It is amazing how much change can happen in five years.
Back in 2018, Carroll went 3-7, only a few area stadiums had turf and Blackhawk Christian playing a varsity football schedule at Snider High School wasn’t even a dream.
What will 2028 see? Blitz takes his best shot at predicting what the landscape of northeast Indiana football will look like. Some of this could actually happen, while some is merely wishful thinking from a bear cooped up too long without football.
1. An SAC mega-conference
Changes are being seen this season in the Summit Athletic Conference with the adoption of a two-division format and non-conference matchups.
In five years, Blitz believes it will look even more different.
Several sources have told Blitz that in a perfect world, East Allen County Schools would like to have all four of its high schools in the same conference. Logistically, it makes sense. Currently, two (Leo and New Haven) reside in the Northeast 8 and two (Woodlan and Heritage) in the Allen County Athletic.
Under this scenario, those four move into the SAC to create a 14-team league separated into two, seven-team divisions. There would still be two protected non-conference games in the first two weeks. Two non-conference games, six intra-division games, one inter-division game.
Let’s go a step further. The divisions are largely separated by class – 5A and 6A in one division, 2A thru 4A in the other. That makes it uneven at six and eight teams, respectively. So we do this – the team over a two-year cycle with the best record in the “small” division is bumped up to the “big” division. Think of it like Premier League relegation. This format is HIGHLY unlikely, but whatever, this is Blitz’s column.
A 14-team SAC would be the biggest football-playing conference in the state.
2. The ACAC will cease to exist
The Allen County Athletic Conference is a fickle beast. Only two schools in the league are actually in Allen County, and if the aforementioned SAC scenario happens, there would be none left.
Let’s say Heritage and Woodlan bolt. There is constant uncertainty with the future viability of the Southern Wells football program. Even if you add Blackhawk Christian, you’re on shaky ground.
If the ACAC begins to fall apart, where do teams go? Does Jay County go south? Would schools like Bluffton, Adams Central and South Adams join with NE8 squads like Bellmont, DeKalb and Columbia City to form a new league?
3. Blackhawk Christian will be a 1A state contender
Suffice to say, there will be a lot of eyes on Blackhawk Christian over the next few years.
Smack dab in the middle of Fort Wayne sees a 1A start-up program that has a built-in and established feeder. The campus is seven minutes from Snider, 12 minutes from New Haven and 15 minutes from North Side.
Now, Blitz isn’t predicting that the Braves will become a city power or join the SAC and compete for Victory Bells. But they will be a landing spot for some talent that would otherwise go to public school. Much as Bishop Luers and Bishop Dwenger pulls from the likes of South Side and Northrop, respectively, Blackhawk Christian will do the same from the schools around it.
Adams Central and South Adams have dominated the area in 1A recently. Joining the party soon enough will be the Braves. It will take a few years, maybe more than a few, but Blitz believes by 2028 the program will be one of the best 1A programs in the north.
4. The area will have another Mr. Football winner
Thirty players have been named Indiana Mr. Football since the award was first presented back in 1992.
Exactly one winner has been from northeast Indiana – Jaylon Smith in 2012.
Blitz isn’t here to argue about the underrepresentation of the area. What he is going to predict is that we won’t be sitting on just one by 2028.
It could come as soon as this year – with Brauntae Johnson of North Side and Mylan Graham of New Haven preseason contenders for the award. No player raises his profile for the honor more than a 6A quarterback who has success, putting Carroll’s Jimmy Sullivan in the conversation for 2024 if he continues to improve.
Who knows, maybe there is a player lurking as a freshman or sophomore that could emerge in the coming years.
5. The NECC will adopt Week 9 championship format
More and more conferences are going to the Week 9 championship format where the division winners play for the league title, second place plays second place, etc.
Blitz doesn’t feel it works in the SAC unless you balance out the divisions, i.e. separating the 5As and 6As. In the Northeast Corner Conference, it will work.
Yes, the teams are separated by “big” and “small” now, but Eastside has been the best squad in the league the last few years, and they reside in the small division. In 2021, Central Noble’s only two losses of the regular season were two its divisional mates in the small division.
The discrepancy between “big” and “small” in the NECC isn’t drastic. Blitz has longed for an area conference to adopt the Week 9 championship format. A true “league title” game to cap the regular season instead of hoping that a winner-take-all showdown materializes.
It would put the NECC on the map locally every Week 9 every season. Blitz would eat it up. And isn’t he all that matters?
These opinions represent those of Blitz and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Blitz on Twitter at Blitz_OTH
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