foxbat

Especially those several years when it was two teams in the Top 5 butting heads early ... even occasionally #1 vs. #2.

Around here, there are noticeable exodus points from the Catholic schools to the public ranks: After 2nd grade. Some parents have their kids in Catholic school until they make First Communion. After 3rd grade. This is a natural break point between two of the three Catholic elementary schools, so some kids head to public schools in the split between schools which is 3rd/4th grade split. After 6th grade. Junior high tuition is costlier than the elementary tuition. It's not a huge jump, only about $1,000, but it also ends up being a natural age point for some of the public middle schools/junior highs too. After 8th grade. Cost differential between junior and senior is about $2,300. Natural break point for folks in general. As a former youth coach at LCC, while there are a lot of kids that go through the Catholic elementary schools and end up on the LCC high school team, there are also a decent number of them that end up on the public school teams too ... and around here, there are two 5A, a 6A, and a 3A school all within about five miles of LCC ... not to mention a Christian high school too.

Lutheran avoids getting Scecina'd by virtue of their loss to Covenant Christian last week. West Washington could also join LCC if they win out in the south and then win at LOS. Pioneer will also stay up in 2A for another couple of years setting up a potential match-up of 1A sectional/regional foes in 2A post season.

At a minimum, it would have forced the IHSAA to have made the policy known at least a week earlier as NJSP would have hosted the sectional championship and two home games. LCC, to that point, had hosted one at home and had been away with the COVID forfeit in the balance. LCC would have hosted regional if it was policy as normal and NJSP would have hosted if a COVID forfeit counts as a home game for the last team standing.

If you go literally by the rules or even by logistics scheduling, what you run into is the semi-state asterisks: *Regional non-host, if applicable, or higher sectional # (i.e., Sect. 2 is higher than Sect. 1). *If regional winner has not hosted either sectional final or regional, that school will be the designated host. Both LCC and South Adams did not host for the regional. South Adams hosted for sectional championships. Of course, there could be the "invisible" asterisks which says that says "if your opponent forfeits later on down the road, you pick up a hosting position." 👍

The items that I put in the post were from the IHSAA.org website ... in the tournament pairings area which talks about the pairings show, the pairings, and the rules for hosting. There's nothing that signifies any special treatment in altering home/away based on forfeits, COVID, etc. Even if the bye thing applied down the line, it wouldn't have impacted LCC because, even with a bye, LCC played away at Winamac the week AFTER their bye. In other words, whether LCC was at home or on the road for the game that was forfeited, LCC would have played at Winamac. As I stated in my original post covering this, "The only way that South Adams would serve as host is if you altered LCC's away game with TPCS and not only gave the a win, but also changed the bracket and made them home. In that case, South Adams would be home for semi-state because they are Sectional 43, the higher section number, and LCC is sectional 42." This may well be where the IHSAA is going with this if it's going to be scheduled at South Adams now, but it also seems odd that there's no mention or addendum on the IHSAA site, at least as of a couple of days ago, as to how they were handling forfeits which would lead you to believe it was as usual. With that said, I don't know what the IHSAA sends to its member schools, so the only thing the common guys have to go on is what's on their site.

Dang it! Out of laughing emojis. 😀

Always loved playing on this field with the youth program ... even before the new grass/drainage. It's even better now. Facilities are also nice too. Drains really well and like you said, plays fast like turf ... but without the turf toe and brushburns. Holds up really well in a regular season ... have to imagine it's in great shape with only two home games so far this season and the last one being almost a month ago come gametime.

LCC didn't really have any major bumps and bruises to heal ... at least any that were consequential. As for another week to practice and get in better rhythm, they would have had that with or without a bye ... assuming that they won the game. And if they didn't win, then they basically had the entire off-season to get in better rhythm. Frankly, and I'm not trying to speak for LCC here, but if they had to have a bye in one of the three games for the sectionals, TPCS isn't the opponent that I would say provides the most "benefit" to miss. Not a knock against Frontier and Clinton Central, but they are very familiar foes to LCC over the years. When you get to post-season the undoing of many teams is seeing stuff that they haven't seen. One of the benefits that LCC has of being in the Hoosier Conference as well as the, usual opening games against the likes of Guerin and Tri-West, is the ability to see LOTS of different schemes offensively and defensively. LCC saw TPCS for the first time last season in a tightly-contested game ... at least through the first half ... where TPCS took a one-point lead into the locker room at the half. TPCS is not the same team this year as last year and TPCS lost to Frontier earlier in the season; however, I think LCC would have benefited from seeing TPCS live in a game beyond any "benefit" they may have gotten by sitting idle. Having coached just about every one of those kids I can pretty much tell you that none of them was happy about getting that bye and were probably antsy as all heck on that night wishing that they could have been on the field playing someone. Again, recall, this is a team that had to sit idle the first two weeks of the season while the rest of the state started playing, missed their rivalry game, finally started their season, then had to stop it again, then started it again, and then stalled it again with a bye. We're finally at semi-state and LCC still hasn't played a full season yet.

It'd be nice if Jeff would pick up steam in 6A as 1A LCC and Jeff are less than a mile apart on the same road. LCC and West Lafayette are about four miles apart and both won state back in 2009 and both appeared at LOS in 2015 with LCC winning and WL dropping their bid against Chatard. Back in 2011, both teams made it to semi-state ... LCC advanced to a three-peat win at LOS, while WL dropped their semi-state bid to South Bend St. Joe.

I'm kind of interested in Covenant Christian at this point. I followed them a bit last season, but Lutheran stole most of the light with their juggernaut out of the south. While I had Covenant Christian in my Top 10 in the GID poll this season due to their week in and week out, I had been concerned about their SOS ... although their late-September 2TD victory over 2A Heritage Christian helped alleviate that concern as well as their recent knock-off of Lutheran who had a 2TD point differential in Sagarin. Lutheran was pretty solid last season and also pretty balanced across the board. Is their anyone who can speak to Lutheran last year vs. how they looked this year? That would help me get a better feel for Covenant Christian this season.

Is that you Pat Paulsen? 🙂

I've not heard anything on that end, but I know that Tippecanoe County is having a spike in COVID cases. Purdue will be emptying out soon, but not until Thanksgiving.

That's incorrect. Sectionals hosting per IHSAA - First Round: The second-named team in the blind draw is host school unless the two teams agree to switch the site. Semifinals: The team without a home game will host. Exception: The bye team will always be the visitor. If both teams were hosts or both were visitors, the second-named team in the quarter bracket will host. In 6A & 5A, in the four team sectionals, the second-named team will host. Championships: Host team will be the team that has played the most away games. If both teams have played the same number of away games, the bottom bracket team shall host. First round - LCC got home for first game because of ping pong balls. Semifinals - LCC plays on the road because Clinton Central played away the first game, so they get to be home because LCC was home the week before. Championships - Trader's Point would have been home team vs. Clinton Prairie in semifinals because both teams were on the road in first round and Trader's Point was the second named team ... the lower bracket team. Clinton Prairie forfeited due to COVID, giving TPCS a home win in semifinals and since LCC and TPCS both had the same number of away games, TPCS was given home field advantage for the championship game. As such, LCC would have been the visiting team. LCC defeats TPCS when TPCS forfeits due to COVID. Regionals hosting per IHSAA - Classes A, 3A & 5A Sectional final game non-host, if applicable, or lower sectional # (i.e., Sect. 1 is lower than Sect. 2). LCC was non-host in the sectional final game. Whether they played or not, they would have still been the non-host and winner to have reached regionals. Winamac was also the non-host for the Sectional Championship game. LCC has the disadvantage here because Section 41, Winamac's section, is lower than LCC's section, 42, ... Winamac gets the host position due to the fact that they have the lower section. Classes A, 3A & 5A *Regional non-host, if applicable, or higher sectional # (i.e., Sect. 2 is higher than Sect. 1). *If regional winner has not hosted either sectional final or regional, that school will be the designated host. LCC was regional non-host. South Adams was also non-host. However, South Adams hosted a sectional final whereas LCC was scheduled to be away for the sectional. By the last decider, "If regional winner has not hosted either sectional final or regional, that school will be the designated host," LCC serves as host. The only way that South Adams would serve as host is if you altered LCC's away game with TPCS and not only gave the a win, but also changed the bracket and made them home. In that case, South Adams would be home for semi-state because they are Sectional 43, the higher section number, and LCC is sectional 42.

Yeah, that's it. *smh* Probably just be easier staying at a Holiday Inn the night before. Cov Christian is a 1-point Sagarin favorite over Lutheran. Lutheran dropped the game by game by 8. Nothing close or advantageous for Lutheran who had a bye. You could maybe make an argument that Winamac benefited with a bye before they beat North Judson, except said two-week bye advantage, which is actually what you original post was based on, didn't help again LCC. Matter of fact, LCC is a 5-point differential over Winamac which is exactly what they won by so LCC's break didn't help any and Winamac's two-week break also didn't help. Maybe the dueling byes, even though one was one-week and one was two-week cancel out. Then again though, that doesn't match up with the premise that a bye two weeks ago is beneficial. Parke Heritage is an 8-point differential ... they dropped their game by 3. That might be the closest argument. 5 points Park Tudor is a 36-point differential. They lost by 32 points. 32 or 36, there's nothing close about that. Matter of fact, given that Park Tudor picked up 6 in the 4th quarter after going scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd says that the gap would have been wider had it not been for JV play. Unless you want to argue that the bye the week before gave Park Tudor the extra energy to push forward for that 4th quarter TD. As with Winamac, you can make an argument that Madison Grant's bye helped them overcome a 2-point differential in a win over Tri-Central by 16. But again, your initial premise was that a bye two weeks ago gives an advantage. MG was a 49-point underdog to South Adams. They lost by 48. NCF was a 39-point underdog. Their game after their bye produced a 56-point shutout. If we are keeping score at home, an argument can be made that 2 teams won games that they were supposed to lose, one closed the gap to 5 points from 8 but still lost, and for five they lost like they were supposed to or worse in those eight games for six teams that @gonzoron pointed out that had byes and are out. Of the ones that had a two-week bye "advantage," Winamac, Madison-Grant, and LCC ... which isn't part of the six above ... LCC is the only one still standing. And it won its game against Winamac by the same 5 points that it was supposed to. Winamac lost by the same points they were supposed to and so did Madison Grant. In essence, having the bye, especially the two-week bye that the initial post pointed to produces not advantage or disadvantage based on the data points.

Are you serious? These are all teams 1A teams, the ones that supposedly benefit the most from byes, that had byes in the post-season, and lost. The data which, by your own admission you were too lazy to look up, does not support the statement ... especially as it applies to 1A which you specifically claimed it heavily applied to.

That was @temptationthat quoted that ... not me. 🙂

Which other night? Winimac? In watching LCC at Winimac, a game that LCC won by 5 and which ended with Winamc sitting on LCC's 20 or 25 with a shot at a winning score on the last play of the game, I'd consider the LCC play rusty compared to previous post-season runs ... 2017 notwithstanding. Did LCC have "flashes of brilliance?" Possibly. Did they have flashes of inconsistency? Most definitely. Any advantage that LCC has in the upcoming game with SA isn't based on any "perceived" break and "freshness," but on sheer grit and having been, as a program, someone that's "been there, done that." And anyone who believes that LCC, should they win, did so because they had a bye is kidding themselves and also not giving the LCC program credit for what they are and are capable of. By the way, I'd consider SA to be healthy, hungry, and as fresh as they need to be every bit as much competitive in this game. As a matter of fact, given the fact that they missed out facing LCC last season due to being knocked out by Adams Central, I'd consider them to be VERY hungry as they are playing with the ghost of what-could-have-been sitting on their shoulder. If LCC wins, it will be tied to gutsy play and experience, not a bye. Should SA win, it will be based on being the better team and due to their persistence in seeing this season through to its maximum end. In both cases, it will be because of the teams themselves and not any external forces.

LCC has played FIVE fewer games ... and I can't imagine anyone, especially LCC, considering that a benefit. Maybe if you were talking about one single game, it might warrant consideration, but I'm pretty sure that there are very few, if any, competitive football teams that would consider not playing in a sectional championship, after having delayed a season and then having a break in the middle of the season, to be any kind of help at all.

Correct, Guerin Catholic played in semi-state against Fountain Central in 1A back in 2010 ... dropping that game 22-20. They followed that up by also appearing in semi-state in 2011 against Mater Dei in 2A .. dropping that game 27-16. They may be one of the quickest teams to traverse classes as well starting in 1A in 2006, moving to 2A in 2011, and then 3A in 2013.

LCC played their very first game of post-season at home and has been on the road for the other/last two. They've played 1 of 3 at home; one-third. SA has played 2 of 4 at home; half. The bye from the week before, in conjunction with Winamac's schedule CAUSED LCC to be on the road against Winamac this past weekend as LCC was considered home team in a game that they didn't even get to play. Even tossing in the bye/forfeit as a win, both teams played half of their games at home. Based on IHSAA rules even at half, which is actually being applied, LCC would still be home team ... unless it was last year or next year because the idea of lower/upper bracket alternates each year.

Linton had that young lady several years ago who was their placekicker ... and very successful too. LCC also had a young lady who played on their team and recently graduated who now attends Purdue. A young lady who played youth ball for me several years ago at LCC along with her brothers, but attended another high school, is now a student in one of my classes at Purdue this semester.

That's likely to be the case too in many of the big high schools; especially in one-high-school districts.

Never count out LCC; especially at home. Pioneer beat LCC at LaRocca back in 2018 in a sectional championship and then moved up to 2A. The last team to bump off the Knights at home before that was Sheridan, a decade before in 2008, in a sectional contest 34-28. With that said, as @dazed and confused points out, LCC missed several games this season due to COVID and, those games also were not all in a row. As such, LCC's season looked like stop-start-stop-start-stop-start which really can't be good for continuity or getting traction. Also, the games that were missed were a couple of biggies like Guerin, Tri-West, and a sectional championship due to COVID when an opponent had to drop out. I'm not sure that SA is considered the underdog in this one as Harrell gives them around 85% to win semi-state. Similarly, Sagarin is showing a differential, in SA's favor, of some 33 points. The one advantage, albeit slight, that LCC has on paper is that its schedule strength is the highest in 1A of the remaining teams ... but just thinly over SA. I think, given the lack of data points and even the data points that do exist being fuzzy in terms of predictive value, if LCC wins, it will likely be more based on sheer grit than on bankable/predictable data points.