DACNUT

Battle of Broadway I think Merrillville will get off to a slow start, Andrean will punch above its weight and keep the game close, Pirates 28-21 Portage vs Morton, I am taking Portage, 6A low level team over a low level 5A team who is the feeder program for Merrilliville, Portage 28-7 Hobart vs Chesterton, Close game the last several years, I will pick Trojans 21-10, they always have one of the best defenses in DAC LaPorte vs New Prairie, NP owns the Slicers, won't change this year, 42-14 NP Lowell vs Crown Point, I expect big things from the Bulldogs this year, starting with this game, Crown Point 35-14 Michigan City vs Warsaw, MC has won the last two impressively, shutting down Bart Ball, will be close win for MC, 28-21 Munster vs Lake Central, The ultimate bumping uglies game of the week, these two schools fly in the face of socio economic status Valpo vs Penn, I am picking the Vikings until Penn shows me different.

I am going to be the complete homer and say that Valpo is second to no one left in 5A. Decatur Central ran out of steam against New Pal in 2018, the 2019 New Pal team was arguably the best team in the state and had to hold on to beat Valpo. In 2018, Carmel had a ugly Semi-State win against Valpo and in 2020 Valpo beat a good Dwenger team and lost to Zionsville at Semi-State. Heck, they were awesome in 2017, but stumbled at the end of the year with a parent/coach issue. At worse, they along with Merrillville would be a tie with Decatur Central. Respect the Vikings is what I am trying to say. Another DAC team, Michigan City has been to Semi-State 3 times as well and we will see if they are any good the first two weeks of the year as they play solid 6A teams in Warsaw and Lafayette Jeff.

I am looking more at Crown Point to the south, and was throwing dirt, as its easy to do on Lake Central.

I am interested to see who these other transfers PF1 mentioned. Marshall was a known person as were the Hammond kids or even Gary kids before them, like those kids were playing and starting. Eventually those kids will go a few more miles south to the big 6A program in the region. I would like to say southwest, but the biggest school has never been able to keep their kids from going to Andrean. I have been proven wrong in the past, but last year Merrillville dominated the conference like no one since Hobart, will be amazing if they do the same this year. Unless Roche is just as good as a RB as a safety, they lose that dynamic of a power back. Nelson was a tough little guy, is Taylor as mentally strong to carry the load. Lot of expectations on a first year senior starting QB.

Not sure why there is so much Mason hate, as everyone has mentioned, MC has gone from a doormat and ten plus years without beating DAC teams to having a winning record against every team in the conference except Valpo, they were everyone's homecoming before Mason. He's undoubtedly one of the best coaches in state let alone the region to turn around a perennial dormant.

Valpo not being in the top ten is a joke🤡

Loved the Heavy Fuel Crew! Does 670 still have sports talk?

1. Valpo, coaching, coaching, coaching, solid QB returning, great community support and culture. 2. Merrillville, only based on them having the top two seniors in the conference and region on both sides of the ball. Grant will be missed. I am not sold on Seis, doing any better with Merrillville in 5A. The time is now for Merrillville to win, they won't have a monopoly on all of the kids coming from Hammond and Gary for too long. 3. MC lost a lost some good seniors and all of their WRs, and as mentioned, the defense will always be exposed with a good passing team or balanced offense, see last two semi state loses. 4. Crown Point, with a strong chance to be at the top. Talented QB, and probably best overall staff along with resources that should propel them to a chance to win regionals. maybe not this year, but in the next two years, the lessons learned from competing in the south suburbs, most notably Lincoln Way East, will have Crown Point going deeper in 6A. As Crown Point keeps expanding with it's housing boom, more and more families will move south. 5a. Lake Central, talented RB crew, great size, but not much else, most disappointing team in the region by far. 5b. Chesterton will take a step back this year, didn't take advantage of a great opportunity to win a sectional last year with the top QB in the conference. 7. Portage, always has solid athletes, not quite Merrillville and MC, but they look like an unorganized mess on the field last several years, running wildcat as a feature offense. 8. LaPorte, Can't out kick the coverage, always a tough program, but too many coaching changes and no difference makers on either side of the ball to make coaches worry. We have said it before, great for DAC and all of 5A that Zionsville is in 6A, I will skip past Mishawaka and Concord and to see which Ft. Wayne team will be there in the semi-state.

Yes, Valpo has been traditionally the better team, but I think Merrillville, and now Michigan City are 1-2 in DAC. Last years win in regional for MC was what Mason needed to get over the hump. MC has the second best offensive player in Hart and the best QB returning in the conference, and maybe 5A.

Without a doubt there are 3 teams in the DAC that are trying to win in football the past five years and have a great chance this year to win a title: Merrillville Michigan City Valparaiso

I cannot think of a school waiting until the week of conditioning beginning do anything productive in the fall. The board members are classic examples of power hungry fools. On the night they give the head baseball coach the principal job and think that he can do both jobs they tell a long time loyal assistant who has been working with the kids since Ortiz resigned he is not worthy of the job, maybe because their kid(s) didn't like them. If I were Bob I would say heck no, why take a position in which the new AD, outgoing AD, new principal, and central office want you, but the politicians don't. Interesting when the boys and girls basketball programs as well as football keep changing coaches.

If Michigan City and LaPorte leave the DAC, how does that help the DAC, especially now that the best two teams in football outside of MC are in 5A and how does it help the athletic departments for Michigan City and LaPorte when they already play most of the NIC teams in other sports except gymnastics? I am assuming you are basing this on football solely.

Merrillville has the most dynamic offensive player in Marshall and defensive player in Roche, but hard to replace a tough QB and line destroyer. The sectional is an easy one, but I cannot see them walking over Valpo or MC like last season, let alone who will come from Ft. Wayne, no disrespect to the NLC rep, but don't see them on the same level as the top 3 DAC schools or the top Ft. Wayne 5A schools.

Wow, is all I have to say for LaPorte. Always tough players, great fan and community support, just have not been able to sustain success over the years as Michigan City and New Prairie have ascended the last several years. Is this finally the time people look hard at Roy Richards? LaPorte is in a bad place with Valparaiso now in their sectional and Michigan City already there. Crown Point is looking to be a major player in 6A sooner rather than later. A strong coaching staff, parents and community who will support the program, and administration as well, all the ingredients needed. With Merrillville out of the way, outside of Hamilton County, they have a chance with the rest of the north. Crown Point will challenge Merrillville, Valpo, and MC this year for the top spots in the DAC.

Royce Love at LB/FB and Martell France who was one of the top RB's that year. Underclassmen included Royce Roberson and Eric Glenn. Someone already mentioned Tom Lewandowski who was also First Team 5A that year. The 91 Merrillville team was more talented than the 92 team and no, they would not have beat Ben Davis that year.

Their 1991 team was better, they were upset by East Chicago Central, which also had a great team that year. Central was upset by Crown Point the following week on a crappy field. Both teams were full of All-State Players that year. The 5A All-State team was littered with DAC players. Great off-season topic.

And Zionsville goes up to 6A where they belong. Also, looked up Braden Fiske in 2018 on 247 and he was the 15th rated prospect that year and the players rated lower than him were all over 80? He for some reason has no composite score.

I don't see Ryan Neal who plays for the Seahawks is not on the list, Also Braden Fiske from Michigan City who plays at Western Michigan.

I hear people keep saying it isn't about "demographics" do Carmel or Center Grove make fans pass through metal detectors before games? How can this seriously not be a factor? Do any of the HCC schools require fans to pass through metal detectors?

The conference title is nice, but does it really matter to these schools who finishes first in swimming or volleyball when they will be eliminated in the first round of the sectionals anyway?

Merrillville is the most likely DAC team coming down to 5A, as they have been under 2100 students the past two years, and have fewer students than Valpo. Chesterton is also close to the cutoff line. Based on what has happened the past few years, only 3 DAC teams, Portage, Lake Central, and Crown Point have a large enough enrollment to not worry about being moved from 6A.

Looking forward to this matchup as Marshall gives Merrillville a dynamic that they didn't have last year even with a Notre Dame recruit like Johnson. Westfield manhandled Merrillville last year and I like that Merrillville has ramped up how physical they play this year, starting with Grant, talk about throwing your weight around.

Last I saw, they don't have a superintendent, which means, stay the h*** away. Would never have thought there would be a time when they would be in worse shape than Westside.

Michigan City as a program has been at the semi-state recently, with this coaching staff who are battle tested. If you are referring to the players, you are correct, I don't think any of these players as freshman played in the 2018 semi-state against New Pal and for sure not in 2017. The crowd, the speed of the game, how physical it will be, will not catch Zionsville of guard but I don't think that equates to a win unless Zionsville TKO's Michigan City in the first quarter or first half. Zionsville has the attention of the coaches in the region. While the HCC does not get a lot of attention football wise, interestingly a lot of competition in girls sports of late with the DAC, they are not on the radar of the general fan because we only hear about Cathedral and Center Grove. In terms of the score or spread, there is a full moon Friday night.

I will be the first one to be realistic about the DAC or the northern conferences vs the HCC, MIC, but I would say that Michigan City and Valparaiso are not pushovers and have proven over last 4-5 years they can battle with the best, especially Valpo with tough losses to Carmel in a 6A semi state and given the New Pal team one of their toughest battles during their two year run. While the bottom half of the conference is way down, the top three teams are not, and have high quality coaching staffs and depth charts that are not a step below what Zionsville, Brownsburg, or Westfield have. I don't have a pick yet, but you can tell my heart is with the region. I have said in previous post this year, Merrillville is much more physical this year than the last three and will not rely on just using their superior athleticism to beat Westfield this year. Merrillville has physically imposed their will on every team they have played this year, throw in Marshall and their dedication to pounding Logan cannot be overstated. Same goes for Michigan City, they have started pounding the ball and not relying on their athletes, four kids who can take the ball to the house at anytime. Westfield and Zionsville defeated Merrillville and Valpo with not much resistance last year, I will be shocked if that happens this year.