Area High School Football Previews
August 29, 2019 at 1:38 a.m.
Warsaw (1-0 overall) at Michigan City (1-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Ames Field, Michigan City.
Series: First meeting
John Harrell’s prediction: Michigan City, 45-28.
About Warsaw: The Tigers are coming off a 52-13 season-opening win against Huntington North. Juan Jaramillo rushed for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
About Michigan City: Coach Phil Mason’s Wolves are emerging from a 60-7 triumph against Griffith. Jonathan Flemings ran for 83 yards and four touchdowns.
Warsaw coach Bart Curtis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They’re definitely a top 3 team in 5A and a top 15 team overall. It makes it fun and challenging … They are an explosive team … Defensively, they are extremely aggressive. The strength of their team is the middle of their defense … It is important for us to take really great angles and do not try to do things we are not capable of offensively. We have to weather the storm … They’re too good not to make some plays. … We have some big-play capability as well … We need to be able to adjust to whatever tempo is dictated.”
On injuries — “We’ve got kids with nicks and dings, like every team does.”
On last week — Huntington North played very hard. We played hard most of the time … We flew around the ball … We were able to run the ball a little bit.”
Triton (1-0, 0-0 HNAC) at LaVille (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Lancer Field, Lakeville.
Series (last 35 years): LaVille, 24-11.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, LaVille 19-0.
Last time Triton won: Aug. 25, 2017, 22-14.
John Harrell’s prediction: LaVille, 35-10.
About Triton: The Trojans edged South Central (Union Mills) 26-24 last week. A missed field-goal attempt at the end of the game preserved the win for Triton.
About LaVille: Coach Will Hostrawser’s Lancers bested Bremen 27-7 in Week 1. Kolby Watts rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Ayden Doyle passed for 65 yards and one TD.
Triton coach Rodney Younis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They are a solid program in every aspect of their game.”
On injuries — “We still have kids out for academic reasons”
On last week — “I loved our start. Our kids came out and were focused. We gave up some yards on defense. But when we needed to, we stood tall. We were really playing together as a team … Offensively, we had a few hiccups here and there. But, for the most part, we were doing our assignments … That was a great teaching tool for us.”
Wawasee (1-0 overall) at West Noble (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., West Noble High School, Ligonier.
Series: Wawasee, 3-2.
John Harrell’s prediction: West Noble, 17-16.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, West Noble 22-7.
Last time Wawasee won: Aug. 26, 2016, 48-7.
About Wawasee: The Warriors bested Lakeland 28-14 in Week 1. Parker Young rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 106 yards.
About West Noble: Coach Monte Mawhorter’s Chargers topped Central Noble 19-7 to open the season.
Wawasee coach Jon Reutebuch:
On Friday’s matchup — “West Noble returns their three most productive (offensive) players (Josh Gross, Brandon Pruitt, Kyle Mawhorter) from last year … They have a lot of new players upfront … It’s kind of a neighborhood brawl. A lot of the kids know each other.”
On injuries — “(Lineman) Ethan Hardy broke his wrist. He’ll be out for this weekend. (Lineman) Justin Castro is still out. We held Dante Landeros out this last game.”
On last week — “This game against Lakeland was the epitome of ‘Warrior Grit.’ We had some injuries. We had a lot of penalites. It’s what they call ‘winning ugly,’ but it’s a win. It’s a positive step for our program and enjoyed not only by the members of the football team, but the community and the student body. It was a big victory for us moving forward.”
Manchester (0-1 overall)
at Bluffton (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Park Field.
Series: Bluffton leads 11-4.
Last meeting: Bluffton won 35-0 in sectional first round, Oct. 19, 2018.
Last Manchester win: 46-23 on Aug. 8, 2009.
John Harrell’s prediction: Bluffton, 38-24.
About Manchester: This will be the Squires’ only non-Three Rivers Conference contest of the regular season as the 10-school league goes to a single division and eight TRC games for each team this season. … The Squires led 27-14 in the third quarter of their 41-27 season-opening loss at North Miami, before the Warriors strung together the final 27 points. … Sam Martindale rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries for the Squires. Quarterback Devin Marcum finished 9-of-15 through the air for 192 yards and a TD, but was intercepted twice. Trey Clark caught four passes for 100 yards and a score. Sophomore safety Braxton Ream recorded 10 tackles, four of them solo.
About Bluffton: The Tigers have taken 10 straight meetings against Manchester since the Squires’ 2009 win. … Bluffton edged host Northfield 24-20 in last week’s opener. … Cody Middlestedt rushed for 113 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns during the win. Hayden Nern completed 14-of-27 passes for 141 yards, but was picked three times. Kain Thornton hauled in eight catches for 91 yards with a TD.
Manchester coach Greg Miller:
On North Miami — “It’s that tale of two halves. We played pretty well in the first half right up until we made a critical mistake in the red zone when we could’ve gone up by three scores. They went down and scored (to close to 21-14 at halftime), but then we came right out and scored right off the bat in the third quarter. It was a great high school football game, but we made some critical mistakes that hurt us. I can’t fault our effort, though. Our effort was great.”
On Bluffton — “They’re always a solid team. They lost some of their studs from last year, but watching film of them and Northfield, they have some quick athletes and some size. They’ve been in the same system for a while now and Coach (Brent) Kunkel has them rolling. We gotta play our game, and one thing’s for sure, we gotta tackle better. They’re running back’s elusive and a pretty good athlete.”
Northfield (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC)
at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Death Valley.
Series: Valley leads 37-7.
Last meeting: Northfield won 27-7, Sept. 7, 2018.
Last Valley win: 34-32 on Sept. 20, 2013.
John Harrell’s prediction: Valley, 28-14.
About Northfield: Northfield’s won single meetings each of the last five years, that about-face coming on the heels of Valley racking up 17 straight wins over the previous 17 years. … The Norsemen were edged 24-20 in their opener against Bluffton. Dual-threat QB Levi Fulkerson rushed for 119 yards and a TD on 22 keepers in the loss, and added 9-of-15 passing through the air for 115 yards and a score. … Safety Clayton Tomlinson made two of the Northfield defense’s three interceptions.
About Valley: The Vikings play their home opener after falling 24-12 last week at Culver Academy. … Jace Potter led Valley against Culver with 44 yards on 11 carries. He rushed for a touchdown and also had both of his team’s receptions, good for 16 yards. Quarterback Tanner Trippiedi finished 2-of-7 through the air.
Valley coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week’s game — “It was a good test. Culver Military’s a great team, a powerhouse in 4A. A bigger school like that with their speed on the outside was very challenging. Being down (17-0) at half, and one of those coming off a punt-block scoop and score, I thought we played a really good game. We made it 17-12 going into the fourth quarter. We felt confident. Then we had a long ball beat us, but we were in great position. I thought we showed great character. Down 17-0 we could’ve folded up shop, but we fought back against a very good team.”
On desired improvements — “We need to work on special teams and maintaining our blocks on offense.” On Northfield — “They only graduated four players last year, so they’re talented again. They run a very tight offense. It’s one of repetition, some mid-line and veer option, and it’s second nature to them. They’re very disciplined on offense and defense. It’s hard to bluff them.”
Whitko (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC)
at Peru (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Bengal Field.
Series: Peru leads 2-0.
Last meeting: Peru won 35-32, Oct. 14, 2016.
John Harrell’s prediction: Whitko, 35-17.
About Whitko: In its season-opening 26-0 loss at 1A power Churubusco, Whitko could not contain Eagle star running back Jake Fulk. He rushed for 278 yards on 25 carries and scored a touchdown in each quarter. … For the Wildcats, who netted just 15 yards on the ground, quarterbacks Ethan Schuh and Dominick Moseley split time, combining to complete 6-of-15 passes for 67 yards. Ashton Schuh made three catches for 61 yards.
About Peru: The Tigers — coming off an 0-10 season — roared into 2019 with a 48-21 win at Logansport last week, avenging a 62-0 loss in last year’s opener and pulling away after leading 27-21 at halftime … Daunte Majors led Peru with 153 yards on just five carries, including a 79-yard TD. He added two more scores on receptions, including an 86-yarder. Quarterback Michael Chandler threw for four TDs. … The Tigers list just five seniors on their roster.
Whitko coach Phil Jensen:
On Churubusco — “We came out and played hard and played with a lot of enthusiasm against a big, physical, fast team. We got to the 5-yard line with less than a minute to go (in the first half), but couldn’t score. If you go to the half down 12-7, you’re feeling a whole lot better about yourself. Churubusco came out and scored to start the second half to kind of put it away and we lost our composure a little bit. Not that we weren’t trying, but the execution wasn’t there. We’ve got to get over what our history’s been. When you’re down, you still have to play like you’re coached. We lost that a little bit, but not bad.”
On Peru — “What a big win for them (last week). Oh-and-10 last year, then go on the road against their big rival and beat them. Anytime you beat a Mike Johnson team, that’s impressive. They have a couple really fast skill kids (in Majors and Chandler), so we’ll have to play really well with our assignments defensively. They run the jet sweep, then have the quarterback going the other way with the counter.
“Offensively, we’ve got to create something. We went with two quarterbacks last week, two different-type quarterbacks, and we’ll just go with Ethan this week and move Dom out to receiver to create more consistency, try to create an identity. We think it’ll give us a little more balance.”
On personnel — “We had two starters out with concussions last week, might get one back this week, and we had four or five kids we added late who weren’t dressed because they weren’t eligible yet. We should have them all this week.”
Warsaw (1-0 overall)
at Michigan City (1-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Ames Field, Michigan City.
Series: First meeting
John Harrell’s prediction: Michigan City, 45-28.
About Warsaw: The Tigers are coming off a 52-13 season-opening win against Huntington North. Juan Jaramillo rushed for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
About Michigan City: Coach Phil Mason’s Wolves are emerging from a 60-7 triumph against Griffith. Jonathan Flemings ran for 83 yards and four touchdowns.
Warsaw coach Bart Curtis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They’re definitely a top 3 team in 5A and a top 15 team overall. It makes it fun and challenging … They are an explosive team … Defensively, they are extremely aggressive. The strength of their team is the middle of their defense … It is important for us to take really great angles and do not try to do things we are not capable of offensively. We have to weather the storm … They’re too good not to make some plays. … We have some big-play capability as well … We need to be able to adjust to whatever tempo is dictated.”
On injuries — “We’ve got kids with nicks and dings, like every team does.”
On last week — Huntington North played very hard. We played hard most of the time … We flew around the ball … We were able to run the ball a little bit.”
Triton (1-0, 0-0 HNAC)
at LaVille (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Lancer Field, Lakeville.
Series (last 35 years): LaVille, 24-11.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, LaVille 19-0.
Last time Triton won: Aug. 25, 2017, 22-14.
John Harrell’s prediction: LaVille, 35-10.
About Triton: The Trojans edged South Central (Union Mills) 26-24 last week. A missed field-goal attempt at the end of the game preserved the win for Triton.
About LaVille: Coach Will Hostrawser’s Lancers bested Bremen 27-7 in Week 1. Kolby Watts rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Ayden Doyle passed for 65 yards and one TD.
Triton coach Rodney Younis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They are a solid program in every aspect of their game.”
On injuries — “We still have kids out for academic reasons”
On last week — “I loved our start. Our kids came out and were focused. We gave up some yards on defense. But when we needed to, we stood tall. We were really playing together as a team … Offensively, we had a few hiccups here and there. But, for the most part, we were doing our assignments … That was a great teaching tool for us.”
Wawasee (1-0 overall)
at West Noble (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., West Noble High School, Ligonier.
Series: Wawasee, 3-2.
John Harrell’s prediction: West Noble, 17-16.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, West Noble 22-7.
Last time Wawasee won: Aug. 26, 2016, 48-7.
About Wawasee: The Warriors bested Lakeland 28-14 in Week 1. Parker Young rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 106 yards.
About West Noble: Coach Monte Mawhorter’s Chargers topped Central Noble 19-7 to open the season.
Per Wawasee coach Jon Reutebuch:
On Friday’s matchup — “West Noble returns their three most productive (offensive) players (Josh Gross, Brandon Pruitt, Kyle Mawhorter) from last year … They have a lot of new players upfront … It’s kind of a neighborhood brawl. A lot of the kids know each other.”
On injuries — “(Lineman) Ethan Hardy broke his wrist. He’ll be out for this weekend. (Lineman) Justin Castro is still out. We held Dante Landeros out this last game.”
On last week — “This game against Lakeland was the epitome of ‘Warrior Grit.’ We had some injuries. We had a lot of penalites. It’s what they call ‘winning ugly,’ but it’s a win. It’s a positive step for our program and enjoyed not only by the members of the football team, but the community and the student body. It was a big victory for us moving forward.”
Manchester (0-1 overall) at Bluffton (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Park Field.
Series: Bluffton leads 11-4.
Last meeting: Bluffton won 35-0 in sectional first round, Oct. 19, 2018.
Last Manchester win: 46-23 on Aug. 8, 2009.
John Harrell’s prediction: Bluffton, 38-24.
About Manchester: This will be the Squires’ only non-Three Rivers Conference contest of the regular season as the 10-school league goes to a single division and eight TRC games for each team this season. … The Squires led 27-14 in the third quarter of their 41-27 season-opening loss at North Miami, before the Warriors strung together the final 27 points. … Sam Martindale rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries for the Squires. Quarterback Devin Marcum finished 9-of-15 through the air for 192 yards and a TD, but was intercepted twice. Trey Clark caught four passes for 100 yards and a score. Sophomore safety Braxton Ream recorded 10 tackles, four of them solo.
About Bluffton: The Tigers have taken 10 straight meetings against Manchester since the Squires’ 2009 win. … Bluffton edged host Northfield 24-20 in last week’s opener. … Cody Middlestedt rushed for 113 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns during the win. Hayden Nern completed 14-of-27 passes for 141 yards, but was picked three times. Kain Thornton hauled in eight catches for 91 yards with a TD.
Manchester coach Greg Miller:
On North Miami — “It’s that tale of two halves. We played pretty well in the first half right up until we made a critical mistake in the red zone when we could’ve gone up by three scores. They went down and scored (to close to 21-14 at halftime), but then we came right out and scored right off the bat in the third quarter. It was a great high school football game, but we made some critical mistakes that hurt us. I can’t fault our effort, though. Our effort was great.”
On Bluffton — “They’re always a solid team. They lost some of their studs from last year, but watching film of them and Northfield, they have some quick athletes and some size. They’ve been in the same system for a while now and Coach (Brent) Kunkel has them rolling. We gotta play our game, and one thing’s for sure, we gotta tackle better. They’re running back’s elusive and a pretty good athlete.”
Northfield (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC) at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Death Valley.
Series: Valley leads 37-7.
Last meeting: Northfield won 27-7, Sept. 7, 2018.
Last Valley win: 34-32 on Sept. 20, 2013.
John Harrell’s prediction: Valley, 28-14.
About Northfield: Northfield’s won single meetings each of the last five years, that about-face coming on the heels of Valley racking up 17 straight wins over the previous 17 years. … The Norsemen were edged 24-20 in their opener against Bluffton. Dual-threat QB Levi Fulkerson rushed for 119 yards and a TD on 22 keepers in the loss, and added 9-of-15 passing through the air for 115 yards and a score. … Safety Clayton Tomlinson made two of the Northfield defense’s three interceptions.
About Valley: The Vikings play their home opener after falling 24-12 last week at Culver Academy. … Jace Potter led Valley against Culver with 44 yards on 11 carries. He rushed for a touchdown and also had both of his team’s receptions, good for 16 yards. Quarterback Tanner Trippiedi finished 2-of-7 through the air.
Valley coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week’s game — “It was a good test. Culver Military’s a great team, a powerhouse in 4A. A bigger school like that with their speed on the outside was very challenging. Being down (17-0) at half, and one of those coming off a punt-block scoop and score, I thought we played a really good game. We made it 17-12 going into the fourth quarter. We felt confident. Then we had a long ball beat us, but we were in great position. I thought we showed great character. Down 17-0 we could’ve folded up shop, but we fought back against a very good team.”
On desired improvements — “We need to work on special teams and maintaining our blocks on offense.” On Northfield — “They only graduated four players last year, so they’re talented again. They run a very tight offense. It’s one of repetition, some mid-line and veer option, and it’s second nature to them. They’re very disciplined on offense and defense. It’s hard to bluff them.”
Whitko (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC) at Peru (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Bengal Field.
Series: Peru leads 2-0.
Last meeting: Peru won 35-32, Oct. 14, 2016.
John Harrell’s prediction: Whitko, 35-17.
About Whitko: In its season-opening 26-0 loss at 1A power Churubusco, Whitko could not contain Eagle star running back Jake Fulk. He rushed for 278 yards on 25 carries and scored a touchdown in each quarter. … For the Wildcats, who netted just 15 yards on the ground, quarterbacks Ethan Schuh and Dominick Moseley split time, combining to complete 6-of-15 passes for 67 yards. Ashton Schuh made three catches for 61 yards.
About Peru: The Tigers — coming off an 0-10 season — roared into 2019 with a 48-21 win at Logansport last week, avenging a 62-0 loss in last year’s opener and pulling away after leading 27-21 at halftime … Daunte Majors led Peru with 153 yards on just five carries, including a 79-yard TD. He added two more scores on receptions, including an 86-yarder. Quarterback Michael Chandler threw for four TDs. … The Tigers list just five seniors on their roster.
Whitko coach Phil Jensen:
On Churubusco — “We came out and played hard and played with a lot of enthusiasm against a big, physical, fast team. We got to the 5-yard line with less than a minute to go (in the first half), but couldn’t score. If you go to the half down 12-7, you’re feeling a whole lot better about yourself. Churubusco came out and scored to start the second half to kind of put it away and we lost our composure a little bit. Not that we weren’t trying, but the execution wasn’t there. We’ve got to get over what our history’s been. When you’re down, you still have to play like you’re coached. We lost that a little bit, but not bad.”
On Peru — “What a big win for them (last week). Oh-and-10 last year, then go on the road against their big rival and beat them. Anytime you beat a Mike Johnson team, that’s impressive. They have a couple really fast skill kids (in Majors and Chandler), so we’ll have to play really well with our assignments defensively. They run the jet sweep, then have the quarterback going the other way with the counter.
“Offensively, we’ve got to create something. We went with two quarterbacks last week, two different-type quarterbacks, and we’ll just go with Ethan this week and move Dom out to receiver to create more consistency, try to create an identity. We think it’ll give us a little more balance.”
On personnel — “We had two starters out with concussions last week, might get one back this week, and we had four or five kids we added late who weren’t dressed because they weren’t eligible yet. We should have them all this week.”
Warsaw (1-0 overall) at Michigan City (1-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Ames Field, Michigan City.
Series: First meeting
John Harrell’s prediction: Michigan City, 45-28.
About Warsaw: The Tigers are coming off a 52-13 season-opening win against Huntington North. Juan Jaramillo rushed for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
About Michigan City: Coach Phil Mason’s Wolves are emerging from a 60-7 triumph against Griffith. Jonathan Flemings ran for 83 yards and four touchdowns.
Warsaw coach Bart Curtis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They’re definitely a top 3 team in 5A and a top 15 team overall. It makes it fun and challenging … They are an explosive team … Defensively, they are extremely aggressive. The strength of their team is the middle of their defense … It is important for us to take really great angles and do not try to do things we are not capable of offensively. We have to weather the storm … They’re too good not to make some plays. … We have some big-play capability as well … We need to be able to adjust to whatever tempo is dictated.”
On injuries — “We’ve got kids with nicks and dings, like every team does.”
On last week — Huntington North played very hard. We played hard most of the time … We flew around the ball … We were able to run the ball a little bit.”
Triton (1-0, 0-0 HNAC) at LaVille (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Lancer Field, Lakeville.
Series (last 35 years): LaVille, 24-11.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, LaVille 19-0.
Last time Triton won: Aug. 25, 2017, 22-14.
John Harrell’s prediction: LaVille, 35-10.
About Triton: The Trojans edged South Central (Union Mills) 26-24 last week. A missed field-goal attempt at the end of the game preserved the win for Triton.
About LaVille: Coach Will Hostrawser’s Lancers bested Bremen 27-7 in Week 1. Kolby Watts rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Ayden Doyle passed for 65 yards and one TD.
Triton coach Rodney Younis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They are a solid program in every aspect of their game.”
On injuries — “We still have kids out for academic reasons”
On last week — “I loved our start. Our kids came out and were focused. We gave up some yards on defense. But when we needed to, we stood tall. We were really playing together as a team … Offensively, we had a few hiccups here and there. But, for the most part, we were doing our assignments … That was a great teaching tool for us.”
Wawasee (1-0 overall) at West Noble (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., West Noble High School, Ligonier.
Series: Wawasee, 3-2.
John Harrell’s prediction: West Noble, 17-16.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, West Noble 22-7.
Last time Wawasee won: Aug. 26, 2016, 48-7.
About Wawasee: The Warriors bested Lakeland 28-14 in Week 1. Parker Young rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 106 yards.
About West Noble: Coach Monte Mawhorter’s Chargers topped Central Noble 19-7 to open the season.
Wawasee coach Jon Reutebuch:
On Friday’s matchup — “West Noble returns their three most productive (offensive) players (Josh Gross, Brandon Pruitt, Kyle Mawhorter) from last year … They have a lot of new players upfront … It’s kind of a neighborhood brawl. A lot of the kids know each other.”
On injuries — “(Lineman) Ethan Hardy broke his wrist. He’ll be out for this weekend. (Lineman) Justin Castro is still out. We held Dante Landeros out this last game.”
On last week — “This game against Lakeland was the epitome of ‘Warrior Grit.’ We had some injuries. We had a lot of penalites. It’s what they call ‘winning ugly,’ but it’s a win. It’s a positive step for our program and enjoyed not only by the members of the football team, but the community and the student body. It was a big victory for us moving forward.”
Manchester (0-1 overall)
at Bluffton (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Park Field.
Series: Bluffton leads 11-4.
Last meeting: Bluffton won 35-0 in sectional first round, Oct. 19, 2018.
Last Manchester win: 46-23 on Aug. 8, 2009.
John Harrell’s prediction: Bluffton, 38-24.
About Manchester: This will be the Squires’ only non-Three Rivers Conference contest of the regular season as the 10-school league goes to a single division and eight TRC games for each team this season. … The Squires led 27-14 in the third quarter of their 41-27 season-opening loss at North Miami, before the Warriors strung together the final 27 points. … Sam Martindale rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries for the Squires. Quarterback Devin Marcum finished 9-of-15 through the air for 192 yards and a TD, but was intercepted twice. Trey Clark caught four passes for 100 yards and a score. Sophomore safety Braxton Ream recorded 10 tackles, four of them solo.
About Bluffton: The Tigers have taken 10 straight meetings against Manchester since the Squires’ 2009 win. … Bluffton edged host Northfield 24-20 in last week’s opener. … Cody Middlestedt rushed for 113 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns during the win. Hayden Nern completed 14-of-27 passes for 141 yards, but was picked three times. Kain Thornton hauled in eight catches for 91 yards with a TD.
Manchester coach Greg Miller:
On North Miami — “It’s that tale of two halves. We played pretty well in the first half right up until we made a critical mistake in the red zone when we could’ve gone up by three scores. They went down and scored (to close to 21-14 at halftime), but then we came right out and scored right off the bat in the third quarter. It was a great high school football game, but we made some critical mistakes that hurt us. I can’t fault our effort, though. Our effort was great.”
On Bluffton — “They’re always a solid team. They lost some of their studs from last year, but watching film of them and Northfield, they have some quick athletes and some size. They’ve been in the same system for a while now and Coach (Brent) Kunkel has them rolling. We gotta play our game, and one thing’s for sure, we gotta tackle better. They’re running back’s elusive and a pretty good athlete.”
Northfield (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC)
at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Death Valley.
Series: Valley leads 37-7.
Last meeting: Northfield won 27-7, Sept. 7, 2018.
Last Valley win: 34-32 on Sept. 20, 2013.
John Harrell’s prediction: Valley, 28-14.
About Northfield: Northfield’s won single meetings each of the last five years, that about-face coming on the heels of Valley racking up 17 straight wins over the previous 17 years. … The Norsemen were edged 24-20 in their opener against Bluffton. Dual-threat QB Levi Fulkerson rushed for 119 yards and a TD on 22 keepers in the loss, and added 9-of-15 passing through the air for 115 yards and a score. … Safety Clayton Tomlinson made two of the Northfield defense’s three interceptions.
About Valley: The Vikings play their home opener after falling 24-12 last week at Culver Academy. … Jace Potter led Valley against Culver with 44 yards on 11 carries. He rushed for a touchdown and also had both of his team’s receptions, good for 16 yards. Quarterback Tanner Trippiedi finished 2-of-7 through the air.
Valley coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week’s game — “It was a good test. Culver Military’s a great team, a powerhouse in 4A. A bigger school like that with their speed on the outside was very challenging. Being down (17-0) at half, and one of those coming off a punt-block scoop and score, I thought we played a really good game. We made it 17-12 going into the fourth quarter. We felt confident. Then we had a long ball beat us, but we were in great position. I thought we showed great character. Down 17-0 we could’ve folded up shop, but we fought back against a very good team.”
On desired improvements — “We need to work on special teams and maintaining our blocks on offense.” On Northfield — “They only graduated four players last year, so they’re talented again. They run a very tight offense. It’s one of repetition, some mid-line and veer option, and it’s second nature to them. They’re very disciplined on offense and defense. It’s hard to bluff them.”
Whitko (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC)
at Peru (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Bengal Field.
Series: Peru leads 2-0.
Last meeting: Peru won 35-32, Oct. 14, 2016.
John Harrell’s prediction: Whitko, 35-17.
About Whitko: In its season-opening 26-0 loss at 1A power Churubusco, Whitko could not contain Eagle star running back Jake Fulk. He rushed for 278 yards on 25 carries and scored a touchdown in each quarter. … For the Wildcats, who netted just 15 yards on the ground, quarterbacks Ethan Schuh and Dominick Moseley split time, combining to complete 6-of-15 passes for 67 yards. Ashton Schuh made three catches for 61 yards.
About Peru: The Tigers — coming off an 0-10 season — roared into 2019 with a 48-21 win at Logansport last week, avenging a 62-0 loss in last year’s opener and pulling away after leading 27-21 at halftime … Daunte Majors led Peru with 153 yards on just five carries, including a 79-yard TD. He added two more scores on receptions, including an 86-yarder. Quarterback Michael Chandler threw for four TDs. … The Tigers list just five seniors on their roster.
Whitko coach Phil Jensen:
On Churubusco — “We came out and played hard and played with a lot of enthusiasm against a big, physical, fast team. We got to the 5-yard line with less than a minute to go (in the first half), but couldn’t score. If you go to the half down 12-7, you’re feeling a whole lot better about yourself. Churubusco came out and scored to start the second half to kind of put it away and we lost our composure a little bit. Not that we weren’t trying, but the execution wasn’t there. We’ve got to get over what our history’s been. When you’re down, you still have to play like you’re coached. We lost that a little bit, but not bad.”
On Peru — “What a big win for them (last week). Oh-and-10 last year, then go on the road against their big rival and beat them. Anytime you beat a Mike Johnson team, that’s impressive. They have a couple really fast skill kids (in Majors and Chandler), so we’ll have to play really well with our assignments defensively. They run the jet sweep, then have the quarterback going the other way with the counter.
“Offensively, we’ve got to create something. We went with two quarterbacks last week, two different-type quarterbacks, and we’ll just go with Ethan this week and move Dom out to receiver to create more consistency, try to create an identity. We think it’ll give us a little more balance.”
On personnel — “We had two starters out with concussions last week, might get one back this week, and we had four or five kids we added late who weren’t dressed because they weren’t eligible yet. We should have them all this week.”
Warsaw (1-0 overall)
at Michigan City (1-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Ames Field, Michigan City.
Series: First meeting
John Harrell’s prediction: Michigan City, 45-28.
About Warsaw: The Tigers are coming off a 52-13 season-opening win against Huntington North. Juan Jaramillo rushed for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
About Michigan City: Coach Phil Mason’s Wolves are emerging from a 60-7 triumph against Griffith. Jonathan Flemings ran for 83 yards and four touchdowns.
Warsaw coach Bart Curtis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They’re definitely a top 3 team in 5A and a top 15 team overall. It makes it fun and challenging … They are an explosive team … Defensively, they are extremely aggressive. The strength of their team is the middle of their defense … It is important for us to take really great angles and do not try to do things we are not capable of offensively. We have to weather the storm … They’re too good not to make some plays. … We have some big-play capability as well … We need to be able to adjust to whatever tempo is dictated.”
On injuries — “We’ve got kids with nicks and dings, like every team does.”
On last week — Huntington North played very hard. We played hard most of the time … We flew around the ball … We were able to run the ball a little bit.”
Triton (1-0, 0-0 HNAC)
at LaVille (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Lancer Field, Lakeville.
Series (last 35 years): LaVille, 24-11.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, LaVille 19-0.
Last time Triton won: Aug. 25, 2017, 22-14.
John Harrell’s prediction: LaVille, 35-10.
About Triton: The Trojans edged South Central (Union Mills) 26-24 last week. A missed field-goal attempt at the end of the game preserved the win for Triton.
About LaVille: Coach Will Hostrawser’s Lancers bested Bremen 27-7 in Week 1. Kolby Watts rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Ayden Doyle passed for 65 yards and one TD.
Triton coach Rodney Younis:
On Friday’s matchup — “They are a solid program in every aspect of their game.”
On injuries — “We still have kids out for academic reasons”
On last week — “I loved our start. Our kids came out and were focused. We gave up some yards on defense. But when we needed to, we stood tall. We were really playing together as a team … Offensively, we had a few hiccups here and there. But, for the most part, we were doing our assignments … That was a great teaching tool for us.”
Wawasee (1-0 overall)
at West Noble (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., West Noble High School, Ligonier.
Series: Wawasee, 3-2.
John Harrell’s prediction: West Noble, 17-16.
Last meeting: Aug. 24, 2018, West Noble 22-7.
Last time Wawasee won: Aug. 26, 2016, 48-7.
About Wawasee: The Warriors bested Lakeland 28-14 in Week 1. Parker Young rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 106 yards.
About West Noble: Coach Monte Mawhorter’s Chargers topped Central Noble 19-7 to open the season.
Per Wawasee coach Jon Reutebuch:
On Friday’s matchup — “West Noble returns their three most productive (offensive) players (Josh Gross, Brandon Pruitt, Kyle Mawhorter) from last year … They have a lot of new players upfront … It’s kind of a neighborhood brawl. A lot of the kids know each other.”
On injuries — “(Lineman) Ethan Hardy broke his wrist. He’ll be out for this weekend. (Lineman) Justin Castro is still out. We held Dante Landeros out this last game.”
On last week — “This game against Lakeland was the epitome of ‘Warrior Grit.’ We had some injuries. We had a lot of penalites. It’s what they call ‘winning ugly,’ but it’s a win. It’s a positive step for our program and enjoyed not only by the members of the football team, but the community and the student body. It was a big victory for us moving forward.”
Manchester (0-1 overall) at Bluffton (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Park Field.
Series: Bluffton leads 11-4.
Last meeting: Bluffton won 35-0 in sectional first round, Oct. 19, 2018.
Last Manchester win: 46-23 on Aug. 8, 2009.
John Harrell’s prediction: Bluffton, 38-24.
About Manchester: This will be the Squires’ only non-Three Rivers Conference contest of the regular season as the 10-school league goes to a single division and eight TRC games for each team this season. … The Squires led 27-14 in the third quarter of their 41-27 season-opening loss at North Miami, before the Warriors strung together the final 27 points. … Sam Martindale rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries for the Squires. Quarterback Devin Marcum finished 9-of-15 through the air for 192 yards and a TD, but was intercepted twice. Trey Clark caught four passes for 100 yards and a score. Sophomore safety Braxton Ream recorded 10 tackles, four of them solo.
About Bluffton: The Tigers have taken 10 straight meetings against Manchester since the Squires’ 2009 win. … Bluffton edged host Northfield 24-20 in last week’s opener. … Cody Middlestedt rushed for 113 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns during the win. Hayden Nern completed 14-of-27 passes for 141 yards, but was picked three times. Kain Thornton hauled in eight catches for 91 yards with a TD.
Manchester coach Greg Miller:
On North Miami — “It’s that tale of two halves. We played pretty well in the first half right up until we made a critical mistake in the red zone when we could’ve gone up by three scores. They went down and scored (to close to 21-14 at halftime), but then we came right out and scored right off the bat in the third quarter. It was a great high school football game, but we made some critical mistakes that hurt us. I can’t fault our effort, though. Our effort was great.”
On Bluffton — “They’re always a solid team. They lost some of their studs from last year, but watching film of them and Northfield, they have some quick athletes and some size. They’ve been in the same system for a while now and Coach (Brent) Kunkel has them rolling. We gotta play our game, and one thing’s for sure, we gotta tackle better. They’re running back’s elusive and a pretty good athlete.”
Northfield (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC) at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Death Valley.
Series: Valley leads 37-7.
Last meeting: Northfield won 27-7, Sept. 7, 2018.
Last Valley win: 34-32 on Sept. 20, 2013.
John Harrell’s prediction: Valley, 28-14.
About Northfield: Northfield’s won single meetings each of the last five years, that about-face coming on the heels of Valley racking up 17 straight wins over the previous 17 years. … The Norsemen were edged 24-20 in their opener against Bluffton. Dual-threat QB Levi Fulkerson rushed for 119 yards and a TD on 22 keepers in the loss, and added 9-of-15 passing through the air for 115 yards and a score. … Safety Clayton Tomlinson made two of the Northfield defense’s three interceptions.
About Valley: The Vikings play their home opener after falling 24-12 last week at Culver Academy. … Jace Potter led Valley against Culver with 44 yards on 11 carries. He rushed for a touchdown and also had both of his team’s receptions, good for 16 yards. Quarterback Tanner Trippiedi finished 2-of-7 through the air.
Valley coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week’s game — “It was a good test. Culver Military’s a great team, a powerhouse in 4A. A bigger school like that with their speed on the outside was very challenging. Being down (17-0) at half, and one of those coming off a punt-block scoop and score, I thought we played a really good game. We made it 17-12 going into the fourth quarter. We felt confident. Then we had a long ball beat us, but we were in great position. I thought we showed great character. Down 17-0 we could’ve folded up shop, but we fought back against a very good team.”
On desired improvements — “We need to work on special teams and maintaining our blocks on offense.” On Northfield — “They only graduated four players last year, so they’re talented again. They run a very tight offense. It’s one of repetition, some mid-line and veer option, and it’s second nature to them. They’re very disciplined on offense and defense. It’s hard to bluff them.”
Whitko (0-1 overall, 0-0 TRC) at Peru (1-0, 0-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m, Bengal Field.
Series: Peru leads 2-0.
Last meeting: Peru won 35-32, Oct. 14, 2016.
John Harrell’s prediction: Whitko, 35-17.
About Whitko: In its season-opening 26-0 loss at 1A power Churubusco, Whitko could not contain Eagle star running back Jake Fulk. He rushed for 278 yards on 25 carries and scored a touchdown in each quarter. … For the Wildcats, who netted just 15 yards on the ground, quarterbacks Ethan Schuh and Dominick Moseley split time, combining to complete 6-of-15 passes for 67 yards. Ashton Schuh made three catches for 61 yards.
About Peru: The Tigers — coming off an 0-10 season — roared into 2019 with a 48-21 win at Logansport last week, avenging a 62-0 loss in last year’s opener and pulling away after leading 27-21 at halftime … Daunte Majors led Peru with 153 yards on just five carries, including a 79-yard TD. He added two more scores on receptions, including an 86-yarder. Quarterback Michael Chandler threw for four TDs. … The Tigers list just five seniors on their roster.
Whitko coach Phil Jensen:
On Churubusco — “We came out and played hard and played with a lot of enthusiasm against a big, physical, fast team. We got to the 5-yard line with less than a minute to go (in the first half), but couldn’t score. If you go to the half down 12-7, you’re feeling a whole lot better about yourself. Churubusco came out and scored to start the second half to kind of put it away and we lost our composure a little bit. Not that we weren’t trying, but the execution wasn’t there. We’ve got to get over what our history’s been. When you’re down, you still have to play like you’re coached. We lost that a little bit, but not bad.”
On Peru — “What a big win for them (last week). Oh-and-10 last year, then go on the road against their big rival and beat them. Anytime you beat a Mike Johnson team, that’s impressive. They have a couple really fast skill kids (in Majors and Chandler), so we’ll have to play really well with our assignments defensively. They run the jet sweep, then have the quarterback going the other way with the counter.
“Offensively, we’ve got to create something. We went with two quarterbacks last week, two different-type quarterbacks, and we’ll just go with Ethan this week and move Dom out to receiver to create more consistency, try to create an identity. We think it’ll give us a little more balance.”
On personnel — “We had two starters out with concussions last week, might get one back this week, and we had four or five kids we added late who weren’t dressed because they weren’t eligible yet. We should have them all this week.”