Sectional draw day remains – and will remain for all of Blitz’s time on this fine rotating rock of ours – one of the most exciting days of the season.
From teams looking to flip their regular season fortunes with a positive draw to others that are aiming to continue to dominate, storylines are aplenty wherever you look.
The Sunday before Week 9 is just plain interesting, both fun and cruel depending on who you are. So with this season’s draw handled, lets look at some of the big winners and the so-called losers from how the ping-pong balls bounced.
WINNER: WARSAW
The Tigers have a huge showdown to wrap up the regular season at Northridge in a battle of undefeateds, followed by a bye week.
But once it begins the playoffs on Oct. 30, Coach Bart Curtis’ team will be sitting pretty.
Warsaw will get one-win Wayne at home to begin Sectional 11. Meanwhile, Snider will host South Side in the other semifinal. If the Panthers advance, the Tigers will host that showdown in a rematch of Week 1, a 33-30 victory.
Not only does Warsaw avoid Snider in the first round, but it will also not have to travel to ‘The Ike’ if the two teams meet again.
That’s definitely a positive for the Tigers.
LOSER: COLUMBIA CITY
What is the deal with ping-pong balls not liking Brett Fox?
The Columbia City coach has to be wondering that after another draw in which the Eagles will hit the road for the opening round of sectionals. Just twice in the 13 years of Fox’s tenure has his team began the playoffs with a home game.
Not only that, but the foe will be conference mate Leo. Yes, the Eagles beat Leo by 21 last week, but the same opponent in two of three weeks? With a vengeful Lions team seeking revenge with Round 2 at their place?
To make it even worse, if Columbia City can advance, it will in all likelihood get East Noble in the semifinals, in Kendallville.
It is nearly impossible to get a good draw in the loaded Sectional 19, but Columbia City definitely got the short end.
WINNER: ANGOLA
The Hornets are going through it over the final two weeks of the regular season in having to face West Noble and Eastside.
The positive of that, at least, is that both games have been at home. And Angola will not leave the friendly confines for at least another week.
Coach Seth Wilcox’s team drew three-win Mishawaka Marian to begin sectional play. If victorious, it would likely head to Fairfield in a rematch of Week 3’s 7-6 Angola win.
But most beneficial is the fact that the two favorites in Sectional 26 – Tippecanoe Valley and West Noble – are both on the top half of the bracket. That means that Angola, or whoever comes out of the bottom half, will only need to play one of them.
Mishawaka Marian cannot be overlooked in Round 1, but the Hornets have to be pleased with how their draw turned out.
LOSER: NORTH SIDE
One of the quirks of this year’s SAC schedule was the fact that the Legends avoided Carroll and Bishop Dwenger in the regular season, easily the two best squads in the league this year.
Well, the draw did what the SAC schedule couldn’t, with North Side set to face Bishop Dwenger on the road to open the playoffs.
Much like Columbia City, it is difficult to get a ‘good’ draw in Sectional 19, but North Side drawing the co-favorite in the field (along with East Noble) on the road is rough.
New to Class 4A, North Side will not get its traditional bye that it had in 5A. Instead, it will go right into prepping for Snider on the road in Week 9 to getting ready for the Saints in Week 10.
Coming off a loss to Homestead, the draw makes this week’s showdown with Snider all the more important for the Legends to find some momentum going into sectional play.
WINNER: SOUTH ADAMS
There are just three teams with winning records in Sectional 44, with South Adams not having to match up with either of the other two until the sectional finals.
While Northfield and Fremont battle it out in the bottom half, the Starfires will host Churubusco to begin the playoffs, then take on the winner of Southwood and Blackhawk Christian.
The flip side of course, is that whomever comes out of the bottom half will likely host the sectional championship, but South Adams, with its powerful offense, should be able to take care of business relatively easily through the first two round.
LOSER: CONCORDIA
Next year, both will be ACAC regular-season matchups, but for now, the Cadets would have liked nothing more than to avoid Adams Central or Bluffton in the first round of Sectional 27.
The draw had different ideas.
Coach Tim Mannigel’s team will hit the road to open the playoffs in Monroe against the Flying Jets in a first-time matchup between the two programs. It is the third-straight season in which Concordia will open the playoffs on the road, with losses coming to West Noble and Fairfield the last two years.
The Cadets’ offense has been effective at times this year, but against physical fronts along the line of scrimmage is where Concordia has had trouble. Adams Central will present that kind of challenge.
Of course, if Concordia can find a way to knock off the Flying Jets, they could potentially have home-field advantage the final two rounds of sectionals.
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