Last week, the IHSAA released new sectional alignments for the next two seasons of high school football, with plenty of movement amongst area programs.
Who benefits from the new sectionals? Who took a hit?
Let’s take a look
WINNER: HOMESTEAD
Two years ago, Homestead was one of the biggest losers of realignment when it stayed with Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern and added Noblesville for a four-team Class 6A sectional where the Spartans were the clear outlier geographically.
It made for some fun opening-round matchups for Blitz and fans to keep an eye on, but did not help Homestead in its quest to end a sectional title drought that is now at five seasons. The Spartans drew Hamilton Southeastern in both 2024 and 2025 to open the playoffs. While they were competitive, losing by scores of 20-14 and 24-10, it continued the streak of Homestead opening the postseason with either Fishers or HSE to four-straight years.
Now, Coach Chad Zolman’s team is back among friends, so to speak, with rival Carroll and upstart Northrop in the new Sectional 4, along with holdover Noblesville.
While the Spartans are still going to need to work hard to end their six-game postseason losing streak, at least it will work towards that end against at least two familiar in-conference foes.
LOSER: NORTH SIDE
When North Side got away from Snider in the last realignment cycle (due to Snider’s Success Factor bump), it gave a glimmer of hope to those seeking an end to the Legends’ long streak without a postseason title of any kind (1990).
But Concord was the thorn in the side of North the last two years, taking it down both years, including a highly-competitive 34-29 decision in the sectional title game last fall.
With North Side now dropping to Class 4A, you would think things would seemingly get easier for Coach Ben Johnson’s program, right?
Wrong.
Instead of dealing with Concord and Warsaw, North Side now resides in Sectional 19 with the likes of Columbia City, East Noble, Bishop Dwenger and Leo, among others.
If you are a follower of Class 4A in the area, you know that Sectionals 19 and 20 are absolute nightmares to navigate. Barring a ridiculously-lucky draw, teams must beat at least two and perhaps three really good teams to hoist a sectional trophy.
For a program which hasn’t done so in 35-plus years, an easier road is the better road. And while Blitz isn’t counting North Side out in the postseason, Class 5A set up easier than 4A has.
WINNER: SNIDER
In its two years in Class 6A due to Success Factor, Snider went 3-7 against 6A opponents, including 0-4 last season as the Panthers scuffled to a 3-7 campaign.
Now, that isn’t to say that Coach Kurt Tippmann’s program couldn’t find a way to consistently compete in Class 6A if it needed to, but 5A is more Snider’s speed. So dropping down a class is music to many a Snider fan’s ears.
And this isn’t just about the sectional field. Traditionally, the Carroll-Snider series is competitive, and up until last year the Panthers absolutely owned their rival Northrop, two 6A sectional opponents. But when you look further into the playoffs, making it to the state finals is fundamentally more difficult in 6A than 5A.
For a program that measures success by deep postseason runs and state titles, facing off against the likes of Lafayette Jeff in the regional and Concord in semistate is a considerably easier road than say Carmel in the regional and Crown Point in the same rounds in Class 6A.
Now, Snider has traded Carroll and Northrop for Wayne and South Side in Sectional 11, a pair of teams the Panthers have beaten a combined 12-straight times dating back to 2018. While Warsaw looms large in the four-team field, the following rounds look much more kind in Snider’s natural class of 5A.
LOSER: BLUFFTON
Two years ago, Blitz pointed out how Bluffton was a loser in sectional realignment because it was now in the same field as Adams Central, who was bumped to Class 2A due to Success Factor.
Now, due to an enrollment jump, the Tigers find themselves up in Class 3A, in the same Sectional 27 as, you guessed it, Adams Central.
The Flying Jets move up again due to Success Factor and will now compete in Class 3A. Bluffton, through the “luck” of the bouncing ping pong balls at sectional draw time, saw Adams Central in each of its playoff appearances the last two years, losing by 28 points in 2024 and 21 in 2025.
Bluffton earned back-to-back sectional titles in 2022 and 2023 in Class 2A when it didn’t have to worry about Adams Central, a team it has lost 17-consecutive games to dating back to 2009. While Coach Brent Kunkel’s team continues to be consistently one of the best in the ACAC, its postseason road was blocked by Adams Central the last two years, and seemingly is once more through 2027.
WINNER: SOUTH ADAMS
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
For a two-year stretch in 2024 and 2025, South Adams basked in the benefit of not having to deal with rival Adams Central in the playoffs, with the Flying Jets up in Class 2A.
With AC now up in 3A, the Starfires once again are sitting pretty. The rest of the field in Sectional 44 leaves a lot to be desired. Outside of South Adams, the last team to have won a sectional crown is Southwood in 2020.
While Churubusco can be a problem, no other team has won a sectional in the last 10 years outside of Southwood and South Adams. For the Starfires, that is a bonus on top of not having to deal with Adams Central.
Anything can happen in the playoffs, of course, but South Adams is the class of Sectional 44 and it isn’t close.
LOSER: GARRETT
The last two seasons have been a lot of fun for the Railroaders, who earned sectional and regional titles in 2024 and came so close to going back-to-back last year in a close defeat at Angola in the sectional title game.
While old Sectional 26 wasn’t necessarily easy, it avoided Bishop Luers until regionals, with the Knights in Sectional 28. Not to mention Adams Central and Bluffton were in Class 2A.
Now, both AC and Bluffton reside in Sectional 27 with Garrett.
Ouch.
This is not to say that Garrett cannot compete with those two teams. After all, the Railroaders handled Adams Central two years ago and slugged it out with the Flying Jets in Week 1 last fall in a 7-0 loss. But the postseason road was much smoother for Garrett in 2024 and 2025, that you cannot argue against.
While Coach Chris Albertin has the Railroaders poised to be factors year after year for the near future, the margin for error in the playoffs has now become smaller with a pair of ACAC powers in the field.
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
Be the first to comment