Pigskin Preview: Week 4
Opportunity.
That’s what awaits local prep football teams come Friday night as the high school season reaches week four.
There is no bigger opportunity than the one that awaits Wawasee. The undefeated Warriors look for a signature win at Concord. The Warriors, who have not defeated Concord since 2003, meet a Minutemen team surely still smarting from a 50-32 loss at NorthWood a week ago in a huge Northern Lakes Conference contest.
It’s an opportunity for Warsaw to bounce back. The Tigers return home to host Elkhart Memorial looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
Tippecanoe Valley looks for the opportunity to regroup after second-year coach Darin Holsopple resigned on Monday citing health reasons. Valley assistant coaches Jeff Shriver and Aaron Norris are now the co-head coaches for the Vikings. Shriver served as the head coach of the Vikings from 2006-13.
Whitko looks to seize the opportunity to remain unbeaten versus a winless Rochester team. Triton looks at an opportunity to try and get into the win column for the first time Friday night at archrival Bremen.
Here is a quick look at the local docket for Friday night.
Elkhart Memorial (1-2, 0-1) at Warsaw (1-2, 0-1), 7 p.m.
The Tigers look to snap a two-game losing streak and also gain a measure of revenge.
Warsaw, which lost 42-33 at Memorial last year, needs to get back into the win column after a tough 17-10 setback at Plymouth in the league opener last week.
“We had a talk on Monday with the kids and have had a good week of practice,” noted Warsaw coach Phil Jensen, who challenged his players following the loss at Plymouth. “The true test is what happens this week.
“I like this team. They have the ability to be a really good football team. It’s really all up to them. But we need to get going now and get the pieces together. Our schedule does not get any easier and time is growing shorter.”
The Tigers meet an athletic Memorial team that has lost its last two games and has allowed 110 points on the season. The Chargers, who beat rival Elkhart Central in its opener, dropped a 35-14 final to Goshen last Friday. Memorial quarterback Nathan Williams was 26-45 for 251 yards in the loss. David Tillman had 13 receptions for 162 yards and Nolan Grose 11 catches for 84 yards for the Chargers.
“They have a good coach and some good athletes who can make plays,” said Jensen of Memorial. “Their problem, like us, has been too many mistakes. We’ve had six turnovers in three games and three of those have been in the first quarter. That’s not how you need to start games.”
Warsaw has beaten Memorial in four of their last five meetings, including three of those by shutout. The Chargers, who do lead the series with Warsaw 9-8, finished 2-8 a year ago in Scot Shaw’s first season as head coach. Shaw is 201-78 in is 28th season overall as a head coach.
Wawasee (3-0, 1-0) at Concord (2-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.
The focus all season for Wawasee has been going 1-0 each Friday night.
That mantra will face its biggest challenge of the year so far with a trip to Concord.
The Warriors come in off a thrilling 21-20 double-overtime win over Northridge, while the defending NLC champion Minutemen took it on the chin in a 50-32 loss at undefeated NorthWood.
“Concord is Concord,” said Wawasee coach Josh Ekovich. “They are fast and athletic with a lot of big play potential.”
The Minutemen gave up 623 yards of offense last week in losing to the Panthers for the first time in the last 12 meetings.
“We want to come out and play physical,” noted Ekovich. “We want to establish our running game and play solid defense. We have to limit their big plays, limit Cedric Mitchell and take advantage of turnovers.”
Concord features standout receiver/defensive back/kick returner Cedric Mitchell. The senior speedster, who has committed to Bowling Green, has eight touchdowns on the season. He had five catches for 177 yards and four scores in the loss at NorthWood last Friday night.
“Our focus has been on each week and our kids have embraced going 1-0 each week,” said Ekovich. “This game would be a huge one for us to win from a confidence and momentum standpoint.”
Concord dropped out of the top 10 after their loss to NorthWood (now ranked No. 3 in Class 4-A), but is still receiving votes in this week’s Class 5-A AP poll. The Warriors are receiving votes in the Class 4-A poll this week.
Concord, which will honor its 2006 state runner-up team on Friday night, beat the Warriors 27-7 a year ago.
Rochester (0-3, 0-1) at Whitko (3-0, 1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Two teams heading in opposite directions.
A surging Whitko squad will meet a struggling Rochester team in TRC action. The Wildcats remained undefeated with a 36-7 win at Maconaquah last Friday. The Zebras fell to 0-3 with a 43-0 loss to Peru. Rochester has now been outscored 153-6 in its first three games.
“Rochester is always ready to play and we can’t overlook them,” said first-year Whitko coach Jeff Sprunger. “I have a lot of respect for Joe (first year Rochester coach Joe Grant).”
“The thing is that we need to stay focused and put together a full game. We need to go out and dominate for an entire game. That’s what we are looking for.”
Whitko, which checks in at No. 12 in this week’s Class 2-A AP poll and is 3-0 for the first time since 1990, had great special teams play in its win last week. The Wildcats also continue to get big play from tailback Garrett Elder. The senior star, who played quarterback a year ago, has seven touchdowns and is averaging 11 yards per carry on the ground.
“I’m a big believer in special teams and we had a big effort there last week,” noted Sprunger. “We came out on fire right away.”
Rochester, which finished 3-7 in 2015, did beat Whitko 32-18 a year ago. The Zebras have won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams.
Tippecanoe Valley (0-3, 0-1) at Northfield (2-1, 1-0), 7 p.m.
Pride.
That’s what it’s about now as the Vikings try and move forward.
“We want to see effort, enthusiasm and pride,” said interim co-coach Jeff Shriver. “Times are tough right now, but it’s about how you handle adversity. We want to be competitive. We’ve got a plan as we move forward.”
Valley dropped a 55-13 final to North Miami, while Northfield topped Southwood 26-7 in league play a week ago.
“Northfield is a good team that has had success the past few years,” Shriver noted. “We look forward to playing them.
“The thing for us is to focus on getting better. We will find out a lot about the character and commitment that we have. Our kids are resilient and I think that our coaches have responded well this week.”
Northfield beat Valley 59-7 last year, but later had to forfeit the win.
Triton (0-3) at Bremen (3-0), 7 p.m.
The Trojans continue their brutal early-season schedule with a trip north up 331 to face former league rival Bremen.
Triton, sporting a young team, has played three teams who are a combined 8-1 on the season. The Lions, now members of the Northern Indiana Conference, are 3-0 thanks to a forfeit win over Plymouth (in a game Plymouth won 30-3 on the field).
“The Sagarin ratings has us with the second toughest schedule in the state so far,” noted Triton coach Ron Brown. “We’ve stressed to our kids that we are playing great competition and that is good for us.
“The thing is that we are playing a lot of sophomores and are still building and trying to be patient and develop kids. Eventually, we will have the experienced players that we need and good things will happen.”
Brown, whose team has lost to Class 1-A No. 3 Pioneer and No. 10 LaVille, sees progress within his young team.
“We’ve already passed for more yards this year than we did all of last season and Pioneer had to use long drives last week to score on us,” said Brown. “Those are steps in the right direction.
“Our mood is that we are going out prepared to win this week just like the last two weeks. We know that Bremen is a very fundamentally sound team that does not make many mistakes.”
Triton lost 50-7 to powerhouse Pioneer and Bremen defeated John Glenn 35-7 last week.
Bremen, which is ranked No. 8 in Class 2-A, beat the Trojans 42-6 in 2015.