On The Gridiron
October 27, 2016 at 4:55 p.m.
By Staff Report-
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Warsaw
Coaches: Doug Dinan (Carroll), Phil Jensen (Warsaw)
Records: Carroll 6-3, Warsaw 5-4
Last Game: Carroll 23, Wayne 6; Concord 45, Warsaw 38
Last Meeting: Carroll 49, Warsaw 21 (2015 sectional semifinal)
Matchup: Though Carroll and Warsaw are meeting for just the sixth time in history, the Chargers and Tigers are hardly strangers, especially when it comes to the playoffs. The two teams have met four times in sectional play, with Carroll ending Warsaw's season the past three years as well as in 2011. Warsaw enters Friday's postseason clash on a two-game losing streak, having lost to conference foes NorthWood and Concord in the final two weeks of the regular season. Carroll lost to league opponents Homestead and Concordia in Weeks 7 & 8 before beating Wayne in the regular season finale. All 6A teams in the state were off last Friday, and the bye week was huge for Warsaw in getting players healthy. Coach Phil Jensen said senior quarterback Michael Jensen and defensive lineman AJ Villarreal will both play against Carroll. Michael Jensen, who injured his non-throwing elbow against Concord, has completed 112 of 207 pass attempts this season for 1,695 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Seniors Jeremy David (32 rec, 538 yds, 3 TDs), D'Andre Street (36 rec, 486 yds, 12 TDs) and Devin Street (15 rec, 289 yds, 3 TDs) have been his favorite targets. Junior Will McGarvey leads Warsaw's ground game with 990 yards and five scores on 153 carries. David and classmate Mason Faas lead all Tiger tacklers with 52 and 50, respectively, while junior Lane McClone has made 43.5 tackles and Villarreal is at 28.5. Carroll has played two quarterbacks in all nine games this season. Senior Ian Miller has completed 97 of 149 pass attempts for 1,023 yards with six TDs and three picks, while junior Jack Miguel has completed 50 of 90 for 806 yards with eight scores and three INTs. Senior Nic Novotny has rushed for 776 yards and 11 TDs on 198 carries, while junior Justin Becker leads all Carroll receivers with 56 catches for 827 yards and seven scores. Senior Jordan Schmeling has caught 49 passes for 489 yards and four TDs. The winner of Friday's game will play either Homestead (7-2) or Fort Wayne Northrop (2-7) in next week's sectional championship game.
Jensen: "The big question is how did we handle the bye week. For kids like Michael and AJ, it was good, and they're healthy and are gonna play. But the question is, how did we handle the different schedule and the week off? We won't really know until Friday night how they truly handled it. Are we gonna look like we had a week off, or are we gonna come out refreshed and ready to go? I don't know how we're gonna react until kickoff Friday. Carroll is a good football team, and they're very well-caoched. Last year, their quarterback went to Northwestern, and they had other kids who went to St. Francis and Marian University. They're still a good football team and very well-coached, but they don't have the standout guys they've had in the past, and that could make them more dangerous. They're balanced running and throwing the ball, and they're aggressive on defense. We can't help the other team. The last two games of the season, other than special teams, we helped the other team with things like penalties and turnovers … we can't do that."
MANCHESTER AT BREMEN (2A SECT. 34)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bremen
Coaches: Greg Miller (Manchester); Jordan Leeper (Bremen)
Records: Manchester 2-8; Bremen 7-3
Last Week: Manchester 28, Delphi 19; Bremen 35, Wabash 14
Last Game: Bremen 49, Manchester 21 (2013 sectional)
Matchup: The eighth-ranked Lions advanced with a win over Wabash, a team that's beaten Manchester twice this season. Bremen senior Matt Box averages about 120 yards passing per game and has thrown 15 touchdown passes against five interceptions. Senior running back Grant Klockow cleared 1,000 yards rushing for the season in the win over the Apaches, and figures to pound the ball in the middle if the conditions are less than ideal. Manchester is coming off its most impressive game of the season, taking a two-touchdown lead before the Oracles came back and the Squires put them away in the fourth quarter. Squire junior quarterback Hayes Sturtsman had a pair of touchdown passes last week, but threw for just 96 yards. He rushed for 53 more and classmate Josh Shepherd had 108 of Manchester's 185 yards on the ground against Delphi.
Miller: "I told our team after Friday's game, 'half the teams in the state are putting their equipment away this week, and some of those teams were undefeated.' It goes to show hard work pays off, and we get another week because of it. In the first half we played extremely well defensively, and our offense capitalized on some big plays. Delphi made some halftime adjustments, and closed within one in the third quarter. But our kids battled back and showed some resiliency; they were willing to fight on when Delphi had the momentum. They turned the tide back and we got the win. It was great to get a win in a game where not many people gave us a shot. (Bremen) plays really good schedule. Their record can be deceiving because of all the bigger schools that they play. They've been there and they've been successful all year. That said, I think they do a lot of things that will help us out, especially offensively. We as coaches have spent a lot of time watching film, and hopefully developing a game plan that will help our kids be successful. I'm feeling very confident in our defense, that we'll step up and follow that game plan to the best of our ability."
CHURUBUSCO AT WHITKO (2A SECT. 35)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in South Whitley
Coaches: Paul Sade (Churubusco), Jeff Sprunger (Whitko)
Records: Churubusco 8-2, Whitko 7-3
Last Game: Churubusco 21, Eastside 16; Whitko 28, Central Noble 24
Last Meeting: Whitko 34, Churubusco 27 (2015 sectional semifinal)
Matchup: Friday's game at Ryan Huff Memorial Stadium in South Whitley could be a quickly-played contest as both the Whitko Wildcats and Churubusco Eagles run the ball, and then run the ball some more. Through 10 games this season, Whitko has rushed for 3,258 yards and 44 touchdowns on 446 carries. Garrett Elder leads the Wildcats with 1,644 yards and 25 TDs on 146 carries, while Hunter Reed has 1,132 yards and 13 scores on 195 carries. The Wildcats have attempts just 50 passes all season, and Colin Craig has completed 21 of them for 360 yards with three TDs and one interception. Churubusco has rushed for 2,767 yards and 41 TDs on 430 carries. Junior Garrett Horn leads the Eagles with 1,283 yards and 16 TDs on 203 carries, while senior Tom Richards has tallied 671 yards and nine scores on 70 carries. Sophomore Tom Richards has completed 32 of 64 passes for 479 yards with three TDs and three INTs. Whitko and Churubusco met in the sectional semifinals last year as well, with the Wildcats winning 34-27. The winner of Friday's game will play the winner of No. 1 Woodlan (10-0) and South Adams (6-4).
Sprunger: "As we prepare for Churubusco, we see a team that is extremely physical and that will really challenge our linemen. They have a lot of big players up front that can dominate the game. They have skilled athletes that take advantage of blocks they get from their linemen and run the ball really well in open spaces. We, as a team, have to try and control the line of scrimmage whether it is on defense or offense. We then need to stop the mistakes that hurt big, like holding calls and other silly mistakes that put us in long down situations. If we come out and play a clean and physical game, I believe we can win."
SOUTHWOOD AT TRITON (1A SECT. 43)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon
Coaches: Dave Snyder (Southwood); Ron Brown (Triton)
Records: Southwood 7-3; Triton 2-8
Last Week: Southwood 28, Northfield 14; Triton 50, Caston 0
Last Meeting: Southwood 53, Triton 20 (2015 sectional)
Matchup: Southwood enters the game ranked eighth in 1A, and ended Triton's 2015 season. The Knights' run/pass ratio is about 50/50, but two-thirds of their total offense comes through the air. Junior quarterback Carson Blair completes just over 60 percent of his attempts and has 34 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Max Cox has the lion's share of rushing yards for the Knights, and Peyton Trexler cleared 1,000 receiving yards, with 36 inches to spare, in the Northfield game last week. Seniors Blake Martz and Zach Ball have another 1,000 yards receiving between them. Triton has played its best football in the last two weeks, games that coincided with a break in the schedule, and played well in all three phases last week in avenging its season-opening loss to Caston Friday. Senior running back Rigo Butler became eligible three weeks ago after transferring into the Triton corporation, and has been a difference maker. He rushed for 125 yards and a pair of TDs in the Caston game. The Trojans will likely need to continue their upward trend to extend their season another week.
Brown: "They were very motivated to make up for that first loss of the year against Caston. But honestly, I had to remind the kids Southwood beat us to end our season a year ago. That was out of their minds, but I'd love to be able to avenge that loss. Obviously, every season the teams are a little different. I think the kids are just looking to continue to improve, and I know that sounds like the typical coach thing to say, but there's things that we did this week (in practice) that we've been struggling with all year that we're finally not struggling with. We're finally not having those hiccups anymore, and probably the reason for our late-season success is the teams we've played, I feel that we should be able to beat them. Now we're getting to the point where we can make a surge here."
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Warsaw
Coaches: Doug Dinan (Carroll), Phil Jensen (Warsaw)
Records: Carroll 6-3, Warsaw 5-4
Last Game: Carroll 23, Wayne 6; Concord 45, Warsaw 38
Last Meeting: Carroll 49, Warsaw 21 (2015 sectional semifinal)
Matchup: Though Carroll and Warsaw are meeting for just the sixth time in history, the Chargers and Tigers are hardly strangers, especially when it comes to the playoffs. The two teams have met four times in sectional play, with Carroll ending Warsaw's season the past three years as well as in 2011. Warsaw enters Friday's postseason clash on a two-game losing streak, having lost to conference foes NorthWood and Concord in the final two weeks of the regular season. Carroll lost to league opponents Homestead and Concordia in Weeks 7 & 8 before beating Wayne in the regular season finale. All 6A teams in the state were off last Friday, and the bye week was huge for Warsaw in getting players healthy. Coach Phil Jensen said senior quarterback Michael Jensen and defensive lineman AJ Villarreal will both play against Carroll. Michael Jensen, who injured his non-throwing elbow against Concord, has completed 112 of 207 pass attempts this season for 1,695 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Seniors Jeremy David (32 rec, 538 yds, 3 TDs), D'Andre Street (36 rec, 486 yds, 12 TDs) and Devin Street (15 rec, 289 yds, 3 TDs) have been his favorite targets. Junior Will McGarvey leads Warsaw's ground game with 990 yards and five scores on 153 carries. David and classmate Mason Faas lead all Tiger tacklers with 52 and 50, respectively, while junior Lane McClone has made 43.5 tackles and Villarreal is at 28.5. Carroll has played two quarterbacks in all nine games this season. Senior Ian Miller has completed 97 of 149 pass attempts for 1,023 yards with six TDs and three picks, while junior Jack Miguel has completed 50 of 90 for 806 yards with eight scores and three INTs. Senior Nic Novotny has rushed for 776 yards and 11 TDs on 198 carries, while junior Justin Becker leads all Carroll receivers with 56 catches for 827 yards and seven scores. Senior Jordan Schmeling has caught 49 passes for 489 yards and four TDs. The winner of Friday's game will play either Homestead (7-2) or Fort Wayne Northrop (2-7) in next week's sectional championship game.
Jensen: "The big question is how did we handle the bye week. For kids like Michael and AJ, it was good, and they're healthy and are gonna play. But the question is, how did we handle the different schedule and the week off? We won't really know until Friday night how they truly handled it. Are we gonna look like we had a week off, or are we gonna come out refreshed and ready to go? I don't know how we're gonna react until kickoff Friday. Carroll is a good football team, and they're very well-caoched. Last year, their quarterback went to Northwestern, and they had other kids who went to St. Francis and Marian University. They're still a good football team and very well-coached, but they don't have the standout guys they've had in the past, and that could make them more dangerous. They're balanced running and throwing the ball, and they're aggressive on defense. We can't help the other team. The last two games of the season, other than special teams, we helped the other team with things like penalties and turnovers … we can't do that."
MANCHESTER AT BREMEN (2A SECT. 34)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bremen
Coaches: Greg Miller (Manchester); Jordan Leeper (Bremen)
Records: Manchester 2-8; Bremen 7-3
Last Week: Manchester 28, Delphi 19; Bremen 35, Wabash 14
Last Game: Bremen 49, Manchester 21 (2013 sectional)
Matchup: The eighth-ranked Lions advanced with a win over Wabash, a team that's beaten Manchester twice this season. Bremen senior Matt Box averages about 120 yards passing per game and has thrown 15 touchdown passes against five interceptions. Senior running back Grant Klockow cleared 1,000 yards rushing for the season in the win over the Apaches, and figures to pound the ball in the middle if the conditions are less than ideal. Manchester is coming off its most impressive game of the season, taking a two-touchdown lead before the Oracles came back and the Squires put them away in the fourth quarter. Squire junior quarterback Hayes Sturtsman had a pair of touchdown passes last week, but threw for just 96 yards. He rushed for 53 more and classmate Josh Shepherd had 108 of Manchester's 185 yards on the ground against Delphi.
Miller: "I told our team after Friday's game, 'half the teams in the state are putting their equipment away this week, and some of those teams were undefeated.' It goes to show hard work pays off, and we get another week because of it. In the first half we played extremely well defensively, and our offense capitalized on some big plays. Delphi made some halftime adjustments, and closed within one in the third quarter. But our kids battled back and showed some resiliency; they were willing to fight on when Delphi had the momentum. They turned the tide back and we got the win. It was great to get a win in a game where not many people gave us a shot. (Bremen) plays really good schedule. Their record can be deceiving because of all the bigger schools that they play. They've been there and they've been successful all year. That said, I think they do a lot of things that will help us out, especially offensively. We as coaches have spent a lot of time watching film, and hopefully developing a game plan that will help our kids be successful. I'm feeling very confident in our defense, that we'll step up and follow that game plan to the best of our ability."
CHURUBUSCO AT WHITKO (2A SECT. 35)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in South Whitley
Coaches: Paul Sade (Churubusco), Jeff Sprunger (Whitko)
Records: Churubusco 8-2, Whitko 7-3
Last Game: Churubusco 21, Eastside 16; Whitko 28, Central Noble 24
Last Meeting: Whitko 34, Churubusco 27 (2015 sectional semifinal)
Matchup: Friday's game at Ryan Huff Memorial Stadium in South Whitley could be a quickly-played contest as both the Whitko Wildcats and Churubusco Eagles run the ball, and then run the ball some more. Through 10 games this season, Whitko has rushed for 3,258 yards and 44 touchdowns on 446 carries. Garrett Elder leads the Wildcats with 1,644 yards and 25 TDs on 146 carries, while Hunter Reed has 1,132 yards and 13 scores on 195 carries. The Wildcats have attempts just 50 passes all season, and Colin Craig has completed 21 of them for 360 yards with three TDs and one interception. Churubusco has rushed for 2,767 yards and 41 TDs on 430 carries. Junior Garrett Horn leads the Eagles with 1,283 yards and 16 TDs on 203 carries, while senior Tom Richards has tallied 671 yards and nine scores on 70 carries. Sophomore Tom Richards has completed 32 of 64 passes for 479 yards with three TDs and three INTs. Whitko and Churubusco met in the sectional semifinals last year as well, with the Wildcats winning 34-27. The winner of Friday's game will play the winner of No. 1 Woodlan (10-0) and South Adams (6-4).
Sprunger: "As we prepare for Churubusco, we see a team that is extremely physical and that will really challenge our linemen. They have a lot of big players up front that can dominate the game. They have skilled athletes that take advantage of blocks they get from their linemen and run the ball really well in open spaces. We, as a team, have to try and control the line of scrimmage whether it is on defense or offense. We then need to stop the mistakes that hurt big, like holding calls and other silly mistakes that put us in long down situations. If we come out and play a clean and physical game, I believe we can win."
SOUTHWOOD AT TRITON (1A SECT. 43)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon
Coaches: Dave Snyder (Southwood); Ron Brown (Triton)
Records: Southwood 7-3; Triton 2-8
Last Week: Southwood 28, Northfield 14; Triton 50, Caston 0
Last Meeting: Southwood 53, Triton 20 (2015 sectional)
Matchup: Southwood enters the game ranked eighth in 1A, and ended Triton's 2015 season. The Knights' run/pass ratio is about 50/50, but two-thirds of their total offense comes through the air. Junior quarterback Carson Blair completes just over 60 percent of his attempts and has 34 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Max Cox has the lion's share of rushing yards for the Knights, and Peyton Trexler cleared 1,000 receiving yards, with 36 inches to spare, in the Northfield game last week. Seniors Blake Martz and Zach Ball have another 1,000 yards receiving between them. Triton has played its best football in the last two weeks, games that coincided with a break in the schedule, and played well in all three phases last week in avenging its season-opening loss to Caston Friday. Senior running back Rigo Butler became eligible three weeks ago after transferring into the Triton corporation, and has been a difference maker. He rushed for 125 yards and a pair of TDs in the Caston game. The Trojans will likely need to continue their upward trend to extend their season another week.
Brown: "They were very motivated to make up for that first loss of the year against Caston. But honestly, I had to remind the kids Southwood beat us to end our season a year ago. That was out of their minds, but I'd love to be able to avenge that loss. Obviously, every season the teams are a little different. I think the kids are just looking to continue to improve, and I know that sounds like the typical coach thing to say, but there's things that we did this week (in practice) that we've been struggling with all year that we're finally not struggling with. We're finally not having those hiccups anymore, and probably the reason for our late-season success is the teams we've played, I feel that we should be able to beat them. Now we're getting to the point where we can make a surge here."
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