Pocket Athletic Conference

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The Pocket Athletic Conference (PAC) is a high school athletic conference in southwestern Indiana. Its members are mainly Class 2A and 3A public high schools located in Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick counties. Only one, Tecumseh is a 1A.

Location of PAC in Indiana
Location of PAC in Indiana

Contents

[edit] History

The Pocket Athletic Conference was established in 1938 with nine founding schools: Cannelton, Chrisney, Lynnville, Mount Vernon, Owensville, Petersburg, Poseyville, Rockport, and Tell City. Seven of the nine original schools remain members in some form today. Cannelton left in 1971 and is now an independent. Mount Vernon left in 1959 to join the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference and is now a member of the Big Eight Conference.

The first current member appeared in 1959 when Poseyville consolidated with Cynthiana, Griffin, and Wadesville to form North Posey. Rockpord merged with Richland in 1965 to form South Spencer. Lynnville and Elberfeld merged in 1965 to form Tecumseh High School. Also in 1965, Oakland City and Francisco, both of whom joined the PAC in 1939, joined to become Wood Memorial. Chrisney and Dale, which had joined in 1939, joined to form Heritage Hills in 1972. Huntingburg joined the PAC in 1970 from the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference and in 1972 consolidated with Holland to become Southridge. In 1974 Owensville consolidated with Fort Branch and Haubstadt into Gibson Southern. Both Fort Branch and Owensville were members of the PAC at the time. Haubstadt was also briefly a member of the PAC. That same year Petersburg joined with Winslow and Otwell to form Pike Central.

Gibson Southern left the PAC in 1979 when the Big Eight Conference was formed, only to return in 1994. In 2000, Wood Memorial left the PAC and is now a member of the Blue Chip Conference. Tell City, which had left in 1953, rejoined in 2001, also came back from the Big Eight Conference but also from the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference. In 2007 Forest Park, located in Ferdinand, officially joined the PAC from the Blue Chip Conference increasing the number of members back to the original nine.

The PAC has recently gained the reputation as a powerful football conference. Since 2000, the PAC has been represented in the state finals five times. The three schools that have represented the PAC recently are Heritage Hills (2000 3A State Champs, and 2004 3A Runner-up), Southridge (2002 and 2006 2A Runner-up) and North Posey (2005 2A Runner-up). As one of the southernmost conferences in the state, the PAC has also seen great success in baseball and softball, winning a combined seven state championships in those sports since 2001.

Another sport of recognition for the PAC is Basketball. Forest Park, Southridge and Tecumseh have 4 state titles in both boys and girls basketball. Forest Park and Gibson Southern add 3 more State Runner-Up Titles to the pool to make 7 appearances at the state finals, not counting Tecumseh's appearance in the Tournament of Champions. Forest Park, Gibson Southern, North Posey, Southridge, and Tecumseh have all been ranked within the last 8 years in either girls or boys basketball, sometimes both. In 1999, Tecumseh lost by only six points in the experimental "Tournament of Champions" to the 4A State Champion, Indianapolis North Central. Tecumseh was the 1A State Champion.

The PAC is also gaining a reputation as a powerhouse in baseball and softball. Both Gibson Southern and joining Forest Park have recently won state titles in softball. And, North Posey (05, 06) and South Spencer (07) have won the last three titles in baseball. The two schools have met for the sectional championship each of the last three years, and the winner has gone on to win the state title each year. Because of this, the two schools have developed an intense rivalry in baseball over the last few years.

In the last ten years, 26 Pocket Athletic Conference teams have representer their school in state championship games.

[edit] Member Schools

[edit] Current members (9)

School
School Corp.		 Mascot Colors Location Joined County IHSAA Class
Forest Park
Southeast Dubois		 Rangers Green & Gold Ferdinand, IN 2007 Dubois AA
Gibson Southern
South Gibson		 Titans Maroon & Gold Fort Branch, IN 1994 Gibson AAA
Heritage Hills
North Spencer		 Patriots Red & Blue Lincoln City, IN 1938 Spencer AAA
North Posey
MSD North Posey		 Vikings Red & Black Poseyville, IN 1938 Posey AA
Pike Central
Pike County		 Chargers Burgundy & Gold Petersburg, IN 1938 Pike AAA
Southridge
Southwest Dubois		 Raiders Red & Black Huntingburg, IN 1970 Dubois AAA
South Spencer
South Spencer		 Rebels Blue & White Rockport, IN 1938 Spencer AA
Tecumseh
Warrick County		 Braves Red & Blue Lynnville, IN 1938 Warrick A
Tell City
Tell City/Troy Twp.		 Marksmen Crimson & White Tell City, IN 2001 Perry AA

[edit] Former members

School Mascot Location Years
Member		 Current
Conference		 County
Cannelton Bulldogs Cannelton, IN 1938-1971 Independent Perry
Mount Vernon Wildcats Mount Vernon, IN 1938-1959 Big Eight Posey
Wood Memorial Trojans Oakland City, IN 1939-2000 Blue Chip Gibson

[edit] Sponsored Sports

Boys Girls
Baseball Basketball
Basketball Cross Country
Cross Country Golf
Football 1 Soccer
Golf Softball
Soccer Swimming
Swimming Tennis
Tennis Track & Field
Track & Field Volleyball
Wrestling

1 Tecumseh will no longer field a football team beginning in the 2007-08 school year. They will remain in the PAC for all other sports.

[edit] State Championships

Forest Park Rangers (3)

  • 2001 Softball (A) 1
  • 2005 Boys Basketball (2A) 1
  • 2006 Boys Basketball (2A) 1

Gibson Southern Titans (2)

  • 2003 Softball (2A)
  • 2005 Softball (3A)

Heritage Hills Patriots (1)

  • 2000 Football (3A)

North Posey Vikings(2)

  • 2005 Baseball (2A)
  • 2006 Baseball (2A)

Pike Central Chargers (0)

Southridge Raiders (1)

  • 1998 Girls Basketball (2A)

South Spencer Rebels (1)

  • 2007 Boys Baseball (2A)

Tecumseh Braves (2)

  • 1999 Boys Basketball (A)
  • 2003 Baseball (A)

Tell City Marksmen (0)


1Won when Forest Park was a member of the Blue Chip Conference.

[edit] State Runner-Up Titles

Forest Park Rangers (2)

  • 2003 Boys Basketball (2A) 1
  • 1999 Girls Basketball (2A) 1

Gibson Southern Titans (2)

  • 2001 Girls Softball (2A)
  • 2002 Girls Basketball (3A)

Heritage Hills Patriots (1)

  • 2005 Football (3A)

North Posey Vikings (1)

  • 2005 Football (2A)

Pike Central Chargers (1)

  • 1990 Softball

Southridge Raiders (4)

  • 1982 Football (A)
  • 2002 Football (2A)
  • 2007 Football (2A)

South Spencer Rebels (2)

  • 1988 Football (2A)
  • 1999 Softball (2A)

Tecumseh Braves (4)

  • 2002 Baseball (A)
  • 2003 Softball (A)
  • 2007 Softball (A)

Tell City Marksmen (1)

  • 1986 Football (2A) 2


1Occurred when Forest Park was a member of the Blue Chip Conference.

2Occurred when Tell City was a member of the Big Eight Conference.

[edit] Trivia

  • Heritage Hills has not lost a PAC football game since 1998, winning 68 straight games through the 2007 season. They have also captured the last 11 PAC championships in football.
  • Current Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler played high school football at Heritage Hills and led them to the 3A state title in his senior season.
  • Southridge's home gymnasium in Huntingburg has a capacity of 6,092 and is one of the 20 largest in Indiana.

[edit] Neighboring Conferences

[edit] References

[edit] External links


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Indiana's Pocket Athletic Conference