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Penn and Mishawaka rivalry (on the gridiron) ending (link)


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I know this has been touched on here and there before but here's a bit more on it.  

For the life of me, I can't figure out why both sides wouldn't want to continue playing this game.  This article from Mishawaka's website sounds like them saying, "Don't look at us!" for the reason this game isn't being played for at least the next 4 years.

https://cavemensports.com/2019/09/24/this-is-it-mishawaka-penn-football-series-ending-after-this-year/?fbclid=IwAR0yKDt2wwlExII2WrznZWnhjUQUFEEdFigDYCdriRYMLVfMBrzuo1jZXIE

Rivalries are a regional thing and I've only lived in a few different areas of Indiana in my lifetime but for my money this is the best rivalry I've had the pleasure to witness.  I feel bad kids in both programs currently in grades 7-10 because most all of them will go through their varsity football careers without having the opportunity to play against their rivals from 3 miles down the road.  

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12 minutes ago, WolvesOnTheProwl said:

In Dean they trust

Quote

The Cavemen will move to the Northern Lakes Conference in 2020.  MHS has been in the NIC (Northern Indiana Conference) since 1927, longer than any other school in the league.  “The move is for all sports,” said Huppert.  “Before we applied to the NLC, we had meetings with Mishawaka legends, as well as all of our varsity head coaches.  

I want to know if a certain legend was consulted? 

Ryan Meehan 

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1 hour ago, Coach Nowlin said:

I want to know if a certain legend was consulted? 

Ryan Meehan 

Think he was more of a legend off the field lol

But it does make me wonder who the legends consulted were? Off the top of my head would be Al Smith (former wrestling and football coach), Steve Anderson (longtime volleyball coach), perhaps John Danher (former AD). Any ideas who else?

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1 hour ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Exactly the response I would expect from you #Troll

You guys got hosed.  Mishawaka got tired of waiting and found another date for the ball.

It happens.

 

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15 hours ago, DT said:

You guys got hosed.  Mishawaka got tired of waiting and found another date for the ball.

It happens.

 

How did Penn get hosed? Looks like Penn is looking for a better date for the ball , as in top out of state competition . Mishawaka may win the game this year  , and have been competitive in recent years , but Penn is 47-15 all time vs Mish . The majority of the 47 weren't close . 

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Penn has not fared too well against elite competition

The Mishawaka matchup was a terrific rivalry and a community rallying point

And a strong gate for both schools

Remember when Nebraska and Oklahoma stopped playing?   Texas and A&M?   Pitt and West Virginia?   Missouri and Kansas?  New conference alliances sometimes destroy historic old rivalries.  

 

 

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1 hour ago, DT said:

Penn has not fared too well against elite competition

The Mishawaka matchup was a terrific rivalry and a community rallying point

And a strong gate for both schools

Remember when Nebraska and Oklahoma stopped playing?   Texas and A&M?   Pitt and West Virginia?   Missouri and Kansas?  New conference alliances sometimes destroy historic old rivalries.  

 

 

Penn gets more from losing to elite programs than beating NIC competition . Losing to ST X and Flossmor helps them prepare for the playoffs . Penn wont do anything this year , but in most years it would . There aren't to many Indiana teams that would consistently beat those 2 . 

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GoldRush, you said it:  "Penn gets more from losing to elite programs than BEATING NIC COMPETITION."  This is one reason why Mishawaka was SMART in leaving the NIC.  The NIC is NOT a powerful conference, its simply a large conference.  That being said, Mishawaka is now in a conference that competes well in almost all sports and travels well in all sports.  Penn is simply left holding the bill in the NIC right now and out of frustration, is refusing to keep Mishawaka on their schedule.  I'd argue that even though the series as a whole has not been competitive, as of late, its been a very good rivalry (and one that DOES prepare Penn for a state run I'd like to add).  

IF the PHM administration is smart, they'd simply leave to another conference or go independent much like St. Joe and Marian were about 15 years ago.  Choose your own schedules/opponents.

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I think Penn would be best served by playing a Notre Dame like conference schedule in football and keep their full affiliation in the other sports with the NIC.  Or they need to go independent where they would play a similar schedule in all the other sports but football anyway.

The Duneland is just too far for weekday games.

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The NIC North is powerful conference.  The average Sagrain rating of the NIC north is higher than the average ranking of the Duneland, Norther Lakes, and the Summit. If Penn would join one of those they still would be playing teams like Lake Central, Goshen, Wawasee, FW Wayne, FW North, etc.  Why not stay in the NIC North and with 4 dates you can choose your opponents.  Also Mishawaka may travel well to Penn, but that is the only place their fans follow their teams.  Also Mishawaka has a few powerful team but a majority of them are average at best.  

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52 minutes ago, johnny U said:

The NIC North is powerful conference.  The average Sagrain rating of the NIC north is higher than the average ranking of the Duneland, Norther Lakes, and the Summit. If Penn would join one of those they still would be playing teams like Lake Central, Goshen, Wawasee, FW Wayne, FW North, etc.  Why not stay in the NIC North and with 4 dates you can choose your opponents.  Also Mishawaka may travel well to Penn, but that is the only place their fans follow their teams.  Also Mishawaka has a few powerful team but a majority of them are average at best.  

 

I would beg to differ. Been to plenty of games and they always travel well but maybe just the games I attend

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3 hours ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Penn gets more from losing to elite programs than beating NIC competition . Losing to ST X and Flossmor helps them prepare for the playoffs . Penn wont do anything this year , but in most years it would . There aren't to many Indiana teams that would consistently beat those 2 . 

The Penn-Mishawaka games have been pretty competitive over the past 10-20 years I've lived in this area.  Penn has won more than they've lost for sure, as they should with being the biggest school in the area.  But Mishawaka has won a handful and I've seen a number of others that Mishawaka lost that still meets the criteria of "competitive".  By that standard, Penn hasn't been competitive with the "elite" competition they scheduled for this season.  

If their goal is to have a full schedule of games more competitive than the Mishawaka game, they'd be wise to change conferences because Mishawaka has been the only team in the conference to beat them in how many years?  40 or so?

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5 hours ago, Indian72 said:

From a gate stand point Penn-Mishawaka is much attractive then Penn - Laporte.

Does the fact Laporte coach played for Penn enter into the equation?

I'm going to guess that the game has historically been the top gate for both schools over time and especially for NIC teams.   

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20 minutes ago, XStar said:

The Penn-Mishawaka games have been pretty competitive over the past 10-20 years I've lived in this area.  Penn has won more than they've lost for sure, as they should with being the biggest school in the area.  But Mishawaka has won a handful and I've seen a number of others that Mishawaka lost that still meets the criteria of "competitive".  By that standard, Penn hasn't been competitive with the "elite" competition they scheduled for this season.  

If their goal is to have a full schedule of games more competitive than the Mishawaka game, they'd be wise to change conferences because Mishawaka has been the only team in the conference to beat them in how many years?  40 or so?

It happens , you play nationally ranked teams on one of your biggest down years and with an injured starting Qb , any team would get shellacked under those circumstances . 

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27 minutes ago, XStar said:

The Penn-Mishawaka games have been pretty competitive over the past 10-20 years I've lived in this area.  Penn has won more than they've lost for sure, as they should with being the biggest school in the area.  But Mishawaka has won a handful and I've seen a number of others that Mishawaka lost that still meets the criteria of "competitive".  By that standard, Penn hasn't been competitive with the "elite" competition they scheduled for this season.  

If their goal is to have a full schedule of games more competitive than the Mishawaka game, they'd be wise to change conferences because Mishawaka has been the only team in the conference to beat them in how many years?  40 or so?

Going back 20 years , Really ? here are some scores from 2000 to present

35-7 , 38-0 , 54-14 , 50-0 , 51-0 , 47-14 , 48-14 , 28-7 , 39-0 , 28-0 , 17-0 , 17-7 , 31-14 , 21-7 , 28-7 , 48-7 . That's 16 games that were not competitive . 

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5 hours ago, Indian72 said:

From a gate stand point Penn-Mishawaka is much attractive then Penn - Laporte.

Does the fact Laporte coach played for Penn enter into the equation?

The Penn-LaPorte deal is only for 2 years as I understand it.  The games were scheduled while Dave Sharpe was still the head coach at LaPorte and it had nothing to do with Jeremy Lowery taking over.  I wouldn't be surprised if the series ends after next year.

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