Frozen Tundra

And here I didn’t think we’d have anything to talk about until enrollment numbers came out in the spring…

You are exactly right. Maybe I was blind to it before but I really started feeling the shift about three years ago.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the past 24 hours, I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference voting out Carmel and Center Grove and the two schools pitching to join the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. Without rehashing a topic we’ve repeatedly beat a dead horse over, I simply ask whether this big move will cause ripple effects throughout the state in regards to conference affiliation. While the situation is still very much fresh and fluid, I could personally see a domino effect happening that would affect the HHC. Admittedly, I’m not privy to any inside information but I would like to think there is some validity to my speculation. What do you guys think?

Major Columbus East streaks that were snapped this year (per CE Football Stats on Twitter): - 17 straight conference titles (2004-2020) - 14 straight outright conference titles (2007-2020) - 96 straight conference wins (last loss: at BNL on 10/13/06) - 107 straight wins against conference opponents (last loss: at BNL on 10/13/06) - 60 straight conference home wins (last loss: vs Floyd Central on 9/26/03) - 55 straight home wins against conference opponents (last loss: vs Seymour on 10/21/05) - 47 straight conference road wins (last loss: at BNL on 10/13/06) - 55 straight road wins against conference opponents (last loss: at BNL on 10/13/06) - 18 straight conference opening wins (last loss: vs Seymour on 9/6/02) - 8 straight conference opening road wins (last loss at Seymour on 8/31/01) - 18 straight wins against Seymour (last loss: at home on 10/21/05) - 10 straight road wins against Seymour (last loss: 8/31/01) - 19 straight wins against New Albany (last loss: at New Albany on 9/20/02) - 10 straight home wins against New Albany (last loss: 9/18/98) - 12 straight wins against 4A teams (last loss: at New Palestine on 11/21/14) - 6 straight road wins at 4A teams (last loss: at New Palestine on 11/21/14) - 36 straight road wins at 5A teams (last loss: at Columbus North on 8/27/10) - 11 straight 5A tournament road wins (last loss: at Terre Haute North on 10/21/88) - 6 straight 5A sectional opening wins (last loss: at Terre Haute North on 10/21/88) - 16 straight sectional opening road wins (last loss: at Bloomington North on 10/23/98) - 9 straight 5A sectional wins (last loss: vs New Palestine on 11/6/15) - 5 straight sectional semifinal road wins (last loss: at Whiteland on 10/26/01)

Final Pick ‘Em Standings: @Frozen Tundra 40/49 @Olympian06 39/49 @LC_Bears_04 38/49 @mamasa 32/49 @boilerfan87 32/49

Week 14 Predictions New Albany (9-3) at #1 Cathedral (12-1): I usually wait until Thursday or Friday to make my picks just in case COVID rears its ugly head and causes a key player or two to miss the game. However, I don’t think even COVID could change the result of this game. No disrespect to the Bulldogs but they just haven’t played this level of competition outside of Columbus East in a long, long time if ever. I think the goal should be to see how long they can play without having a deficit that requires a running clock. Unfortunately, I think they’ll trail by 35+ by halftime. The Fighting Irish are just too good. It’ll be interesting to see the total yardage in this game. Cathedral wins.

They definitely have improved. New Albany has been notorious within the Hoosier Hills Conference for their atrocious defense. They started the year rough but improved on it greatly as the year has gone on.

Pick ‘Em Standings (after week 13): @Frozen Tundra 39/48 @Olympian06 38/48 @LC_Bears_04 37/48 @mamasa 32/48 @boilerfan87 31/48

I liked Coach Gilbert when I found out he was friends with Coach Gaddis. I think Gaddis offered him some big role with the IFCA prior to 2016. So any friend of Coach Gaddis is ok with me.

Completely agree

Lawrenceburg turns it over on downs on the Gibson Southern 41 with 51 seconds left. Gibson Southern 31 Lawrenceburg 29 Final

Gibson Southern with a 20 yard field goal Gibson Southern 31 Lawrenceburg 29 3:25 left

Gibson Southern 28 Lawrenceburg 22 11:06 left

Gibson Southern 21 Lawrenceburg 7 Halftime Gibson Southern will receive the second half kickoff

Memorial never ceases to amaze me anymore. I didn’t think they could compete in 4A when they were moved up but here they are in the final four yet again. Twice in a three year span with the first resulting in a state title.

Evansville Memorial 17 East Central 14 Final East Central led 14-0 at the half but Memorial tied it up with 5:55 left before hitting a 30-yard field goal as time expired. Mount Vernon (Fortville) at Evansville Memorial next week.

Bloomington South was without their starting QB and starting RB last night. I don’t think New Albany would’ve won under normal circumstances but I’m still shocked they won at all. This is the most experienced team New Albany probably has ever had and it allowed them to get here. First conference and sectional titles since 2002. First ever regional title. Nevertheless, I fully expect Cathedral to be up by 35+ by halftime and play with a running clock in the second half.

A few days before the game, I remember listening to 1070 The Fan and hearing it discussed that it would probably be the quickest state title game ever with the way both teams liked to run the ball. Lol. I went into that game thinking we’d probably lose based on what I’d seen of Westfield. That miracle play we made at the end of the first half made the score closer than it should’ve been. You guys had the stronger team. I never like losing but I didn’t mind losing to your Shamrocks. When we went to the 4A state title game in 2013, I was pulling for Westfield to beat Cathedral in the 5A title game. The result was all too similar to our first four match-ups with Cathedral so I sympathized for you that you weren’t able to get your first state title. So when Westfield beat us in 2016, I remembered 2013 and was happy for you. No shame in losing to a deserving team, especially when it was their first state football title.

New Albany up 20-14 at the end of the third quarter. The Bulldogs are trying to hang on to win their first ever regional title.

New Albany and Bloomington South are tied 14-14 at the half

I’ve got several here so bear with me. For my Columbus East Olympians… 2007 4A Regionals: 61-60 loss at Evansville Reitz. Heck of a game where neither offense could be stopped. Unfortunately, Reitz scored a touchdown at the end of the game and decided to go for two. They converted and didn’t leave East with enough time to do anything. 2009 5A Sectional First Round: 27-26 win at Columbus North. The one and only time we’ve played our crosstown rival in the postseason was an instant classic. North led 26-20 with just under two minutes left and had the ball around the East 35 on fourth down. They only needed a few yards to get a first down and attempted to go for it. They turned it over on downs and Gunner Kiel led East down the field for the tying touchdown with 20 seconds left. The PAT gave East the lead and the defense held North off in the final seconds for the win. 2013 4A State Championship: 28-27 win against Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger. After East jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead, Dwenger grabbed the momentum by scoring 27 straight. East would convert a pass (a rarity that season) on fourth down en route to an eventual touchdown and a one point lead in the final couple minutes. However, the Dwenger offense had given East problems all day and was driving into field goal range in the closing seconds when East forced two fumbles on the same play and recovered the latter to win. It was the first state title since 1979 (second overall) and the first state title for hall of fame Coach Bob Gaddis. 2014 4A Semistate: 30-28 loss at New Palestine. See @MICFan34‘s post. I’ll add that East had control for most of the game but got worn down by the fourth quarter. New Palestine drove it down into field goal range and, despite Coach Gaddis using all three timeouts in succession, the New Pal kicker had ice in his veins and didn’t get rattled. The kick was good as the game clock hit zeroes. 2017 5A Semistate: 42-13 win at Cathedral. Wasn’t a close game after halftime but the win was so significant that it felt like a state championship. Cathedral had stomped mud holes in East in the 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2012 4A semistate championships. To get the monkey off our backs and return a beating to Cathedral was amazing. It also removed any doubt that East was a top-tier program in the state. Some of my favorite moments not involving Columbus East include… 2015 5A State Championship: Fort Wayne Snider 64, New Palestine 61. Snider jumped out to a 28 point lead but New Pal scored 35 straight to go in front. New Pal would take a 61-56 lead with 1:03 left but Snider would march down and score to win the game. 2017 2A State Championship: Southridge 15, Woodlan 14. Woodlan led 14-7 in the final minute but Southridge scored the touchdown and converted a gutsy two-point conversion in the final seconds to win their first state title in football. 2020 2A State Championship: Western Boone 36, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 35. Trailing by nine late, WeBo drove 86 yards to score a touchdown and cut the lead to 35-33 with 1:55 left. After failing to recover an onside kick, WeBo was able to force Luers into a three-and-out. WeBo took over at their own 46 and marched it down to the Luers 21 where the kicker calmly made a 38 yard field goal with just seconds remaining to win the team its third straight 2A championship.

Is the starting QB playing for South tonight? I saw he got knocked out of the game last week.

Week 13 Predictions #8 Bloomington South (8-2) at New Albany (8-3): The Panthers defeated the Bulldogs in week 1 at home by a score of 50-20. The location of game 2 may be different but I don’t expect the result to change. New Albany lost all three of their non-conference games decisively in the regular season. I do think they can make this one closer than they did 12 weeks ago but I still don’t think they have the athletes or size to outscore them. Bloomington South wins.

Pick ‘Em Standings (after week 12): @Frozen Tundra 39/47 @Olympian06 38/47 @LC_Bears_04 37/47 @mamasa 32/47 @boilerfan87 31/47