IHSAA unveils new football sectionals

Hobart has yet to hire a new football coach, but it has a new football sectional.

The Brickies were shipped east to a very difficult Class 4A Sectional 10 - joining Northwest Crossroads Conference foes Lowell and Kankakee Valley - as part of the new sectional alignment released by the IHSAA on Wednesday. The new lineups will be in place for the next two years.

Hobart, Lowell and KV will play in Sectional 10 with Mishawaka - the top-ranked team in Class 5A for much of last season - New Prairie, South Bend Clay, South Bend Riley and South Bend Washington. The move was forced because East Chicago Central dropped down from 5A and Clark moved up from 3A and both were moved into Sectional 9 with Clark, Griffith, Hammond, Highland, Morton, Roosevelt and West Side. Former Sectional 9 member Lew Wallace moved down to 3A.

Meanwhile, 2A Sectional 25 also got a whole lot tougher. With perennial 3A power Andrean moving down to 2A, the 59ers joined Wheeler and Rensselaer in that grouping, along with Bowman, Lake Station, North Newton, River Forest and the new Boone Grove program.

There was speculation Rensselaer could be moved east, but North Judson was shipped to Sectional 26 instead, joining a loaded field of Bremen, Cass, Fairfield, Manchester, Prairie Heights, Rochester and Wabash.

There were few surprises in the new lineups, which came a month after the new classifications were announced. in 5A, Michigan City takes East Chicago's spot in Sectional 1 - which is now just the Duneland Conference minus LaPorte and plus Munster - while LaPorte is left as the only region school in Sectional 2.

In 3A, defending regional champion South Bend St. Joseph's takes Andrean's spot in Sectional 17, joining Calumet, Culver Academies, Gavit, Glenn, Knox, Lew Wallace and Mishawaka Marian.

Bishop Noll, down from 2A, joins 1A Sectional 33, where it will face Culver Community, South Central, South Newton, Tri-County, West Central, Whiting and Winamac.

In baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball, Class 4A remained the same, while Griffith moved closer to home in 3A, re-joining Sectional 17. Hanover Central moved up to 3A Sectional 18 with Andrean, Calumet, KV, Knox and Rensselaer.

In 2A, Bowman and Whiting move up to Sectional 33, joining Bishop Noll, Lake Station, River Forest and Wheeler.

In 1A, new programs at 21st Century, Campagna Academy, Covenant Christian and Gary Lighthouse join Kouts, LaCrosse, Morgan Township and Washington Township in Sectional 49.

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