On The Gridiron Capsules
August 24, 2017 at 2:08 p.m.
By Staff Report-
WARSAW AT EAST NOBLE
Coaches: Phil Jensen (Warsaw) Luke Amstutz (East Noble)
Records: Warsaw 1-0, East Noble 0-1
Last Game: Warsaw 21, Columbia City 6; Plymouth 22, East Noble 18
Last Year: East Noble 47, Warsaw 42
Matchup: After opening the season with a win at home, the Warsaw Tigers hit the road Friday and head to Kendallville, where they will face a hungry East Noble team that lost 22-18 at Plymouth last week. East Noble is led by senior quarterback Andrew McCormick, an Indiana State University recruit. McCormick threw for 230 yards at Plymouth, tossing a touchdown and two interceptions, and rushed for 43 yards. Against the Tigers a year ago, McCormick completed 31 of 42 passes for 452 yards and six scores. Making his first start under center since 8th grade, Warsaw senior quarterback Tristan Larsh rushed for 130 yards and two scores in a season-opening 21-6 win over Columbia City, including a 63-yard TD run on the third play of the game. Senior running back Will McGarvey led the way with 136 yards on the ground, including a 30-yard scoring scamper. Senior Zach Riley led the Warsaw defense with a pair of second-half interceptions. Warsaw coach Phil Jensen is trying to become just the second to win 100 gridiron games with the Tigers. Jensen is 128-92 overall and 99-80 at Warsaw. George Fisher is the all-time wins leader at Warsaw with 105.
Jensen: "East Noble is a very well-coached team. They are a football community and their kids play that way. They're very tough and physical and they have one of the most explosive kids in this part of the state as their quarterback. They have the ability to run and throw the ball. They're very balanced and they find your weaknesses. I felt like we did a good job of controlling what we can control (last week). We faced some inflicted adversity and responded well to it."
CULVER ACADEMY AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Coaches: Andy Dorrell (Culver Academy), Stephen Moriarty (Valley)
Records: Culver Academy 1-0, Valley 0-1
Last Game: Culver Academy 19, Twin Lakes 0; Bremen 41, Valley 13
Last Year: Culver Academy 47, Valley 0
Matchup: The Stephen Moriarty era got off to a rough start Friday, as Tippecanoe Valley opened the season with a 41-13 loss at Don Bunge Field in Bremen. The Vikings trailed just 14-13 at halftime, but gave up 20 points in the third quarter and another touchdown in the final frame. Valley's two TDs came on a Wes Melanson carry and a Tanner Trippiedi pass to Jalen Shepherd. Trippiedi finished the game 9 of 17 through the air for 88 yards with one TD and one interception. The Vikings tallied 134 yards on the ground as a team in the season opener and were led by Alex Morrison's 56 yards. Culver Academy opened the season with a 19-0 win over Twin Lakes. At halftime of Friday's game at Death Valley, the Vikings' 1992 sectional championship team will be honored.
Moriarty: "We learned that we need to get better at tackling in the open field. We found that we can take up almost a whole quarter and score. I was pleased with the opening drive. CMA has such a good defensive line, and their team speed is great. They have so many player returning from last season. This is one of the best CMA team I have ever seen."
WHITKO AT COLUMBIA CITY
Coaches: Jeff Sprunger (Whitko), Brett Fox (Columbia City)
Records: Whitko 0-1, Columbia City 0-1
Last Game: Churubusco 56, Whitko 0; Warsaw 21, Columbia City 6
Last Year: Whitko 20, Columbia City 14
Matchup: With a 56-0 loss to Whitley County rival Churubusco in the rear view mirror, the Whitko Wildcats face another county foe this week when they travel to Max Gandy Athletic Field to face the Columbia City Eagles. In the last 25 meetings of the county rivals, Columbia City has won 20 times. In the loss to Churubusco, Whitko tallied just 56 yards of offense … 43 through the air and 13 on the ground. Zach Gardner rushed the all 12 times for 13 yards, while Alex Dial had 2 carries for 2 yards and Hunter Reed was held to -2 yards on 12 attempts. Cade Bechtold completed 6 of 13 passes for 43 yards for Whitko, but he was picked off three times. Columbia City opened the season with a 21-6 loss at Warsaw. Jacob Bolt rushed for 93 yards and passed for 75 for the Eagles, while Jacob Wigent rushed for 110 yards.
Sprunger: "From last week's game, we learned offensively that we need to be more aggressive on the offensive line and attack teams. Too often last week we sat back and waited for Churubusco to come to us, rather than us being the aggressor and attacking them. I will say that as a team overall we kept our spirits high and continued to battle until the end. Columbia City is a team that likes to throw the ball around a lot, and we are going to need to bring pressure from our line and linebackers and make sure our secondary is ready to get back in coverage and play disciplined football. They are a team that seems to have size and speed, and again we are going to need to play disciplined football to compete. The good thing about our players is they are young and have short memories, and they are eager to play Columbia City this week."
LAVILLE AT TRITON (HNAC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon
Coaches: Will Hostrawser (LaVille); Ron Brown (Triton)
Records: LaVille 1-0; Triton 1-0
Last Game: LaVille 3. North Newton 0; Triton 70, South Newton 0
Last Year: LaVille 55, Triton 18
Matchup: The difference in the two teams' Week 1 scores is as different as the opponents each faced. LaVille hasn't had a lot of offensive secrets in recent years; the Lancers are going to run far more often than they will pass. In last week's win over North Newton, freshman quarterback Leyton Czarnecki attempted just five passes, completing two for 69 yards. Senior Dakota Figg and sophomores Kolby Watts and Robby Pope will handle the running game, with Figg getting around half the carries last week. Meanwhile, Triton looks to build on what is believed to be a school record for points in a game last week. Against South Newton, junior quarterback James "Bo" Snyder only threw the ball 13 times, but a big part of that was an attempt at avoiding running up the score. Senior Max Slusser rushed for 202 yards in about three quarters of action last week. Juniors Tye Orsund and Ethan Berry scored multiple touchdowns in the opener. For the first time in a while, Triton may have the experience advantage in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference game.
Brown: "I think last week was all about confidence and putting yourself in a position to make plays when you have the opportunity to do so. They've spent a lot of time together, and I've noticed the breakdown (out of team huddles) on "brotherhood." It's a theme they have going. I'm not having to force an agenda; they're coming up with themselves and are the driving force behind it. Since the start of the conference, (LaVille) has been a powerhouse in the north, and Pioneer has owned it in the south. They're one of those teams that to be able to compete with them would be a huge step forward for our program. It's a matter of getting whatever we can. LaVille is a solid team, and have been since Will (Hostrawser) has been there. He's the architect of the program. A lot of people want to talk about what they've graduated,but as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter at all. They're going to be good no matter who they have."
WAWASEE AT WEST NOBLE
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Ligonier
Coaches: Mike Eshbach (Wawasee); Monte Mawhorter (West Noble)
Records: Wawasee 1-0, West Noble 1-0
Last Game: Wawasee 52, Lakeland 34; West Noble 32, Central Noble 14
Last Year: Wawasee 48, West Noble 7
Matchup: Wawasee head coach Mike Eshbach wound up playing his son, sophomore Evan, more than he anticipated in Week 1, or so the coach said. The coach said he'll always have a plan to get junior Aaron Evans some plays at QB, but Evans will also play quite a bit as a receiver. Coach Eshbach is also very familiar with the West Noble program; he game planned for them every year for a decade while at Eastside, where both schools were members of the North East Corner Conference. The Chargers have a lot more experience than in last year's game; quarterback Chase Wroblewski started his senior season with three touchdown passes last week at Central Noble, two went to senior wideout Spencer Shrock. Sophomore RB Brandon Pruitt also caught a touchdown pass, and West Noble ran up 302 yards of total offense.
Eshbach: "We did some things well, but we have some things we need to get ironed out, which is good. You don't want your kids feeling too good about themselves after week one. I would expect we'd be pretty focused in practice, because we have a lot of work to do. But we saw some things we liked, that's for sure. I'd don't think we're going to change a lot. I certainly wanted to get Aaron some more snaps, but it was one of those things where I felt like making a change might be disrupting our timing a little bit. We're going to move forward with the same kind of philosophy. The easiest way to explain (who will play quarterback) is it's a situational thing. Evan will be our starter, but we'll package some things for Aaron from week-to-week. This is my 10th year in a row of coaching against (West Noble). They were young last year and kind of took their lumps. Now they're more of a veteran group with several seniors, a handful of juniors and maybe one or two sophomores sprinkled in. Their quarterback is throwing the ball pretty well, their receivers are pretty athletic, and defensively they get after you. We're going to have to play well on both sides of the ball."
MANCHESTER AT BLUFFTON
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bluffton
Coaches: Greg Miller (Manchester); Brent Kunkel (Bluffton)
Records: Manchester 0-1; Bluffton 0-1
Last Game: Southwood 59, Manchester 18; Northfield 42, Bluffton 30
Last Year: Bluffton 12, Manchester 7
Matchup: Manchester coach Greg Miller knew his team had its work cut out for it in the season opener, and said his team did some things well but had plenty to work on. The challenge this week will be taking on a Bluffton team also looking for its first win. Bluffton racked up 284 yards of total offense, but gave up 35 first-half points and 385 yards total in the game. The Squires haven't beaten Bluffton since a 46-23 victory Aug. 28, 2009, in a season where the Tigers went 1-9. There have been some close contests since then; it was an eight-point game in 2011, a 26-22 Tiger win in 2012, and a 28-21 game in 2014 in addition to last season's game.
Miller: "We watched film, and I told the kids after the game 'it's not going to be as bad as we think it is, but there's going to be some things to work on.' What we found is we did some things really well in all phases of the game, and there's some things we need to do better. After we watch the film, we're talking care of those things this week in practice. Southwood is a very good team, and we were in a 'pick your poison' situation. One thing about our kids; we came out with a fire in our eyes, and we've practiced well. (Bluffton's) a pretty balanced team; they've got a good running game with an all-conference running back and they're big up front. They're a spread team and they'll want to establish the run game first. When they throw, they like to throw to their tight end. We're going to need to play well on both sides of the ball to get the win."
WARSAW AT EAST NOBLE
Coaches: Phil Jensen (Warsaw) Luke Amstutz (East Noble)
Records: Warsaw 1-0, East Noble 0-1
Last Game: Warsaw 21, Columbia City 6; Plymouth 22, East Noble 18
Last Year: East Noble 47, Warsaw 42
Matchup: After opening the season with a win at home, the Warsaw Tigers hit the road Friday and head to Kendallville, where they will face a hungry East Noble team that lost 22-18 at Plymouth last week. East Noble is led by senior quarterback Andrew McCormick, an Indiana State University recruit. McCormick threw for 230 yards at Plymouth, tossing a touchdown and two interceptions, and rushed for 43 yards. Against the Tigers a year ago, McCormick completed 31 of 42 passes for 452 yards and six scores. Making his first start under center since 8th grade, Warsaw senior quarterback Tristan Larsh rushed for 130 yards and two scores in a season-opening 21-6 win over Columbia City, including a 63-yard TD run on the third play of the game. Senior running back Will McGarvey led the way with 136 yards on the ground, including a 30-yard scoring scamper. Senior Zach Riley led the Warsaw defense with a pair of second-half interceptions. Warsaw coach Phil Jensen is trying to become just the second to win 100 gridiron games with the Tigers. Jensen is 128-92 overall and 99-80 at Warsaw. George Fisher is the all-time wins leader at Warsaw with 105.
Jensen: "East Noble is a very well-coached team. They are a football community and their kids play that way. They're very tough and physical and they have one of the most explosive kids in this part of the state as their quarterback. They have the ability to run and throw the ball. They're very balanced and they find your weaknesses. I felt like we did a good job of controlling what we can control (last week). We faced some inflicted adversity and responded well to it."
CULVER ACADEMY AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Coaches: Andy Dorrell (Culver Academy), Stephen Moriarty (Valley)
Records: Culver Academy 1-0, Valley 0-1
Last Game: Culver Academy 19, Twin Lakes 0; Bremen 41, Valley 13
Last Year: Culver Academy 47, Valley 0
Matchup: The Stephen Moriarty era got off to a rough start Friday, as Tippecanoe Valley opened the season with a 41-13 loss at Don Bunge Field in Bremen. The Vikings trailed just 14-13 at halftime, but gave up 20 points in the third quarter and another touchdown in the final frame. Valley's two TDs came on a Wes Melanson carry and a Tanner Trippiedi pass to Jalen Shepherd. Trippiedi finished the game 9 of 17 through the air for 88 yards with one TD and one interception. The Vikings tallied 134 yards on the ground as a team in the season opener and were led by Alex Morrison's 56 yards. Culver Academy opened the season with a 19-0 win over Twin Lakes. At halftime of Friday's game at Death Valley, the Vikings' 1992 sectional championship team will be honored.
Moriarty: "We learned that we need to get better at tackling in the open field. We found that we can take up almost a whole quarter and score. I was pleased with the opening drive. CMA has such a good defensive line, and their team speed is great. They have so many player returning from last season. This is one of the best CMA team I have ever seen."
WHITKO AT COLUMBIA CITY
Coaches: Jeff Sprunger (Whitko), Brett Fox (Columbia City)
Records: Whitko 0-1, Columbia City 0-1
Last Game: Churubusco 56, Whitko 0; Warsaw 21, Columbia City 6
Last Year: Whitko 20, Columbia City 14
Matchup: With a 56-0 loss to Whitley County rival Churubusco in the rear view mirror, the Whitko Wildcats face another county foe this week when they travel to Max Gandy Athletic Field to face the Columbia City Eagles. In the last 25 meetings of the county rivals, Columbia City has won 20 times. In the loss to Churubusco, Whitko tallied just 56 yards of offense … 43 through the air and 13 on the ground. Zach Gardner rushed the all 12 times for 13 yards, while Alex Dial had 2 carries for 2 yards and Hunter Reed was held to -2 yards on 12 attempts. Cade Bechtold completed 6 of 13 passes for 43 yards for Whitko, but he was picked off three times. Columbia City opened the season with a 21-6 loss at Warsaw. Jacob Bolt rushed for 93 yards and passed for 75 for the Eagles, while Jacob Wigent rushed for 110 yards.
Sprunger: "From last week's game, we learned offensively that we need to be more aggressive on the offensive line and attack teams. Too often last week we sat back and waited for Churubusco to come to us, rather than us being the aggressor and attacking them. I will say that as a team overall we kept our spirits high and continued to battle until the end. Columbia City is a team that likes to throw the ball around a lot, and we are going to need to bring pressure from our line and linebackers and make sure our secondary is ready to get back in coverage and play disciplined football. They are a team that seems to have size and speed, and again we are going to need to play disciplined football to compete. The good thing about our players is they are young and have short memories, and they are eager to play Columbia City this week."
LAVILLE AT TRITON (HNAC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon
Coaches: Will Hostrawser (LaVille); Ron Brown (Triton)
Records: LaVille 1-0; Triton 1-0
Last Game: LaVille 3. North Newton 0; Triton 70, South Newton 0
Last Year: LaVille 55, Triton 18
Matchup: The difference in the two teams' Week 1 scores is as different as the opponents each faced. LaVille hasn't had a lot of offensive secrets in recent years; the Lancers are going to run far more often than they will pass. In last week's win over North Newton, freshman quarterback Leyton Czarnecki attempted just five passes, completing two for 69 yards. Senior Dakota Figg and sophomores Kolby Watts and Robby Pope will handle the running game, with Figg getting around half the carries last week. Meanwhile, Triton looks to build on what is believed to be a school record for points in a game last week. Against South Newton, junior quarterback James "Bo" Snyder only threw the ball 13 times, but a big part of that was an attempt at avoiding running up the score. Senior Max Slusser rushed for 202 yards in about three quarters of action last week. Juniors Tye Orsund and Ethan Berry scored multiple touchdowns in the opener. For the first time in a while, Triton may have the experience advantage in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference game.
Brown: "I think last week was all about confidence and putting yourself in a position to make plays when you have the opportunity to do so. They've spent a lot of time together, and I've noticed the breakdown (out of team huddles) on "brotherhood." It's a theme they have going. I'm not having to force an agenda; they're coming up with themselves and are the driving force behind it. Since the start of the conference, (LaVille) has been a powerhouse in the north, and Pioneer has owned it in the south. They're one of those teams that to be able to compete with them would be a huge step forward for our program. It's a matter of getting whatever we can. LaVille is a solid team, and have been since Will (Hostrawser) has been there. He's the architect of the program. A lot of people want to talk about what they've graduated,but as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter at all. They're going to be good no matter who they have."
WAWASEE AT WEST NOBLE
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Ligonier
Coaches: Mike Eshbach (Wawasee); Monte Mawhorter (West Noble)
Records: Wawasee 1-0, West Noble 1-0
Last Game: Wawasee 52, Lakeland 34; West Noble 32, Central Noble 14
Last Year: Wawasee 48, West Noble 7
Matchup: Wawasee head coach Mike Eshbach wound up playing his son, sophomore Evan, more than he anticipated in Week 1, or so the coach said. The coach said he'll always have a plan to get junior Aaron Evans some plays at QB, but Evans will also play quite a bit as a receiver. Coach Eshbach is also very familiar with the West Noble program; he game planned for them every year for a decade while at Eastside, where both schools were members of the North East Corner Conference. The Chargers have a lot more experience than in last year's game; quarterback Chase Wroblewski started his senior season with three touchdown passes last week at Central Noble, two went to senior wideout Spencer Shrock. Sophomore RB Brandon Pruitt also caught a touchdown pass, and West Noble ran up 302 yards of total offense.
Eshbach: "We did some things well, but we have some things we need to get ironed out, which is good. You don't want your kids feeling too good about themselves after week one. I would expect we'd be pretty focused in practice, because we have a lot of work to do. But we saw some things we liked, that's for sure. I'd don't think we're going to change a lot. I certainly wanted to get Aaron some more snaps, but it was one of those things where I felt like making a change might be disrupting our timing a little bit. We're going to move forward with the same kind of philosophy. The easiest way to explain (who will play quarterback) is it's a situational thing. Evan will be our starter, but we'll package some things for Aaron from week-to-week. This is my 10th year in a row of coaching against (West Noble). They were young last year and kind of took their lumps. Now they're more of a veteran group with several seniors, a handful of juniors and maybe one or two sophomores sprinkled in. Their quarterback is throwing the ball pretty well, their receivers are pretty athletic, and defensively they get after you. We're going to have to play well on both sides of the ball."
MANCHESTER AT BLUFFTON
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bluffton
Coaches: Greg Miller (Manchester); Brent Kunkel (Bluffton)
Records: Manchester 0-1; Bluffton 0-1
Last Game: Southwood 59, Manchester 18; Northfield 42, Bluffton 30
Last Year: Bluffton 12, Manchester 7
Matchup: Manchester coach Greg Miller knew his team had its work cut out for it in the season opener, and said his team did some things well but had plenty to work on. The challenge this week will be taking on a Bluffton team also looking for its first win. Bluffton racked up 284 yards of total offense, but gave up 35 first-half points and 385 yards total in the game. The Squires haven't beaten Bluffton since a 46-23 victory Aug. 28, 2009, in a season where the Tigers went 1-9. There have been some close contests since then; it was an eight-point game in 2011, a 26-22 Tiger win in 2012, and a 28-21 game in 2014 in addition to last season's game.
Miller: "We watched film, and I told the kids after the game 'it's not going to be as bad as we think it is, but there's going to be some things to work on.' What we found is we did some things really well in all phases of the game, and there's some things we need to do better. After we watch the film, we're talking care of those things this week in practice. Southwood is a very good team, and we were in a 'pick your poison' situation. One thing about our kids; we came out with a fire in our eyes, and we've practiced well. (Bluffton's) a pretty balanced team; they've got a good running game with an all-conference running back and they're big up front. They're a spread team and they'll want to establish the run game first. When they throw, they like to throw to their tight end. We're going to need to play well on both sides of the ball to get the win."
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