BTF

46 minutes ago, Warren Central Warrior said:

I can't remember when was the last time Warren Central wasn't ranked.

Ben Davis, Warren Central, Penn, and Snider. None of these teams are in the Top 10. Prior to 2020, I can't imagine that's ever happened. 

1 hour ago, psaboy said:

I don't think Penn will be an issue this year. They may not make it out of sectional this year with Elkhart mega there now.

They looked pretty good against Valpo, who is probably Top 10 regardless of class. I'm not sure I'd consider Penn's loss to Cathedral. They will do that to a lot of good teams this year.

Just now, Justasportsfan said:

Can scheme ever beat talent? Ala wc triple option..

Carmel does it all the time. 

6 minutes ago, Justasportsfan said:

Carroll could be top 10 in 6a..it hurts that regionals always ended runs in that class over the last few years for whoever came out of the sac...moving the hounds south helps ..yet diminishes the feat..chargers may have issues with Jeff n eventually mhs..competing with yet alone beating southern 6a programs is no small task..far as this week goes:

They'll be fine until they hit Penn or Merrillville. I don't know if their defense can carry them to state. 

With regard to the Sagarin Ratings, for whatever reason, being in an island conference hurts their scores. If the same thing happens next year, Dwenger and Carroll will be in the Top 10 next week after an adjustment is made. 

Fact: Dwenger is Top 4 in 5a and Top 10 overall.

Fact: Carroll is Top 10 in 5a

Carroll over Northrop - mercy rule will come into play at some point in the game. Not a slam on Northrop, but a compliment to the Carroll pass game.

Dwenger over Homestead - There is a significant gap between these two teams right now. Dwenger by 2 touchdowns.

Luers over Concordia - Unless the Cadets have their QB back, I'm going with the Knights by a touchdown.

Snider over South Side - Mercy rule at some point. 

North Side over Wayne - I'm going with the Legends by 2 touchdowns. Wayne is getting better every week. It would have been 4 touchdowns in Week 1.

1 hour ago, jakone said:

So Luers is two spots behind a team they beat by two td's a weeks ago on the road.

Take 4-9 with a grain of salt. It's hard placing those schools. I looked at Luers losing to Homestead by 25 a week after Concordia only lost to them by 7. Improvement played a part in my ranking of Wayne. They are a work in progress. 

Much respect for the Luers program, I hope they prove me wrong in the upcoming weeks. 

57 minutes ago, Boilernation said:

Not Bobref, but I watched there entire game against Penn and bits and pieces of the LaPorte game. Based on that sample size, they're pretty similar to last year. Monster lines on both sides of the ball, a defense that's really hard to move the ball against, and an offense that's not very flashy. Against Penn, they played without 2 starters on the OL, one of which is a big Western Michigan commit. They also played the entire 2nd half without the transfer QB from Jeff (Grimes.) I don't think he played against LaPorte either. All I read is he had a leg injury in the 1st half against Penn. Not sure if it's the same leg he injured last year. They returned their leading rusher from last year (Burbee) and have another solid RB in Vinyard. They lost their top 2 WR's from last year. The passing game has been weak. Not sure if it's due to breaking in new WR's or not having Grimes behind Center.

I would probably rate the North currently as: 

1. Dwenger

2. Valpo (Repeating is tough. Could come down to which team makes the long trip on Route 30)

3. North (Great offensive talent, a holding penalty waiting to happen, not a defense I would want to rely on in the playoffs)

4. Harrison (wildcard, IMO)

5. tie between Northrop and Michigan City

I hate to be that guy, but at this point I'm expecting Cathedral to lay a beat-down on whomever makes it out of the North. Cathedral vs. Brownsburg or a rematch with Center Grove in the 6A playoffs would have likely been more appealing to watch.

 

 

Agree, the home team will win that game.

With all due respect, there aren't many teams in the state that could keep Carroll under 50. 

1.   Dwenger - Defense wins championships. Enough said.          Side note.........probably a bit better than their #125 ranking by Sagarin. 

2.   Carroll - One of the most prolific offenses in state. But will it be enough to overcome some of their defensive deficiencies? It may take a Dwenger or a Merrillville to answer that question. 

3.   North Side - Turnovers and holding penalties were the difference against Carroll. Clean those things up and they can play with anyone up north. 

4.   Snider - They make a big jump this week after changing quarterbacks and the addition of a D1 caliber defensive lineman who was ineligible until now. 

5.   Homestead - Didn't see a 25 point blowout of Bishop Luers coming. Is their new quarterback finding his rhythm? 

6.   Wayne - The Generals just keep getting better. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Haydock is a good coach and we all know that there is talent at that school. 

7.   Northrop - The Bruins are a good football team, make no mistake. But the SAC is deep this year. The 9th best team can compete with most teams north of Indy. 

8.  Luers - Trying to predict 4-9 is a crapshoot. This week I have Luers at 8. That could easily change in the upcoming weeks. I thought they were better than their blowout loss against Homestead. 

9.   Concordia - Until they are healthy and playing at full strength, this is where they land. When it's all said and done, they will make a deep run in 3a.

10. South Side - Still working on getting better. 

6 minutes ago, psaboy said:

I had Snider rebounding against Concordia this weekend. I was gong to say Snider by 20+, but due to security issue on site, I was not able to post my game prediction. I was also predicting a Wayne W and a Carroll/North Side defensive battle. 

Good job on your first two predictions, but you failed miserably on the third one 😅. 

On 9/2/2020 at 10:09 PM, Olympian06 said:

I also agree with this, I think Cathedral is a few TD’s better than anyone else in 5A. They are absolute monsters this year. 

Maybe. I'm up in the air on Cathedral being 3 touchdowns better than anyone else. Beating Penn 52-7 was an eye opener, especially after Valpo only beat the Kingsmen by 1..........17-16. Thirty two points over a a good Westfield team is pretty impressive too. They've definitely solidified themselves as the team to beat.............no doubting that. 

Bobref? Is Valpo as good as advertised this year? 

Twenty one points over New Pal would mean a turnaround of 46 points. 

I'd like to think Cathedral wouldn't dismantle Dwenger like they did  Penn, and Westfield. I'm willing to bet those teams don't have the defense Dwenger does. I'm not saying they wouldn't be a 14pt favorite over the Saints, just questioning 21 points better than New Pal and Dwenger..........maybe Valpo. 

8 hours ago, DT said:

3. FW Snider  0-2    The Panthers are winless and on the opposite end of blowout losses to FW North and Carroll.  Snider has been outscored 89-29 in those two defeats.  This one might be even uglier than the Ben Davis start.  Concordia is up next for the Panthers, and the Cadets played always tough Homestead very close in a 7-0 loss last week.  FWS could be looking at its first 0-3 start in forever.  

Forever is correct. Snider was founded in 1965.............an 0-3 start has never happened. Get em' while you can though, the future looks bright for the Panthers. 

2 hours ago, Robert said:

I want to think...

Concordia

Carroll

Wayne

Dwenger

Homestead

 

The Northrop/Wayne game is intriguing for sure. Ironic that I'm gauging how good Northrop is by them going against a team that's lost 13 in a row. 

42 minutes ago, jakone said:

Concordia at Snider

North Side at Carroll

Northrop at Wayne

South Side at  Dwenger

Homestead at Luers

Snider has talent, but Concordia has identity. I've gotta go with the Cadets in this one. Concordia by 7

I see this as being a good game from start to finish. Carroll may have the best team the school has ever fielded, while North may have one of their better teams since the late 80's. I think Carroll has a special group of kids, a bit more so than North Side. Carroll by 7

I've gotta go with with the 2-0 Bruins here. If they can beat Homestead, they can beat Wayne. Wayne will continue to be dangerous as the season progresses and will even keep this one close.  Northrop by 7

I wouldn't be surprised if the mercy rule goes into effect in the first half. It's more of in indication of how good Dwenger is versus where South Side is at this point in the season. Dwenger will call off this dogs in the second half though. Saints by 42

I'm not sure what many will think of this game. I think the verdict is still out on both teams as to how good they are. But I'm going to have to go with the 6A team...................not by much though. Spartans by 7

Snider will have trouble with any quarterback that has college potential. About all they can do is grow, learn, and look toward the playoffs. Snider has some good players and last night I saw some glimpses of what they "could" be. Last night's game didn't have to be as lopsided as it was. Snider just couldn't catch a break it seemed. I think they'll close the gap with Carroll come playoff time.... ..............if the players want it bad enough. 

Snider's biggest problem is lack of swagger. They need a chip on their shoulder like they had when Isaacs was head coach. The "all business" approach is fine, but having swagger and attitude is better. 

9 hours ago, WilELee said:

Was anyone able to watch games last week from outside the stadiums?  I'm wondering if I'll get ran off, trying to watch from the sidewalks at Northside. 

Try Stadium Dr. 

North Side was impressive last week, but now they have Dwenger. The Saints are disciplined and play great defense. Defense wins games. Dwenger by 7

Luers got obliterated last week. But in all fairness, Carroll may do that to several this year. Wayne is improved, but I see Luers pulling this off in a tight one. Luers by 3

Carroll is the real deal. Snider is still figuring things out. A great Carroll pass game versus a struggling Snider pass defenses equals...............Carroll by 21

This one won't be close. Northrop continues to get better and South still seems to be South. Northrop by 42

Homestead is good. Concordia is better. Cadets by 7

1 hour ago, Robert said:

Snider should make the necessary adjustments and get better.  Dwenger and Carroll at the top.  Then Homestead.  Everyone else... who knows.  They all find ways to stub their toes.  Carroll often stubs their toes, too. 

No doubt Snider will get better. They just need to find out who they are on offense. They don't even know who their quarterback is yet. The secondary will always have fits with good quarterbacks, I don't see that changing. I see Dwenger and Carroll at the top, then North Side, then everyone else. 

7 hours ago, DT said:

1. Penn and Valpo hit on something very smart.  Saturday afternoon football under God's beautiful natural daylight.  With college football on the shelf, the IHSAA should jump on this and take advantage of the next 2 months of open Saturdays and play high school football   The Kingsmen and Vikings played a great non con opener to kickoff the season.  

6.  Would like to hear more about whats going on at FW North Side.  The Legends blew out SAC kingpin Snider 47-17 in Friday nights opener.  Dwenger and Carroll are up in the next two weeks so the scedule maker decided to put the screws to North Side to open the season.  Homestead also lost to Northrup.  Whats going on in The SAC?

8. Contraction Candidate Caston opened the season with a resounding 38-6 win over West Central.  Congratulations to the Comets and to first year HC Will Porter on the big opening win. 

 

1.   It doesn't get much better than Friday nights in my opinion, but I do agree that they should feature more games on Saturday with half of college football shutting down their programs. Are the Kingsmen back to form? All I've been hearing this year is how great Valpo is. 

6.   Parity this year in the SAC. While Homestead and Snider are treading down, the other eight teams are trending up. Keep an eye on Carroll, this team could be dangerous on a state-wide level. 

Under Mike Brevard's direction, North Side has shown improvement in each of his first three seasons. This will be season number four and D1 recruit Duce Taylor may be better than advertised. They appear to be a complete team. I was impressed with how they competed with a talented Snider team down in the trenches on both sides of the ball. It's hard telling how deep this team could go in the playoffs, but unfortunately for them, they are in Dwenger's sectional. 

7.   How bout them Comets?!?! Snapping a 29 game losing streak in impressive fashion. Hopefully there is more of that this year. Good luck to them.

8 hours ago, psaboy said:

Possibly they are. Lets see how the next few games play out for the Legends. Next two against the top two teams, then a bit of a breather for two games, then they play at Homestead. That is really tough schedule. 

It wasn't easy for me to dub the Legends as the third best team behind Valpo and Dwenger. After all, they had been a mid level team at best for several years. They just looked different Friday night. They looked complete. They didn't beat Snider because Snider beat themselves. They didn't beat Snider because Snider was unprepared. They beat Snider because they were simply the better team. If they play the rest of the season with that same intensity, they will have a year worth remembering. However, they better stop thumping their chests and prepare for Carroll like their lives depend on it. The Chargers are capable of bringing them back to reality this Friday night. 

23 hours ago, BTF said:

North looked good tonight. And they didn't appear to be a one man show with Duce Taylor. They are a complete team. They could be the third best team up north behind Valpo and Dwenger.

Correction..............third best team up north in 5a. 

29 minutes ago, Justasportsfan said:

This happens about twice every decade or so..a team catches lightning in a bottle or has a gr8 class come through their halls..the guys on the field gave their best effort n sni high literally has athletes learning their position this year..some might not have that "dog" mentality..might as well be the hammer..not the nail..tippy will get em going..eventually..good to see other teams gain momentum..there was no love for panther country on social media last night..🤐🤐

It's more than just putting on the black and gold. That doesn't scare anyone anymore. If you come out lethargic in the SAC, you get wasted. Reminded me of when Snider played Carroll two seasons ago. But this time, the better team won. Point being.........I think Snider could have put up a better fight. 

1 hour ago, psaboy said:

Looks like Snider will have some work to do this week in practice. North Side looked good, dominated line play and looks to have some good talent in addition to Taylor, good game for them. I look forward to seeing if they can keep things going. I haven't seen Snider get pushed around like that for awhile. 

North looked good tonight. And they didn't appear to be a one man show with Duce Taylor. They are a complete team. They could be the third best team up north behind Valpo and Dwenger. But that was just one week against a team with a lot of work to do. The real test will be this Friday against Carroll. I now have Dwenger, Carroll, and North Side as my top three teams. The rest of the conference is a crapshoot. 

1 minute ago, psaboy said:

Carroll can beat Snider by 5 TD's next week from what I saw tonight. 

It wouldn't surprise me. Snider and Carroll are at two different places as football teams right now. Carroll is looking at their best team ever and Snider is just trying to figure out who they are. 

On 8/20/2020 at 4:47 PM, Justasportsfan said:

If Carroll gained Luers top target..well..imho that makes them a favorite.. we're in a new decade I get it.. talent always reigns supreme n the program that can put the most talent on the field whom can gel n put a legitimate run together wins out..

I knew Carroll was going to be good, but I had no idea they'd drop 48 on Luers in the first half. Carroll should beat Snider by 3 touchdowns next week. After that they have North Side, who I think could give the Chargers problems. North is the real deal. What they did to Snider tonight was no fluke. Looking forward to that game.