WARSAW AT PLYMOUTH

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Plymouth

Coaches: Phil Jensen (Warsaw), Tom Condon (Plymouth)

Records: Warsaw 2-0, 0-0 NLC; Plymouth 2-0, 0-0 NLC

Last game: Warsaw 31, Tippecanoe Valley 17; Plymouth 42, LaVille 0

Last year: Warsaw 31, Plymouth 14

Stats and notes: Plymouth has allowed zero points this year ... The Rockies beat Bremen 34-0 then beat LaVille 42-0 ... The Rockies have allowed only six first downs in two games. Bremen had one, then LaVille had five ... QB Nick Chaney leads the Rockies with 138 yards rushing, while TB Ed Rodriguez has 135 ... Chaney is 9 of 25 with 268 passing yards this season ... Plymouth LB Matt Arveson has two sacks and an interception.

Jensen: "Plymouth is a great barometer and a great measuring stick for us. Being the first year that we've gone to the two-platoon system, we don't have the consistency yet. We're very pleased with the penalty situation (four penalties on the year), and we've got to continue along those lines ... From top to bottom the NLC is the strongest it's been in a long time. NorthWood and Goshen are in a league of their own. Plymouth and Concord have gotten off to good starts. Wawasee beat up on Whitko, and Northridge is making some great strides."

Condon: "As far as the running game, (Jose) Esquivel is their guy. But you can't stack the line of scrimmage, because then Warsaw stretches you down the field. They have (Jon) Hill at wide receiver, and he's an NLC track champion. You have to be sound on defense, because Warsaw can run and pass. I'm very impressed with Warsaw's offense and defense. They have players with good speed on defense who always seem to be around the football ... We're at the point now where we don't know how good we are, until after this game. Bremen graduated a lot of kids. This is our first test, because Warsaw will be by far the best team we have faced. It's a big game. They beat us last year, and that's kind of disappointing. We didn't play very well at all. If we play the same way, we will get beat again. Warsaw just dominated the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively a year ago."

MANCHESTER AT VALLEY

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

Coaches: Al Bailey (Manchester), Scott Bibler (Valley)

Records: Manchester 1-1, 0-0 NLC; Valley 1-1, 0-0 NLC

Last game: Heritage 21, Manchester 0; Warsaw 31, Valley 17

Last year: Valley 27, Manchester 21

Stats and notes: Manchester RB David Barrett has rushed for 334 yards on 49 carries, an average of 167 per game ... Manchester QB Rex Reimer has completed just 4 of 18 passes for 69 yards ... Manchester defensive back Annon Gaerte has two interceptions ... Valley HB Eric Prater is good for a first down every time he touches the ball. He is averaging 10.6 yards per carry ... He has rushed for 186 yards on 17 carries ... Valley QB Brandon Eaton has completed 17 of 30 passes (57 percent) for 201 yards ... Prater, Valley's top rusher, is also Valley's top receiver with 64 yards on six catches.

Bailey: "Valley's defense is big, strong and aggressive. Their offensive line is probably bigger than ours. This is the best Valley team in a long time. Last year, we had only one game before the conference started. We've had the opportunity to play two games now, and we're further along than last year and in better shape."

Bibler: "They have a lot of people coming back. They have nine offensive and eight defensive players which is the most of any team in the conference. They are showing signs of being more run-oriented this year, and they have an offensive line that is big and strong. They're going to try to run the ball at you, but you've also got to keep an eye on Rex Reimer (at quarterback)."

NORTHRIDGE AT WAWASEE

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

Coaches: Frank Amato (Northridge), Joe Rietveld (Wawasee)

Records: Northridge 1-1, 0-0 NLC; Wawasee 1-1, 0-0 NLC

Last game: Chesterton 7, Northridge 0; Carroll 39, Wawasee 14

Last year: Wawasee 14, Northridge 7

Stats and notes: Two weeks ago Wawasee rushed for 448 yards on 36 carries in a 50-26 win against Whitko. Last week Wawasee rushed for 88 yards on 35 carries in a 39-14 loss to Carroll ... The Warrior defense has allowed two 300-yard games. Whitko tallied 389 yards of offense, while Carroll had 312.

Rietveld: "I never saw Northridge last year, but I'm sure they are improving, because Amato is one of the best coaches in the area. Anytime you have a team that runs the option offense, that's an equalizer in itself. Bobby Raatz, a tight end and linebacker for them, is a good player. So is their quarterback, Jody Weldy. Northridge will give the football to the fullback until you stop him ... Carroll is a good team, and we played horribly. That's a bad, bad combination to have. There wasn't any phase where we played well. We didn't tackle well; we didn't rush well. Carroll is a good team, but we made a lot of mental mistakes, let alone spotted them 16 points."

SOUTHWOOD AT WHITKO

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Friday at South Whitley

Coaches: Dave Wilhelm (Southwood), Bryan Sprunger (Whitko)

Records: Southwood 1-1, 0-0 TRC; Whitko 1-1, 0-0 TRC

Last game: Southwood 40, Wabash 0; Whitko 20, Columbia City 17

Last year: Southwood 27, Whitko 13

Stats and notes: Southwood has experience in key positions as running back D.J. Marshall rushed for over 1,000 yards last year while quarterback Paul Wright started much of the season ... Marshall rushed for 105 yards last week vs. Wabash ... Wright led the team in rushing in week one with 75 yards and had a great game against Wabash as he went 7-of-10 passing for 202 yards.

Wilhelm: "We didn't play well against Eastbrook (in week one). We went back to the basics in practice and played better against Wabash. But I'm not sure that Wabash is the same caliber of team as Eastbrook ... Whitko is similar to us in that Wawasee ran the ball all over them (in week one). Then, they played very well against Columbia City. Their offense is going real well and their defense is always tough. Whatever teams win that first game have a head start on the conference."

Sprunger: "The kids did a good job Friday. They could have easily folded but they didn't ... Southwood has a fine football team. Anytime you score 40 points, you've got to be doing something right. We're looking to improve ourselves. We can't control how well Southwood plays."

CONCORD AT NORTHWOOD

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Nappanee

Coaches: Tim Dawson (Concord), Rich Dodson (NorthWood)

Records: Concord 2-0, 0-0 NLC; NorthWood 1-1, 0-0 NLC

Last game: Concord 40, Elkhart Memorial 7; NorthWood 39, Bremen 6

Last year: NorthWood 41, Concord 20

Stats and notes: Concord won just two games last year and has already matched that total ... The Minutemen turned around a 34-0 loss to Elkhart Memorial one year ago into a 33-point win this year ... NorthWood has scored nine touchdowns - all on the ground - this year. Quarterback Charlie Roeder has five rushing touchdowns, while tailback Aaron Huber has three rushing touchdowns ... Concord's Ricky McKenzie has carried the ball 40 times for 244 yards this year ... Concord is 9-of-16 passing for 56 percent.

Dawson: "We've played two good games so far. We haven't had a lot of turnovers and our special teams are playing well. One of the things I've been pleased with is that most of our kids are battle-tested from last year. Our seniors have provided good leadership ... It's going to take a superb effort Friday night. Roeder makes them go, and they've got big targets in Greenlee and Abel at wide receiver. The most important thing is to keep the ball offensively. If we're 3-and-out it's going to be a long night."

Dodson: "Concord's gotten off to as good as a start as you can get. They've got some good skill players, but you have to stop their fullback (Josh Staley). If he gets off to a good start, it can be a long night ... Jimtown was a tough football game. You don't know how a team's going to respond but I think we did in a positive way."

CULVER AT TRITON

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

Coaches: Neil Wagner (Culver), Rod Wildman (Triton)

Records: Culver 0-2, 0-0 NSC; Triton 1-1, 0-0 NSC

Last game: South Central (LaPorte) 14, Culver 13; Triton 8, Northfield 6

Last year: Triton 35, Culver 14

Stats and notes: Culver running back Jeremy Stotler has rushed for 70 and 74 yards in the Cavaliers first two games ... Culver fell behind 14-0 at the half last week before regrouping to make a game of it ... The Cavaliers missed a two-point conversion to take the lead early in the fourth quarter ... Northfield had just 109 yards passing and 44 yards rushing against Triton and 71 of those passing yards came on the second play of the game.

Wagner: "We're about where we expected to be and I saw improvement from week one. That's important to us because our goal is to play well in the conference and I think it sets up well for us. It will be a tough game Friday night because I think Triton is pretty good."

Wildman: "The key is getting off to a good start and keeping turnovers down. We had a great defensive effort last week. We're just having a hard time putting a drive together. We went into (the first game) thinking that we're a little bit better than we were ... Culver is young and they really play hard. They have a really good running back in Jeremy Stotler." [[In-content Ad]]