BTF

I couldn't agree more.

I don't have a dog in the fight, but I know a good football team when I see one. Kind of like South Adams..........a very good team that would wax many schools twice their size. Last year Homestead beat Dwenger because they were the better team. Then they lost their running back Braeden Hardwick at the end of the season. Ask any player, coach, or fan at Homestead if they were a different team after that. It's the same thing with Dwenger not having their RB Tippmann playing in the game. And it still took Homestead a last second score to to force overtime. Dwenger has a special team this year. It's a shame they won't be able to call themselves SAC champs. It's ok though, they've got their sites on getting to the state championship game. Good luck to the Starfires. This could be their year.

Agree, it was a win/win for all. The SAC lost Elmhurst and Harding and gained Homestead and Carroll. That's a win for the SAC. Homestead and Carroll have better competition in the SAC than they did in the NHC (mainly because of school size), therefore raising the bar for their athletic programs.

Dwenger was in control most of the game despite being without their best player.........which happens to be a running back. Dwenger wins that game 9 out of 10. So yes, Dwenger is the best team in the SAC.

Agree. Their nice little comeback cost Snider a state championship in 2016.

Great post. How do you think this years team stacks up with Chatard's all time best?

Homestead solidified itself as the second best team in the SAC last night. But the score versus Carroll is a bit deceiving. Although Homestead is very good, they aren't 29 points better than Carroll. After a couple of charger turnovers, the Spartans took a 14 point lead. Every time Carroll came within 7, Homestead would go up 14. Once Carroll realized that, they seemed to have lost their luster. The difference in the game was really a matter of turnovers...........and kudos to Homestead, because that's what good teams do. I look for a closer game if they play again in sectionals. Although I've dubbed Dwenger as the best team in the SAC this year, is Homestead the true kingpin? The Spartans are 7-0 versus Snider, Dwenger, and Carroll over the past two years. Homestead will win Sectional 3 in my opinion, but we'll find out what they are really made of when they play Westfield. The Shamrocks might have their best team of all time this year.

It's really a simple scenario, but it will never happen unfortunately. The SAC is content with "ease of scheduling" by having ten teams play a nine game schedule. From the outside looking it, it appears that simplicity overrides interesting matchups and higher attendance.

Defense wins championships. It's the reason why Dwenger will play in the state title against Cathedral. It's the reason Homestead will win Sectional 3. Kudos to the Spartans. After years of being a team known for their explosive offenses, they finally have balance.

Homestead and Westfield.

If I remember correctly, Westfield isn't Carmel. I see Homestead giving them all they can handle.

Homestead did that for years. They're finally playing defense the last couple of years. Maybe the team to beat up north?

Homestead 49, Carroll 35...........7:55 left in the 3rd

Shocking? Yes. I felt Coach R built a program that reloads every year, not rebuild. Apparently it happens to the best of programs though. It's happening at Snider. There is no guarantee that every senior class is going to have the leadership and talent of the championship classes before them. What is most shocking of all is the number of top programs who are all down in the very same year. Penn, Snider, New Pal, Ben Davis, and Warren Central. According to Sagarin, Ben Davis is the highest ranked of those five at #18.

Two storied programs who might even be having their best years ever. I get it, those two losses were to great teams. An overtime win over Pike. Wouldn't you consider this Carmel team average by their standards? We all know what average is to Carmel. It's still Top 10 regardless of class. I maintain that there are 3 or 4 teams up north that "could" beat Carmel. I think they would have to be at the very top of their game four weeks in a row to escape the north this year. Too bad it won't play out.

Could be. Either way, I think they would have struggled this year. They would have had to beat either Jeff or Westfield, then more than likely Carroll, then Merrillville. That would have been a brutal three weeks. Not saying they couldn't do it, but unless they were playing at top form three weeks in a row, I think one of those teams would beat them.

Overall, I see this as being a very competitive game that could go either way. I'll take Bobref's word for it and go with "big, fast, and athletic." Merrillville by 7.

Being in the south has nothing to do with it. There are three or four teams up north that could beat Carmel this year.

Center Grove is very good.........for sure But they'll have a hard time claiming "best team ever" with 6a having potentially their worst year ever overall. I'm not saying they are or aren't, they'll just have a hard time making that claim. If they beat Cathedral by more than a touchdown, I might be sold on making an argument. But that's all it will be, is an argument (friendly debate). Carmel, Ben Davis, and Warren Central had some pretty good teams. As did Penn.

Still parents only.

Reread my post. Thanks.

No different than any other year. Fifteen of the last nineteen state champions came from schools with enrollments of 5286, 4499, and 3821. Keep thumping that chest.

I guess I got so caught up thinking about actual "north" programs that I forgot all about Sectional 4. So yeah, I think there are 7 pretty good teams that it will come down to. Can't forget about Lafayette Jeff either.

There is a lot to like about what is going on at Carroll. Not only do they have a good coach, but they have an enrollment of 2412 in an area that is still growing and a 7 million dollar football stadium coming their way in 2021. Whoever takes out Carroll in the tournament will have to put a minimum of 35 points on the board. Carroll already faced the best defense north of Indy (opinion) and managed 3 touchdowns against them. 6A North will come down to Merrillville, Elkhart, Carroll, and Homestead. That's right, don't count out the Spartans just yet. They finally have a defense to compliment their perennial offensive fire power. And it looks like their new quarterback (might as well just refer to Homestead as Quarterback U) has found his rhythm.