BTF

How many beatings did you take in high school? It was a little punk like you that got Bob Knight fired. I'm not engaging with your BS.

Can't argue with that. I think we can all agree that New Pal and Cathedral can roll with anyone, but Valpo and Dwenger still have something to prove. Do we still believe Homestead is Top 5 after what happened in Noblesville? Personally, I don't. I think the loss of Hardwick is having a major impact on their offense. But when Homestead was at full strength, they beat Dwenger 17-15 in a game that I felt Dwenger should have won. The point I'm making is that if Homestead was a top 5 team then, why couldn't Dwenger be? Lot's of questions to be answered in the coming weeks. I will say this about Dwenger. They might have the best defense in the state. And defense (normally) wins championships. They can flat out shut teams down, score a couple of touchdowns, and win the game. The problem here is that I'm not sure they have an offense that would make top 40. And that could be their downfall.

Sorry, not taking the bait. Anyway. I don't know much about Decatur Central other than that Sagarin has them ahead of Dwenger in the four spot. There is definitely a huge drop off after #5. It remains to be seen if the drop off is after 2 or 3 as you sugest. Time will tell.

The winner in 5A could make a claim as the best team in the entire state. The top 5 teams in 5A, in my opinion, could give the top 5 in 6A a run for their money. There is no comparison in 6 through 32.................5A would get manhandled.

Absolutely. Northrop could be a trap game for Dwenger this week with Lafayette Harrison looming.

The SAC made sense. Homestead and Carroll are both comprised of kids who reside within Fort Wayne city limits. There are basically ten football teams in Fort Wayne, the addition of Homestead and Carroll made the SAC a ten team conference. They had ten teams up until 2010 when Elmhurst shut down. Harding followed in 2011. It made for some great match-ups for sure. But in the end, a ten team conference makes scheduling "easy." Ease of scheduling is more important to FWCS than preparation for the football tournament. Homestead and Carroll have shown improvement in their football programs since joining the SAC. Playing the likes of Snider, Dwenger, and Luers have brought their programs up a notch. It's not they they weren't ever good, it's just that they were playing down in competition as part of the NHC. After five years in the SAC, I'm starting to feel like the gap between Snider/Dwenger and Homestead/Carroll has closed. And it appears that it could be the trend. Look for Carroll to be the favorite next year to win the SAC.

Dictated which part? It was always my understanding that Snider had the pick of any FWCS football field given that the school on campus didn't already have a game there. Snider always chose Wayne for the field conditions and the fact that it is a duplicate of Spuller Stadium (shared by Northrop & Snider)................so it certainly felt like home. For those who don't know, FWCS put field turf at Spuller (Northrop's campus), so it's a non-issue now.

Snider beat common opponents by a wider margin. They both lost to Dwenger by 7. And Snider came closer to beating Homestead than Carroll did. I actually like the Sagarin Ratings come sectional championship time. It's probably even more accurate this year with the addition of the Mercy Rule.

Hopefully. I'd love to see Merrillville get their first state title since 1976.

I never liked it from the beginning. It wasn't a horrible deal though. At least Notre Dame get's exposure in that part of the country.

I wouldn't let one game change your mind. I have a hard time believing that the worst team in the HCC is as good as the best team in the SAC. Snider went 1-3 this year against Carroll, Homestead, and Dwenger. I've seen Snider teams with equal talent to this years team compete just fine with HCC teams in recent years. It's a shame the Carmel/Westfield winner won't get to see Homestead at their best. You can't lose a kid like Hardwick and expect the offense to continue as they were. I'm still expecting the Homestead/Carroll winner to provide a good matchup for whoever wins the Carmel/Westfield game.

Everything?

Didn't someone say Carmel's pass defense was their weak link? If that's the case, then the Homestead/Carroll winner will more than likely make it "close."

Or maybe Homestead was just bored.

NBC only televises the home games.

People forget how good the 1997 Homestead team was. They went toe to toe with what I consider to be one of Snider's top 5 teams of all time. Obviously they were good in 1998. They had a great team in 2002. They lost to a Snider team that went on to the state finals. If Snider didn't have two weeks to prepare for that game, I think Homestead would have been the one playing Ben Davis that year. Conclusion: Homestead 2019, with a healthy Hardwick, might be able to compete with the teams mentioned above. Time will tell.

Lol, really? That's your response? Clearly you've conceded.

The 99 yard fumble return for a touchdown made that game closer than what it should have been. Notre Dame had 440 yards to their 240. The 99 yard return resulted in a 14 point turnaround.

Snider bullied Carroll last night the same way they did in week 2 with their ground game. I understand keeping a defense honest with a mix of throws and runs, but Snider killed about 10 drives between the two games by passing two much. A 5:1 rush/pass ratio last night would have moved Snider on the the next round. Snider's a better team than Carroll, but not by much.............I firmly believe that. Offensive play calling was Snider's doom last night......................first half only, they got it right in the second half.

My guess is that they bow out to Carmel. They seem to be satisfied after winning the SAC for the first time since they joined in 2015.....................and beating Snider for the first time in 13 years. Last night was a wake up call for sure. If that is what a 1-8 team from the HCC is like, what will a 7-3 Carmel team out of the MIC do to them? I do think the Spartans will play Camel with lots of passion and put their best foot forward. Carmel has had their way with them in recent years like Snider has. In all fairness to Homestead, they did take a hit when their starting running back went out with a season ending injury a few weeks ago. They aren't going to be the same team without him, but still enough firepower to make some noise in the tournament.

Lol, sounds like you are the one that's frazzled. Thanks for the laugh this morning. And I believe you. I'm sure you were really going to donate last night regardless 😀

Who cares about the 27.5 point spread I gave you. When it came down to betting money that would go to the GID, you disappeared. I made my donation on Wednesday. I tried to make a bet with you that would go toward something good. That was Monday. Remember? I offered 21...........you declined. Then I offered you 24................you declined and requested 27.5. I agreed. You disappeared after I asked you "how much"..........................until tonight at 10pm when you sent me a personal message saying............."LOL". You get more use out of this forum than anyone. It wouldn't hurt you to make a donation of some kind.

Maybe something to do with losing their starting RB for the season? Could be a timing issue. I think Homesteads problem was that they were overlooking a 1-8 team toward next weeks rematch with Snider. Well, turns out it won't be Snider.

I wish I knew the answer, but that's not why Snider lost. I find it fascinating that they pass the ball when they are up 14-10. Down 28-10 they run. My point? When they need scores they run. They should have been running the whole game. Snider's not going to advance because they screwed around with the pass in the first half against a team that they bully on the ground. They should have beaten Carroll by 2 plus touchdowns the first time they played. Is what it is. Congratulations to Carroll.

Snider penalty count..................15 for 140