Conference Indiana - 2025 (end of the road)...

[ptr]

3 hours ago, ptr said:

My Week 6 opinion on games in CI. There are four games this week and two games appear to be competitive and the other two games are games where the favorite can pretty much name the score. My picks are in boldface. 

 

 

I can't believe that Indiana Sports Network in Terre Haute is televising the Col. North vs TH North game and not the Northview/TH South game. It's like staring at an accident while driving by. Here's the link to the televised broadcast if you want to peek in (no charge.)

H O M E | ISN

[Frozen Tundra]

First place and last place are on the line next Friday. Looking forward to seeing where Columbus North actually ranks in the conference now that they’re finally playing the tougher teams. Also interested in seeing how many points Southport can score.

[ptr]

3 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

First place and last place are on the line next Friday. Looking forward to seeing where Columbus North actually ranks in the conference now that they’re finally playing the tougher teams. Also interested in seeing how many points Southport can score.

Having seen both Southport and Terre Haute North play, it looked to me that the Cardinals are just a thin hair better than the Patriots and the game will be at Southport. 

The Panthers played their starters just in the first half against Southport with a running clock to start the 2nd half. The subs and JV players (in the 4th for the JV) taking over in the 2nd half and it was the JV squad that scored the only TD by either team in the 2nd half. South's starting running back Braylen Townsend came up gimpy on a run out of bounds in the Terre Haute South game last week and he sat out the game last night. Hopefully, he will be ready to go at Columbus North next weekend.

[ptr]

There are four games in CI for Week 7 and here is how I see them going. I don't see any of the games this week looking as blowout wins for the winning team, but we shall see. My favorites are in the boldface.

 

Bloomington South @ Columbus North

This game is for the championship of CI and it may be a game where it goes down to the 4th qtr before one team or the other pulls away, South (6-0) is on the road, but I believe they are the more-rounded team. Columbus North (4-2) relies more on their passing game while the Panthers are more of a running team that likes to use clock on drives when they can, although Panther QB Duncan Combs can certainly pass the ball with efficiency when needed. The Bull Dogs are averaging 280.5 ypg passing while averaging 113.2 ypg rushing, while the Panthers are averaging 186.5 ypg passing while averaging 248.2 rushing ypg. South has a solid front seven on defense and I see them trying to pressure Bull Dog QB Asher Ratliff while keeping him contained in the pocket to help out the Panther secondary which while not bad, is probably the weakest area of the Panthers defense. I haven't seen the Bull Dogs play so I can only go on their game scores and what game articles I can find on them. South has two running backs that you could call running back 1a and running back 1b in Braylen Townsend and speedster Shaun Cooper. Townsend came up gimpy while running out of bounds early in the Terre Haute South game and he did not play in the Southport game this past weekend. Cooper has had big games for the Panthers all season long and if Townsend is not ready to go, Cooper will more than compensate for his absence.  The Bull Dogs are at home so they and their fans will be fired up, but I see the Panthers winning this game by 7-10 points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 32 Bloomington South 31

 

Columbus East @ Bloomington North

The Olympians (3-3) travel to Bloomington to play an improved Bloom. North (3-3) team. I made the comment before the season started that the Cougars will be an up and down team that would be thin on experience at most positions, and they have been just that. The O's are averaging 268.2 ypg passing while averaging 117.3 ypg rushing. The North Cougars are averaging 167.8 ypg passing and 101.3 ypg rushing, with their numbers being skewed downward when they played Terre Haute South without their starting QB and with a linebacker under center, and they had just 91 yards of total offense in that game.  North is a different animal with Illinois transfer John Bargen under center and I see the Cougars winning this game by two TDs. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington North 38 Columbus East 21

 

Terre Haute North @ Southport

Both teams are 0-6 so something has to give here as far as winning a game. I'm not going to spend much time on this since it's a game of two really bad teams, but I've seen both teams play and I'm reluctantly going with the home Southport team to win this game by a thin hair. If TH North loses this game, they will not win a game this season since they are in a sectional that has Bloom. North, Bloom. South, and TH South as the only other teams in the sectional. At least if Southport loses, they have a shot at drawing a bad Indy Tech team in their sectional. 

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute North 31 Southport 28

 

Terre Haute South @ McCutcheon

Okay, I don't know a thing about McCutcheon (2-4) other than perusing their scores on the season. The TH South Braves (4-2) have the better record so I will go with them to win a close road game.

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute South 31 McCutcheon 24

 

 

Edited October 2, 2025 by ptr

[Frozen Tundra]

7 minutes ago, ptr said:

There are four games in CI for Week 7 and here is how I see them going. I don't see any of the games this week looking as blowout wins for the winning team, but we shall see. My favorites are in the boldface.

 

Bloomington South @ Columbus North

This game is for the championship of CI and it may be a game where it goes down to the 4th qtr before one team or the other pulls away, South (6-0) is on the road, but I believe they are the more-rounded team. Columbus North (4-2) relies more on their passing game while the Panthers are more of a running team that likes to use clock on drives when they can, although Panther QB Duncan Combs can certainly pass the ball with efficiency when needed. The Bull Dogs are averaging 280.5 ypg passing while averaging 113.2 ypg rushing, while the Panthers are averaging 186.5 ypg passing while averaging 248.2 rushing ypg. South has a solid front seven on defense and I see them trying to pressure Bull Dog QB Asher Ratliff while keeping him contained in the pocket to help out the Panther secondary which while not bad, is probably the weakest area of the Panthers defense. I haven't seen the Bull Dogs play so I can only go on their game scores and what game articles I can find on them. South has two running backs that you could call running back 1a and running back 1b in Braylen Townsend and speedster Shaun Cooper. Townsend came up gimpy while running out of bounds early in the Terre Haute South game and he did not play in the Southport game this past weekend. Cooper has had big games for the Panthers all season long and if Townsend is not ready to go, Cooper will more than compensate for his absence.  The Bull Dogs are at home so they and their fans will be fired up, but I see the Panthers winning this game by 7-10 points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 32 Bloomington South 31

 

Columbus East @ Bloomington North

The Olympians (3-3) travel to Bloomington to play an improved Bloom. North (3-3) team. I made the comment before the season started that the Cougars will be an up and down team that would be thin on experience at most positions, and they have been just that. The O's are averaging 268.2 ypg passing while averaging 117.3 ypg rushing. The North Cougars are averaging 167.8 ypg passing and 101.3 ypg rushing, with their numbers being skewed downward when they played Terre Haute South without their starting QB and with a linebacker under center, and they had just 91 yards of total offense in that game.  North is a different animal with Illinois transfer John Bargen under center and I see the Cougars winning this game by two TDs. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington North 38 Columbus East 21

 

Terre Haute North @ Southport

Both teams are 0-6 so something has to give here as far as winning a game. I'm not going to spend much time on this since it's a game of two really bad teams, but I've seen both teams play and I'm reluctantly going with the home Southport team to win this game by a thin hair. If TH North loses this game, they will not win a game this season since they are in a sectional that has Bloom. North, Bloom. South, and TH South as the only other teams in the sectional. At least if Southport loses, they have a shot at drawing a bad Indy Tech team in their sectional. 

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute North 31 Southport 28

 

Terre Haute South @ McCutcheon

Okay, I don't know a thing about McCutcheon (2-4) other than perusing their scores on the season. The TH South Braves (4-2) have the better record so I will go with them to win a close road game.

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute South 31 McCutcheon 24

 

 

I will only skew on the final score of the Columbus East at Bloomington North game. I’ll say the Cougars win 35-7.

[ptr]

15 hours ago, ptr said:

There are four games in CI for Week 7 and here is how I see them going. I don't see any of the games this week looking as blowout wins for the winning team, but we shall see. My favorites are in the boldface.

 

Bloomington South @ Columbus North

This game is for the championship of CI and it may be a game where it goes down to the 4th qtr before one team or the other pulls away, South (6-0) is on the road, but I believe they are the more-rounded team. Columbus North (4-2) relies more on their passing game while the Panthers are more of a running team that likes to use clock on drives when they can, although Panther QB Duncan Combs can certainly pass the ball with efficiency when needed. The Bull Dogs are averaging 280.5 ypg passing while averaging 113.2 ypg rushing, while the Panthers are averaging 186.5 ypg passing while averaging 248.2 rushing ypg. South has a solid front seven on defense and I see them trying to pressure Bull Dog QB Asher Ratliff while keeping him contained in the pocket to help out the Panther secondary which while not bad, is probably the weakest area of the Panthers defense. I haven't seen the Bull Dogs play so I can only go on their game scores and what game articles I can find on them. South has two running backs that you could call running back 1a and running back 1b in Braylen Townsend and speedster Shaun Cooper. Townsend came up gimpy while running out of bounds early in the Terre Haute South game and he did not play in the Southport game this past weekend. Cooper has had big games for the Panthers all season long and if Townsend is not ready to go, Cooper will more than compensate for his absence.  The Bull Dogs are at home so they and their fans will be fired up, but I see the Panthers winning this game by 7-10 points. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 32 Bloomington South 31

 

Columbus East @ Bloomington North

The Olympians (3-3) travel to Bloomington to play an improved Bloom. North (3-3) team. I made the comment before the season started that the Cougars will be an up and down team that would be thin on experience at most positions, and they have been just that. The O's are averaging 268.2 ypg passing while averaging 117.3 ypg rushing. The North Cougars are averaging 167.8 ypg passing and 101.3 ypg rushing, with their numbers being skewed downward when they played Terre Haute South without their starting QB and with a linebacker under center, and they had just 91 yards of total offense in that game.  North is a different animal with Illinois transfer John Bargen under center and I see the Cougars winning this game by two TDs. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington North 38 Columbus East 21

 

 

I spoke too soon when I said that the Bloom. South/Col. North is for the CI championship. Only South can clinch that championship with a win since Col. North still has games left with Bloom. North and TH South. I also saw that South running back Braylen Townsend will play against the Bull Dogs barring a setback before the game, so South will have their 1-2 punch in the backfield. Townsend has missed the better part of two games because of a gimpy ankle and has 643 yards and 12 TDs on the season in four games and part of the 1st qtr in another game, while Shaun Cooper has 724 rushing yards and 13 TDs while playing in all six games this season. I saw an update today on South QB Duncan Combs and he is currently connecting on 78 pct of his passes on the season so far. 

Bloom. North QB John Bargan has passed for 920 yards and 10 TDs in five games so far this season. 

 

 

[ptr]

Week 8 games in CI. There are four games and only one game looks to be competitive to me. Bloomington South won the final conference championship with a road win over Col. North last Friday and will finish their regular season with two out-of-conference foes. As usual, my picks are in boldface.

 

Bloomington South (7-0) @ Brebeuf Jesuit (1-6)

South travels to Indy to face a team that is still trying to recover from heavy graduation losses. These two teams played in one of the high scoring games from last season with a total of 125 points being scored with Brebeuf coming out on top 68-57. In that game, Brebeuf's Matthew Geske passed for 559 yards and five TDs, while running back CJ Harris rushed for 167 yards on 15 carries. Those two players are gone as well as a host of other players that were key in that shootout. On the other hand, South's Braylen Townsend rushed for 337 yards and five TDs in that game, and he will be back lined up in the backfield and looking for a similar performance. South's rushing attack is even more formidable this season with the addition of Shaun Cooper whom I like to say is running back 1b with Townsend at 1a. Both running backs have similar numbers this season as they give each other a breather, with Cooper rushing for 815 yards on 109 carries and 15 TDs, while Townsend, who missed almost the equivalent of two games because of a gimpy ankle, has rushed for 795 yards on 120 carries and 14 TDs. Brebeuf can expect a heavy dose of those two this Friday. South QB Duncan Combs is 78 of 105 passes for 1227 yards with nine TDs and one pick. Combs hasn't had the need to pass for many TDs since South almost always goes exclusively with their running game when they get into the red zone. Combs likes to target South Florida recruit 6'5 TE Jalen Williams who had a big game against Col. North last Friday. South averages 440.7 ypg on offense while Brebeuf averages 238.4 ypg with the Braves being led by QB Carter Cosgrove who passes for 84.4 ypg, while running back Jasir King averages 43.4 ypg rushing. Brebeuf got their first win of the season last Friday, but that was against a very bad Indy Arsenal Tech team. I can see this game ending with a running clock. This is the last tuneup for South before hosting Center Grove to end the regular season. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington South 45 Brebeuf Jesuit 21

 

Columbus North (4-3) @ Bloomington North (4-3)

Okay, this is the game that I believe will probably be competitive. The question for me is which Col. North team will show up for this game. Will it be the one that is down after getting beat solidly by Bloom. South on the Bull Dogs' homecoming night or will it be a team that looks to make amends for that game? These two teams went two overtimes last season before the Bull Dogs pulled it out with a 35-34 win. The Cougars have won three straight games (TH North, Jeffersonville, and Col. East) by a combined score of 134-3. Meanwhile, the Bull Dogs have lost big to the three toughest opponents on their schedule coming into this game. Col. North seems to rely mostly on their passing attack while Bloom. North seems to have a more balanced attack. The Cougars are led by QB John Bargen who has thrown for 1095 yards on the season with 10 TDs and three picks. Their running game is led by jr Brayden Johnson with 430 rushing yards on 91 carries and three TDs, while soph Carter Matthew has rushed for 251 yards on 43 carries and three TDs. While I don't have the stats for the Bull Dogs, they are certainly led by the arm and legs of QB Asher Ratliff. This could be another game between these two teams that goes down to another overtime or two like last season, but I'm still going with the home team. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 31 Bloomington North 24

 

Lebanon (6-1) @ Terre Haute North (0-7)

This game has blowout written all over it. 4A No. 14 Lebanon travels to Terre Haute to play what is probably the worst 5A team in the state, and one of the worst teams period in the state, and I can see a running clock to start the 2nd half. Terre Haute North has been blown out by every team on their schedule and to rub salt into the wound, they got shutout by winless Southport, 36-0, last Friday and to make matter worse, they had a running clock on them to start the second half of that game. While I'm not going to bother to research it, I'm pretty sure that the Patriots have had a running clock on them in all seven games they have played this season. No need to go into detail on this game other than what I have detailed since it should get really ugly like every other game on their schedule.   

Harrell's site prediction: Lebanon 45 Terre Haute North 17

 

Southport (1-6) @ Terre Haute South (5-2)

Coming off their first win of the season, the Cardinals travel to Terre Haute to face the Terre Haute team that is the opposite of the one they played last Friday. Southport's high coming off that first win will quickly dissipate in this game since this game also has blowout written all over it. Terre Haute South, coming off a road win at McCutcheon, 34-7, has won five of their last six games by mostly solid margins with their only loss in that stretch being a blowout home loss to Bloom. South. Going into this game, the Braves are tied with Col. North for second place in CI with a 2-1 record. The Braves can probably name the score in this game. 

Harrell's site prediction: Terre Haute South 42 Southport 14

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2025 by ptr

[ptr]

Week 9 games in CI. This is it for Conference Indiana with the regular season coming to a close and it is sayonara, au revoir, etc. for the conference. Without knowing what is happening at Bloom. South, Col. North, and Southport right now as far as conference affiliation, it's looking to me that those schools may be scheduling an independent next season.

For the final weekend in the conference, two games look to be competitive while the other two have a running clock written all over them. As usual, my favorites are in boldface.

 

Center Grove (7-1) @ Bloomington South (8-0)

The 6A No. 4 Trojans played a much tougher schedule coming into this game, and while the 5A No. 2 Panthers have run the table up to this point and have been dominant in doing so, I just don't know how good they are against one of the best 6A programs in the state. This game will be a good measuring stick for the Panthers as they enter the sectional. The Panthers are averaging 443 yards per game and have a game scoring average of 45 ppg, but the yards and points will probably come grudgingly in this game. The Panthers lead the series against Center Grove, 10-8, but the two schools haven't met since 2009 when Center Grove won a sectional game over South. The last time they met in a regular season game was back in 1997 when the Panthers had Rex Grossman under center, with the South winning 28-0. My heart says the Panthers will win this game, but my brain tells me to go with Center Grove with the Trojans winning by one to two scores. 

Harrell's site prediction: Center Grove 38 Bloomington South 28

 

Terre Haute South (6-2) @ Columbus North (4-4)

A hot Braves team travels to Columbus to take on a struggling Bull Dog team. The Bull Dogs are certainly good enough to win this game, but they have lost four of their last five games, with their only win over that period being against a horrendous Terre Haute North team that everyone has pummeled including a bad Southport team. On the other hand, 5A No. 12 TH South has won 6 of their last 7 games with their only loss during that period being a home loss to Bloom. South. The Braves will come into the game with all of the confidence in the world, so I see them taking this game by one score. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 35 Terre Haute South 31

 

Bloomington North (5-3) @ Southport (1-7)

No need to go into much detail on this game. The North Cougars are going for their fifth straight win, while Southport only win was against winless Terre Haute North. This game has running clock written all over it. Enough said.

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington North 38 Southport 14

 

Terre Haute North (0-8) @ Brebeuf Jesuit (1-7)

I have seen both teams play, and Brebeuf is light years better than the North Patriots despite having just the one win on the season. Brebeuf could put this game into a running clock situation. Another enough said.

Harrell's site prediction: Brebeuf Jesuit 38 Terre Haute North 21

 

 

 

[Frozen Tundra]

9 minutes ago, ptr said:

Week 9 games in CI. This is it for Conference Indiana with the regular season coming to a close and it is sayonara, au revoir, etc. for the conference. Without knowing what is happening at Bloom. South, Col. North, and Southport right now as far as conference affiliation, it's looking to me that those schools may be scheduling an independent next season.

For the final weekend in the conference, two games look to be competitive while the other two have a running clock written all over them. As usual, my favorites are in boldface.

 

Center Grove (7-1) @ Bloomington South (8-0)

The 6A No. 4 Trojans played a much tougher schedule coming into this game, and while the 5A No. 2 Panthers have run the table up to this point and have been dominant in doing so, I just don't know how good they are against one of the best 6A programs in the state. This game will be a good measuring stick for the Panthers as they enter the sectional. The Panthers are averaging 443 yards per game and have a game scoring average of 45 ppg, but the yards and points will probably come grudgingly in this game. The Panthers lead the series against Center Grove, 10-8, but the two schools haven't met since 2009 when Center Grove won a sectional game over South. The last time they met in a regular season game was back in 1997 when the Panthers had Rex Grossman under center, with the South winning 28-0. My heart says the Panthers will win this game, but my brain tells me to go with Center Grove with the Trojans winning by one to two scores. 

Harrell's site prediction: Center Grove 38 Bloomington South 28

 

Terre Haute South (6-2) @ Columbus North (4-4)

A hot Braves team travels to Columbus to take on a struggling Bull Dog team. The Bull Dogs are certainly good enough to win this game, but they have lost four of their last five games, with their only win over that period being against a horrendous Terre Haute North team that everyone has pummeled including a bad Southport team. On the other hand, 5A No. 12 TH South has won 6 of their last 7 games with their only loss during that period being a home loss to Bloom. South. The Braves will come into the game with all of the confidence in the world, so I see them taking this game by one score. 

Harrell's site prediction: Columbus North 35 Terre Haute South 31

 

Bloomington North (5-3) @ Southport (1-7)

No need to go into much detail on this game. The North Cougars are going for their fifth straight win, while Southport only win was against winless Terre Haute North. This game has running clock written all over it. Enough said.

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington North 38 Southport 14

 

Terre Haute North (0-8) @ Brebeuf Jesuit (1-7)

I have seen both teams play, and Brebeuf is light years better than the North Patriots despite having just the one win on the season. Brebeuf could put this game into a running clock situation. Another enough said.

Harrell's site prediction: Brebeuf Jesuit 38 Terre Haute North 21

 

 

 

I really think that Columbus North and Terre Haute South game could go either way. I think the Bull Dogs benefitted from playing three of their easiest games to start the year (Whiteland hadn’t figured themselves out yet) before playing their five toughest opponents in the last six weeks of the year. I know North is dealing with some injuries as well. I don’t have any knowledge of the severity of the injury Parker Elmore sustained against Bloomington North last week but, if he doesn’t play, I think it’s safe to say Terre Haute South wins. If Elmore does play then I think that favors Columbus North.

[ptr]

37 minutes ago, Frozen Tundra said:

I really think that Columbus North and Terre Haute South game could go either way. I think the Bull Dogs benefitted from playing three of their easiest games to start the year (Whiteland hadn’t figured themselves out yet) before playing their five toughest opponents in the last six weeks of the year. I know North is dealing with some injuries as well. I don’t have any knowledge of the severity of the injury Parker Elmore sustained against Bloomington North last week but, if he doesn’t play, I think it’s safe to say Terre Haute South wins. If Elmore does play then I think that favors Columbus North.

I forgot about the Elmore injury, and he's been a big target for Ratliff this season. The Bull Dogs have the better QB in Ratliff, but I believe that the Braves have the better running game with sr RB Tyisaac Corbin lining up in the backfield. It will be an interesting game. 

[MuleDriver]

Dont get on here much these days but for my one post this year ill make  a prediction. My mind tells me Center grove 39 Bloomington South 20. I'd like to continue thinking this is the old bhss but everytime i think that way south proves otherwise.

Just not impressed with the bhss defense. If south could get some stops I think it could be a 1 score loss . But with the penalties and porous d ive seen at times this season(vs. lesser competition than CG) I just couldn't sanely go with the Panthers on this one. Best wishes to both teams to stay healthy. 

Edited October 17, 2025 by MuleDriver

[ptr]

10 hours ago, MuleDriver said:

Dont get on here much these days but for my one post this year ill make  a prediction. My mind tells me Center grove 39 Bloomington South 20. I'd like to continue thinking this is the old bhss but everytime i think that way south proves otherwise.

Just not impressed with the bhss defense. If south could get some stops I think it could be a 1 score loss . But with the penalties and porous d ive seen at times this season(vs. lesser competition than CG) I just couldn't sanely go with the Panthers on this one. Best wishes to both teams to stay healthy. 

Good to see you are still around. IMO, South's defensive front seven has played really well this season with the secondary being suspect at times in their coverage and would be considered the weaker part of the defense. I know in the Columbus North game, the corners were giving too much cushion to the receivers and the front seven was not getting much pressure on the Bull Dog QB, which resulted in two TDs in the 1st qtr for the Bull Dogs. After adjustments, they tightened up their coverage and started putting pressure on Ratliff, and the Bull Dog offense pretty much struggled the rest of the game. The Center Grove game tonight could come down to the secondary vs the Trojan receivers, and that certainly has me concerned. Hopefully, we can get enough pressure on the Trojan QB to help the secondary out. We have also given up three kickoff returns for TDs this season, and that possibly caused the Panthers a trip to the 5A state championship game last season when Decatur Central ran a kickoff back for a TD with 2:23 left in the game to break a `13-13 tie. The penalties have been a big issue this season, but for the most part, they have cut down on the major penalties (mostly holding calls on the o-line) in the last couple games, so there is some improvement there, and they can't afford to have that problem arise again against Center Grove. 

Edited October 17, 2025 by ptr

[ptr]

My sectional predictions for CI teams with the favorites in boldface:

 

6A Sectional 7:

Southport (1-8) @ Indy Arsenal Tech (4-5)

To me, this is pretty simple. Tech has the better record but Southport has played the better schedule. Arsenal Tech lost to a struggling 4A Brebeuf Jesuit team, 42-7. The Cardinals take the game by three TDs before being taken out in the second round. 

Harrell's site prediction: Southport 31 Arsenal Tech 21

 

6A Sectional 8:

Columbus North (4-5) @ Franklin Central (4-5)

The North Bull Dogs have lost five of their last six games with their only win during that period over a dreadful Terre Haute North team, 42-0. Franklin Central hasn't been much better and have lost five of their last seven games. FC has played a somewhat tougher schedule and they are at home, so I'm going with the Flashes by 10 points in this game.

Harrell's site prediction: Franklin Central 35 Columbus North 28

 

5A Sectional 15:

This is an all-CI sectional.

Terre Haute South (7-2) @ Bloomington South (8-1)

Bloomington South beat the Braves during the regular season, 49-14, in Terre Haute. The TH South Braves have won seven of the last eight games with their only loss during that period being the aforementioned game with the Panthers. The Panthers played Center Grove tight in the first half during their regular season ending game with the Trojans but were outscored 14-0 in the second half of that game.  The Panthers may not win this game by the same margin as they did in the regular season, but I see them taking the game by two to three TDs and will move on to face the winner of the Terre Haute North/Bloom. North game. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington South 35 Terre Haute South 28

 

Terre Haute North (0-9) @ Bloomington North (6-3)

The Bloom. North Cougars beat the TH North Patriots, 56-0, during the regular season, and the Patriots have been blown out in every game they have played in this season. The Cougars can name the score in this game with a running clock written all over it. The Patriots should keep the busses running when they arrive so they can get a quick exit back to Terre Haute. 

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington North 42 Terre Haute North 10

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2025 by ptr

[ptr]

Half of the teams in CI (three teams) are still alive in the sectionals, but by the time the dust settles this coming Friday, that number should be down to one team. Here are the matchups with my favorite in the boldface.

6A Sectional 7: 

Southport (2-8) @ Warren Central (6-4)

Southport got the draw they wanted in this sectional and opened with a comfortable win over Arsenal Tech for their second win on the season. That will come to a crashing halt as they visit Warren Central who should cruise comfortably in this game. I see the potential for a running clock in this game. 

Harrell's site prediction: Warren Central 49 Southport 7

 

5A Sectional 15:

Bloomington North (7-3) @ Bloomington South (9-1)

The Terre Haute South game should be a wakeup call for the Panthers. After trouncing the Braves during the regular season, the Panthers had to fight for their playoff lives in the sectional rematch and needed a TD with 1:25 left in the game to get the win and move on. THS had 455 yards of total offense and their QB, Maddox Woodcraft, passed for 351 yards on 14 of 23 passing. South's secondary got torched in that game although several long passes were 50/50 balls that were well defended but the TH South receiver managed to come down with the ball every time. South lost one of their starting safeties before the game in Rylan Stikeleather who injured an elbow and is out for the rest of the playoffs. South had the ball three times inside the Braves five-yard line only to come away with just three points on those possessions, and they had three turnovers in the game, so they need to clean that up.  I'm sure that Bloomington North, which had a breather last week in a blowout win over Terre Haute North, took note of the new wrinkles that TH South threw at the Panthers, and will have made adjustments to their game plan with some new wrinkles of their own after their 36-7 loss to South back on Sept 12th. I'm going with the Panthers by 10 points. 

Harrell's site prediction: 35 Bloomington North 24

 

[BOGO FL]

Been a while since I’ve posted on here since my son graduated last year, but figured I’d give my 2 cents since I’ll be at the north/south game tonight. North’s won their last 6 straight which is pretty impressive. Last loss was back in week 4 vs South. I was at that one and the offense just couldn’t get much going, defense held up for a half but kinda ran out of gas after that. Looking at the box scores lately though, seems like the offense has really found itself. Qb’s figured it out, even threw it pretty good against 6A Columbus north. South looked real solid the first 8 weeks but seem to have slowed down some. Maybe this’ll light a fire under them, who knows. They’ve got plenty of talent ( from north) so it could go either way.

I’ll say another OT thriller like that 2023 north/south game… north 34–28.

[ptr]

41 minutes ago, BOGO FL said:

Been a while since I’ve posted on here since my son graduated last year, but figured I’d give my 2 cents since I’ll be at the north/south game tonight. North’s won their last 6 straight which is pretty impressive. Last loss was back in week 4 vs South. I was at that one and the offense just couldn’t get much going, defense held up for a half but kinda ran out of gas after that. Looking at the box scores lately though, seems like the offense has really found itself. Qb’s figured it out, even threw it pretty good against 6A Columbus north. South looked real solid the first 8 weeks but seem to have slowed down some. Maybe this’ll light a fire under them, who knows. They’ve got plenty of talent ( from north) so it could go either way.

I’ll say another OT thriller like that 2023 north/south game… north 34–28.

I fully expect a battle in this game and I know that the Cougars are very capable of springing the upset, but if South's running game, which is a strength of the team, is clicking, I expect the Panthers to prevail. Coach Johnson said after the TH South game last week that they needed to shore up the secondary which gave up quite a few third and long situations, and is missing a starting safety for the rest of the playoffs. I have no idea about how they are going to tweak that except for getting more pressure on the Bargen, the Cougar QB. I guess we will see tonight. 

[MuleDriver]

Looks as if south will be lucky to get out of this season with a sectional title. Radio guy dave Novak ,joe smith says the panthers were with out 2 defensive backs. . I'm sure north was a better team, but losing 'stykeleather'(spelling?) for the season after center grove then a couple more db's since? Not sure if the two that are out included stykeleather.... at any rate if they do that to your d what will east centreal/or new pal do to you? If.you can make it out of regoinal....Same story every year it seems(injuries). Partly why I dont follow as much anymore. Had higher hopes tho.

Edited November 8, 2025 by MuleDriver

[ptr]

On 11/7/2025 at 10:10 PM, MuleDriver said:

Looks as if south will be lucky to get out of this season with a sectional title. Radio guy dave Novak ,joe smith says the panthers were with out 2 defensive backs. . I'm sure north was a better team, but losing 'stykeleather'(spelling?) for the season after center grove then a couple more db's since? Not sure if the two that are out included stykeleather.... at any rate if they do that to your d what will east centreal/or new pal do to you? If.you can make it out of regoinal....Same story every year it seems(injuries). Partly why I dont follow as much anymore. Had higher hopes tho.

I just now caught up with your post. There's no question the secondary has become a problem area for the Panthers, and the only solution I know at this point in the season after the injuries to that position is for the front seven to get more pressure on the QB. Stikeleather was expected to be a starter on the basketball team and I don't know enough about his injury to know how that will affect that. I haven't seen a preview of the upcoming boys basketball season yet. 

[ptr]

Regional game - Floyd Central vs Bloomington South:

This will be just the second time that these two schools have met on the gridiron with South winning the only previous game back in 2019 in the regional that season. South won that game by a comfortable margin, but whichever school wins this game, I doubt it will be by a big margin either way.

I don't know much about Floyd Central outside of their results in the HHC, and I saw the last quarter of their game last week against Evansville North, but it was so foggy, it was difficult to gauge anything. The one big intangible that favors South is they stay at home while the Highlanders have to make the long bus ride up to Bloomington.

The Panthers, after beating their two sectional foes by wide margins in the regular season, had to fight for their playoff lives in both games. They trailed Terre Haute South by one point in the 4th qtr, before scoring a TD with 1:25 left in the game to win by seven points after a successful two-point conversion. They trailed Bloomington North by 14 points going into the 4th last Friday before turning to their running game and Braylen Townsend and they tied the game with 3:07 left, and won the game with a FG at the North one-yard line with 0:02 seconds left.  South had 219 yards on the ground in 50 carries in the North game with Braylen Townsend rushing for 198 yards. The opposing coaches did a good job of recognizing South's offensive/defensive tendencies from their regular season games with them and made good adjustments to make those games close. South has also had to deal with injuries to their secondary and that has become an area of concern going into the FC game, and they are still tweaking that position. 

I've found some stats for both teams and I believe they are current. 

Passing:

FC QB Jack Mull - 190.0 ypg with 17 TDs and 6 INTs and a .548 passing percentage. 

South QB Duncan Combs - 203.8 ypg with 17 TDs and 6 INTs and a .684 passing percentage. 

 

Rushing - 

FC RB Sebastian Robertson with 148.9 rushing ypg although he was bottled up in the Evansville North game with Jaxson Stone being the leading rusher in that game with 91 yards on five carries. 

South RB Braylen Townsend with 104.6 rushing ypg and RB Shaun Cooper with 102.3 rushing ypg.

 

Total ypg:

FC with 435.5

South with 425.1 

 

I believe it will be a close game, and with the Panthers at home and not having to make that long bus ride, I'm taking them to win it by 7 to 10 points.

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington South 38 Floyd Central 28

[Frozen Tundra]

16 hours ago, ptr said:

Regional game - Floyd Central vs Bloomington South:

This will be just the second time that these two schools have met on the gridiron with South winning the only previous game back in 2019 in the regional that season. South won that game by a comfortable margin, but whichever school wins this game, I doubt it will be by a big margin either way.

I don't know much about Floyd Central outside of their results in the HHC, and I saw the last quarter of their game last week against Evansville North, but it was so foggy, it was difficult to gauge anything. The one big intangible that favors South is they stay at home while the Highlanders have to make the long bus ride up to Bloomington.

The Panthers, after beating their two sectional foes by wide margins in the regular season, had to fight for their playoff lives in both games. They trailed Terre Haute South by one point in the 4th qtr, before scoring a TD with 1:25 left in the game to win by seven points after a successful two-point conversion. They trailed Bloomington North by 14 points going into the 4th last Friday before turning to their running game and Braylen Townsend and they tied the game with 3:07 left, and won the game with a FG at the North one-yard line with 0:02 seconds left.  South had 219 yards on the ground in 50 carries in the North game with Braylen Townsend rushing for 198 yards. The opposing coaches did a good job of recognizing South's offensive/defensive tendencies from their regular season games with them and made good adjustments to make those games close. South has also had to deal with injuries to their secondary and that has become an area of concern going into the FC game, and they are still tweaking that position. 

I've found some stats for both teams and I believe they are current. 

Passing:

FC QB Jack Mull - 190.0 ypg with 17 TDs and 6 INTs and a .548 passing percentage. 

South QB Duncan Combs - 203.8 ypg with 17 TDs and 6 INTs and a .684 passing percentage. 

 

Rushing - 

FC RB Sebastian Robertson with 148.9 rushing ypg although he was bottled up in the Evansville North game with Jaxson Stone being the leading rusher in that game with 91 yards on five carries. 

South RB Braylen Townsend with 104.6 rushing ypg and RB Shaun Cooper with 102.3 rushing ypg.

 

Total ypg:

FC with 435.5

South with 425.1 

 

I believe it will be a close game, and with the Panthers at home and not having to make that long bus ride, I'm taking them to win it by 7 to 10 points.

Harrell's site prediction: Bloomington South 38 Floyd Central 28

If a disciplined Bloomington South team shows up then I think they’re easily regional champs. However, if they regress and make silly mistakes as they have done at times this year then they may be in trouble. This is the best Floyd Central team in years. You can’t goof off with this team and still expect to win like you could in other years.

[ptr]

3 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

If a disciplined Bloomington South team shows up then I think they’re easily regional champs. However, if they regress and make silly mistakes as they have done at times this year then they may be in trouble. This is the best Floyd Central team in years. You can’t goof off with this team and still expect to win like you could in other years.

Yes, key major penalties and turnovers have been a problem for South through the first two sectional games. Hopefully, they have their heads screwed on right for this game. 

[Fkfootball]

On 11/11/2025 at 11:51 AM, Frozen Tundra said:

If a disciplined Bloomington South team shows up then I think they’re easily regional champs. However, if they regress and make silly mistakes as they have done at times this year then they may be in trouble. This is the best Floyd Central team in years. You can’t goof off with this team and still expect to win like you could in other years.

I don't think the talent gap between South and FC is as big as you think. The biggest thing is that Floyd Central is very Junior laden. They've improved all season long. They'll be a major favorite to win a Regional next year.

[Frozen Tundra]

55 minutes ago, Fkfootball said:

I don't think the talent gap between South and FC is as big as you think. The biggest thing is that Floyd Central is very Junior laden. They've improved all season long. They'll be a major favorite to win a Regional next year.

Floyds Knobs is no Bloomington. Having competed against both in track and having watched both in multiple sports over the years (including this year), I’m sorry but there’s a big difference in talent level. The difference in this game will be who executes better. I feel like you’re seeing that as a knock but it’s not. Do you know how many football teams Columbus East played during their peak that had more talent than them? There were quite a few in the non-conference. East was elite and beat them though because they out-executed them.

[Fkfootball]

3 hours ago, Frozen Tundra said:

Floyds Knobs is no Bloomington. Having competed against both in track and having watched both in multiple sports over the years (including this year), I’m sorry but there’s a big difference in talent level. The difference in this game will be who executes better. I feel like you’re seeing that as a knock but it’s not. Do you know how many football teams Columbus East played during their peak that had more talent than them? There were quite a few in the non-conference. East was elite and beat them though because they out-executed them.

I get Football. But Lol. Floyd Central beats them quite often in several sports. What are you talking about? Floyds Knobs is no Bloomington? The school enrollments are close. We pull from an entire county. Do you realize how many Sectional and Regional Championships that school wins every year?

Edited November 13, 2025 by Fkfootball

[Frozen Tundra]

13 minutes ago, Fkfootball said:

I get Football. But Lol. Floyd Central beats them quite often in several sports. What are you talking about? Floyds Knobs is no Bloomington? The school enrollments are close. We pull from an entire county. Do you realize how many Sectional and Regional Championships that school wins every year?

Are we talking country club sports like golf, tennis, and swimming or are we excluding those?