lost a starting safety in Rylan Stikeleather for the rest of the season going into this game with an elbow injury. The PAT was blocked.

Bloomington South 30 Terre Haute South 21 (10:34, 3rd) B-South received the second half opening kickoff and took just three plays to score, with the score on a 35-yard pass play.

Bloomington North 42 Terre Haute North 0 (half) Running clock to start the 2nd half.

Bloomington North 35 Terre Haute North 0 (7:18, 2nd)

Bloomington South 23 Terre Haute South 21 (half) B-South blew a big chance to add to their lead near the end of the half when they threw a bad pass in the end zone from the THS three-yard line and it was picked. B-South will get the ball when the 2nd half starts.