Published: August 28, 2007 10:41 pm            

GASKINS: H.S. football conference predictions

High school football teams begin conference play Friday and I’m ready to offer some predictions. Cass, Hamilton Heights and Western will take the top three spots in some order in the Mid-Indiana Conference. Clinton Central or Lafayette Central Catholic will win the Hoosier Heartland Conference. And, Sheridan is the team to beat in the Hoosier Conference.

What can I say? I like longshots in horse racing, but I stick with the easy picks in football.

The North Central Conference looks open for a team to make a surprising run to the top of the standings, but the other conferences with local and area ties will likely offer the usual suspects battling it out for the hardware.

Let’s take a look at the four conferences.

MIC

To say the least, Cass, Heights and Western have dominated the league since Heights came aboard in 2000. The Kings are 43-6 in league games over that span — including a combined 35-0 against Eastern, Maconaquah, Northwestern, Peru and Taylor. The Huskies (34-1) and the Panthers (32-3) have taken care of business against those five teams too. Only once in the past seven seasons has a team other than Cass, Heights or Western cracked the top three (Maconaquah in 2004).

Now, two of the conference powers offer new looks. Cass has a practically all-new starting lineup and Heights underwent an unexpected coaching change before preseason practices kicked off. Still, I expect them to take their usual spots in the top three of the conference.

Heights and Western are my top picks to win the MIC with Cass right in the mix too. A two- or three-way tie for the championship would not surprise me in the least.

Northwestern is a team to watch. Quite frankly, now is the best time to play the Tigers, while they are still settling into their new offense and new defense under first-year coach John Hendryx. They will become tougher each week and they should start to click in the second half of the season.

Taylor is another possible party crasher. The Titans are off to their first 2-0 start since 1998, but they have played a soft schedule. They visit Western Friday for their first tough test.

NCC

Huntington North, Logansport and Marion shared the NCC crown in 2006 and Kokomo and Muncie Central finished two games back. The NCC might offer another crowded pack at the top again in ’07.

Huntington North and Logansport are 2-0 after the non-conference portion of their schedules. The Berries, for some reason, played smaller schools so their 2-0 record does not exactly jump off the page. Still, they are 18-3 in conference games since 2004 and that record speaks for itself.

Marion and Muncie Central are coming off disappointing non-conference showings. They meet Friday — the winner will receive at least a spark. Marion has a new coach and a win might right its ship.

Kokomo has a chance to make some noise. Kokomo opens league play with road games against Anderson and Richmond before finally returning home to face Huntington North. If the Kats can go 2-1 in that stretch, and start to settle into first-year coach Brett Colby’s system, they will have a chance to shake up the league standings down the stretch.

A red-letter date for the NCC is Oct. 5, when Logansport comes to Kokomo. The Berries ran up the score on the Kats last season, and Logansport coach Bucky Kramer tried to justify his decision-making after the game when frankly, there was no justification for his classless move.

HHC

Lafayette Central Catholic is the three-time defending HHC champion and owns a 13-game winning streak in league play. Clinton Central finished as runner-up in 2005 and again in ’06. The Bulldogs came close to unseating the Knights last season, but the Knights escaped their head-to-head matchup with a 31-29 win.

Catholic and Clinton Central meet Friday night. Quite simply, pencil down the winner for at least a share of the conference championship — and more likely, the outright title.

Hoosier

Sheridan is the unquestioned favorite in the Hoosier Conference. The Class A No. 1-ranked Blackhawks shared the league crown in 2005 and won it outright in ’06 — and they went on to win the Class A state championship each time. They are loaded again this season. Junior QB Nick Zachery leads a powerful ground game.

Rensselaer, Tipton, Twin Lakes and West Lafayette offer solid squads as well which makes the Hoosier the deepest conference around. Tipton and West Lafayette are off to impressive 2-0 starts and Twin Lakes is coming off a nice win at Frankfort.

The red-letter date for the Hoosier Conference is Sept. 28 when Tipton and Sheridan meet in the RCA Dome, and West Lafayette and Twin Lakes tangle in West Lafayette.

Bryan Gaskins may be reached by e-mail at bryan.gaskins@kokomotribune.com or (765) 454-8567.



MIC since 2000:

The Mid-Indiana Conference has featured a clear power structure since Hamilton Heights joined the conference in 2000. Cass, Heights and Western routinely take the top three spots and the other teams are left to scramble for the final upper-division spot. Need proof? Consider the teams’ league records since 2000.

Team: W-L

Cass: 43-6

Hamilton Heights: 42-7

Western: 37-12

Maconaquah: 21-28

Northwestern: 17-32

Eastern: 16-33

Peru: 13-36

Taylor: 7-42

League champions

2006 — Cass

2005 — Cass

2004 — Heights

2003 — Cass

2002 — Western

2001 — Heights

2000 — Cass and Heights

        

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