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For the record, South hasn't had a boys basketball player transfer in since their semi-state team back in 2021 and he was Trevor Taylor who transferred in from county rival Edgewood. All of their players on this year's squad all came up through the middle school feeders to South. I just can't recall another one since Taylor. The football team had four transfers from North this past season and have had a couple of BNL players transfer in over the past year or two.

Bloomington North can't seem to keep head coaches of late. Cooper was there for one year and had a record of 7-4, and before him, Anthony Lindsey was there for only one season and had a record of 8-3. Scott Bless was the head coach for several years there before that. They are headed for the Mid-State Conference next season and who will be at the helm is anyone's guess.

Concerning expansion in the HHC. Does anyone know what the by-laws call for when voting for expansion? In other words, does it need to be unanimous among member schools or what.

Any guesses as to which schools ARE NOT warm to the idea of South joining the conference. AD JR Holmes indicated that the feedback was MOSTLY positive from HHC coaches and ADs.

Evidently, there is a lot of credence to the South to the HCC. Here's an excerpt from the high school beat writer for the Bloomington Herald-Times, and it confirms that AD JR Holmes has petitioned the HHC for membership. Bloomington South is on approach, let's see if the Panthers can stick the landing. According to athletic director JR Holmes, the Panthers applied to join the Hoosier Hills Conference and in return, the league also expressed interest, leading to a meeting and a possible vote in mid-April. Membership would be in all sports starting in 2027-28. South, Columbus North and Southport were left dry for the 2026-27 school year after Bloomington North left Conference Indiana for the Mid-State Conference and then Terre Haute North and South bolted for the Sagamore Athletic Conference. For South, finding a league with members of similar size and mutual interest and within reasonable driving distances severely limited its options. But the Panthers already compete against many HHC members in every sport and the league's long history also likely means long-term stability if they are accepted. The feedback Holmes has heard from coaches and athletic directors has been mostly positive, he said.

Posted under the Conference Indiana thread by Bash Riprock:

Maybe I'm living under a rock in Bloomington, but I've heard absolutely nothing on this locally, so if true, they are keeping a lid on it here, at least from my perspective. As I said in previous posts on a possible conference move by South, I'm not close to the football program, so there is that. I would assume that CI won't be completely dead until after this school year in all sports. I assuming that if this is true, South will still have an independent schedule for 2026 since most HHC teams have complete schedules for next season.

I thought I would add that Southport, the third team in CI without a conference, is all set with a full independent schedule. Being in the shadows of Indy helps a lot in putting a schedule together.

I haven't heard anything on that, but I'm not close to anyone around the football program so there is that. If true, I believe it will be starting with the 2027 season, at least in football, since the football schedules for current HHC teams are pretty much set for 2026. I would say that both South and Col. North will go ahead and play an independent schedule in football for next season, and they both still have some work to be done in filling out a schedule for next season.

Well, unless I'm missing something, it's clear that Bloom. South and/or Col. North won't be joining the HHC next season and will go the independent route at least for next season. Both teams have five opponents on their schedule for next season so far with those opponents being a mix of various conferences.

I saw that Bloomington North has their full nine-game schedule. CLASS SECTIONAL JOHN HARRELL'S INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RECENT SEASONS 5A 15 E-MAIL CORRECTIONS FOOTBALL FIELD 0-0 TOURNAMENT HISTORY BLOOMINGTON NORTH COUGARS Coach: Brett Cooper, 7-4 in 2nd year at school, 42-55 in 10th year overall DATE OPPONENT EASTERN TIME OA 0.0, DA 0.0 Aug. 21 Bloomington South 5A 7:00 pm Aug. 28 at Bedford North Lawrence 4A 7:00 pm Sep. 4 Martinsville 4A © 7:00 pm Sep. 11 at Mooresville 4A © 7:00 pm Sep. 18 Plainfield 5A © 7:00 pm Sep. 25 at Perry Meridian 6A © 7:00 pm Oct. 2 at Decatur Central 6A © 7:00 pm Oct. 9 Franklin 5A © 7:00 pm Oct. 16 at Whiteland 5A © 7:00 pm

I was wondering if private and/or charter schools have impacted the enrollment of schools in the Bartholomew school system. I know it has had some impact on the Monroe County Community Schools and then you have part of the Edgewood school system (Bean Blossom schools) that abut part of the northwest side of Bloomington, so there is that. Enrollments at MCCSC schools have been down somewhat this year.

Thanks for the information. You have delved into it more than I have so that's greatly appreciated. I hadn't looked at the Harrell's site thinking they wouldn't have anything posted yet on next year's schedules, but obviously they have. I guess people will just have to sit back and wait for the dust to settle on this to find out how things will shake out.

I still haven't seen anything (that's been made public) on whether Col. North or Bloom. South will go independent next season or what. I saw on another thread that Col. North picked up a game with Jasper next season. I assume that Bloom. South will have games against Bloom. North, Col. North, and Martinsville next season regardless of what happens. I haven't seen anything on what Southport will be doing, and if they go independent, they will probably play Bloom. South and Col. North also, but that is my mind working overtime on the subject. It seems that there will be room in the HHC for Bloom. South and/or Col. North, but it's all been closed mouth on that subject.

I might add that we don't even know what the schedule will look like next season with Conference Indiana shutting down. It appears that both Bloom. South and Columbus North will have an independent schedule next season unless there is something going on behind closed doors concerning this.

I'm not close to the program also, not knowing any of the players, parents, coaching staff, etc. New Pal was clearly the better team and would have won this game regardless of the poor play or not by the Panthers, but South should not have been shutout in this game. They basically stumbled their way through the game. I've seen all of South's games this season, and I hadn't seen the Panther QB Combs this bad when it comes to the passing game. He was certainly under pressure, but he was missing open receivers badly on several occasions. I could go on and on, but one area the Panthers need to find an answer is the kicking game. They have a freshman place kicker, and he is obviously young, but he has missed several chip shot FGs/extra points this season that a high school kicker should make consistently, and I not so sure that will improve with extra maturity to include coaching and strength conditioning. The Panthers are a senior laden team as far as starters go, so it's back to the drawing board going into next season. I believe the JV team went 7-2 this season, but the freshman team won just one game, so who knows what next season's team will look like.

New Pal 42 Bloomington South 0 (final) South made way too many mistakes and this was the worst game that QB Duncan Combs has played as he missed quite a few open receivers either by overthrowing or underthrowing receivers. New Pal was ready to play and they looked great, so congrats to them.

New Pal 42 Bloomington South 0 (final) South made way too many mistakes and this was the worst game that QB Duncan Combs has played as he missed quite a few open receivers either by overthrowing or underthrowing receivers. New Pal was ready to play and they looked great, so congrats to them.

New Pal 42 Bloomington South 0 (3 plus with running clock in the 4th)

New Pal 35 Bloomington South 0 (end of 3rd with a running clock) South had two turnovers in that qtr with one leading to the only score of the qtr on a short field TD by New Pal.

New Pal 35 Bloomington South 0 (2:32, 3rd) The qtr was scoreless up until now as a badly underthrown pass by the South QB was picked and New Pal scored on a short field. A two-point conversion was good.

Some halftime stats: New Palestine: 25-129 rushing. QB Jacob Davis 4-7-0-137, 2TD passing, 47 yards and TD rushing. Caden Jacobia 11-54, TD rushing. South: 9-10 rushing. QB Duncan Combs 9-16-0-100 passing. Jalen Williams 5-69 receiving. Connor Parker 3-21 receiving Just 5 first downs, 2 by penalty, 3 through the air.

New Pal 27 Bloomington South 0 (half) New Pal is an outstanding team, but South absolutely was their own worst enemy and looked like an unprepared team for this game (IMO). A fumble, missed tackles on possible sacks, and Panther QB Duncan Combs who was hitting on almost 70 percent of his passed this season, was for the most part, missing open receivers badly. A holding penalty negated a Panther TD which was par for course when it comes to this game. South also couldn't get their running game going which didn't help any either. South's secondary gave up some big chunk yardage also. South gets the ball when the second half begins.

New Pal 21 Bloomington South 0 (8:14, 2nd) South is stumbling their way through the first half. South was at the New Pal two-yard line with a 1st down and they scored, but it was called back because of a holding call. South attempted a 25-yard FG on 4th down and it was wide right.

New Pal 21 Bloomington South 0 (11:03, 2nd) Blown coverage by South's vulnerable secondary allowed for a 90-yard pass play for a TD. South has plugged in a couple of JV players in the secondary because of injuries and it showed on that play. The receiver was 10 yards behind the secondary.