Pigskin Preview: Week 11
Just win.
That has to be the rallying cry for the quartet of local prep football teams suiting up for sectional games Friday night.
Warsaw, after a week off, returns to action by hosting No. 15 Carroll in a Class 6-A sectional semifinal contest at Fisher Field. The Tigers, who lost their last two games of the regular season to NorthWood and Concord, dropped a 49-21 final to the Chargers in the first round in 2015.
Warsaw will meet a familiar foe in the postseason. The Tigers have drawn Carroll the last three years and are 1-5 all-time versus the Chargers, with all six of the meetings in the playoffs.
The trio of Whitko, Triton and NorthWood all look to build off first-round wins last week.
The Wildcats welcome Churubusco to South Whitley for a Class 2-A semifinal contest. Whitko topped the Eagles 24-27 in the sectional semifinals a year ago.
Triton, which has won its last two games, hosts Southwood. The Trojans lost a 53-20 final to the Knights in a first-round matchup last season.
Undefeated NorthWood plays at home for the second straight week in the Class 4-A sectional versus Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge. The prolific Panthers, who are ranked No. 2, beat the Raiders 14-0 on Sept. 23. NorthWood, which has defeated Northridge in 33 of their last 37 meetings, is one of 15 undefeated teams in the state.
Following is a look at local games.
Class 6-A Sectional 3
Carroll (6-3) at Warsaw (5-4), 7 p.m.
Phil Jensen believes that the week off was a good thing for his team.
Now it’s up to them to respond.
“From a physical standpoint, the week off was really good,” said the Warsaw coach. “The key is how we handle it mentally. We came back and practiced good on Monday and Tuesday this week.
“The thing is how bad do our kids want to play another week. I expect us to come out and play well because I know that it matters to them. The thing is that if we play like we are capable we can win this game.”
The big question for the Tigers was the status of quarterback Michael Jensen. The senior, who has thrown for 1,695 yards and a single-season record 21 touchdowns this fall, injured his left (non-throwing) elbow in the final minute of the 45-38 loss at home to Concord on Oct. 14. Jensen holds school career records for completions (291), yards (3,869) and touchdowns (38).
“Michael will play Friday night,” said coach Jensen, who is also Michael’s father. “He’s practiced and he will play.”
D’Andre Street leads the Tigers with 36 receptions, including a dozen for touchdowns. Will McGarvey has rushed for 990 yards.
The Chargers, who dropped two of their final three games to end the regular season before also having last week off like all Class 6-A teams, are not the juggernaut from year’s past. Carroll is averaging 33 points-per-game, while giving up 25. The Chargers use a two-quarterback system with senior Ian Miller and junior Jack Miguel. Nic Novotny is Carroll’s top rusher with 776 yards, while Justin Becker has 56 receptions and Jordan Schmeling 49.
“They are a really good team,” said Jensen. “They run it well, they are well coached and they play in a tough conference (the Summit). We will have our hands full.”
“The thing is that we have to stop the run and we can’t turn the ball over. We did a lot wrong in our last two games and we can not have those kind of mistakes Friday night.”
Warsaw committed a total of seven turnovers in losing NLC games to undefeated NorthWood and Concord to close out the regular season. The Tigers allowed a total of 106 points in the pair of losses.
Lane McClone, who was Warsaw’s top tackler through the first eight games of the season, will miss his second straight game for the Tigers due to a shoulder injury. Warsaw will get back defensive standout AJ Villarreal, who missed the Concord game due to a rib injury.
The Warsaw-Carroll winner advances to play either No. 11 Homestead (7-2) or Fort Wayne Northrop (2-7) next week.
Class 2-A Sectional 35
Churubusco (8-2) at Whitko (7-3), 7 p.m.
Jeff Sprunger feels that the past and the future will both have an impact on the present come Friday night.
His Whitko team hosts a Churubusco team that the Wildcats beat 34-27 in the sectional semifinal a year ago. The two teams are also slated to meet in the season opener next year.
“I think that Churubusco will come in here hungry Friday night,” said the first-year coach of the Wildcats. “I think that last year’s playoff loss does affect this year big time. Nothing would be sweeter for them than to win a revenge game.
“There’s a lot riding on this game. I think that will come out with a lot of intensity and we have to make sure that we match that. The key for us is that we need to play clean football.”
The Eagles beat No. 10 Eastside 21-16 in a first-round game last week after losing to them 28-6 back on Sept. 9. Churubusco started the year 2-2, but has won six in a row, mainly versus a weak Northeast Corner Conference schedule. The six wins are over teams with a combined record of 15-44 by a combined score of 280-59.
Whitko tailed 18-14 at halftime at Central Noble last week before coming up with the win. The Wildcarts rushed for 335 yards, led by 124 from Hunter Reed and 118 from Garrett Elder.
“The No. 1 battle this week will be at the line of scrimmage,” Sprunger said. “That will be a big challenge for us to control the line. I think that we will have an advantage if we are able to allow our skill players to get out and run.”
The game should be a fast one as both teams love to run the football. Whitko has rushed for 3,258 yards and 44 touchdowns, while the Eagles have totaled 3,767 yards and 41 scores on the ground. Elder has 1,644 yards and Reed 1,132 for the Wildcats.
The winner of the Whitko-Churubusco game will play either No. 1 Woodlan (10-0) or South Adams (6-4) next week.
Class 1-A Sectional 43
Southwood (7-3) at Triton (2-8), 7 p.m.
The Trojans took a big step forward last week.
Can they take an even bigger one this week?
Triton rolled up over 400 yards of offense in routing Caston 50-0 last week. The Trojans had lost a 6-0 final at Caston in the season opener. Triton has now scored 124 points in its last three games after scoring a total of just 70 in the first seven games of the season.
“It was a nice step forward for our program last week,” said second-year Triton coach Ron Brown. “It was good to see. It shows our kids that the things we are doing will pay off.
“The big thing that last few weeks is that our running backs are doing a great job of blocking and Bo (quarterback Bo Snyder) has had more time to throw and he has done a nice job making adjustments. Billy Smith has also done a great job for us at tackle the last two weeks.”
Quarterback Bo Snyder accounted for four touchdowns last week and Rigo Butler, a transfer from Tippecanoe Valley who became eligible three weeks ago, rushed for 125 yards and two scores.
“Our kids have confidence right now and momentum,” Brown said. “They are more attentive in practice as far as the details and that’s a big thing.
“Southwood is a dangerous team. They do a lot of passing and they want to score points. I think the game comes down to who can get some turnovers will be in a position to win it.”
The Triton-Southwood winner advances to play either No. 11 LaVille (9-1) or Culver (6-4) next week.
Class 4-A Sectional 19
Northridge (3-7) at NorthWood (10-0), 7 p.m.
The Panthers had a close call, by their standards, when these teams met back in week six.
NorthWood, which has an average winning margin of 28 points-per-game, beat the Raiders 14-0. That was the closest game and its lowest scoring total this season for coach Nate Andrews dynamic team. The Panthers, who had over 600 yards on offense in a 52-13 rout of Columbia City last week, are averaging 46 points-per-game and have scored 50 points or more in six games this season.
NorthWood got a pair of touchdown passes from star senior quarterback Trey Bilinski, who has 31 on the season, in the first meeting with the Raiders. Northridge held the Panthers to just 256 yards of offense by switching up their defense for the contest. Bilinski was just 7-19 passing for 86 yards in the game.
Northridge edged past NLC foe Wawasee 21-20 last week in Middlebury, avenging a 21-20 loss in double overtime to the Warriors from the regular season. Sophomore quarterback Julius Graber threw a pair of touchdown passes as the Raiders rallied from a 14-0 deficit. Northridge stopped a Wawasee running play on a two-point conversion attempt with 5:22 to play to hang on for the victory.
The NorthWood-Northridge winner will play either No. 13 East Noble (7-2) or Plymouth (5-5) next week.