Plymouthfan91

On 2/28/2024 at 7:03 AM, Coach Lou said:

Was there any thought of Coach Amstutz staying on as head football coach as well as taking the A.D. position? 

I know there are a few schools here in Northern Indiana that do that. For years Bill Sharpe was both A.D. and head coach at Jimtown.

I think at Goshen the current A.D. is also the head wrestling coach.

I think Coach Sharpe had a great support staff.  He didn't have to do a lot of AD work in season.  I think anyone who is a head coach and AD will have their moves under the microscope now a days.  Putting your coaching ahead of a soccer game is a bigger deal now than it used to be.  Having seen us play East Noble, they were always well coached and the kids played hard.  Congrats to him.

By putting anyones names up without a press release is rumor and shouldn't be posted.

5 hours ago, foxbat said:

I'm not sure that's the only thing as there are still bragging rights games, traditional rivalries, etc., but there's some truth to that.  Coming out of Texas where the rankings are done based on standings in a district, you could be in a 10-team district and see your season ended by the 3rd game unless you pull an inside straight.  There were still rivalry games and "sister school" games that motivated teams to play on later in the season, but sometimes you were already looking a year into the future before that stench started to rise in the locker room.

In Texas, we never thought much about districts because they were already set for you.  The state put you in, somewhat, geographic proximity with other same-size schools.  Think of the sectionals for Indiana at 1A-4A.  I'd conjecture that while everyone's talking about seeding/qualifiers, the one thing that I think Indiana's missing is "How will it impact conference structure?"  If random draw goes away and that supposedly automatically brings about qualifiers, then I'd also expect the a number of conferences to go away or completely realign from their current forms ... especially those that are mixed class ... and not through an organic process that we see now.

I like the Texas model just because it is settled on the field.  Your typical 4A-1A sectional would play round robin for 7 games then they would get 2 non-sectional games.  I would take the top 4 from each sectional and take the top 4 from say section 17 and Sectional 18 and play an 8 team tournament.  Where the #1 from 17 would play the #4 from 18.  And so on.  Then the tourney would go from there. 

The bottom four from the sectionals would play a "bowl" game for week 10.  Where the #5's from sectional 17 and 18 play and so on. 

While the tourney teams get a bye week to prepare for their tourney and also they would get to still play on Thanksgiving. 

At least it would be settled on the field where it should be not by a computer or some weird algorithm that no one would be able to understand.

As for the 5A and 6A.  They could make it the top two in each sectional but then they would need to have two bye weeks in the tourney to play on Thanksgiving.  I say let all the big schools in and give them one bye week.  But still play the top team in sectional 1 vs the bottom team in sectional 2 and so on to begin the tourney. 

10 hours ago, Footballking16 said:

Why didn’t the Chiefs and the 49ers play the first round of the playoffs? Why don’t we have UConn and Purdue play the first round of the NCAA Tournament this year?

Because in doing so, you have to readily admit that the regular doesn’t matter. No other sport at any level of competition outside the postseason tournaments the IHSAA puts on, treat the regular season in that light. 

But the regular season isn't even.  The ability to play anyone in the state when you want to isn't possible.  Teams are stuck playing the teams around them so whatever way you use to seed won't be fair.  In the NFL the schedule is chosen by the league but non-conference play in college football/basketball can be chosen by the schools involved.  They can travel and play who ever they want.  They can increase their Net or KenPom or whatever rating the selection committee is using.  High Schools can't do that.

I would argue the regular season is a way to get your team ready for the post-season.  You spend the nine weeks getting your team ready, getting a two deep roster and putting out film that will get your kids into college.  An all-in only hurts those schools who have to play a must win in week one and lose.  They complain they had to play a good team early whne they had the regular season to get their team ready for that game.  Sounds like the people who complain about everyone getting a trophy are worried that they won't get trophies if they have to play a hard game first...

7 hours ago, Footballking16 said:

Brownsburg went undefeated in the toughest conference in the state yet drew a road playoff game against the #2 team in the state, in the first round no less.

Should tell you everything you need to know about the value of a conference championship under the current format. 2-7 Avon who finished dead last in said conference and also a 4 TD loser to Brownsburg drew another 2-7 team IN THE SAME SECTIONAL.

Make it make sense.

At some point Brownsburg would have to beat #2 team in state to win the championship.  Why not play it first when everyone is healthy.  Win that game and play the winner of the 2-7 teams, which should be a break before your thrid round game.  I don't see the difference of when you play another good team or when you play a "bad" team.  You have to win them all to win a championship.

I understand the reasons and I apologize.  I will no longer comment on this.  

4 hours ago, Gipper said:

As the father of a 17-year old girl, I can say that is something that should NEVER be done, regardless of the context.

It seems people here are more worried about rumors than the reason this thread was originated.  

When I posted this last week (and it was removed) I was told that I had a problem with Barron.  The entire process of hiding facts and not letting people have opinions is a joke.  As a father of a teenage girl I know that if any "teacher" slapped my daughter on the butt I would be going for his head.  Since he is a football coach and a good ole boy we will just let him get away with it.  The girl is the victim not John Barron!

53 minutes ago, Rocket said:

After watching the Northridge/Northwood game I definitely think New Prairie will be able to do what they do best which is run the ball. The big question is whether NP can stop or slow down the panthers passing game. Looking forward the a very entertaining game. Doesn’t look like the weather will be a factor at all for the game.

As long as Northwood doesn't have pictures of NP players they will be fine.

20 hours ago, NRRaider2001 said:

So you were on the field and heard that being said?  Didn't think so.  But congrats on the win.

I'm not blaming anyone but Northridge for the loss, they should've done better.  However people need to see the tactics used and can form their own opinions on the matter. 

Not one time did you deny that the video was turned in 4+ months after someone from Northwood obtained it and held on to it to only release it on the Thursday before sectional championship.

The picture posted was from a public social media page, and trust me, there are far worse where that came from.

After the game I tried to ask the question about the players who didn't play and I got it removed.  If the story is true than Northwood withheld the video until they could use it.  If the person involved cared about kids it would've been given after they had first seen it.  Even with these antics Ridge had a chance to win.  

Northwood has abused the transfer "portal" rule and fielded the best team that the "rules" allowed.  But the part about this that chaps my rear is the finger sniffing first down pose.  Act like you have been there before.  The spike of the TD by the QB that cost his team 15 yards.  

I applaud the Northridge admin for taking care of this promptly and following their code of conduct.  Would Northwood of actedo n the video on Thursday before the game or wait until after the game to investigate it?  

3 hours ago, 00NWP said:

Plymouth at Northridge: Plymouth lost a heartbreaker last week with that walk off field goal...however...I really like it when the kicking game has an impact in games.  I feel like, in my lifetime, the kicking game may be removed from football and that makes me sad.  Northridge played a good game against Concord.  I don't see Plymouth getting a win at Northridge, but I hope they make it competetive.  Plymouth is headed in the right direction. Northridge 37 Plymouth 10

 I am curious as to what happened to NW's football field.  Typically the school take great care of their grass field...it was a hot mess express on Friday and I am sure that Mishawaka was not happy with what they saw as it was a muddy mess in some places.  Any who...the regular season is winding down and the NLC shows again that it is a very competetive conference and will more than likely have a shared champion. 

Tough loss is right.  We scored too quick to tie the game.  Our defense has to be able to make a stop in that situation though.  I thought that the Goshen QB and RB were pretty good players.  It was a good game.  We are slowly showing improvement.  We can hang with Ridge if our defense can get some stops.

NW has turf for their softball and baseball fields.  When are they getting it for football?  

1 hour ago, 00NWP said:

Quick note on a previous post about NorthWood's showing off or being uncoached.  Its pretty obvious NW has some good players on this team.  Those players can't play every position on the field and it is quite obvious to anyone whom has watched a game this year, the positions lost to graduation are struggling...not the skill positions.  In today's age, that is life for this generation.  Not just in sports, but life is lived on social media...for good or bad. I cant fathom a team like NorthWood being "uncoached".  There is a reason that a small farm school like NW has only had maybe 4-5 losing seasons ever....its 93 percent coaching.  Those are just my 2 cents for what its worth.

I'm not saying they were uncoached.  My thought is that they are undisciplined and have a little too much "look at me!" for this football fan.  I wonder why the coaches haven't toned down this behavior.  That was the meaning of the tail wagging the dog comment not the scheme but the discipline of the athletes.

I worked the chain gang as a sub one game when Bronson Yoder was a Senior and Northwood destroyed Plymouth.  He was not only a great player but he was a great person to observe on the sidelines.  He was constantly cheering for his teammates and didn't need to stand out.  He was the epitome of a leader and a great player.  At least from the one game that I observed him.  

2 hours ago, johnny U said:

Interesting comments coming from a poster whose team got beat 42-7 by an  uncoached team.

Uncoached?  Hardly!  These kids are playing better than they have for over three years.  I just had some observations that I made.  The transfer portal isn't as great as it seems...

On 9/23/2023 at 8:15 AM, PantherPride said:

I think it comes down to if Northwood doesn’t turn the ball over. We committed 5 TOs against Warsaw. I don’t see any way Mishawaka doesn’t have at least 300 yards rushing and 35 points. The question is, does Northwood’s offense do its thing and keep it a game. My prediction is no and Mishawaka wins by at least 3 scores. The Panthers have regressed, even Plymouth was having some success running the ball. They just don’t have the talent to maintain that on long drives. 

Northwood has some dudes.  But I wonder if all the showing off they do is a distraction from actually playing football.  From all of the posting on social media, to pointing the first down after every one of them, and then the hanging mouth piece from your WR.  

Most coaches wouldn't allow this to go on if you are losing games and I wonder how much control the coaches at Northwood have.  Does the tail wag the dog?

Mishawaka is the best team I have seen in the NLC.  Their QB is the best player in the conference.  We need to beat Goshen this Friday to continue on our overall improvement.  

On 9/16/2023 at 4:32 PM, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Former Warsaw Tiger Harrison Mevis hits a 61-yarder at the buzzer to walk off an upset win for Mizzou. Sets an SEC record for longest FG in conference history.

Awesome kick.  That was a fun game to watch.  On a side note does NLCTigerFan07 remember the OT game at Plymouth when the walk-off FG by Plymouth to win the game was counted even though it was missed.  I work the gate by that side and we talk about that game all of the time.  I believe that Mevis was your kicker during that time.  

1 hour ago, roaringthunderdlr said:

If you're Plymouth you may want to consider cancelling all outside activities for the remainder of the season

Funny we are 1-0 this season why would we want to do that?

Week 2 Pick 'Em Games:

1. Cathedral @ Brownsburg

2. Homestead @ Noblesville

3. Roncalli @ Franklin Central

4. Harrison @ Plainfield 

5. LaPorte @ Lowell

6. Evansville Mater Dei @ Castle

7. Culver Academy @ Mishawaka Marian

8. Franklin County @ Connersville

9. Brownstown Central @ Charlestown

10. Owen Valley @ South Putnam

11. North Decatur @ Eastern Hancock 

Plymouth has already put into motion cancelling all outside activities for Thursday.  Nothing about Friday yet.  It is forecasted ONLY to be in the mid-80s up north.

4 hours ago, 00NWP said:

 

Plymouth at Columbia City: You would have though Plymouth won a state championship last week…but for real…great win for the kids and the whole community!  Columbia City did what was expected and I think they have a squad again this year.  I don’t think the winning streak continues for Plymouth this week and things may get a bit out of hand.  I see CC running that offense all over Plymouth’s defense.  CC 35 Plymouth 7

I don't know how good Columbia City is.  They will probably be better than Calumet.  The Rockie Defense was very good except for one drive on Friday.  Once they adjusted Calumet couldn't do anything offensively.  I also thought that Plymouth ran the ball hard and their QB and RB's were a load to bring down.  Learning to win is hard and they passed their first test of the season.  With our numbers and only having one or two kids going both ways we will have an opportunity to wear down CC in this heat.  It sounds like they have a couple of lineman going both ways.  

We need to take care of the ball in the red zone where we turned it over twice on Friday and we need to control some clock to win.  I will take Plymouth winning 21-20.  

Whoever Goshen chooses to play in their Non-Conference schedule shouldn't matter.  They will have enough tough games in the NLC to make them battle tested for the tournament.  There is a reason that Alabama plays Middle Tennessee and South Florida.  

I hope the defections of players don't hurt them this year.

1. FW Carroll @ Hamilton Southeastern

2. Lawrence North @ Avon

4. Warsaw @ Michigan City

5. New Palestine @ Westfield

5. Chesterton @ Hobart 

6. Leo @ Kokomo

7. Jasper @ Evansville Memorial 

8. Western @ Tri-West

9. FW Concordia @ Indianapolis Scecina

10. Perry Central @ Tell City 

11. Tecumseh @ South Spencer

I don't know a lot about the other teams in the NLC but I hope they all win except for Warsaw.  (It's a Plymouth thing!). But I think that the Rockies will get a much needed win on Friday.  Our numbers are the highest that I have seen in a while and we have some kids who have competed to get their spots and they will play their rear-ends off on Friday.  I'm looking forward to seeing this group compete.

I agree that we current system using geography for the tourney isn't ideal it is most cost effective.  I would love to see us rank each class from #1 to #64 and play a seeded tourney.  But transportation costs would be too great.  

Isn't funny that a coach can yell and scream and cuss at an official during a game and the officials are expected to take it.  Why can't the officials say something to the coach when they make a wrong decision?  It would be funny to hear what the officials would say to coaches about their coaching moves.

As the guy who works with officials when they visit my school, I also want to thank them for the work they do.  When they make the easy calls no one says anything but when they make the tough calls someone always complains.  I enjoy talking to our visiting refs and they are always discussing how to be better and how to make the game enjoyable for our student athletes.  Thanks for all you do.