foxbat

Cass will face West Lafayette this Friday and likely going to get West Lafayette first in the Hoosier Conference crossover game in Week 9. Provided that they can come out without injuries, they should be fairly honed entering the 2A post-season.

The drop off was already starting to occur before Coach O'Shea left. Recall that, when LCC went up to 2A under Success Factor, they were about 20 yards from likely heading to LOS the first season of SF and 4 points short of heading back there in the second season. When returning back to 1A, there was a notable drop off, which @LCCAlum and I had been talking about it coming since before LCC went up on Success Factor. Still enough to pick up a state title, but not enough to keep Kiser and Company from making three straight trips to LOS. With that said, O'Shea was a phenomenal fit for LCC and vice-versa. His time at LCC ended up being a "perfect storm" kind of time between great coaching, great depth, really good talent, etc. that all seemed to have a great synergy about it. I think it's likely that Pioneer would have made three straight trips to LOS even with O'Shea at the helm and, actually made the first of those, albeit a loss to Linton was the result, in the first of those trips. I think Nay is going to be good for LCC. I like what I'm seeing and I think he'll end up getting things back in stride soon. Will it be back to the days of knocking off West Lafayette most seasons? Probably not. That has easily as much to do with where West Lafayette has come from/to as opposed to on LCC's part. Will it be a return to the days of LCC manhandling the "younger brother" Guerin? Probably not. Again, that set of kudos is more tied to what Guerin has grown into through its own progress. But I think the potential days of making sure that you keep Thanksgiving weekend open for a trip to LOS could potentially be in the cards for LCC sooner than most opponents would like it to be.

Seriously though, I agree with you on the team talent, etc. I think a few folks who have forgotten about the Knights might be surprised come tourney.

It's the CFWM. @CoachDurham taught me that what happens in the Mixer stays in the Mixer and that loyalty to the Caddy gets you the Caddy. 🙂

I thought about picking LCC, but figured I'd wait until later to strike. Made that mistake of trying to pick up ground too early a couple of seasons ago and dug the hole too deep.

Sam King reporting LCC knocking off #6 2A, RCHS, on the road, 20-17.

See the Clubs area.

1 POINT GAMES Northwestern @ Tipton West Lafayette @ Benton Central 3 Point Games North Vermillion @ Attica Central Catholic @ Rensselaer Twin Lakes @ Hamilton Heights Western @ Cass 4 POINT GAMES Caston @ North White Knox @ LaVille Delphi @ Clinton Prairie Gibson Southern @ Heritage Hills @Boilernation Double-check your picks. You picked both teams to win in the TL-HH game and missed picking a winner in the Western-Cass match-up.

Miami Dolphins?

Possibly, but you don't have to win to have a good showing and that's more of what I'll be looking at to gauge how deep a post-season run may be.

LCC's a tough one to figure out using some of the transitive kinds of comparisons that are often done. Since the move to the Hoosier Conference, LCC has ended up being in a situation where very few direct or even transitive comparisons can be made given their playlist. LCC will not play a 1A team until the tourney and that tends to be the way it has been. There are also very few transitive comparisons too as most of the teams that LCC plays in the HC won't play 1A teams during their seasons ... the exception typically being Cass out of the HC East, who typically has played Pioneer as part of their regular schedule, but even then it's only every few years that LCC will play Cass as part of the crossover side of the conference. LCC's standard West competition is West Lafayette, currently ranked top 5 in 3A, RCHS, currently ranked top 10 in 2A, Twin Lakes and Benton Central in 3A. Their add-on schedule was Guerin, ranked top 10 3A, and TriWest in 3A. They also had a nice showing against Tipton who lost to 2A #1, Cass, 28-7. This week's game at RCHS will probably tell a lot more about how seriously coming out of north 1A would be for the Knights. LCC's been in a building phase for the past three seasons, with two coaches and an interim coach in that time, but there's a gel that's starting to form under Nay's leadership that's getting the Knights back to increased competitiveness. With Pioneer now up in 2A, potentially LCC has a realistic shot at getting to semi-state and, should they get to that level, the odds increase more of getting back to LOS. Again, I think a lot rides on how LCC plays RCHS this Friday.

I'd be more concerned about some of the utterances on the sideline from irate coaches who might conjecture where the ref could put that down marker after making a call against the home team. 😄

Got a guy that'll sell them to you for $99.95 ... numbers go 5-8 though.

Now if they could just develop technology to figure out how to seed a sectional, we'd be all set.

Should hold up really well this season. LCC only ends up with three home games this regular season and two have already been played. Got a chance to play on it last night with the youth program and it was nice.

1 Point Games Rensselaer @ West Lafayette Hamilton Heights @ Western Cass @ Northwestern Tipton @ Lafayette Central Catholic Benton Central @ Twin Lakes 2 Point Game Lowell @ Kankakee Valley 3 Point Games Indianapolis Attucks @ Pioneer Triton @ Culver Covington @ Seeger Center Grove @ North Central Clinton Prairie @ Sheridan Frankton @ Elwood

Investing in some anti-aircraft guns wouldn't hurt either. 😀

I don't question the work ethic of younger people in society when it comes to referees. Have had the distinct pleasure of coaching ... now in my 18th season ... youth football and have gotten to know the refs up close and personal. Our games are a great place to train younger or new officials and I've been able to see many over the seasons work the trade. As a coach, you sometimes get so grief from parents, fans, etc., but it tends to be specific like "Why isn't my kid getting to carry the ball?" or "How come my kid only played on defense during the game?" Refs often seem to get what I call "drive-by" grief. Usually indiscriminate and almost always based on a lack of understanding of rules by the fans, parents, etc. Sometimes it's just a lack of realizing that, in a youth game, the second-string flanker on the far right-hand side of the field playing slap-fight, patty-cake with the third-string cornerback while the team runs a wide left-hand sweep doesn't warrant putting laundry on the field. I wouldn't say it's a lack of work ethic as I've been quite pleased with the fact that these younger refs are taking time on the weekends when they could be running with their college buddies to come out and help us coaches give back to the community. I've been happy with their performance and therir desire to not just show up, but to do the job right too. It may, more likely, be a lack of tolerance for cr*p and BS from folks who themselves don't have the work ethic to come out and do the job, but feel that their "ticket" grants them the right to be part of the show.

With the victory over Tipton, that pretty much puts Cass in the driver's seat in the HC East with only Western to potentially keep Cass from getting to dance with West Lafayette, who has pretty much already sent notice that the bus is parked already in the West, two out of the last three weeks of the regular season. Would probably have to wait until regionals to see Cass and RCHS mix it up on the gridiron provided that both make it out of their respective sectionals.

It was a 1A game between Avinger and Yantis last year, but I believe it was basketball.

Good article in JCOnline spotlighting LCC's Daniel Roach: https://www.jconline.com/story/sports/2019/09/11/daniel-roach-central-catholics-iron-man/2283193001/ ... some free access, but behind a paywall after a few free accesses of JCOnline I have a video of him making a pick on a trips right formation back when he was in 3rd grade ... it made one of the finalist slots in the Dick's Sporting Goods contest that year for sports videos. Really good field sense even all the way back then .

There is much to learn from @CoachDurham young grasshopper! 😀