Only three teams were picked by our 12 contestants in the opening round of this year's contest. 2A #9 Southmont was the most popular pick, and the six players who selected them received 28 points for the Mounties' 42-14 win over the Fountain Central Mustangs. Almost as popular were the 5A #8 Bloomington South Panthers, who delivered 21 points for the five contestants who picked them with their 27-6 victory over the Columbus East Olympians. But the largest winning margin this week belonged to the 3A #15 Mississinewa Indians in their 35-point shutout of the Norwell Knights. Evansville North and 6A #1 Ben Davis suffered losses to 5A #7 Castle and 6A #7 Indianapolis Cathedral, respectively. Fortunately, none of our contestants picked either of the teams which found themselves on the wrong end of the score.

It is common for us to have multiple players tied for the lead after Week 1. But since he was the only contestant to pick Mississinewa in this round, CoachC sits alone atop our leaderboard with 35 points. Then we have a logjam at second place with hhsdawg, HickoryHusker, kyleajolly, Nick Jenkinson, Ranger20, and Rob Deweese in a six-way tie with 28. Next week we will see if any of our competitors can separate themselves from the pack!

Here are the games for Week 1 with scores, point margins, and the number of players who picked each one:

Mississinewa 35, Norwell 0 (35 points, 1 player)
Southmont 42, Fountain Central 14 (28 points, 6 players)
North Judson 42, Knox 21 (21 points, no players)
Bloomington South 27, Columbus East 6 (21 points, 5 players)
Penn 49, Valparaiso 42 (7 points, no players)
Batesville 21, Triton Central 14 (7 points, no players)
Leo 20, Fort Wayne Luers 17 (3 points, no players)
Castle 14, Evansville North 11 (-3 points, no players)
Indianapolis Cathedral 24, Ben Davis 6 (-18 points, no players)

Here are the standings after Week 1:

35 points
CoachC

28 points
hhsdawg
HickoryHusker
kyleajolly
Nick Jenkinson
Ranger20
Rob Deweese

21 points
Ed Stachulak
Mr. B.A.
Quad Runner
TheGorilla23
ysuindy

If you haven't already sent in your pick for Week 2, be sure to email it to shsfan475@gmail.com by 6:00 pm ET on Friday, Aug. 30!

I'm a geography nerd among other things, while working in secondary education has taken me to a lot of different schools over the years through coaching. Sometimes, I spend too much time just cycling through Harrell's site looking at past years in football and basketball.

Class basketball is here to stay and obviously class football is even more a necessity. I was driving my kid to Grand Park last week and we went by Westfield's football field. I'm pretty sure the Rocks could easily field 5 or 6 teams.

Well, back in 2000, when I was in high school, the Shamrocks weren't even a match for Elwood High School. Speaking of those Panthers, they went 12-1 that season, falling in the regional to Roncalli. Now this isn't meant to bash the Panthers, who are 2-57 in football since 2018. But back in that year, Elwood rolled to that sectional title with wins against Westfield, New Palestine, and Mt. Vernon. That's right - three programs that have combined for more than a few state titles in football in the past decade. But back in 2000, light work for the Panthers.

I offer this story as nothing more than something to shake your head at as you consider the consolidation of population (and athletic talent) to the center of the state. But as high school football gets started tonight, this fact of the 2000 IHSAA tournament would seem to be a very, very far-fetched tale.

I had previously closed this one back in May with Larry Upshaw, but word now of a change, and Jeremiah King will be leading the Governors this winter.

Morton boys - Departing Coach Aaron Abram
HAMMOND, Ind. -- Larry Upshaw (Closed 5/9) Jeremiah King (Closed 8/23)