Scrimmages Set For Friday Night
High school football fans will get their first chance to see their teams in action this Friday night.
Area teams are scheduled to take part in scrimmages in preparation for the regular-season openers Aug. 23.
The local slate of scrimmages set for Friday night has Warsaw at Tippecanoe Valley, Mishawaka Marian at Wawasee, Triton at Manchester and Garrett at Whitko. The Triton at Manchester scrimmage is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the other three starting at 7 p.m.
Warsaw, now in Class 6-A, went 6-4 a year ago. The Tigers are led by senior tailback Tristan McClone, who set the school single game and single-season rushing records during his outstanding junior year.
Valley, fresh off an 8-3 campaign and a share of its second straight Three Rivers Conference title, is loaded at the skill positions. The Vikings boast star wideout/defensive back Tanner Andrews, who is receiving plenty of Division I interest from colleges. Valley also has standout senior quarterback Ben Shriver back, as well as versatile Nolan Sponseller.
Wawasee finished strong last fall with wins in five of its final six games to post a 7-5 mark. Former offensive line coach Josh Ekovich is now the Warriors’ head coach after Tom Wogoman left to take over at Northridge. Marian went 10-4 last season, losing in a Class 3-A semi state game.
Triton turns the reigns over to John Johns as their new coach. The Trojans finished 1-9 a year ago. Manchester, a member of the TRC, went 4-6 in 2012 and also has a new coach in Greg Miller.
Whitko graduate and longtime assistant coach Josh Mohr is now in charge of things in South Whitley. The Wildcats, who went 4-7 last fall, return their outstanding backfield tandem of Tanner Hughes and Devin Gerding to lead the way. Garrett, which lost 21-16 to Whitko in a first-round sectional game last year, finished 7-3 in 2012.
The week one schedule for Aug. 23 has Columbia City at Warsaw, Whitko at Wawasee, Caston at Triton and Tippecanoe Valley at Culver Academies.