foxbat

Roncalli?

OK, nothing else to see here. Everyone move along.

I hadn't really followed Plainfield until this year. They played a good game with really nice stunt packages on defense. Passing game was good on the sidelines. Their first score came on a short field after Harrison missed the stunt and had a punt blocked that Plainfield recovered at the 8 yard line. After that, it took them until the end of the game to make it close. Harrison had a couple of field goal opportunities that they didn't take including a last-play opportunity in the first half that instead turned into a pick at the goal line that could have put that game away earlier if converted. Again, without following Plainfield, I'm not sure how they fare as a program. One other data point that perhaps points to the program as a whole being somewhat solid is the next day, Harrison's JV played Plainfield and only won 14-8. The previous week, they played West Lafayette's JV and literally named their score 47-0 to honor Omarion Dixon, #47 when he played at Harrison, who was one of the survivor's of the ISU football players' car crash.

Particularly impressive when you realize that SOC is only about 1,200 students ... Duncanville's about a shade under 3,800.

Do we have any indications of how many Catholics are attending Covenant? I don't know that it would likely be a significant number, much less a significant number to hurt Ritter. The vast majority of practicing Catholics that attend private schools at the high school level tend to attend Catholic or Catholic-themed schools as opposed to more general Christian schools when there is a Catholic option available. While I can certainly see Catholic students from Ritter heading to Guerin or Chatard or even Cathedral, which is actually a private school with a Catholic culture/flavor, that would have an impact on Ritter, I'd be very surprised if there was a discernible impact in Catholic students from Ritter going to Covenant and even more surprised if it had any measurable impact on Ritter's football team.

Nowadays St. Aug kind of goes back and forth on football. Last year I think they made it to the semis before being bounced. Back in the 60s/70s when I would watch them play, and run the sidelines as a ball/water boy, back in the Coach Otis Washington days, St. Aug was a powerhouse team often vying down to the last game of the season with Brother Martin or Archbishop Rummel to figure out the conference winner. Even back then, about half the folks in the stands were there to see the game and the other half was there to see the halftime show. One thing was sure, you always got your money's worth from the halftime show. The game was just gravy.

Interception on last play by Harrison preserves the win 22-14. Final.

Harrison picks up the first and a TD with 39 secs left. Penalty after the play turns the PAT into a 35 yard attempt which is no good. Harrison leads 22-14 with 29 seconds left in game.

Plainfield draws closer. 16-14. Harrison with the ballva 1:16 to kill on the clock. On Plainfield's 35.

Harrison 16 - Plainfield 7 start of 4Q.

Harrison knocking on the door, but throws a pick at the goal line on last play of half. Leads Plainfield 16-7. Harrison will receive to start the second half.

Harrison with a couple TDs and a 37-yard FG. Leads Plainfield 16-7 with 2 mins left in 2Q.

It's not just private schools. There was a parent in this area that shopped his kid around pretty much from the time the kid was junior high. If I recall correctly from the various folks in the know, he'd looked into 2-3 junior highs and at least 4 high schools.

This is a cool match-up. I'll have to see if I can catch this one. St. Aug is my dad's and uncle's alma mater and I would have attended too if we hadn't moved to Texas back when I was in junior high. It's an all-boys, Josephite Catholic school with strong traditions. DeSoto's one of the perennial powerhouse teams out of the Dallas area. It'll be a clash of city vs. suburbs, p/p vs. public, big vs. medium. Fun fact: Around 1 out of 6 of St. Aug's students are IN THE BAND ... The Marching 100. "Alma Mater, St. Augustine, Alma Mater, Josephite High;"

2 Point Games North Newton @ Rensselaer Seeger @ Benton Central Clay @ Twin Lakes Tipton @ Elwood West Lafayette @ McCutcheon Western @ Western Boone 3 Point Games Maconaquah @ Cass Northwestern @ Eastern Hamilton Heights @ North Montgomery Guerin @ Central Catholic Attica @ Tri-County Sheridan @ Clinton Central

I knew that TL had slipped a bit last season and took some beatings, but in their couple wins seemed to have handled Northwestern and Benton Central fairly comfortably whereas Northwestern's closest games were an 8-6 loss to BC and a 26-20 loss to Cass. It appears that Northwestern really got to work in the off-season. Looks like we'll get a chance to see how much improvement happens as they square off with Eastern and LCC in the next two games. On the other hand, TL will get a little respite against Clay this week before Tipton comes to town the following week.

Anyone have insights on Twin Lakes - Northwestern? Looks like it caught almost everyone by surprise.

Or a blue Ford Escort.

A couple of teams ended up with some weird SF treatment this last cycle. It appears that the IHSAA used 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 as the reference time, even though some teams were bumped for the 2020-2021 season based on previous cycles that included the 2019-2020 season. Pioneer, in 2A since 2019 season, had 2 points in 2019-2020 and none in 2020-2021 for a total of 2 points. They moved down to 1A. LCC was bumped to 2A in the 2021 season. They picked up 1 point. They had 4 points that they had gotten in 1A in the 2019 season and 2 points in the 2020 season in 1A. These 6 points bumped LCC to 2A for the 2021 season. LCC received 1 point in 2A while Pioneer had 2 points in 2A, yet LCC was kept up in 2A and Pioneer came down to 1A. Chatard received 4 points in 3A in 2019-2020 and 4 points in 3A in 2020-2021 for a total of 8 points. They were bumped up to 4A in 2021. Despite the IHSAA page saying that they would move up to 4A for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, using Rule 2.5 ... which is the same rule cited for LCC staying in 2A, Chatard is back down in 3A again this season. https://www.ihsaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/football_success_totals_2019-20_2020-21.pdf

It's like the tagline on @CoachVeatch's posts: “You’re either coaching it, or you’re allowing it to happen.”

Saw the WL - Harrison game last night. WL looks good this year. Harrison had four turnovers in the 2nd half alone including a pair of picks in the red zone and a fumbled kickoff after a WL score. WL's quick and runs A LOT of outside stuff from the backfield. They seemed to be less successful in the middle, except with Mullis the big QB carrying. Mullis is probably pushing 200 lbs. and looks like a fullback/lineback in the backfield. Fast and hard to bring down. Fairly varied passing game. As they've done in the past, they also get to that no-huddle offense fairly quickly. On defense, Harrison was having success between the tackles and I'm not sure why they strayed from that. WL will need to shore that up; however, in fairness, they were playing a 5A line. WL should be in decent shape for 3A as many teams are not going to be able to keep up with the speed on the corners/ends and are going to have trouble running no-huddle for most of the game ... a WL staple. Most 3A are also not going to have defensive lines/boxes that are sized to stifle WL, so they may have more success in the middle.

LCC and Seeger played a couple of times in the mid-2000s, 2004/2006. Seeger bounced up to 2A shortly after and then back down to 1A and back up to 2A again, but the two teams haven't come across each in post season for just under a couple of decades. Not sure why LCC scheduled Seeger other than necessity to pick up an OOC game since the contract with Tri-West had expired. Being in the same sectional, they may get a shot to meet again. Fun fact: Despite the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana spanning 24 counties, there are only two Catholic high schools in the diocese: LCC, the older brother, and Guerin, the younger brother. They play annually for the Bishop's Cannon and, at the game, the bishop of the diocese sits on one side for half the game and then switches sides at the half to support both schools.

Any news on the LCC game from last night? I another thread, someone had posted that there were some shoving matches and extra curricular activity going on. Heading out to eat with my daughter and her fiancee, but will weigh in a bit later on on West Lafayette's game last night. The rumors of them graduating a lot of guys and being a question mark were just that ... rumors. They will be a force ... easily in the HC and predominantly in 3A ... as long as they don't get out over their skis.

Harrison falls to WL 27-14. Final.