BTF

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.

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.

Carmel does it all the time.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.