KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Fisher Field

COACHES: Tim Dawson (Concord); Phil Jensen (Warsaw)

RECORDS: Concord 4-3, 3-2 NLC; Warsaw 2-5, 2-3 NLC

LAST GAME: Concord 35, Northridge 13; NorthWood 41, Warsaw 0

MATCHUP:... Concord's key player offensively is quarterback Brian Conn. He has completed 60-of-132 passes and thrown for 866 yards. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes. Concord relies more on the pass than the run as the Minutemen have 950 yards passing this season and 685 yards rushing. Concord's leading rusher is Wes Sponseller, who has 302 yards on 80 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per carry. Warsaw starting halfback Jose Esquivel returns after serving a one-game suspension.

GAME TALK:

Dawson... "I think Warsaw has improved the last couple of weeks, although it didn't show in the score against NorthWood. Jose Esquivel has speed, and he and P.J. Wiley give them two fine players. The game between Warsaw and Concord has always been close in the past, and I don't expect any different this time. We've not played well on the road. Coming to Warsaw, it's a place we need to show up ready to play. Before last week, I know Warsaw's defense has really gotten after it in recent games. Turnovers have hurt Warsaw, and I think they've shot themselves in the foot with them at times. As the year goes on, Warsaw is seeming to get better. Goshen only beat them 9-0 on a cold and rainy Friday, and the weather conditions are expected to be like that this Friday. Up front, Warsaw is bigger than us."

Jensen... "Conn is a physical kid, he has a strong arm and can throw the ball anywhere. He has some talented receivers and a nice offensive line that gives him time to throw the ball. They do seem to rely on the pass. None of the other teams we have played are billed by the pass. Concord will come in here with the idea that they are going to throw the football. Concord is one of the those midlevel to upper level teams, and we are not on that level yet. ... We have got to take care of the football. We moved the ball against NorthWood, but everytime we did, we fumbled it or did something stupid. You can't do that in this conference; we really want to get back on track. We took a big blow Friday at NorthWood, we need to regroup from that and be ready to play. This is a big, important step for us to go into the playoffs on a positive note."

WHITKO AT VALLEY

KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Mentone

COACHES: Bryan Sprunger (Whitko); Scott Bibler (Valley)

RECORDS: Whitko 5-2, 4-2 TRC; Valley 5-2, 4-2 TRC

LAST GAME: Whitko 18, Rochester 17; Valley 40, North Miami 12

MATCHUP:...On Sept. 21, these two teams were each at a crossroad in their seasons. Whitko hosted and lost to Oak Hill 47-26 that night; Valley hosted and lost to Northfield 17-14 that night. Both were 1-2 in the TRC at the time. Instead of letting their seasons crumble away into mediocrity, both teams showed their resiliency. Both have gone 3-0 the last three weeks, and now second place in the TRC is on the line in this game. Why the turnaround? One reason is turnovers. These teams handle the football. Whitko has two fumbles the last three games, while Valley has lost only one fumble to the other team in the last three games. Quarterback Jimmy Linn keys the Whitko offense - he leads the team with 473 yards rushing on 93 carries, an average of 5.1 yards a carry. Nick Stutzman leads the Viking running attack with 379 yards on 95 carries, an average of 4 yards a carry. Viking quarterback Eric Backus has completed 48-of-90 passes for 649 yards.

GAME TALK:

Sprunger... "This is a big game for both teams. Anytime you play Valley, you can throw out the records. Same thing this year. Valley capitalizes on the other teams' mistakes. You turn the ball over, and they take advantage. They have some very fine football players, Nick Stutzman at tailback and Darren Parker at flanker, among others. They're solid defensively, as good as any team we have played. I think 20 is the most anyone has scored on them in any game. That's pretty good. Taking care of the football has been a big key for us. We have a +13 turnover ratio in seven games. We would like that to continue."

Bibler... "They have really improved since the first time we watched them on tape against Southwood. Their juniors have seven weeks of experience under their belts now. They wanted to get better week after week, and they've done that. This is always a good game. One area we're talking about is Whitko's misdirection plays. We've had success against them in the past. Our backs - Scott Sponseller, Nick Stutzman, Darren Parker and Terry Engstrand - have stepped it up. Our offensive line and passing game have improved a lot. Parker has turned into a go-to guy, and Backus, given time, is an accurate thrower. Hopefully, our offense is becoming more diverse - that's a tribute to the offensive line. In a game like this, both battling for second place in the conference, you want to be the team with fewer mistakes. That's one thing for us - our backs have done a nice job this year holding onto the ball."

GOSHEN AT WAWASEE

KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Syracuse

COACHES: Brad Park (Goshen); Gene Mitz (Wawasee)

RECORDS: Goshen 4-3, 3-2; Wawasee 3-4, 2-3

LAST GAME: Goshen 21, Plymouth 18; Lakeland 54, Wawasee 14

MATCHUP:...Goshen has won three games in a row for the first time since 1993. While many termed Goshen's win over Plymouth last week an upset, one who did not was Goshen coach Brad Park. His team has delivered defensively all year, and it shut down Plymouth's running game. That, with the help of two punt returns for touchdowns, is why Goshen beat Plymouth. Shawn Johnson leads Wawasee with 451 rushing yards on 143 carries, an average of 3.2 yards a carry.

GAME TALK:

Park... "I think there are two people we have to stop. One, Shawn Johnson. He's a quality athlete, and he ran over us for 260 yards last year. Two, Ryan Mikel. (Jeff) Beer just lays it out there, and Mikel runs under it and catches it. That's a nice combination to have ... Last week was a good victory for us. We felt we would beat them no matter what, so it really wasn't an upset to us. It's a win we needed to build the rest of the season on. We have been solid defensively, except we had been giving up big plays here and there. We did that against St. Joe and NorthWood. We didn't do it against Plymouth. We held a Plymouth team that had been averaging 260 yards rushing to 60 yards rushing."

Mitz.... "I think they have a fine quarterback (Kyle Park) and a good offensive line.They have good team speed. We saw their game against NorthWood, and we thought they basically outplayed NorthWood that game. I think they had a few injuries for a time there, and health was a factor the ball. They haven't done it a lot, but when they have, it's been effective ... We try to take it one week at a time. The last two weeks we had our biggest games of the season, and we won both. We were able to win our conference championship for the fourth straight year."

NO. 1 (2A) JIMTOWN AT TRITON

KICKOFF:7:30 p.m. Friday at Bourbon

COACHES:Bill Sharpe (Jimtown); Brad Shields (Triton)

RECORDS:Jimtown 7-0, 6-0; Triton 2-5, 2-4

LAST GAME:Jimtown 35, Bremen 7; Knox 27, Triton 20

MATCHUP:...No game will get any tougher than the one this Friday for Triton. Jimtown is No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and No. 1 in the coaches poll. Just looking at statistics, you wonder how Triton lost to Knox last week. Triton had 24 first downs; Knox had six. Triton had 345 yards rushing; Knox had 246. Triton had 426 total yards; Knox had 268 total yards. Why did Triton lose? Knox made the big plays. Triton didn't. The Trojans couldn't stop Knox running back Josh McLaughlin, who scored four touchdowns, three on runs of 20 yards or more. Triton marched the ball up and down the field, but the Trojans couldn't convert in the red zone. Derek Ganshorn will miss this game with a shoulder injury, so Scott Blackford will be the quarterback for the Trojans.

GAME TALK:

Sharpe... "Scott Blackford is a good football player on both sides of the ball. I think Triton has three good backs - David Sauer, Blackford and the fullback, Shain Ross. Their left tackle is a good player. Brad has done a great job there ... We've played pretty well the last couple of weeks, especially after the Concord game. Everything came together for the Bremen game."

Shields.. "If they do have (weaknesses), they hide them well. They are a big, solid team that likes to run. They don't care much to pass the football. We gave up some big plays to Knox, and when we misfired, it was at the absolute worst time. We played hard, but we didn't make the plays when we needed to. Against Jimtown, we need to do what we do best, and that's run the ball. We have to try to contain them. We have yet to play to the best of our ability all season. That's what we're looking for this Friday."

MANCHESTER AT NORTHFIELD

KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wabash

COACHES: Al Bailey (Manchester); Steve Boozier (Northfield)

RECORDS: Manchester 1-6, 1-5 TRC; Northfield 2-5, 1-5 TRC

LAST GAME: Oak Hill 31, Manchester 6; Southwood 28, Northfield 0

MATCHUP:...The Squires play Woodlan, a top 10 team, in the first round of the sectional. They need a win to close out the regular season, and it would not be out of the question this game. Northfield scores an average of just 8.6 points per game. The Squires have big play potential offensively with quarterback Brandon Reimer throwing deep to the likes of Rex Reimer or Andy Trickle. If Manchester doesn't turn the ball over, the Squires should be in a good position to win the game. Two weeks ago, they had four fumbles against Southwood. Last week, they had three against Oak Hill. Last year, Northfield beat Manchester 12-7 with the help of a turnover. The Norsemen got the win when one defensive end tipped a Manchester pass into the hands of the other defensive end, who turned it into a touchdown. The key to beating Northfield is stopping running back Ryan Rosen. Rosen has carried the ball 114 times for 571 yards, an average of 5 yards a carry. He is Northfield's one superstar.

GAME TALK:

Bailey.. "We have to watch out for Ryan Rosen. He's their leading tackler, their leading rusher. They keep him free on defense, so he can make tackles anywhere. They hand him the ball on offense, and one time I saw him carry it seven times in a row. Their quarterback, Robbie Watson, can run the option. They've played some sound defense. They have a defensive scheme that confuses some people. They will put eight people on the line, and you're left to pick the four or five they will really send after you. I think all teams want to finish on an up note going into the sectional. It certainly helps when you win."

Boozier..."Their diversity on offense impresses me. They run the ball well, but they can go up top, because they have a great passer and great receivers. We need to shut down their big plays and put them in a situation where we will know if they will run or pass the ball. We think we match up well with them as far as players on the field, but we're a totally different style offensively. We started out 2-2, but we lost the last three in a row. Our offense needs to find itself. When we played Oak Hill, we shut down their passing offense, but the problem was our offense gave their defense four scores. We need our defense to step it up and play the way it has all year." [[In-content Ad]]