SEAL_63

I'll preface by saying I too find it a little shocking to see Lincoln as high as they are when compared to the best in the state (but not necessarily complaining haha). The Alices are a legit threat in 3A no doubt, but there's a lot left to prove just in the SIAC alone, not to mention Sectional 30. But to question VL's ranking you absolutely have to look at Reitz at #9, since the two teams are so closely tied together. VL's near defeat of the Panthers in Week 2 seems to have carried A LOT of weight. Reitz faces Memorial this Friday followed by VL/Memorial in Week 8...so we're about to get a more realistic picture of this. Overall though I'm not about to question Sagarin's feel for the SIAC, as they've been low balled the past two years (as explained by @Alduflux). Me personally, I would knock off 10-15 points for SIAC teams and that would put you in the ballpark. Massey has got it all wrong. No way that Reitz and VL are 50 spots apart.

All of this talk of North's demise is worrisome from Lincoln's stand point. Sounds like they are due for a win. But I have noticed this same trend each of the last 3 seasons.

Mater Dei Harrison Vincennes Reitz Castle Gibson Southern North Posey Princeton [+43.5] Southridge Perry Central

I would have Castle at #2 and VL 3. I can sort of understand how the Knights got bumped coming off a loss while Lincoln won, but we just aren't far enough removed from their match up just 11 days ago. But I would love to rewind that game and erase the Lincoln fumble right before the half just to see if things played out differently...probably still a VL loss but it certainly would have been closer. Castle just had everything going offensively that night.

Correct. But I wasn't talking about making up 24 pts in a possible sectional rematch. I'm talking about Week 1, Memorial at Jasper and the way that game played out. You felt the outcome would have been different, and Memorial would be 6-0 had they been healthy from the start. My opinion was that regardless of who was playing for Memorial that day in August, Jasper seemed to have an effective game plan that worked and there was more to it than just injured Tiger players. At this point in the season, I would pick Memorial over Jasper. But Week 6 is a long way from Week 1. And again you're right, the 2021 SIAC was very good and may end up being better than the 2022 version. But Reitz was average at best last year and VL was just bad. That is not the case this year and Memorial has yet to play either of them. My point was simply that there is still a lot to sort out in these final 3 weeks as far as the conference standings go. Makes for great discussion!

MD with a running clock Harrison will cover the 17 pts VL should win but needs to clean up their ball security issues in the RZ that has been a problem the past two weeks. The last time North was at Inman, they were ranked top 10 and were upset by the Alices in their 1st season back in the SIAC. I say VL covers the (-10) Castle covers...by 3 or 4 scores Reitz should handle Memorial... (-24) seems like a lot. But they just throttled a Castle team that I was really impressed with just two Friday's ago, who I thought would give the Panthers everything they could handle and even considered picking the upset. This tells me the Reitz offense has ascended even further since VL saw them in Week 2. I do think it will be hard for them to duplicate that type of performance back to back weeks..and Memorial is clicking at the right time. Reitz won't cover but wins by a couple scores.

Not sure Memorial makes up a 24 pt deficit regardless of who was playing/not playing...sometimes Week 1 games are just unpredictable and aren't indicative of how a team's season will go. Not looking to argue on the matter just giving my 2 cents. I would love to see this rematch in the sectional. And if memory serves me right, this is roughly when Memorial started to turn things on last season. So I can understand the growing optimism. But this is not the 2021 SIAC either. The next 3 weeks will tell us a lot about the upper half of the conference.

This was a weird game. Not a good flow to it..especially in the 2nd half. Lots of penalties. It looked as if Lincoln might run away with it early, when they took the opening drive in easily for a score. Followed by a Harrison three and out, VL was moving again but (like last week in Paradise) turned it over deep in Harrison territory..this time an INT. From there the 1st quarter was all slop until VL righted the ship in the 2Q and poured on 21 pts before half. Harrison's lone score was a deep ball to Horn that he took to the house. That kid is a special talent. They've got a couple deep threats. Clements throws a pretty nice ball as well and moved well in the pocket. 2nd half was a penalty riddled grind, in which VL had little trouble moving the ball but just couldn't convert on many drives. A big part of that was the Warrior D. Harrison is exactly as I've seen advertised for 6 weeks now from others on this thread, and I think we saw that same version tonight. They just struggled to string positive plays together.

Dang...didn't think Castle would just fade away like they have in the 2nd half. Must be a tired defense. Reitz always has the pressure on you.

VL 42 Harrison 7 Final from Inman

I could ramble at length on the state of the program…but in short..it’s been difficult the last 10-15 years to watch VL football fade from relevancy (the 2017 team being the outlier). The next few classes (starting with the current seniors) have injected real belief in the program again and it’s refreshing to say the least..not just from a talent standpoint but from a mental and character aspect as well.

Boonville’s pales in comparison I must say.

Always hated playing down at Boonville during the glory days of the Big 8…must be a Warrick County thing that the football fields have a crest in the middle (Castle does as well…never been to Tecumseh though). Seems to have provided some sort of weird advantage that we just struggled down there. Impressive to see the success the Miners had in this series. Always rooting for Linton. Great breakdown as always MP.

Reitz Memorial VL North [+2.5] Jasper Mount Vernon [+7.5] Gibson Southern North Knox North Posey

I’m very much on the fence. Was wanting to wait and see if Davies plays before making my pick. But it sounds as if we won’t know until Friday. As good as Castle looked last Friday, I like Reitz with the home field advantage and the horses they have to just flat outrun the Knights.

VL attempted a move to the PAC earlier this year and was voted down (I would guess bad blood from former Big 8 schools…Washington and Princeton primarily…makes sense). Personally, I think it was for the best, as I liked the move to the SIAC 2 years ago. But I can also see how the VL brass would view the PAC as a better fit in the long term. I haven’t heard about any such move since then. Can’t imagine Lincoln would reapply to the PAC after being turned away less than 6 months ago.

Will Davies be back at QB this week?

I think I should be at 29. Thanks

The sophomore class is similar in size to the junior's, and overall just about as talented.

Castle was a fine tuned machine for 48 minutes tonight…Lincoln not so much. Both teams traded punches in the first half as they combined for 5 consecutive TD drives. VL looked to make it a 6th consecutive at the end of the half, but fumbled into Castle’s end zone from the 2 on what would have likely been a score for a 21-21 game at intermission. Instead the Knights led 21-14. Big big moment in the game. Both defenses tightened some in the 2nd half. But Lincoln simply couldn’t get Castle off the field on 3rd down...leaving Hunt and company on the sideline…Easily the most frustrating game this season for the Lincoln defense. 85 Aignor torched the Alices early and 33 McCool was really elusive in the backfield down the stretch. And when VL had drives going in the 2nd half they ended with a couple big drops and a real questionable spot on a 4th down in Castle territory where forward progress was not recognized. Xander Hunt was still incredible in this one despite the offense being held in check overall. This was his best passing performance that I’ve seen in terms of his accuracy. It’s so fun to watch him improve each and every week. Kudos to the Knights though. They simply were the better team tonight. They’re playing excellent football right now. Nothing to hang your head about if you’re VL. I sure hope that Castle/Reitz is streamed next week cause it’s gonna be a war. Must see TV. The Alices have to regroup and get ready for homecoming week against an upset minded Harrison squad who embarrassed them a year ago. I think Big Green will respond as they did against MD.

Lincoln fumbles at the Castle goal line. 21-14 Knights half

Undoubtedly the most interesting match up in SW Indiana this week...GS (-27.5) is way too much I think. I just cant see it with that SR defense on their home turf. If the Titans cover, then 3A South is on notice once again. GS wins 23-14

Reitz Jasper [+14.5] Harrison [+17.5] North Vincennes Southridge [+27.5] North Posey [+20.5] Linton Mount Vernon Pike Central [+17.5] Perry Central [+13.5]

OV will be as competitive as any of the top dogs in Sectional 30. They return a large talented senior class from their regional team a year ago (defeated VL 14-0 in sectional championship). This is the same team that defeated the Northview squad that upset then SIAC champ Jasper in Sectional 24. I know the WIC isn’t exactly the SIAC or PAC, but OV is the defending 30 champs and needs to be taken seriously.

These spreads are as confusing as last week's. Reitz will easily cover...more like (-35) VL and Castle should be a pick'em..(-1) either way MD has struggled the last two weeks but they should be (-4) with Jasper (+4) IMO North (-19) probably make the most sense Memorial wins but not sure they will cover