SEAL_63

Friday, Oct. 18 Mount Vernon at Jasper ©, 7 pm Vincennes at Princeton ©, 7 pm Washington at North Knox, 6 pm Seems fitting that the crowning of the final Big 8 champion will come down to the last night of football ever within the conference. In 1985, just 5 seasons after the Big 8’s inception, Mt. Vernon and Jasper began playing on the final weekend of the regular season. Of those 35 meetings since, none will be bigger than the one this Friday at Alumni Stadium. Both are undefeated in league play heading in, which hasn’t happened since 1990 when the two faced off in a Jasper victory. MV is without a doubt the surprise team of the year within the conference and maybe even the whole area. They’re sitting at (6-2) and are looking for their first Big 8 title ever! Problem is... they haven’t beaten Jasper since 1989. So as much fun as it would be to see a monumental upset, I think the Cats wins pretty handily here. - Lincoln looks to take care of business while making self improvements going into postseason. The Alices should win big. - NK rolls over the Hatchets

MV/ SR stands out to me. A game the Raiders should win but will need to be ready to play. MV sneaky good this season.

Lincoln 14, Mt Carmel 6 Final Big win for the Alices. Defense comes up huge as they have all year. MC starting RB did leave the game with a lower leg injury as did Haislip for Lincoln

Totally possible. It will definitely be a good measuring stick of where this team is at. Have you seen MC play?

JH Predictions Boonville 35, SS 21 Jasper 45, Washington 7 VL/ MC no prediction MV 42, Princeton 17 Massey Boonville 42, SS 13 Jasper 42, Washington 0 MC 27, VL 24 MV 42, Princeton 14

Been a busy week! Better late than never for those who care! Just two weeks remain of regular season play for the Big 8 Conference. Friday, Oct. 11 Boonville at South Spencer, 7 pm Jasper at Washington ©, 6:30 pm Mount Carmel (Ill.) at Vincennes, 7 pm Princeton at Mount Vernon ©, 7 pm Lincoln facing Mt. Carmel for the final time (as a non-conference opponent) is the only competitive matchup this week. The Aces are having a fantastic season coming to Inman at 6-0, but their toughest test was a home win vs Mt Vernon 30-24. The Alices of course suffered their worst defeat of the season to MV, but have been much improved in the 3 weeks since. It’s a toss-up so I’m taking the home team. Boonville ends their regular season with a rout. (No replacement for Mt Carmel) Jasper rolls Mount Vernon wins big, setting the stage for a Week 9 matchup with Jasper for all the marbles.

I was just told the Hatchets had some kids quit and that there were several injuries that knocked them down to under 20 active players. I learned today that they did send film to the Lincoln staff. So evidently there will be football this Friday. As far as the Pikers, all I knew was what I read in another thread.

This would be an outstanding matchup given what transpired last Friday. Jasper is as good, if not close to HH in the trenches. And related to forfeitures...I heard earlier in the week that Washington could be in the same boat as Pike Central with only 16 on the roster. So far, nothing’s been mentioned about a cancellation so I hope it doesn’t happen.

Friday, Oct. 4 Boonville at Princeton ©, 7 pm Washington at Vincennes ©, 6:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 5 Mount Vernon at Scottsburg, 2 pm Nothing much to watch this week. Boonville wins easily. Lincoln rolls. MV over Scottsburg Jasper is idle

Castle Mater Dei Central North

Agreed. What a way to end the series between these two. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t ugly at times, but it was good smash mouth football. Lots of penalties on both sides, some of them legit, some not so much. Some were just a result of the emotion that this rivalry brings. NK had a TD called back late in the first half on a holding call I believe. That proved very costly. Both teams were effective with their offenses and moved the ball well. Turnovers and penalties though squandered some good drives. I was very impressed with Hammelman. He adds an extra dimension to the Warriors that I haven’t seen since the series was renewed 5 years ago. And of course the shifty pair of Doades and Richter. Add that offensive line and you understand why they’ve steamrolled their competition and are just 9 pts away from being undefeated. A very good team to watch in 2A. Lincoln had their moments throwing the ball tonight, but were more successful on the ground. NK had pressure on Vickers much of the game so it was tough to get the passing game going with any consistency. So the 2nd half saw the Alices go to a formation Lincoln fans haven’t seen in over a decade, the Power I. And it was effective to say the least. The running game, that has been hit or miss all season, suddenly had a steadiness to it. They even threw out of it several times with some good results. So a great win for the Alices. This was one they wanted bad and you could tell. Within Knox county, NK has the reputation as the grittier, hard-nosed program while VL is more finesse. I think the Alices pushed back a little tonight because that’s what it took to win. It’s been good times in the last 5 seasons watching these teams! Good luck Warriors in the future!

VL 12, NK 6 Final

IMO, we will learn more about GS than HH this Friday. This was an even matchup a year ago in the sectional semis. We know both teams are fundamentally sound, won’t beat themselves. But if GS is truly above the rest like Memorial was the past two seasons, they should win going away. Not a knock on HH at all, but a rather a testament to GS expectations.

Friday, Sep. 27 Crispus Attucks at Washington, 7 pm Mount Vernon at Boonville ©, 7 pm Princeton at Jasper ©, 7 pm Vincennes at North Knox, 6 pm - Washington had to find a filler to replace Mt Carmel. And Attucks was the best available apparently. Not sure if the Hatchets will win this season. - Boonville would’ve been the obvious pick 5 weeks ago...now not so much. MV by a couple scores. Who would’ve thought the final Big 8 championship would come down to the final week? Jasper v. MV week 9. - Jasper rolls - VL/NK...wow. So much riding on this final meeting. Every indication points in the Warriors favor. They’re having a fantastic season. Most will pick NK in this one. But I’m a believer that the Alices will build off last week’s offensive performance and find a way up at Bicknell.

Lincoln was moved to Sectional 30 with SR bumping to 3A via success rule. But I agree, 32 is all PAC, with GS the favorite (in case you didn’t already know). It is what it is. VL has no control over this. Fortunately, we have time to focus on ourselves to prepare for postseason. This does not mean we will win a single game in Sectional 30. But it sure beats facing, the competition in 32. One thing with this program that’s been apparent over the last two seasons, they’re always trending upward and are playing their best come October. I believe the 2019 team will follow suit. As for Jasper, I like there chances as good as any in 24 if they continue to grow in this new offense. The team I saw Friday reminded me so much of the teams 10-15 years ago. Anytime you can have a consistent strong presence up front like the Cats have, you’re usually always competitive. The personnel really hasn’t changed over the past several years, but the offensive scheme has. Give Coach Lewis credit for implementing the Triple-Option and finding near instant success. Lincoln has been pretty stout against the run this season, and gave up 350 on the ground Friday. Hopf sees a hole and goes from 1st to 5th gear in no time flat. Not sure if he’s your best back or not, but the dude has wheels.

I appreciate all input from our PAC friends.

Amazing atmosphere tonight as expected. I always love to see a buzz around Inman before a big game and this one never disappoints. The Jasper faithful had a good showing and were clearly overjoyed to avoid a 3rd straight loss to their rival. They made sure to let us know it. Another humbling night for Lincoln, but the favor will be returned in the near future. I suspect this will be a Week 9 matchup beginning next season during Rivalry Week in the SIAC. That should be fun. Lincoln is now 1-4. Most in football circles would’ve considered 2-3 a worst case scenario for the Alices at this point in the season. Needless to say, it’s been a new challenge for Coach Salters and his staff. They’ve been really good the last 2 years. This is uncharted territory. But tonight was a big step in the right direction IMO, offensively in particular. For the first time, I felt that they’ve figured out what pieces they have and how best to use them. It starts at QB. Vickers has improved exponentially in just 3 games since taking the starting job. The 6’3” junior threw for just shy of 300 tonight and ran the offense very well. The playbook seemed to open up a little more as the comfort level grows. His aggressive approach kept Lincoln in the game with some big time throws. The O-line was noticeably better as well, providing some clean pockets. What hurt tonight was much of what plagued Lincoln a week ago...Turnovers on some forced throws and big plays allowed on defense. Much of that can be credited to Jasper. They are without a doubt the best in the Big 8 in 2019. I thought Boonville was good up front. Jasper is better. I thought Mockobee of Boonville was a beast RB. Hopf for Jasper was better. It was an old school Jasper type of game, but with Triple Option rather than Pro I. If the Alices can keep making positive strides, I still think there’s a chance they make some noise in late October. Next week presents another challenge with county rival NK, who has already stunned another Big 8 opponent. The Alices will have to be as good, if not better to come away with a win.

Jasper 35, VL 19. Final

21-13 jasper half

I honestly don’t know what Lincoln team we will see. If they’re going to pull off the upset, they’ll have to strike quickly much like last year at Alumni Stadium. If that happens, I feel the defense can keep this game within reach. It could just as easily be a 3-4 score win for the Cats. Either way, I expect a fantastic atmosphere and the weather forecast looks good.

I still think Boonville can get a win here. As stated previously, I think they discounted NK and got punched in the mouth. (sort of reminds me of the near loss to Bosse last season) Before they knew it, they were down a couple scores and couldn’t climb back in it. They just aren’t as dynamic offensively as they were a year ago. Jasper exposed them as one dimensional. Even against Lincoln, their points came from short fields and just grinding the Alices defense down. If they can get you in that type of game they’re tough to beat. The Miners won’t have the element of surprise so I think this will be close.

Friday, Sep. 20 Boonville at Linton, 7 pm Jasper at Vincennes ©, 6:30 pm Mount Vernon at Washington ©, 7 pm Princeton at Gibson Southern, 7 pm - Many would probably pick Linton to roll in this one based off Boonville’s performance last week, and that could very well happen. Obviously, Jasper and NK have exposed a weak Pioneer run defense that I’m sure the Miners will test. I still think this could be very close. I’m giving Linton the edge. - All signs seem to be in favor of Jasper when they travel to Vincennes..the Alices have won 3 of the last 4 and Coach Salters is 2-0 in that time...it just doesn’t look great right now for Big Green. - MV in a route - GS in a route

Much appreciated. The backup Vickers started last Friday. As I said above, they made some progress consistently moving the ball. Best of luck to FC as well! Great facilities over there! Shame we only met the one time!

Over/under 4 posts before this becomes “Why the SIAC isn’t good for Vincennes / Jasper” thread

For the final time as Big 8 members...this could be a lopsided affair down at Inman Field. Both teams are 1-3, but couldn’t be further apart at this point in time. Jasper has played their usual brutal early season schedule, and could easily be 3-1. The one victory they own over Boonville still has them in the best position for a conference championship. It seems the Cats have found an identity on offense and have been very good the last 3 weeks. Lincoln, meanwhile, might’ve hit rock bottom last Friday at Mt Vernon (I hope). Offensively, there hasn’t been much, if any, consistency running or throwing. There was improvement moving up and down the field on MV, but critical penalties and turnovers squandered scoring opportunities. The defense, which had been outstanding the first 3 weeks keeping them in games, suddenly lacked focus and discipline, giving up several big scoring plays. Just an overall collapse for a team who realistically felt they would contend for the Big 8. I’m optimistic they can right the ship over the next month, but there needs to be some big strides made starting this Friday.