Frozen Tundra

I had them winning last year but losing this year. Losing a QB and some other key players I thought would hurt them. Didn't matter. That program is incredible.

Some MIC fans were still not taking New Palestine seriously. A few Center Grove folks I work with didn't respect them after New Pal's win last year because they said Center Grove "wasn't prepared" or "didn't take them seriously". Ever since that loss last year they pointed to this year's game saying New Pal will finally get the regular season loss coming to them because they "just can't hang with the big boys".

Are people going to take New Palestine seriously now or are we going to get the same old excuses?

It's a product of the long-tenured coaches at both schools. Tim Bless came to North in 2000 and turned them around from a bad team to a winner in 2003. Bob Gaddis came to East in 2001 and turned them around from a bad team to a winner in 2004. It took four years for both guys. Granted, North has had a couple of rough patches during Bless' tenure where they had 2-3 consecutive rotten seasons each (2008-2009 and 2012-2014) but they also play much tougher competition than we do. They can't reload as easily as East can. I encourage everyone, though, that you need to see the East/North rivalry at least once in your lifetime. The atmosphere is incredible and you need to get there an hour before kickoff if you want to find a seat. It's quite a spectacle.

Don't forget Madison at South Dearborn. I forgot it in my original post and had to post my picks again.

They wouldn't. People on here make it seem as if Jennings County and Madison are the worst teams in the state just because of how non-competitive they are traditionally in a weak HHC. They lead the charge to evict them. However, my point is that there are worse teams than them. As bad as Jennings County is, Brown County is much worse.

Not sure what Sagarin thinks but John Harrell has East winning 35-34.

Week 2 Predictions Feeling pretty good after going 8-0 last week but this week's games are going to be tougher to predict. Bedford North Lawrence (0-1) at Bloomington North (1-0): I mistakenly picked the Cougars to win last year based on the week 1 results. As it turns out, those same results happened again in week 1 this year with Martinsville beating BNL and Bloomington North beating Greenwood. The Stars are so young and that was evidenced by last week's beatdown. And while Bloomington North hasn't had a good season in years, I have to think they're going to get it done this time around. I'm picking the Cougars. Brown County (1-0) at Jennings County (0-1): See last year's prediction. Once again, Brown County is coming into the game with a blowout win over a bad team (Edinburgh last year, Pike Central this year) and Jennings County is coming in with a loss to Batesville. And, like last year, I'm taking the Panthers over the Eagles. It's a good thing Brown County isn't in the HHC. Almost every team would have the JV in the game for the second half against them. Columbus North (0-1) at Columbus East (1-0): One of the state's best football rivalries takes place for the 49th time. The Olympians are trying to avoid their first four game losing streak to the Bull Dogs since they lost five straight to them from 1972-1976 (East opened in 1972). North was demolished by a terrific Avon team last week but I'm sure youth and inexperience had a lot to do with that. It'll be interesting to see how healthy East RB Mark McDonald is after his third quarter injury last week at Whiteland. If he's good to go, East wins easily. If not, it could be another dandy. Regardless, I'll take East to snap the skid and bring home the Pigskin Scramble trophy. Floyd Central (0-1) at Providence (1-0): With the exception of 1995-1997, this match-up has taken place every year since 1969. The Highlanders have won six straight in the series and 10 out of the last 11. The Pioneers are a decent 2A team but they have their hands full with a decent 5A team like Floyd Central. The Highlanders are also more experienced than last year and should be feeling more comfortable with James Bragg at the helm for year 2. Floyd Central wins. New Albany (1-0) at Castle (0-1): The Bulldogs started the year off with a win last week, although it was against a traditionally weak Evansville Harrison team. Castle had the bigger test in their loss against Bloomington South. Both teams lost a lot of experience off of last year's teams but the Knights are more known for having a successful football program. While New Albany has athletes, Castle can beat you with execution. Castle gets the win. Seymour (1-0) at Jeffersonville (0-1): It's the conference game that is being played as a non-conference game. It's really hard to say if Seymour's win against South Dearborn was legit and if Jeffersonville's loss to Fern Creek (KY) was reasonable. The evidence isn't there yet to say one way or another. However, the Red Devils are on their third coach in three years and the current guy at the helm had never been a head honcho prior to this season. The Owls have a head coach who is in his third year and, while the team hasn't looked impressive during his short tenure, something has to be said for stability. His kids are familiar with him and know what is expected. Seymour gets the W.

Can someone tell me if this week's Seymour vs Jeffersonville game is going to count in the conference standings? The other six teams are only playing six conference opponents and are using week 2 for non-conference games. Seymour and Jeffersonville are each playing seven conference opponents. There can't possibly be an imbalanced schedule can there?

I had to look that one up. Never heard of BAGUBA before.

I was curious to know what schools out there use a nickname for a specific sport that differs from the nickname the school is known by overall. For example: Columbus North is the Bull Dogs but are the Bull Frogs in swimming. Columbus East is the Olympians but are the H2Olympians (or H2Os for short) in swimming. Columbus East also used to be known as the Olympi-Anns in girls sports in the 80s.

Yeah that's one I can't figure out. They played each other every year from 1989-2017. Jennings County led the series 15-14. This is just a theory but my guess is that Greensburg made the decision to end the series. If Jennings County is willing to continue playing Batesville, who has won 15 of the last 16 games against them, why would they end a series against a team they were actually competitive with? Greensburg now plays a good 2A school in Triton Central in week 2.

@DanteEstonia Here's the only article I could find. http://www.therepublic.com/2017/03/23/conference_indiana_looking_to_replace_departing_members/ I can't seem to find the one I'm directly referring to, but it talked about how North's athletic director was directing an effort to try and get Columbus East to join Conference Indiana.

When Conference Indiana lost Perry Meridian and Franklin Central they were trying to find teams to replace them and get the membership back up to eight. Columbus East and several other schools were invited but all turned the offer down. The inside scoop was that all of them thought Terre Haute was too long of a drive and wasn't economical for them. I'll see if I can find the article. It's been a couple of years.

No. If there was, Columbus North and Conference Indiana wouldn't have tried to bring Columbus East into the conference a couple of years ago.

Greatest QB ever

I wouldn't go with the word "bully". We use that word way too loosely these days.

North lost a lot of guys off last year's team and are quite young this year. Nevertheless, I think the Avon game isn't a good indicator of how North is as a team. I believe the Orioles are a legit top 5 team in the state regardless of class.

Especially considering Reitz won on the final play with a 2-point conversion. By the way, it was actually 61-60. Then Reitz won state two weeks later. One of the four or five times since 2004 I thought a state title slipped through our grasp.

There was a time when @Olympian06 didn't like me. He used to give me crap on the middle school bus all the time. I deserved it. Caused me to man-up. But I'm saying this @Fkfootball to let you know he WILL say it to your face whether you truly have a beef with him or not.

When you're 6'4", have a bad back, and can't afford a spacious vehicle then anything over two hours is a long drive.

We're hosting Elkhart next year in week 3. Thank God we're not the ones making the 3 hour, 41 minute drive.

Dang. That's a three hour drive.

Week 1 Predictions Batesville at Jennings County: The Panthers finally have a motivated, young coach trying to build the program from the ground up with energy and commitment. The community seems to be quite excited. However, it's going to be a multi-year process and the Bulldogs have owned them the past 15 years by going 14-1 (JC's only win was in 2011 with senior Iyan Bass at RB). Batesville gets the W. Bedford North Lawrence at Martinsville: The Stars had a great season last year but the Artesians had a slightly better one. Both schools have lost a bit of talent but I think Martinsville has enough remaining to get the win over BNL again this year. Columbus East at Whiteland: Whiteland lost a TON of players from last year's team due to being senior-heavy. East lost some talent but they reload rather than rebuild. However, the Olympians have seemed to struggle with offensive line play at the beginning of the last few seasons and, defensively, they've traditionally struggled against Whiteland's unique offense. This could be a tougher game for East than it should be but, ultimately, I'm not sure the Warriors have a team capable enough this year to match the Olympians point-for-point. East gets the win. Evansville Harrison at New Albany: The Warriors have only had two winning seasons since 2004. Their current coach is in his third year after going 2-8 his first two years. The Bulldogs may have lost quite a bit of talent from last year's team, but I don't think it's enough for Harrison to overcome them. New Albany wins it. Fern Creek (KY) at Jeffersonville: This is the first time I've ever heard of Fern Creek. Apparently they're a Louisville metro school and haven't had a losing season since 2012. Seems to spell doom for the Red Devils who are on their third coach in three years. Based on this, I'm taking the Tigers in this one. Floyd Central at Louisville Male: I was really hoping the Highlanders would've replaced Male by now. The Bulldogs have won the last seven games, with 24 points being the smallest margin of victory in that span. I think Floyd Central will be improved this year but this game won't be an indicator of that. Male wins easily. Madison at Paoli: The Rams are coming off a 12-1 season in which they won a 2A sectional title, and they were 9-3 the previous season. Not sure how much talent they lost down there but now it's Brian Glesing's turn to take control of the program and build on that recent success. Meanwhile, the Cubs haven't won more than two games in a season since 2014 and the outlook for this year doesn't look too promising either. It could be a close game but I'm going with Paoli. South Dearborn at Seymour: I'm not sure what to make of this game. On one hand, I feel like Seymour is the more talented team. On the other hand, South Dearborn's program improved drastically last year and there's a belief from some that it'll continue. Seymour opened the season with a 7-0 victory against South Dearborn last year and I'm going to play it safe by picking them to win again this year.