Frozen Tundra

I can provide some context for the HHC side of things. I attended the Beech Grove at Jennings County game last night and left at the end of the third due to the blowout. Seems like the Panthers and Stars will be battling it out for last place because Jennings County was awful. The inexperience really shows. Nevertheless, on the drive home, I tuned in to a Seymour station and caught the last couple minutes of their game with Jeffersonville. The Owls led 12-0 heading into the fourth but gave up a 74 yard passing TD with 11 minutes left to make it 12-7. Jeff had the ball with under a minute to go and, on 4th and 22 from around their own 25, they completed a 50 yard pass play to get to the Seymour 25 with 40 seconds left. Jeff capped it off with a 10 yard QB keep with 33 seconds left to win 14-12. As for Columbus East and Columbus North, the Bull Dogs took a 35-0 lead into the half. They had outgained the Olympians in yardage 423-25. North would win 42-0 and the final yardage totals were 470-59.

No disrespect intended here but I’m not necessarily sure I agree. I believe playing successful programs CAN make you better but I think it’s relative to the situation. Floyd Central has played Louisville powerhouses for 15 years years now (with the exception of 2020 due to COVID). Where’s the improvement? All those games were blowouts. Outside of those games, it has only resulted in one sectional title during that time. Floyd Central is consistently one of the better HHC programs and their championship contention was always contingent on how Columbus East was so I’m not sure how those games have benefitted. Speaking of Columbus East, when we won the 4A state title in 2013 we had an unbelievably weak schedule. That schedule, nor any of the other weak ones we’ve had, hindered us. To me, it’s more about personnel. You can play all the successful programs you want and you can work as hard as you want but, if you don’t have the talent, it’s not going to make you better via osmosis or what have you. Therefore, I would think there might be other teams within Kentucky for Floyd Central to play besides the Louisville powerhouses. Maybe I’m wrong though. I don’t have the visibility to know. But that’s my opinion on the situation. Feel free to disagree.

Beech Grove 46 Jennings County 10 Final Columbus North 42 Columbus East 0 Final

Jeffersonville 14 Seymour 12 Final Bloomington North 45 Bedford North Lawrence 0 Final

Listened to the last few minutes of the Seymour and Jeff game as I was driving home. Wow. Seymour gave it away.

Beech Grove 46 Jennings County 10 End of 3. I’m out. The wife and I have had all we can stand. Columbus North 35 Columbus East 0 Half. North has outgained East 423 yards to 25.

Beech Grove 20 Jennings County 2 Half So many mistakes by both sides. Feels like this game should be much worse but Beech Grove keeps having false starts, bad snaps (one for a safety), and fumbles.

Beech Grove 14, Jennings County 0 early in the second. This Jennings County team is NOT good. I wasn’t expecting much but, seeing them in person, I’m very underwhelmed. Unless something changes, they’re probably going to finish last in the HHC. The inexperience is very evident.

The talent pool in Columbus overall isn’t what it used to be. However, the majority of talent that is there goes to Columbus North. It’s the more prestigious school due to its history and its superior athletics and academics. It also helps that it has a richer student population and that’s what probably drives its success more than anything. Columbus East football used to attract much more of the talent pool back when Bob Gaddis was the head coach. With him gone, kids would rather play in a tougher conference and in the highest classification, especially given Eddie Vogel hasn’t had a winning season. You’re not going to go far in the postseason at either school so would you rather play big name schools like Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Center Grove, etc. or would you rather play Jennings County, Seymour, and Jeffersonville?

No problem. It’s fun for me. I’m a competitive person so I always like to test my knowledge (or lack thereof). Compiling results makes it more competitive as well and gives the winner bragging rights for the year.

I’ve got everyone’s picks for this week except for @Impartial_Observer

Week 2 Picks Beech Grove (0-1) at Jennings County (0-1): First match-up ever between the Hornets and Panthers. Jennings County just lost by 28 to a mid South Dearborn team while Beech Grove lost by 42 to a top 5 4A team in Greenfield-Central. That’s all I have to go on so that’s what’s influencing my prediction. Beech Grove gets the win. #9 Bloomington North (0-1) at BNL (0-1): Tough start to the season for the Stars whose first two opponents are ranked teams. With all the experience the Cougars returned from last year’s 9-1 team, nobody anticipated them losing in week 1 to Mooresville. Unfortunately for BNL, they get to suffer Bloomington North’s wrath. Could be another week in the single digits for them. The Cougars have won 5 in a row in this series and 16 of the last 17. They have the overall lead as well 23-14. Columbus East (0-1) at Columbus North (1-0): Heading into the season, I expected another Bull Dog win in this rivalry. After last week’s shocking beatdown of then-5A #1 Decatur Central, I’m thinking last year’s 41-0 loss to North might be exceeded this year. The Olympians still don’t have the personnel to compete as Columbus North looks to take the first four-game lead in the series since they last led the series by four games back in 2003. The Bull Dogs lead the series 28-25 and are looking for their fourth win in a row (as well as their eighth win in the last nine games). Floyd Central (0-1) at Terre Haute South (0-1): In what will be only the second match-up ever between the two teams, the Braves look to avenge last season’s loss in the final seconds to the Highlanders. And if vengeance isn’t enough of a motivator, FC also has a near three-hour bus ride factoring against them. Seems like a tall task, especially if what I’m hearing is true about Terre Haute South being pretty solid. Jeffersonville (0-1) at Seymour (1-0): In what has been the first game of the HHC schedule since 2000, the Owls are looking to win three straight in the series since winning five straight from 1998-2002. While the Red Devils played the much tougher Mid-State Conference opponent last week of the two, Seymour has a familiarity with its scheme and system that Jeff doesn’t have under first-year head coach Joe Washington. It’ll be interesting to see if the Red Devils are able to clean up on their mistakes in week 1 as they were whistled 15 times for 104 yards worth of penalties. Jeff leads the series 35-28-1. New Albany (0-1) vs South Bend Washington (0-1) (at Sheridan): We have another first time match-up as the Bulldogs and Panthers meet on Saturday at Sheridan High School. I really don’t know what to expect with this one. New Albany took a 47-6 drubbing against Franklin last week while South Bend Washington lost 28-24 to a Hammond Central team that’s only in its fourth year of existence. Therefore, I’m not sure how good they actually are and how they compare to New Albany. This is a complete shot in the dark pick but I’m going to take a risk and go with New Albany.

It’s hard for me to get a read on Terre Haute South because I don’t know how good Plainfield is. That was a close loss to Plainfield and the Quakers ended up getting ranked in one of the polls as a result. However, I’m not sure they get over .500 this year so was that really a good loss for the Braves? Meanwhile, you have Floyd Central who lost in typical blowout fashion to one of the top 5 teams in Kentucky in Louisville St. Xavier. Whether it’s St. X, Male, or Manual, it’s become a tradition for the Highlanders to take a whooping every year from a Louisville powerhouse or two. A 56-14 loss to St. X this year and a 52-13 loss to them last year despite FC going 8-2. Toughest game of the week to pick for both the CI and HHC threads. Could come down to the final seconds again like it did last year on a neutral field at BNL.

Week 2 Schedule Beech Grove (0-1) at Jennings County (0-1) #9 Bloomington North (0-1) at BNL (0-1) Columbus East (0-1) at Columbus North (1-0) Floyd Central (0-1) at Terre Haute South (0-1) Jeffersonville (0-1) at Seymour (1-0) New Albany (0-1) vs South Bend Washington (0-1) (at Sheridan)

So I know one of the Fishers coaches very well. He told me the final score doesn’t indicate how well Fishers played. Fishers took a 49-14 lead into halftime which meant a running clock in the second half. He said they (Fishers) put their second-stringers in to start the third thinking North Central would play their starters a series and then remove them for the rest of the game. However, North Central kept their starters in and scored two quick TDs to make it 49-28. The Fishers backup offense then drove down to around the North Central 30 before fumbling it away. Fishers put their starting defense back in but they were cold from sitting on the bench and gave up some big plays that led to a touchdown. With it 49-35, North Central went for an onside kick and recovered it. However, they threw an interception and the Fishers offense took knees to end the game.

HHC Pick ‘Em Standings (after week 1): @Impartial_Observer 7/7 @SPARKS 7/7 @Uncle Bubba 7/7 @Bluejacket1 6/7 @boilerfan87 6/7 @Bulldog15 6/7 @Fkfootball 6/7 @Frozen Tundra 6/7 @gonzoron 6/7 @LC_Bears_04 6/7 @Owls2005 6/7 @mamasa 5/7

Yeah I’m ready for you guys to stop playing those Louisville powerhouses. I just don’t see the upside to it. Even for me, it’s not fun seeing the blowout losses every time.

Please note that I’m liking your post because I have a great appreciation of devotion, hard work, and team play. I hate that it’s North doing this (lol) but I still appreciate buy-in.

Really wasn’t expecting much out of North this year. Figured they’d be 6-3 at best. Boy was I wrong. If tonight is any indicator, they’re legit and next week will be a slaughter.

Whiteland 27, Jeffersonville 13 Final South Dearborn 42, Jennings County 14 Final

Franklin 47, New Albany 6 Final Yeah our undersized line wasn’t going to last unfortunately

Seymour 23, Greenwood 20 Final

Bloomington South 27, Columbus East 6 Final

Martinsville 50 BNL 7 Final

7 yard TD run. 27-6 Bloomington South with 7:54 left