On The Gridiron Capsules
September 7, 2017 at 4:27 p.m.
By Staff Report-
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Elkhart
Coaches: Phil Jensen (Warsaw), Scot Shaw (Memorial)
Records: Warsaw 1-2 (0-1 NLC), Memorial 0-3 (0-2 NLC)
Last Game: Plymouth 42, Warsaw 7; Goshen 24, Memorial 8
Last Year: Warsaw 49, Memorial 6
Matchup: For the fourth consecutive year, the Warsaw Tigers take a 1-2 overall record and an 0-1 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference into Friday's matchup at Elkhart Memorial. The teams first met in 1983, and Memorial joined the NLC in 2000. Warsaw and Memorial have met on the gridiron 18 times, with the series even at 9-9. The Tigers have won five of the last six in the series, and if that trend continues Friday it would be coach Phil Jensen's 100th win with the Tigers. Jensen is 99-82 in his 18th season at Warsaw and 128-94 in his 22nd season overall. Only George Fisher (103) has won more games with the Tigers. Through three games this season, Warsaw is averaging just under 12 points per game, while giving up nearly 26. Memorial averages 14 points per game and gives up 28. Offensively, senior running back Will McGarvey leads the Tigers, having rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries. Senior quarterback Tristan Larsh has also scored on the ground twice and has rushed for 198 yards on 36 carries. Larsh has completed 19 of 35 passes for 124 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Memorial enters Friday's game on a seven-game losing streak. The Crimson Chargers have won just two of their last 17 games.
Jensen: "Memorial is attempting to make the most of their athletes. Offensively, they want to get them into space and make the big play. On defense, they are very aggressive with the blitz. We have to be focused on playing each play with each player's responsibility the focus. We're working to get better each day."
NORTHFIELD AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY (TRC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Akron
Coaches: Brandon Baker (Northfield), Steve Moriarty (Valley)
Records: Northfield 2-1 (0-0 TRC), Valley 0-3 (0-0 TRC)
Last Game: Southwood 35, Northfield 6; North Miami 28, Valley 0
Last Year: Northfield 40, Valley 0
Matchup: Tippecanoe Valley has won 27 of its last 30 meetings with Three Rivers Conference rival Northfield. The Vikings, who have lost 29 of their last 35 games and endured a number of coaching changes, desperately need a win. A win over the Norsemen Friday night, would be the first for first-year head coach Steve Moriarty, and would go a long way in righting the ship. Through three games this season, Valley has been outscored 102-20. Northfield is averaging nearly 33 points per game this season, though they do give up an average of 26 points per game. Alex Morrison leads Valley's ground game with 30 carries for 128 through three games, while Jace Potter has 68 yards on 19 carries. Wes Melanson has just 21 yards this season, but has the team's only rushing touchdown. Quarterback Tanner Trippiedi has completed 26 of 55 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown and six interceptions. Northfield averages 273 rushing yards and just under 100 passing yards per game. Levi Fulkerson has completed 12 of 23 passes for 272 yards and three TDs for Northfield, while Matt Coe leads the rushing attack with 292 yards. Kyle Reed and John Schuler have rushed for 245 and 176 yards, respectively. Coe leads Northfield's receiving corps with 147 yards and three scores on six catches, while Kade Kennedy has 99 yards on just three receptions.
Moriarty: "Northfield is a very well-coached team. Coach Baker has done a good job building up the program over the last five years. They have a very good offense that's built to put points on the board, as you can tell by their first two games, and their defense is disciplined. You know that any journey you're on there are going to be bumps in the road. We are just trying to get better day by day and focus on taking one snap at a time. The offensive line will be the key to the win on Friday. Northfield is a very good team and they don't the ball over much. We need to not give up big plays and not turn the ball over."
WHITKO AT ROCHESTER (TRC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Rochester
Coaches: Jeff Sprunger (Whitko), Brian Hooker (Rochester)
Records: Whitko 0-3 (0-0 TRC), Rochester 3-0 (0-0 TRC)
Last Game: Maconaquah 48, Whitko 7; Rochester 29, Peru 20
Last Year: Whitko 57, Rochester 14
Matchup: The Whitko Wildcats and Rochester Zebras are in opposite situations from a year ago. Whitko enters Friday night's game at Barnhardt Field in Rochester with an 0-3 record, while the Zebras are 3-0. Rochester entered the 2017 season on a 13-game losing streak, but is now 3-0 for the first time since 2007. The Wildcats, who have lost eight of their last 10 meetings with Rochester, have been outscored 152-13 this season. Whitko averages about 115 yards of offense per game – 62 on the ground and 53 through the air – and has only scored two touchdowns this season. Whitko junior Cade Bechtold has completed 18 of 39 passes for 161 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions. Junior Zach Gardner leads the Wildcats' rushing attack with 52 carries for 132 yards, while senior Hunter Reed has carried the ball 50 times for 95 yards and the team's only two touchdowns. Reed also leads the team in receiving with six catches for 64 yards.
Sprunger: "Rochester seems to be playing with a lot of confidence compared to last year. I believe one of the biggest reasons for that new-found confidence is another year of growth in the offseason of getting bigger and stronger just maturing. Last year you could tell they were a much better team than how they were playing, however, they were just getting physically handled by their opponents. They have a simple game plan and the players are understanding and executing the plan. Much like the Rochester team of last year, we are very young. We have guys that are getting to the right places but are just not able to execute because they physically at times are being outmatched, or we are missing on some of the smaller details that can help out a lot like proper placement of their head on a block, taking the correct step to put themselves in the appropriate position to execute a block, having the correct footwork to hit the correct hole when running the ball, getting appropriate splits to make a passing route time up correctly. The players are starting to understand the bigger picture, and those little details will come with coaching and experience."
BREMEN AT TRITON
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon
Coaches: Jordan Leeper (Bremen); Ron Brown (Triton)
Records: Bremen 1-2; Triton 3-0
Last Game: John Glenn 21, Bremen 6; Triton 50, Caston 13
Last Year: Bremen 42, Triton 0
Matchup: Triton trails in the all-time series with Bremen 28-3; all three wins came from 2007-09. The 2008 game was forfeited to the Trojans, and the Trojans have never beaten Bremen in Bourbon. If the 2012 game is thrown out (a 7-0 Lion win), Bremen has outscored Triton 251-32, an average of 41-5, since Triton's last win. Bremen will throw the ball, but so far that's worked against them to a certain degree; junior quarterback Ryan Caldwell has completed 40 percent of his 77 passes so far, for 332 yards (111 YPG) with two touchdowns against six interceptions. Junior running back Nathan Mullen leads the Lion ground game with just under 124 yards a game. Jacob Wunder, Caldwell and Briley Leeper will also carry the ball from time-to-time. Wunder is Caldwell's favorite target with eight catches in the first three weeks. Mullen has six receptions, and five players have at least one catch. Triton coach Ron Brown wants his offense to take what the defense gives them, and so far his team has complied. James "Bo" Snyder has thrown for 175 yards a game, four runners have at least 80 yards rushing in the first three weeks, and four players have caught at least two passes. Triton is averaging better than 400 yards of total offense in its first 3-0 start since 2008. But Brown has been less satisfied with the Triton defense. Most of the timeouts called have been to correct defensive issues, and Bremen will be Triton's biggest defensive challenge of the season so far.
Brown: "We're really going to have to control their line. They climb to the second level well, and they have some big running backs that are able to get extra yards after contact. We're definitely going to have to be good tacklers. We're doing a pretty good job offensively, but we're forcing the ball every now and then, and I'd like to see that fixed, and get a little more balance than we had last week. But we did have an emphasis to see if we could pass the ball in the last game. To me, I see this as a lose-lose game for Bremen. They're the big school up the road that graduates 170 kids a year and we graduate 60. They're coming in to play a small school, and now that they're in the (Northern Indiana Conference) they get to know how it feels. It's a chance for us to play a bigger school and see what we can do. I don't look at it as a rivalry game."
5A NO. 3 CONCORD AT WAWASEE (NLC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Syracuse
Coaches: Craig Koehler (Concord); Mike Eshbach (Wawasee)
Records: Concord 3-0 (2-0 NLC), Wawasee 1-2 (0-1 NLC)
Last Game: Concord 15, NorthWood 12;
Last Year: Concord 49, Wawasee 40
Matchup: The No. 3-ranked (5A) Minutemen took a big step toward a Northern Lakes Conference title last week with their win over 4A No. 1 NorthWood. The Panthers fell to No. 5 in the poll. Concord will run the football, averaging 157 yards per contest on the ground, and three players have 100 yards or more rushing on the season. Senior wideout Damien Jackson averages 10 yards a catch, and the Minutemen will throw the ball with sophomore QB Ethan Cain just enough to keep defenses honest. Meanwhile Wawasee's thin depth chart could be a detriment this week. Senior running back Alex Rosbrugh returned last week, but isn't 100 percent. Friday's game starts a gauntlet of NLC games against opponents ranked in the top 10 in their class; Sept. 15 the Warriors play at NorthWood, then host No. 7 (4A) Plymouth comes to town on Sept. 22. Northridge appears in this week's AP poll at No. 10 (4A), which will likely make it four straight ranked opponents for Wawasee.
Eshbach: "For whatever reason we haven't been able to find our groove. It seems like one step forward and two steps back. We still haven't run the ball well, and that's not just on the offensive line, but our running backs have to do a better job and our quarterback needs to do a better job, and the line needs to do a better job.
You have to think at some point we'll have steps forward and none back. That's the focus for us this week and moving forward. I do think there's some parity in the NLC; there's a lot of good teams but I don't think the bottom end of the conference is terrible. We just have to stay the course, get better and see where we go from there. (Rosbrugh) played Friday night, but I wouldn't say he was real effective. When I look at the big picture, he had 12 snaps in the scrimmage and that's about it. It's another week of trying to get healthy, not just for him but for three or four other guys. As we continue to get healthy and stay the course, we're going to get better every week. But if Alex is healthy, he helps us tremendously."
PERU AT MANCHESTER (TRC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in North Manchester
Coaches: Bob Prescott (Peru); Greg Miller (Manchester)
Records: Peru 0-3; Manchester 1-2
Last Game: Rochester 29, Peru 20; Manchester 38, Wabash 16
Last Year: Peru 32, Manchester 7
Matchup: The visiting Peru Tigers might be circled on a lot of teams' schedules, as they've lost all their games by at least two possessions. Granted, one of Peru's losses is to 1A No. 18 Northfield. Manchester found the end zone with much greater consistency in last week's win over Wabash than in the Squires' first two games. Quarterback Hayes Sturtsman found Devon Rooney for a pair of touchdown strikes, and three of Manchester's five TDs last week came with the line of scrimmage inside the red zone. Delton Moore averages better than 100 yards rushing per game after his 182-yard effort against Wabash last week. The Squires are due for a win over Peru; since joining the Three Rivers Conference for the 2015 season, the Tigers have won both games against Manchester. Miller said though wins have been hard to come by in recent seasons, the Squires are not overly giddy about getting one against Wabash; instead the focus has been on securing another victory this week. This game features teams in different divisions of the Three Rivers Conference, thus it won't count in the standings.
Miller: "We're always pretty business-like, so the stress of getting that first win isn't there. But the film sessions have been pretty straightforward; we always tell them what we did well and what we need to work on. Practice this week has gone well. We've told them now that we have that first win, we need to work that much harder to get win No. 2. That pressure of continually getting better is still there. I had a feeling at halftime (against Wabash) that we were in control of the game, even though it was just 8-0. But control is only so much, we have to turn that control into points on the scoreboard. While we were better at converting in the red zone last week, we still have work to do. But it felt good to put points on the board. Peru runs a different type of offense we haven't seen yet. We've face a lot of spread teams, and Peru is anything but that. They pack everything in within 10 yards, and they pull linemen to get as many guys to the point of attack as possible. We'll have to make sure we gap down, we're physical and we get to their backs in the backfield. I've said it before, we need to control both sides of the line of scrimmage to win."
Latest News
E-Editions
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Elkhart
Coaches: Phil Jensen (Warsaw), Scot Shaw (Memorial)
Records: Warsaw 1-2 (0-1 NLC), Memorial 0-3 (0-2 NLC)
Last Game: Plymouth 42, Warsaw 7; Goshen 24, Memorial 8
Last Year: Warsaw 49, Memorial 6
Matchup: For the fourth consecutive year, the Warsaw Tigers take a 1-2 overall record and an 0-1 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference into Friday's matchup at Elkhart Memorial. The teams first met in 1983, and Memorial joined the NLC in 2000. Warsaw and Memorial have met on the gridiron 18 times, with the series even at 9-9. The Tigers have won five of the last six in the series, and if that trend continues Friday it would be coach Phil Jensen's 100th win with the Tigers. Jensen is 99-82 in his 18th season at Warsaw and 128-94 in his 22nd season overall. Only George Fisher (103) has won more games with the Tigers. Through three games this season, Warsaw is averaging just under 12 points per game, while giving up nearly 26. Memorial averages 14 points per game and gives up 28. Offensively, senior running back Will McGarvey leads the Tigers, having rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries. Senior quarterback Tristan Larsh has also scored on the ground twice and has rushed for 198 yards on 36 carries. Larsh has completed 19 of 35 passes for 124 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Memorial enters Friday's game on a seven-game losing streak. The Crimson Chargers have won just two of their last 17 games.
Jensen: "Memorial is attempting to make the most of their athletes. Offensively, they want to get them into space and make the big play. On defense, they are very aggressive with the blitz. We have to be focused on playing each play with each player's responsibility the focus. We're working to get better each day."
NORTHFIELD AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY (TRC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Akron
Coaches: Brandon Baker (Northfield), Steve Moriarty (Valley)
Records: Northfield 2-1 (0-0 TRC), Valley 0-3 (0-0 TRC)
Last Game: Southwood 35, Northfield 6; North Miami 28, Valley 0
Last Year: Northfield 40, Valley 0
Matchup: Tippecanoe Valley has won 27 of its last 30 meetings with Three Rivers Conference rival Northfield. The Vikings, who have lost 29 of their last 35 games and endured a number of coaching changes, desperately need a win. A win over the Norsemen Friday night, would be the first for first-year head coach Steve Moriarty, and would go a long way in righting the ship. Through three games this season, Valley has been outscored 102-20. Northfield is averaging nearly 33 points per game this season, though they do give up an average of 26 points per game. Alex Morrison leads Valley's ground game with 30 carries for 128 through three games, while Jace Potter has 68 yards on 19 carries. Wes Melanson has just 21 yards this season, but has the team's only rushing touchdown. Quarterback Tanner Trippiedi has completed 26 of 55 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown and six interceptions. Northfield averages 273 rushing yards and just under 100 passing yards per game. Levi Fulkerson has completed 12 of 23 passes for 272 yards and three TDs for Northfield, while Matt Coe leads the rushing attack with 292 yards. Kyle Reed and John Schuler have rushed for 245 and 176 yards, respectively. Coe leads Northfield's receiving corps with 147 yards and three scores on six catches, while Kade Kennedy has 99 yards on just three receptions.
Moriarty: "Northfield is a very well-coached team. Coach Baker has done a good job building up the program over the last five years. They have a very good offense that's built to put points on the board, as you can tell by their first two games, and their defense is disciplined. You know that any journey you're on there are going to be bumps in the road. We are just trying to get better day by day and focus on taking one snap at a time. The offensive line will be the key to the win on Friday. Northfield is a very good team and they don't the ball over much. We need to not give up big plays and not turn the ball over."
WHITKO AT ROCHESTER (TRC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Rochester
Coaches: Jeff Sprunger (Whitko), Brian Hooker (Rochester)
Records: Whitko 0-3 (0-0 TRC), Rochester 3-0 (0-0 TRC)
Last Game: Maconaquah 48, Whitko 7; Rochester 29, Peru 20
Last Year: Whitko 57, Rochester 14
Matchup: The Whitko Wildcats and Rochester Zebras are in opposite situations from a year ago. Whitko enters Friday night's game at Barnhardt Field in Rochester with an 0-3 record, while the Zebras are 3-0. Rochester entered the 2017 season on a 13-game losing streak, but is now 3-0 for the first time since 2007. The Wildcats, who have lost eight of their last 10 meetings with Rochester, have been outscored 152-13 this season. Whitko averages about 115 yards of offense per game – 62 on the ground and 53 through the air – and has only scored two touchdowns this season. Whitko junior Cade Bechtold has completed 18 of 39 passes for 161 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions. Junior Zach Gardner leads the Wildcats' rushing attack with 52 carries for 132 yards, while senior Hunter Reed has carried the ball 50 times for 95 yards and the team's only two touchdowns. Reed also leads the team in receiving with six catches for 64 yards.
Sprunger: "Rochester seems to be playing with a lot of confidence compared to last year. I believe one of the biggest reasons for that new-found confidence is another year of growth in the offseason of getting bigger and stronger just maturing. Last year you could tell they were a much better team than how they were playing, however, they were just getting physically handled by their opponents. They have a simple game plan and the players are understanding and executing the plan. Much like the Rochester team of last year, we are very young. We have guys that are getting to the right places but are just not able to execute because they physically at times are being outmatched, or we are missing on some of the smaller details that can help out a lot like proper placement of their head on a block, taking the correct step to put themselves in the appropriate position to execute a block, having the correct footwork to hit the correct hole when running the ball, getting appropriate splits to make a passing route time up correctly. The players are starting to understand the bigger picture, and those little details will come with coaching and experience."
BREMEN AT TRITON
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon
Coaches: Jordan Leeper (Bremen); Ron Brown (Triton)
Records: Bremen 1-2; Triton 3-0
Last Game: John Glenn 21, Bremen 6; Triton 50, Caston 13
Last Year: Bremen 42, Triton 0
Matchup: Triton trails in the all-time series with Bremen 28-3; all three wins came from 2007-09. The 2008 game was forfeited to the Trojans, and the Trojans have never beaten Bremen in Bourbon. If the 2012 game is thrown out (a 7-0 Lion win), Bremen has outscored Triton 251-32, an average of 41-5, since Triton's last win. Bremen will throw the ball, but so far that's worked against them to a certain degree; junior quarterback Ryan Caldwell has completed 40 percent of his 77 passes so far, for 332 yards (111 YPG) with two touchdowns against six interceptions. Junior running back Nathan Mullen leads the Lion ground game with just under 124 yards a game. Jacob Wunder, Caldwell and Briley Leeper will also carry the ball from time-to-time. Wunder is Caldwell's favorite target with eight catches in the first three weeks. Mullen has six receptions, and five players have at least one catch. Triton coach Ron Brown wants his offense to take what the defense gives them, and so far his team has complied. James "Bo" Snyder has thrown for 175 yards a game, four runners have at least 80 yards rushing in the first three weeks, and four players have caught at least two passes. Triton is averaging better than 400 yards of total offense in its first 3-0 start since 2008. But Brown has been less satisfied with the Triton defense. Most of the timeouts called have been to correct defensive issues, and Bremen will be Triton's biggest defensive challenge of the season so far.
Brown: "We're really going to have to control their line. They climb to the second level well, and they have some big running backs that are able to get extra yards after contact. We're definitely going to have to be good tacklers. We're doing a pretty good job offensively, but we're forcing the ball every now and then, and I'd like to see that fixed, and get a little more balance than we had last week. But we did have an emphasis to see if we could pass the ball in the last game. To me, I see this as a lose-lose game for Bremen. They're the big school up the road that graduates 170 kids a year and we graduate 60. They're coming in to play a small school, and now that they're in the (Northern Indiana Conference) they get to know how it feels. It's a chance for us to play a bigger school and see what we can do. I don't look at it as a rivalry game."
5A NO. 3 CONCORD AT WAWASEE (NLC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Syracuse
Coaches: Craig Koehler (Concord); Mike Eshbach (Wawasee)
Records: Concord 3-0 (2-0 NLC), Wawasee 1-2 (0-1 NLC)
Last Game: Concord 15, NorthWood 12;
Last Year: Concord 49, Wawasee 40
Matchup: The No. 3-ranked (5A) Minutemen took a big step toward a Northern Lakes Conference title last week with their win over 4A No. 1 NorthWood. The Panthers fell to No. 5 in the poll. Concord will run the football, averaging 157 yards per contest on the ground, and three players have 100 yards or more rushing on the season. Senior wideout Damien Jackson averages 10 yards a catch, and the Minutemen will throw the ball with sophomore QB Ethan Cain just enough to keep defenses honest. Meanwhile Wawasee's thin depth chart could be a detriment this week. Senior running back Alex Rosbrugh returned last week, but isn't 100 percent. Friday's game starts a gauntlet of NLC games against opponents ranked in the top 10 in their class; Sept. 15 the Warriors play at NorthWood, then host No. 7 (4A) Plymouth comes to town on Sept. 22. Northridge appears in this week's AP poll at No. 10 (4A), which will likely make it four straight ranked opponents for Wawasee.
Eshbach: "For whatever reason we haven't been able to find our groove. It seems like one step forward and two steps back. We still haven't run the ball well, and that's not just on the offensive line, but our running backs have to do a better job and our quarterback needs to do a better job, and the line needs to do a better job.
You have to think at some point we'll have steps forward and none back. That's the focus for us this week and moving forward. I do think there's some parity in the NLC; there's a lot of good teams but I don't think the bottom end of the conference is terrible. We just have to stay the course, get better and see where we go from there. (Rosbrugh) played Friday night, but I wouldn't say he was real effective. When I look at the big picture, he had 12 snaps in the scrimmage and that's about it. It's another week of trying to get healthy, not just for him but for three or four other guys. As we continue to get healthy and stay the course, we're going to get better every week. But if Alex is healthy, he helps us tremendously."
PERU AT MANCHESTER (TRC)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in North Manchester
Coaches: Bob Prescott (Peru); Greg Miller (Manchester)
Records: Peru 0-3; Manchester 1-2
Last Game: Rochester 29, Peru 20; Manchester 38, Wabash 16
Last Year: Peru 32, Manchester 7
Matchup: The visiting Peru Tigers might be circled on a lot of teams' schedules, as they've lost all their games by at least two possessions. Granted, one of Peru's losses is to 1A No. 18 Northfield. Manchester found the end zone with much greater consistency in last week's win over Wabash than in the Squires' first two games. Quarterback Hayes Sturtsman found Devon Rooney for a pair of touchdown strikes, and three of Manchester's five TDs last week came with the line of scrimmage inside the red zone. Delton Moore averages better than 100 yards rushing per game after his 182-yard effort against Wabash last week. The Squires are due for a win over Peru; since joining the Three Rivers Conference for the 2015 season, the Tigers have won both games against Manchester. Miller said though wins have been hard to come by in recent seasons, the Squires are not overly giddy about getting one against Wabash; instead the focus has been on securing another victory this week. This game features teams in different divisions of the Three Rivers Conference, thus it won't count in the standings.
Miller: "We're always pretty business-like, so the stress of getting that first win isn't there. But the film sessions have been pretty straightforward; we always tell them what we did well and what we need to work on. Practice this week has gone well. We've told them now that we have that first win, we need to work that much harder to get win No. 2. That pressure of continually getting better is still there. I had a feeling at halftime (against Wabash) that we were in control of the game, even though it was just 8-0. But control is only so much, we have to turn that control into points on the scoreboard. While we were better at converting in the red zone last week, we still have work to do. But it felt good to put points on the board. Peru runs a different type of offense we haven't seen yet. We've face a lot of spread teams, and Peru is anything but that. They pack everything in within 10 yards, and they pull linemen to get as many guys to the point of attack as possible. We'll have to make sure we gap down, we're physical and we get to their backs in the backfield. I've said it before, we need to control both sides of the line of scrimmage to win."
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092