foxbat

Here's all the mental edge that Dwenger needs. And if you need something specific, it's that first game of the year where you figure out with your kids everything that you/they could have done that would have turned that L into a W, and then you make every minute count toward making sure that they are corrected so that there aren't any regrets come end of game at LOS. Focusing on bulletin bioard stuff as mild as a team talking about celebrating their season detracts from that. A lesson in life says that you control what you can in life and you leave the rest outside. That would be the impression I'd want to leave on my kids.

Any coach worth their salt doesn't rely on that kind of post to fire up his team and doesn't spend "spinning" something this small. Dwenger knows who they themselves are and they will act, prep, and play "like they've been there before." I would trust that a team like Dwenger, and their coaches, get all the motivation they need from themselves and wouldn't waste time looking for or worrying about "bulletin board material." Given what Roncalli has accomplished from the start of this season to now, win or lose, they should be celebrating the season. Like others have said, the way IHSAA does things, unless you are the last game of the day, you are lucky if you get a little room down in the endzone on the first deck where you can meet up with your kids ... and even then, you don't get to do it as a team or community. 😄

This makes the assumption that they won't split schools though, right? Case in point, go back and look at Plano in Texas or schools like Mesquite which were north Texas powerhouses back in the 70s/80s. A major issue back in the day were that schools like those looked like Carmel does compared to the rest. Today, Plano, for example, has six 9th/10th high schools that feed three 11th/12th grade high schools, whereas in the past it was just Plano High School. Mesquite has five high schools when back in the day it was just Mesquite and then, eventually, North Mesquite opened up around the early 70s. Those schools dominated when they were singular entities. They are still strong programs, but not like the old days when the mention of Dallas pretty much meant the four horseman with Plano, Mesquite, Highland Park, and Richardson.

Have not seen Dwenger play yet, but saw Roncalli in Week 8. Two words come to mind ... sledgehammer and scalpel. They can be quite surgical in execution, but also quite blunt. The thing that impressed me most was the crispness of execution across the board. I suspect the game will come down to how well Dwenger's defense performs as I would certainly give offensive advantage to Roncalli and not just in a single dimension. As someone earlier in the thread alluded to, they have a thunder and lightning running tandem out of the backfield and their QB's no slouch if he carries the ball too. In the passing attack, they complete a bit under 2 of every 3 passes and average 15+ yards per catch.

Mishawaka Marian was one of the first to do it. I think they tried to move up from 1A to 3A, but IHSAA only allowed them a single class jump at the time although they currently reside in 3A by enrollment. I'm drawing a blank, but there was someone else, I want to say in 4A, that petitioned to move up, although I believe they have since moved back down. Maybe Mishawaka HS?

That Jarvis kid is definitely "the right people." It was quite enjoyable watching him run ... even if it was all over Harrison when they played here.

LCC would not be bottom 32 if they were back in 1A. Roughly 283 is the current bottom 32, but there's also the issue that there's a tie for two teams at 283 and Faith Christian is tournament eligible this year, so 281 is likely the cutoff for bottom 32. LCC's currently sitting around 302 and younger classes look bigger than older classes, so likely trending upward if that continues. Given that number, there will still be roughly 25 teams ahead of LCC when they return to 1A with regard to enrollment including folks like Carroll, Sheridan, South Adams, LaVille, and South Putnam. Regarding Lutheran, they were always on the bottom half of 1A, including when they were bumped up and had their runs. Lutheran's currently around 267 by last classification from IHSAA. 267 would put them in the bottom 32 of 1A should they return. They would join other lower-32 p/p programs in 1A including Blackhawk Christian, Greenwood Christian Academy, and Bowman which is a charter school. Faith Christian would also likely join that group once they are tournament eligible. In general terms of records, none of those teams was a threat to the sanctity of 1A as a public school haven. Respective records were: Blackhawk Christian -- 0-10, but played a decently solid schedule Greenwood Christian -- 2-8, one win was over Faith Christian Bowman Academy -- 6-5 Faith Christian -- 2-7 Regarding the Pioneer run, in rolling evaluation, Pioneer would have bumped up for 2018 having received a red ring in 2016 and a blue one in 2017. I'd go out on a limb and say that, had Pioneer moved up to 2A in 2018, they would have likely made it to LOS. The reasoning is that they beat Cass 44-0 in the regular season and Cass lost the sectional to Eastbrook by just 2 points. Eastbrook then turned around and handily won the regional against Lapel and then squeaked by Bremen in semi. They eventually lost to WeBo at LOS by a couple of TDs. The Way Back Machine, I mean the GID Predictor, says Pioneer would have been a TD favorite to take 2A state in 2018 if they had been bumped up due to rolling evals.

I'm going to definitely defer to you on this since NJSP has had the opportunity to see Pioneer up close and personal this season. Unfortunately, most of my in-person viewing this season was in 6A and I didn't get opportunity to watch some one 1A ball this season. Quite a shame too as I love 1A/2A ball. I recall the old days when LCC's defenses were lights out; especially in getting to QBs and never giving anyone's passing game an opportunity to firm up in a game. One a slightly different note, I'm happy to see Pioneer getting back into form again and being a threat. For a while, I was a little worried that Success Factor had crippled their program. Glad to see that that didn't happen and that they'll be a name to discuss this season ... that is unless South Adams beats them tomorrow night.

The problem with the idea that there's ALWAYS a bad end of the bell curve is exactly why that idea of a one-size fits all approach, e.g., NO P/P in 1A, is one that "I'm gonna have to disagree with." Similarly, while class by enrollment has ALWAYS been "the way," it can be a starting point, but can be, and has been, modified, without using a sledgehammer approach of ALL. Frankly, if we have Success Factor, I'm not sure why we can't have reverse Success Factor ... i.e., provide for a team to move down when performance just isn't attainable or sustainable. We already have it in part for teams that have been upwardly impacted by Success factor, but it could be broadened. I think the biggest thing currently standing in the way of this is the potential "stigma," associated with moving down because so much has been ingrained in the enrollment classification and there's some school of thought that says, for example, if you are 3A, but having to compete at 2A, that you are "not a man." I think the idea is misguided, but then again, I'm not the AD, principal, or players at the schools. One solution to that idea is to provide the opportunity to drop, but let the school make the call on whether they want to move down or not. We already do that on the other side and some programs have opted to stay up or move up. It's not a lot, but the option still exists. The main argument against that I keep hearing is that it would require more work in setting sectionals, but we already started down that path with Success Factor, then increased it with changing the stay/move down numbers ... now three times in the past decade or so ... and now introducing the rolling assessment periods. In essence, it already is taking more time than it would just going by enrollment and, in a sense, most of the heavy lifting has already occurred and been [somewhat] hammered out with that task over the past decade or so. I can also tell you, being a tech person, that there's easily a way to automate the assignment of sections/regions on the fly each season without a bunch of hand-wringing either ... especially with an all-in format ... that would easily allow for the continued idea of moving toward a performance-based model as opposed to a more artificial model based on enrollment perceptions or perceptions on the p/p aspect too. One-size fits all is certainly expedient, but as you point out yourself, the world is not all +/- 1 standard deviation ... matter of fact we'll be discussing that in class today and talking about the use of technology to better address things that are outside of +/- 1 standard deviation. With a little technology to help and a little creative thinking, it's really not all that hard to come up with a better system that better serves the sport, but probably more importantly the folks that put the time in on the field day in and day out: the coaches and the players.

Anyone have insight on Pioneer's D-Line? The way to stop a passing attack in 1A tends to be with a D-Line that penetrates. Forget zone, forget man coverage. If that front line is constantly showing up for dinner in the backfield, unless that QB's mobile as hell, in 1A that's the way to control a passing attack.

Think I'm gonna have to disagree with this.

Lutheran stays as they have a regional and sectional in 2A ... 3 points and stay. Would have been fun to watch them and LCC go after each other again ... maybe.

Use to be 4, then it was 2, now it's 3. If it was 2 originally, LCC would have stayed in 2A instead of dropping back down to 1A and picking up a couple of state titles back in 2015 and 2019 before heading back to 2A.

Wow!

This has been part and parcel for the IHSAA and Chatard. if they aren't in a sectional of death with 2-3 other p/p schools in 3A, they are stuffed in a sectional with Roncalli or Cathedral come SF movements. Edit: Just read @Lysander's post. Same wavelength.

U - G - L - Y

Likely all over and not even the half.

MaxPreps has the teams and rankings here: https://www.maxpreps.com/in/football/rankings/1/?teamsize=8. I don't think MaxPreps does the bracket/tourney for 8-man like they do for 11-man, but you can go to each of the teams and kind of piece together who played who so far. That game right there, Waldron and Tri-State, looks like it would be a doozie. Last time they played, Waldron won it 22-16 and accounted for Tri-State's only defeat this season.