BTF

Not so much. Dwenger is just a complete team. I don't see Snider having much of a chance in that one.

He was a joy to watch on Friday for sure.

Who is the real Kingpin of the SAC? What defines a Kingpin? I think it would be fair to look at this season and go back four more. My gut tells me that it's going to be either Dwenger or Homestead. Snider will be up there and let's throw in Carroll for the heck of it. Overall record against conference opponents: Dwenger 37-9, Homestead 37-9, Snider 38-8, Carroll 27-18 (ouch). Advantage in this category goes to Snider. I forgot how good the Panthers were 16' & 17'. Records against each other: Dwenger 6-8, Homestead 10-7, Snider 12-6, Carroll 5-13. Advantage Snider. SAC titles: Dwenger 1, Homestead 1, Snider 2. Advantage Snider. So if we go back 4.5 years, Snider is still the Kingpin of the Conference. Homestead comes in at 2, followed by Dwenger at 3 and Carroll in a DISTANT 4th. I thought four was a good number of years to go back, but since we are only half way through a season, we had to make it 4.5. Snider's dominance in 16' & 17' was heavily weighted in this conclusion. It'll be fun to do this again after the season is over as we will eliminate 16'.

Dwenger by 14 - Tough game for Dwenger after the emotional high last week Nothrop by 7 - Bruins break out of their slump Homestead by 14 - North Side keeps up for awhile Snider by 7 - Not real confident about this one Carroll by a bunch - South Side is playing better, but I see the mercy rule going into affect

With victories over Wayne and North Side, the 9 spot would be hard to justify.

All good stuff to consider. It sounds like Homestead could make a case for #1 and Luers could make a case for #6.

Rating them above Northrop, South Side, and Wayne is giving them too much credit? Seeing them in the 6 position above Snider is too much credit? I'm confused, I think the 6/7 position is pretty cut and dry for them. I guess we'll find out this Friday whether or not they slide down to 8.

I thought about that based on performance on the field. I still think Dwenger beats them 8 or 9 times out of ten. Dwenger is the best team in the SAC. Upsets happen and it happened against Homestead. I may feel different by the end of the year as Homestead just seems to get better and better. But right now, Dwenger is the team.

1. Dwenger - The Saints are good, plain and simple. They're big, tuff, and well coached. Arguably the best defense in the state. 2. Carroll - Arguably the best offense in Northern Indiana. Something had to give when they played the Saints. 3. Homestead - How bout them Spartans? I wrote them off after Goode retired and Northrop took them out in Week 1. They remind me a lot of Dwenger. A very good defense and an offense good enough to close the deal. 4. North Side - They had a hiccup against Luers this week, but still a very dangerous team. Maybe they were looking ahead? 5. Concordia - The Cadets are playing like the team we all thought they were now that they are healthy. It's a good thing with Dwenger, Carroll, and North all coming up. 6. Snider - Trending down. Any team with an above average quarterback will give Snider fits. Couple that with a bad offense and your left with a team that is struggling big time. 7. Luers - Trending up............for now. Which Luers team will show up against Northrop? It's anyone's guess at this point. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and predict they end up in the 6 position by the end of they season. 8. Northrop - Their win against Homestead seems like a looooooooong time ago. This Friday night will make 4 losses in a row. 9. South Side - When was the last time the Archers were not ranked last? They are playing with confidence right now. Can they go higher? 10. Wayne - Sorry Generals, you've earned this spot so far. Not a bad football team, they are just playing in the SAC.

If you are speaking in terms of pound for pound, there is no comparison this year. South Adams might be number one if that is the case.

Much respect for South Adams, but I'm not sure they could topple a Snider team having bad year. I would love to see it play out, but I'm not sure a SA win would be realistic.

Looks pretty good. In my opinion Leo is a little high and South Adams is a little low. Maybe drop Leo behind Homestead. North Side/East Noble could go either way.

28

Good catch. I guess it would be 3 since there wouldn't be an extra point.

Six SAC teams in this weeks Sagarin Top 28.

1. Carroll - No one has been able to stop this offense yet. We'll find out what Carroll is made of this Friday against the Saints. 2. Dwenger - The Saints lose their #1 status after being upset on Homesteads home turf. But they can reclaim it this Friday. 3. North Side - If they play clean, disciplined football, they can play with anyone in the northern half of the state. 4. Homestead - Very impressive defense. Too bad they don't have that prototypical Homestead offense this year. 5. Snider - Last weeks victory didn't impress anyone. It was the week before that puts them at the 5 spot. 6. Concordia - Now healthy, they were impressive last week in their pasting of Luers. 7. Northrop - I still think the Bruins are a solid team despite their loss to the Chargers. Not many teams will keep up with Carroll this year. 8. Luers - Losing to Concordia 38-0 was perplexing to me after looking halfway decent the first three weeks. 9. Wayne - They got a heavy dose of North Side last week, they should rebound this week against the Archers. 10. South Side - Losing to Snider at the end by a touchdown could give the Archers some confidence heading into the second half of season.

North Side and Luers are playing at two different levels right now - Legends by 35 Concordia seems to be healthy and firing on all cylinders - Cadets by 14 South Side played with passion last week, but Wayne is a bit better than they are - Generals by 14 Homestead's defense is good. I see a shutout in the making - Spartans by 14 I'm not sure Dwenger can keep them out of the endzone less than 4 times - Chargers by 4 in OT

Looks to be the case. Another concerning thing is lack of confidence and swagger.They just don't seem to have it like teams of the past. The coaches need to turn these kids loose. Let them play with some attitude like the Isaacs's led teams of the 90's and 00's. Dwenger's D held Homestead to 7 points with one minute remaining in the game. I'm not sure how Dwenger didn't beat Homestead by 14 points. I was surprised at how Homestead cut through the Dwenger D during overtime. The Saints win this game 9 times out of 10. Kudus to Homestead on the upset, which is exactly what it was. Now Homestead has an opportunity to go 4-0 over Snider and Dwenger over the last two years. Not a good look for the kingpins of the SAC. Seriously, Homestead isn't even a Top 3 team in the SAC this year. How do they mangage 4-0 against the kingpins? Grit and determination. Homestead today doesn't play like the soft teams of the past. They actually have a defense that is better than their offense. That hasn't happened in.............well, forever. I think being in the SAC has toughened up both Homestead and Carroll. Couple that with growing student populations and state of the art facilities and they could be the future of the SAC. Suburban dominance seems to be a statewide trend this year............at least in Fort Wayne and Indy.

Good for them..............and anyone else in the Duneland. Much respect for that conference, it's time for a state championship. I'll be pulling for the Pirates! And how bout Hobart? Not Duneland, but certainly a team The Region can be proud of!

East Noble is a very good 4a program. But Penn teams of the past would have waxed them.

New Pal is down, Ben Davis and Warren Central are unranked, it took unranked Penn overtime to defeat a 4a school, and Snider isn't even ranked in the Top 4 of their own conference..............might even be bottom 4. Scratching my head. Are we nearing end times?

I would look for a low scoring game next week. Homestead's defense looked solid against Dwenger last night. The Spartans have EASILY solidified the #4 position in the SAC. I'm starting to the there is quite a gap after the Top 4.

Found a way to win at the end. But they certainly weren't much better than the Archers tonight.

Agree, Dwenger would dominate 4a in my opinion. 5a is a good fit.

The same thing happened last year. Not one SAC team in the Top 50 and the very next week there were three in the Top 10.