SIAC Sectionals Week 1 – Recap

I completely forget to write up the 1st round sectional games for the SIAC! It’s only a couple of days before we get to week 2! The SIAC had a fantastic first week of sectionals. Except for Evansville North & Evansville Harrison, every SIAC school won their first round game giving the conference a 6-2 record on the week. Washington disposed of Vincennes Lincoln as well so the teams we follow here went 7-2. The best part too was that the wins were very convincing outside of Castle beating Bedford in 2OT. Let’s take a look at what went down.

#1 (Class 4A) Evansville Reitz 47, #3 (Class 4A) Jasper 20

To give you an idea of how dominant Reitz was in this game consider that coming into this game, Jasper had a perfect 9-0 record & had given up a total of 50 points for the ENTIRE SEASON! That averages out to 5.6ppg for the Wildcats defense. Reitz was 3 points shy of scoring in one game what Jasper gave up in an entire season! It’s almost impossible to stop Reitz offensively. WR Cuda Dimmett scored 3 TD. On his only two rushing attempts he went to the house. QB Matt McIntosh was 21/29 for 239 yards & 2TD. He also rushed for 111 yards & a TD on 13 carries. WR Hamilton Carr caught 6 passes for 93 yards. Reitz scored on their first four possessions to get out to a 27-0 lead early which must have hit Jasper like a freight train moving at max speed. If Ft. Wayne Dwenger (#2, Class 4A) holds up its end of the bargain then it certainly looks like a Reitz/Dwenger state championship at Lucas Oil. Dwenger beat unranked Northridge 56-0 in their sectional opener. I’m to the point where if Reitz doesn’t score 50+ in the state finals & win by 30 it’ll be a disappointment. I’d love to see how far they could get in Class 5A! Reitz is now 10-0.

Evansville Bosse 83, Pike Central 23

GOOD GRIEF! Pike Central came into the game 0-9, but putting up 83 points is simply insane! I’ve thought all season that Bosse had some very special players at the skill positions, but putting 83 is almost nuts. The Bulldogs were up 63-7 after the FIRST HALF! That’s on pace to win the game 126-14! Did Bosse put in the cheerleaders? Bosse RB Jordan Diggs led the offensive assault rushing for 143 yards & 2TD on 6 carries all in the first half. Bosse put in their 2nd string teams in the 2nd half. The Bulldogs improved to 3-7 and they are actually on a 2-game winning streak having beaten Evansville Harrison the week before. It’s probably nothing to get too excited about however. Harrison & Pike Central have a combined record of 1-19. Bosse gets #12 Washington in Daviess Co. this upcoming week which will be a STOUT test for a shallow Bosse squad.

Castle 42, Bedford North-Lawrence 35 (2OT)

This game actually was fairly interesting. Late in the game, Bedford was up 28-27 driving down the field with a little over a minute to play. Castle HC Doug Hurt told his team to let Bedford score which they did taking the bait. Bedford would go up 35-27, but it would also give Castle the ball back with about a minute left to get a TD & 2-pt conversion to tie the score at 28 and force an OT. On the ensuring drive, Castle QB Schuyler Cooper was 5/5 including the TD that make it 35-33. The Knights went to their bell cow Logan Hayford who rushed in for the 2-pt score sending the game to OT. Both teams scored quickly in the 1st OT when Bedford got the ball first. In the 2nd OT, Castle scored & then the defense stepped up to seal the win. Logan Hayford finished with 105 yards & 2TD on 18 carries. I’m pretty excited for Castle. I thought the talent on the roster was MUCH better than the 3-6 record they carried at the end of the season. A win here puts them at 4-6 & with Jennings Co. up next, they have a real shot at playing for a sectional championship. If somehow Castle gets out of Sectional 8 they’ll most likely have Columbus East or Center Grove waiting for them in the regional which means a certain whipping, but a sectional title after a disappointing regular season would seem redemptive to a certain degree.

#12 (Class 4A) Evansville Central 21, Seymour 7

Coming into this game Central was on a 6-game winning streak averaging 43 points per game during that 6-game winning streak. Seeing how Central was 7-2 & Seymour was 4-5, I thought the Bears might have another romp in them, but instead they a pedestrian 21-7 victory. Central was up only 14-7 when Seymour QB Chris McIntire threw a pick six that led to a 21-7 final. Interestingly enough, McIntire would throw 4 interceptions in this game leaving me with a somewhat uneasy feeling about Central’s chances moving forward. Central QB Jacob Hester was decidedly off throwing for 172 yards on 13 of 36 passing including 3 interceptions himself. RB Tyrece Strong had to carry the load for the Bears rushing for 130 yards & 2TD on 30 carries. Not that it matters because Central is in the same sectional as Reitz, but during their 6-game run to end the season I thought maybe Central could give Reitz at least a tussle when/if they met again in sectionals. With Jasper gone it does look like Central will get a rematch against Reitz, but after seeing what Reitz did to Jasper, I think the score could be much much uglier than the 35-21 final earlier in the year.

Owen Valley 28, Evansville Harrison 22

What has to make Harrison just sick is that they were up 20-0 in this game. Owen Valley scored 22 unanswered in the 2nd quarter giving the Patriots a 22-20 lead over the Warriors. Harrison would never recover en route to finishing the year 1-9. Harrison WR Aaron Killebrew had a solid game catching 13 balls for 142 yards & 2TD. It’s rough end for Harrison, but unlike the last 3 seasons, Harrison came away with at least one win.

Floyd Central 41, Evansville North 13

Floyd Central is the odds on favorite to win Sectional 8 in Class 5A, but North is a complete joke. They started the year 2-1 before losing 7 straight game to end the season & finish the year 2-8. Floyd Central’s Kyle Bramble ran for 247 yards & 3TD as North was routed in their sectional opener. HC Mike Wilson has spent 22 years as HC of the Huskies. Isn’t it time for a change……..like a decade ago?

#12 (Class 3A) Washington 70, Vincennes Lincoln 15

Washington RB Joe McCormick was back to his dominating ways rushing for 146 yards & 4TD on 12 carries. Dylan Ervin rushed for 110 himself & the Hatchets also got exceptional special teams play leading to a couple of more TDs. The 70 point outburst is pretty impressive, but it’s actually the 3rd time Washington has scored this many in a game. The problem is that when Washington faced down a real defense in Jasper, they got hammered 23-2. While Washington doesn’t play in Class 4A, they still have Evansville Memorial lurking who is a very solid team defensively in their own right. Washington should run roughshod over Evansville Bosse this week because Bosse is so thin defensively & Washington should have no problems outscoring the Bulldogs, but the Class 24 Sectional Championship should be between Washington & Evansville Memorial & it’ll be a solid game to be sure. Speaking of Memorial………

#17 (Class 3A) Evansville Memorial 83, Princeton 21

Like Bosse, Memorial put up 83 points which is utterly ridiculous, but also like Bosse’s opponent Pike Central, Princeton was 0-9 on the season playing horrific football this year. Memorial TE/RB Steven Scheu had 3 first quarter TD as Memorial cruised to a 46-7 first quarter lead! That was it for Memorial. They put in their subs for the 2nd, 3rd & 4th quarters who brought the game home 83-21. Memorial improved to 6-4 on the season. There was some cynicism directed towards Memorial for finishing the season 5-4, but keep in mind that the Tigers finished last year at 6-3 & made it all the way to the championship game before losing to West Lafayette 24-10. Note too that Memorial’s 4 losses this year came against Jasper, Reitz, Mater Dei & Central. Currently those 4 teams have a combined record of 36-4! Yes Memorial is only 6-4, but in no way are they probably not one of the best 3-5 teams in Class 3A.

#5 (Class 2A) Evansville Mater Dei 62, Sullivan 0

The only SIAC team to toss a shutout during the first week of sectionals, Mater Dei found the road extremely easy in hammering a 3-6 Sullivan team. Oftentimes with high school sports the sole focus is on the offense, but I wanted to point out that Mater Dei’s defense held Sullivan to 20 total yards for the game and -27 rushing yards on 20 carries. That’s simply a ridiculous show of strength on the defensive side of the football. Of course the offense was dynamic as well. RB Cody Hess ran for 172 yards & 3TD on just 13 carries. QB Dane Maurer threw for 143 yards & 2TD on 14 of 19 passing. Mater Dei draws an interesting 2nd round game on the road against Forest Park. While Mater Dei is now 9-1 & ranked #5 in Class 2A, Forest Park is 8-2 & ranked #12. Neither team has a common opponent this year although Forest Park has no victories such like Mater Dei has over Evansville Central & Evansville Memorial.

RECORDS

Reitz 10-0
Mater Dei 9-1
Central 8-2
Washington 8-2
Memorial 6-4
Castle 4-6
Bosse 3-7
North 2-8
Harrison 1-9

HOW I’D RANK THEM

1. Reitz
2. Mater Dei
3. Central
4. Memorial
5. Washington
6. Castle
7. Bosse
8. North
9. Harrison

NFL Playoffs – After Week 7

Oddly enough this was a fairly consistent week for the NFL. There wasn’t hardly any movement in the AFC while the NFC adjusted just a bit although none of the primary teams really moved that much further in or out of playoff contention according to the seedings. It seems early although maybe that is just an illusion? At this point I think we can start to look at the teams & their schedules in terms of games they “should” win. For example, the Jets should probably win all of their homes games remaining because championship teams take care of their own backyards. That puts the Jets with 10 wins.

New York has road games remaining against Lions, Browns, Patriots, Steelers, & Bears. The Jets should be able to beat Detroit, Cleveland & Chicago which means the Jets are looking at a potential record of 13-3 to end the season assuming road losses to the Patriots & Steelers who consider themselves championship football teams in their own right. The Jets have laid a solid foundation at 5-1 to start the year. Now it’s just building on it. We can pretty much do this with all the teams to get an idea of the storylines moving forward.

AFC Playoff Seedings After Week 7

1. New York Jets 5-1 (Last Week #1)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers 5-1 (#2)
3. Tennessee Titans 5-2 (#7)
4. Kansas City Chiefs 4-2 (#4)
5. New England Patriots 5-1 (#5)
6. Baltimore Ravens 5-2 (#6)
7. Houston Texans 4-2 (#3)
8. Indianapolis Colts 4-2 (#8)
9. Miami Dolphins 3-3 (#9)
10. Oakland Raiders 3-4 (#12)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars 3-4 (#10)
12. Cincinnati Bengals 2-4 (#11)
13. Cleveland Browns 2-5 (#15)
14. Denver Broncos 2-5 (#13)
15. San Diego Chargers 2-5 (#14)
16. Buffalo Bills 0-6 (#16)

The big winners this week are the Tennessee Titans who took advantage of Houston being idle to move into the 1st place spot in the AFC South by a half game over both the Texans & the Colts. The Titans can keep this advantage up if they beat the Chargers this week in San Diego because they’ll be on bye in Week 9 which would allow the Texans to catch back up if they can beat Indianapolis at Lucas Oil on Monday night this week. Speaking of the Texans, they are the big losers this week, dropping 4 spots from #3 to #7 by way of losing the top spot in the AFC South despite not playing. For the most part we are only 6-7 games in, but the AFC seems pretty stable with the top-9 teams. Unless something crazy happens, I think it’s safe to say Oakland, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, San Diego & Buffalo are not playoff teams. That’s 9 teams for 6 spots.

NFC Playoff Seedings After Week 7

1. New York Giants 5-2 (Last Week #1)
2. Atlanta Falcons 5-2 (#2)
3. Seattle Seahawks 4-2 (#7)
4. Chicago Bears 4-3 (#3)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-2 (#8)
6. Washington Redskins 4-3 (#9)
7. New Orleans Saints 4-3 (#5)
8. Green Bay Packers 4-3 (#11)
9. Philadelphia Eagles 4-3 (#6)
10. Arizona Cardinals 3-3 (#4)
11. St. Louis Rams 3-4 (#10)
12. Minnesota Vikings 2-4 (#12)
13. Carolina Panthers 1-5 (#16)
14. Detroit Lions 1-5 (#14)
15. Dallas Cowboys 1-5 (#13)
16. San Francisco 49ers 1-6 (#15)

The big winners & big losers reside in the NFC West as the Seahawks & Cardinals went in opposite directions after Seattle beat Arizona this past Sunday. This will probably be a common theme for most of the year if any team in the West makes a run at Seattle. They’ll flip flop between that #4 seed & somewhere way down the seedings. Seattle made a 4 spot jump from #7 to #3 while the Cardinals nosedived from #4 to #10. The NFC isn’t as clearly delineated as the AFC in my opinion. While I think it’s fairly safe to assume the Lions, Panthers, Cowboys & 49ers as dead in the water, the other 12 teams have shots at the playoffs. Mostly that’s a function of the Bucs being decent so far & the East & North division being a bit haggard outside of the Giants. I mean, Raheem Morris went on record as stating he thinks the Bucs are the best team in the NFC! Whoa coach! Get a hold of yourself!

Wild Card Matchups

#6 Baltimore Ravens at #3 Tennessee Titans
#5 New England Patriots at #4 Kansas City Chiefs
#6 Washington Redskins at #3 Seattle Seahawks
#5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at #4 Chicago Bears

No real showcase games from an historical perspective. We are still in line for the Patriots/Chiefs tilt which would be interesting because of all the former Patriots guys now playing/coaching for Kansas City. We also get an old NFC Central battle between the Bears & Bucs! That would be pretty cool if only Tampa Bay would come back out with the dreamcicle uniforms with Buccaneer Bruce on the helmets!

I think the Ravens/Titans are interesting. To me this should be a bigger rival than what it is because a lot of times both teams are sort of about the same stuff. Both have made their reputations on fantastic defenses. The Ravens have been a little more successful than Tennessee, but for the most part this is somewhat of a close regional game as well because it’s not like Nashville is cross country from Baltimore. Some of that is the short history of both squads. The Ravens were established in 1996 & at that time the Titans were still the Houston Oilers.

Baltimore didn’t get any good until 2000, but there were some good games there. Remember at this time both the Ravens & Titans were in the same division as Tennessee won the AFC Central with a 13-3 record followed by Baltimore’s 12-4 mark. In the regular season, Baltimore beat the Titans in Tennessee 24-23 but lost at home 16-9. The teams would play a rubber match in the divisional round of the playoffs as Baltimore beat the Titans in Tennessee again 24-10 en route to winning the Super Bowl. The Titans weren’t very good in 2001 & in 2002 the divisions split again with the Ravens in the AFC North & the Titans in the AFC South.

In 2003 the Titans would beat Baltimore 20-17 in Baltimore but in 2008 the Titans hosted Baltimore & lost meaning that in every playoff game the Titans & Ravens have played, the road team has come out on top. Historically the Ravens & Titans have only played 17 times with Baltimore holding a 10-7 advantage:

9/21/97: Ravens 36, Titans 10
12/14/97: Ravens 21, Titans 19
10/11/98: Titans 12, Ravens 8
12/6/98: Titans 16, Ravens 14
10/10/99: Titans 14, Ravens 11
12/5/99: Ravens 41, Titans 14
10/22/00: Titans 14, Ravens 6
11/12/00: Ravens 24, Titans 23
1/7/01: Ravens 24, Titans 10 (AFC Divisional Playoff Game)
10/7/01: Ravens 26, Titans 7
11/12/01: Ravens 16, Titans 10
11/24/02: Ravens 13, Titans 12
1/3/04: Titans 20, Ravens 17 (AFC Wild Card Playoff Game)
9/18/05: Titans 25, Ravens 10
11/12/06: Ravens 27, Titans 26
10/5/08: Titans 13, Ravens 10
1/10/09: Ravens 13, Titans 10 (AFC Divisional Playoff Game)

The Ravens had a pretty good run from 2000 to 2002 but these games have been TIGHT! The average score is Baltimore 17, Tennessee 15! These two teams haven’t played each other in the regular season since 2008 & won’t meet this year either. The only way we get Titans/Ravens is in the playoffs.