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NIC Teams in Sectional Championships


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Really some intriguing matchups this week for the sectional championships.

My head thinks Penn wins this matchup to keep the Yeoman haters at bay for at least 1 more week. The teams seem to be trending in opposite directions; outside of the NP game, Penn has pretty much rolled the last 6 weeks. While Chesterton is 3-3 and hasn't really done anything impressive against good/average competition (Merrillville has a pretty darn good team this year though).

 

NP should win comfortably against the Indians. Not only did the Cougs score a 35-0 win earlier in the year over St. Joe but NP is obviously better in any metric you look at. With that being said, funny things happen in championship games and St. Joe has pulled off some post season runs after a subpar regular season before so you can't over look them. I said it after week 1 - if NP doesn't win a championship this year it will be a disappointment - well they haven't got a trophy yet so hopefully the Cougars take care of business come out with a W.

 

This Marian Jimtown showdown is going to be a good one. I go back and forth who I think will pull out a win. I know Marian has speed and athletes around the field but Jimtown (I don't know as much about them) seems to also have some studs for themselves and are currently on a 9 game win streak. Should be the game of the week and a real fun atmosphere in elkhart county. 

 

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9 hours ago, npcougar15 said:

Really some intriguing matchups this week for the sectional championships.

My head thinks Penn wins this matchup to keep the Yeoman haters at bay for at least 1 more week. The teams seem to be trending in opposite directions; outside of the NP game, Penn has pretty much rolled the last 6 weeks. While Chesterton is 3-3 and hasn't really done anything impressive against good/average competition (Merrillville has a pretty darn good team this year though).

 

NP should win comfortably against the Indians. Not only did the Cougs score a 35-0 win earlier in the year over St. Joe but NP is obviously better in any metric you look at. With that being said, funny things happen in championship games and St. Joe has pulled off some post season runs after a subpar regular season before so you can't over look them. I said it after week 1 - if NP doesn't win a championship this year it will be a disappointment - well they haven't got a trophy yet so hopefully the Cougars take care of business come out with a W.

 

This Marian Jimtown showdown is going to be a good one. I go back and forth who I think will pull out a win. I know Marian has speed and athletes around the field but Jimtown (I don't know as much about them) seems to also have some studs for themselves and are currently on a 9 game win streak. Should be the game of the week and a real fun atmosphere in elkhart county. 

 

Penn has rolled because they are playing weak NIC teams . There are 4-5 DAC teams that would roll Any and All NIC teams this year . Think Penn is way to one dimensional on offense to beat Chesterton . 

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2 minutes ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Penn has rolled because they are playing weak NIC teams . There are 4-5 DAC teams that would roll Any and All NIC teams this year . Think Penn is way to one dimensional on offense to beat Chesterton . 

Hmmmm….,..Chesterton? 

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11 hours ago, npcougar15 said:

Really some intriguing matchups this week for the sectional championships.

My head thinks Penn wins this matchup to keep the Yeoman haters at bay for at least 1 more week. The teams seem to be trending in opposite directions; outside of the NP game, Penn has pretty much rolled the last 6 weeks. While Chesterton is 3-3 and hasn't really done anything impressive against good/average competition (Merrillville has a pretty darn good team this year though).

 

NP should win comfortably against the Indians. Not only did the Cougs score a 35-0 win earlier in the year over St. Joe but NP is obviously better in any metric you look at. With that being said, funny things happen in championship games and St. Joe has pulled off some post season runs after a subpar regular season before so you can't over look them. I said it after week 1 - if NP doesn't win a championship this year it will be a disappointment - well they haven't got a trophy yet so hopefully the Cougars take care of business come out with a W.

 

This Marian Jimtown showdown is going to be a good one. I go back and forth who I think will pull out a win. I know Marian has speed and athletes around the field but Jimtown (I don't know as much about them) seems to also have some studs for themselves and are currently on a 9 game win streak. Should be the game of the week and a real fun atmosphere in elkhart county. 

 

* Game is at Marian.  Go Knights!

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On 10/31/2021 at 8:40 AM, ASJCPUMA said:
Friday, Nov. 5
Chesterton at Penn, 7:30 pm
St. Joseph at New Prairie, 7:30 pm Rematch NP won 35-0 earlier
Jimtown at Marian, 7 pm

At least 2 NIC teams will win sectional championships and move on

Don’t know why but I’ve got a feeling Penn pulls this one out somehow.

I’ll take Marian by a couple TD’s

NP by a few TD’s. I like what the cougars did last week with both running backs. I’m sure they’ll try and take it to air a little this week.

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13 hours ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Penn has rolled because they are playing weak NIC teams . There are 4-5 DAC teams that would roll Any and All NIC teams this year . Think Penn is way to one dimensional on offense to beat Chesterton . 

I'm well aware that Penn's schedule was front loaded this season, and that has a lot to do with their performance/results. Chesterton had a lot of hype coming into this year and has had a solid season, but if you look at their last half of the season what have they done to show that they would "roll" you guys? Not saying Chesterton won't or can't win but I just don't see this being a blowout by any means. 

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8 hours ago, npcougar15 said:

I'm well aware that Penn's schedule was front loaded this season, and that has a lot to do with their performance/results. Chesterton had a lot of hype coming into this year and has had a solid season, but if you look at their last half of the season what have they done to show that they would "roll" you guys? Not saying Chesterton won't or can't win but I just don't see this being a blowout by any means. 

Chesterton just blanked a Portage team that whipped Laporte . Penn lost to Laporte . Chesterton will stack the box and stop Penn's running game . Chesterton should also expose Penn's secondary . Since the game is at Penn , it will be a little closer . Chesterton 28-10

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I think we will see three great games this week!

Penn will need to play mistake free to beat a solid Chesterton team.  I think they do and with some defense pull out a 24-10 win. 

SBSJ is going to need a bit more luck to get by New Prairie. Hard to beat the same team twice in one year though - but the Cougs are gonna do it convincingly. 28-7

Jimtown- Marian. Going to be a good one. Ball control Jimmies against explosive Knights. I honestly can see this going back and forth and hope that it does - should be a great one! Marian 28-27

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While Chesterton may look better on paper and who they played my gut feeling is Penn finds a way at home.

It would not surprise me if the SJ-NP game is much closer than is was in Sept.  (35-0)  SJ defense is playing well.  But the NP offense seems to have found more than the one RB.  In the end NP should prevail.

Jimtown & Marian will depends on mistakes and if the Jimmies do not allow big plays out of Marian.  I can see this one going down to the end maybe with the team having the ball last winning.  The Knights being at home

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3 hours ago, ASJCPUMA said:

While Chesterton may look better on paper and who they played my gut feeling is Penn finds a way at home.

It would not surprise me if the SJ-NP game is much closer than is was in Sept.  (35-0)  SJ defense is playing well.  But the NP offense seems to have found more than the one RB.  In the end NP should prevail.

Jimtown & Marian will depends on mistakes and if the Jimmies do not allow big plays out of Marian.  I can see this one going down to the end maybe with the team having the ball last winning.  The Knights being at home

Chesterton is better on both sides of the ball. Penn's offense struggles against good/average defenses . Penn was only able to manage 7 points against Valpo and NP . Heck , they only put up 14 against LaPorte . Chesterton would have to have an absolute meltdown to lose this game . On a brighter note , Penn will be getting it's wrestlers after Friday . 

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Chesterton’s defense is legit. I’d be absolutely shocked if Penn put up 24 points on them. The big question in this game is the health of Chesterton QB Chris Mullen. He got hurt vs Merrillville and they seemed to go with a very run heavy game plan against Portage last week (not sure if this was just because of the weather or not). If he’s not 100% the Chesterton offense might struggle to score points themselves. Still, I think Chesterton is better and will be highly motivated to get their first sectional championship. I’ll go Chesterton 14-0. 

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22 minutes ago, scarab527 said:

Chesterton’s defense is legit. I’d be absolutely shocked if Penn put up 24 points on them. The big question in this game is the health of Chesterton QB Chris Mullen. He got hurt vs Merrillville and they seemed to go with a very run heavy game plan against Portage last week (not sure if this was just because of the weather or not). If he’s not 100% the Chesterton offense might struggle to score points themselves. Still, I think Chesterton is better and will be highly motivated to get their first sectional championship. I’ll go Chesterton 14-0. 

Don't think motivation will be a factor , as Penn will be motivated to not have the first losing season in 50 years . I think Chesterton wins because they are the better football team . 

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1 hour ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Don't think motivation will be a factor , as Penn will be motivated to not have the first losing season in 50 years . I think Chesterton wins because they are the better football team . 

Eh, motivation is always a factor, especially when the two teams aren’t super far apart in terms of talent. The old “who wants it more?” cliche is a cliche for a reason. I think Chesterton is the better team too, but I think this game will be a lot closer than I would’ve guessed had I been asked a month ago. I didn’t mean to insinuate Penn won’t be highly motivated coming in as well, I’m sure they will be. My comment was more about how I believe Chesterton will be very motivated and hence focused and therefore not have a let down game. 

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13 hours ago, scarab527 said:

Eh, motivation is always a factor, especially when the two teams aren’t super far apart in terms of talent. The old “who wants it more?” cliche is a cliche for a reason. I think Chesterton is the better team too, but I think this game will be a lot closer than I would’ve guessed had I been asked a month ago. I didn’t mean to insinuate Penn won’t be highly motivated coming in as well, I’m sure they will be. My comment was more about how I believe Chesterton will be very motivated and hence focused and therefore not have a let down game. 

Motivation is only a factor when teams are close in talent or not far apart as you put it . Lets look at common opponents of Chesterton and Penn. 

(Valpo 35 Penn 7) - (Valpo 10 Chesterton 7) , (LaPorte 21  Penn 14), ( Chesterton 42  LaPorte 6). Looking at these scores ,why in the world would you think Penn and Chesterton aren't that far apart ? To me , it looks like they are very far apart . That is why any such motivation or (who want's it more ) by either team won't matter . Chesterton wins because of more talent , athletes etc , and that usually always trumps motivation . 

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5 hours ago, GOLDRUSH1985 said:

Motivation is only a factor when teams are close in talent or not far apart as you put it . Lets look at common opponents of Chesterton and Penn. 

(Valpo 35 Penn 7) - (Valpo 10 Chesterton 7) , (LaPorte 21  Penn 14), ( Chesterton 42  LaPorte 6). Looking at these scores ,why in the world would you think Penn and Chesterton aren't that far apart ? To me , it looks like they are very far apart . That is why any such motivation or (who want's it more ) by either team won't matter . Chesterton wins because of more talent , athletes etc , and that usually always trumps motivation . 

Don’t know how much stock I’d put into those common opponents. I mean Portage beat LaPorte by 21 a couple weeks ago, but I’m almost 100% sure Penn would beat Portage by a couple scores. Penn started rough but seemed to play better down the stretch. Chesterton, on the other hand, has been struggling lately and their best player/ engine of their offense is hobbled coming into this matchup. The Sagarin ratings have these teams pretty evenly matched, and Harrell is taking Chesterton 21-17. I don’t think these teams are nearly as far apart as you think they are, but we shall see. 

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39 minutes ago, scarab527 said:

Don’t know how much stock I’d put into those common opponents. I mean Portage beat LaPorte by 21 a couple weeks ago, but I’m almost 100% sure Penn would beat Portage by a couple scores. Penn started rough but seemed to play better down the stretch. Chesterton, on the other hand, has been struggling lately and their best player/ engine of their offense is hobbled coming into this matchup. The Sagarin ratings have these teams pretty evenly matched, and Harrell is taking Chesterton 21-17. I don’t think these teams are nearly as far apart as you think they are, but we shall see. 

I don't think Penn played better down the stretch. It was who they were playing that made them appear better . They started the season playing a highly ranked 5A team then 2 nationally ranked teams . Just 3 weeks ago , Penn could only score 7 Points on New Prairie . 

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Penn 10 - Chesterton 7

Thought this would be year the Trojans finally got over the hump, but they stumbled down the stretch. I saw in the paper their coach was talking about beating Merrillville in the regional after they beat LC, then they lost to CP and got the brakes beat off of them by Merrillville, and just lost in what has to be considered a big let down. Big congratulations to Penn for gutting out a sectional in a year filled with a lot of adversity. Huge win for them. 

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6 minutes ago, scarab527 said:

Penn 10 - Chesterton 7

Thought this would be year the Trojans finally got over the hump, but they stumbled down the stretch. I saw in the paper their coach was talking about beating Merrillville in the regional after they beat LC, then they lost to CP and got the brakes beat off of them by Merrillville, and just lost in what has to be considered a big let down. Big congratulations to Penn for gutting out a sectional in a year filled with a lot of adversity. Huge win for them. 

That was a shocker, Penn avoids it’s 1st losing season since 1976. They will live for 1 more week. 

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Congrats to Penn on winning 2 trophies in one of the their worst seasons in 50 years. They won the games they needed too. I'm amazed that Chesterton has never won a sectional title before.

Surprised by the total butt kicking Marian handed the Jimmies last night. Marian showing 3A they are still the cream of the crop by beating up on an undefeated TV team as well as a Jimtown team that looked poised to make a run of jimmy old. 

NP did exactly what they needed too and that was thoroughly dominate St. Joe. Should be a another good game in Lake County next week as NP vs Lowell meet up again in the regional for what has become a WIDE open 4A north. 

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