Frozen Tundra

Seymour scores a TD just before the end of the third quarter but the PAT was blocked. Owls lead 30-7 after three. Heading for the exit. The wife has had enough. Something about getting old and having a bad back. Nobody warned me my young girlfriend would be an old wife one day.

Terrible end of the first half for Jennings County. Already down 10-7, they gave up 14 points in less than two minutes thanks to a fumble deep in their own territory. Seymour leads 24-7 at the half.

Just going to do quarterly updates tonight. Seymour kicks a 27 yard FG with 4 seconds left in the quarter to take a 3-0 lead after one.

Really??? That would surprise me.

Is Yorktown solid with the HHC?

Just to follow up, one trusted source is saying Rushville and Connersville were invited to join the conference initially but declined. The EIAC is pretty tight which means Jennings County isn’t going anywhere even if they have one foot out the door. There are still a number of scenarios the could happen eventually but they don’t look likely at the moment.

Thanks for the info! If the HHC expands, I’m trying to figure out who is within the geographic footprint that is similar in size. The three that come to mind are Anderson, Muncie Central, and Richmond. Southport could be a darkhorse since they’re not in the area and are in 6A, but they need a new home and fit competitively (not in football though).

I’m kind of surprised Rushville wasn’t a target. Maybe they still could be. Their enrollment numbers align better than New Castle’s and Delta’s.

New Castle was the tenth smallest 4A school as of two years ago when the IHSAA released enrollment numbers. Based on the rate they’re shrinking, they’ll be in 3A the next two years unless they finally bottom out. 2015-2016/2016-2017: 1,119 students 2017-2018/2018-2019: 1,023 students 2019-2020/2020-2021: 970 students 2022-2023/2023-2024: 875 students

More conference realignment tonight as a brand new conference called the Eastern Crossroads Conference is set to form in east-central Indiana. Four schools are committed (Eastern Hancock, Lapel, New Castle, and Shenandoah). Invites have been sent out to three schools (Centerville, Delta, and Northeastern). I’m really curious to see if any or all those three accept invites. If not, I imagine the ECC will look for schools to invite. Also curious to know if the ECC will look for an eighth member. Depending on how this goes, we could see a domino effect that reaches down to the HHC. Do Rushville and/or Connersville eventually get an invite? If they do and they accept then that opens the door for the EIAC to replace them which means Jennings County could be an option. Not saying this happens but it’s something to keep an eye on.

I’m hearing Jay County doesn’t want in and that’s why they’re not included on the release Eastern Hancock made public.

Still need week 7 picks from @gonzoron and @Goose10. Please be sure to get them in by 7 PM tomorrow in order to remain in the main competition.

1. Depends on when those teams have an opening and whether it impedes on the opening of another school you mentioned. For instance, will Bloomington North fill Greenwood’s spot in the Mid-State schedule? If so, the rivalry game with Bloomington South gets moved to week 1 or week 2. And if the rivalry game does move, which non-conference opponent gets dropped? Is it BNL, Jeffersonville, or Columbus East. The path of least resistance says you schedule Bloomington South in week 1 so you can keep the BNL game for week 2 instead of having to search for a new non-conference opponent. But does week 1 work best for Bloomington South? 2. Also depends on if those schools even want to play Bloomington South and/or Columbus North. Would Castle and/or Reitz really want to make that long of a drive in the regular season? There are several factors at play here. Football scheduling is like a jigsaw puzzle. We all want certain pieces to fit into place but that doesn’t always mean they’re going to. Again, if Bloomington South and Columbus North can make independence work in football then I think that’s the best path for them in order to challenge themselves. In case anyone was wondering, I was referencing boys basketball here.

I don’t know if the HHC would do it but I wonder if they would consider allowing Bloomington South and Columbus North to be non-football members. As I stated before, both schools are honestly too good for the HHC in football but there would be stiffer competition in the other sports. I know Bloomington South has played Jennings County and Floyd Central the last 11 years (although JC is no longer on the schedule) and they’ve played BNL, Columbus East, and New Albany going back even longer than that.

Not football. Nobody is beating them in football unless they are historically bad or unless we’re on the level of Columbus East from 2004-2020.

Wow. I had no idea about that. That’s crazy. Whatever works I guess.

Are Connersville and Rushville pretty solid? With New Castle leaving the Hoosier Heritage Conference, and rumors of Delta and Yorktown wanting out as well, I didn’t know if they would try to form a new conference with other similar-sized schools in east-central Indiana.

Despite being in the southeast corner of the state, I’ve followed the SAC closely since 2014. It’s always fun to see how it turns out because there are some perennial powerhouses as well as several other consistently strong teams. The three things that have surprised me this year are Snider’s huge drop-off, Northrop’s rapid rise, and South Side not being the easy win they’ve been in the last 10-15 years. Usually they get slapped around by 28 or more but they’ve kept it relatively closer in their losses aside from Carroll.

I don’t think anyone here is saying they “should” move to the HHC. It’s just something we would like to see. We all want the conference to be better. Bringing in those two schools definitely makes the conference better. Those two would likely dominate football but they’d have some competition in other sports for sure. That’s not to say they wouldn’t win most of the conference championships each sports season but there are some good basketball, baseball, and wrestling programs (for example) in the HHC already. And Floyd Central is pretty good at the country club sports. What Bloomington South and Columbus North get in return is some ease on scheduling. Center Grove and Carmel are rejoining the MIC next year because their ADs have had a rough time trying to nail down scheduling year after year for each sport. And while those are mega schools who likely have a harder time than most trying to find willing competitors, I have heard from many people over the years associated with independent schools that it can be quite challenging locking down opponents. It’s especially hardest in football due to playing one game a week for nine weeks and most teams have conference obligations that lock them in for particular weeks. If Bloomington South and Columbus North can make independence work then they should go for it. However, they also have the option to make the HHC a temporary home until something better opens up for them.

They had gained the six points needed during the 2022 and 2023 seasons to move up to 3A for 2025 and 2026 due to the success factor. However, they also have 21 more students than the two largest 2A schools. So it looks like they would’ve moved up anyway. What ideas are you referring to?

Snider (although they’re really down this year), Dwenger, and Carroll are the most consistent. Homestead was a powerhouse up until they fell off a few years ago but they’re decent this year. Northrop is typically terrible but they’re loaded this year. North Side is pretty decent this year as well.

Yeah look at the Summit Athletic Conference. Fort Wayne Bishop Luers is a 2A-sized school playing in a conference containing the following: Fort Wayne Northrop (6A) Carroll (Fort Wayne) (6A) Homestead (6A) Fort Wayne Snider (5A-sized school) Fort Wayne North Side (5A) Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger (4A) Fort Wayne South Side (4A) Fort Wayne Wayne (4A) Fort Wayne Concordia (3A) Most years, Luers will be anything between 3-6 and 6-3 heading into the postseason and yet they’ll be one of the last 2 or 4 teams remaining because their conference schedule prepared them for the 2A or 3A (when they play up) state tournament.

I will only skew on the final score of the Columbus East at Bloomington North game. I’ll say the Cougars win 35-7.

This is what happens when I have too much free time. Blame IT for not fixing my work computer fast enough.

That’s always been rumored but I’ve never heard anyone actually confirm that East and North can’t be in the same conference.