Tippecanoe Valley opens its high school football season Friday night by visiting Wawasee, yet it feels like the Vikings have already secured one major win simply by virtue of the intriguing and challenging schedule they’ve managed to cobble together.
“That was Sam. He really worked his rear off on that,” Valley coach Steve Moriarty said this week of the itinerary that athletic director Sam Sturtevant was able to construct in relatively short order following the Vikings’ contentious exit from the Three Rivers Conference last spring.
“I was excited and a little surprised at how many (strong opponents were lined up),” Moriarty acknowledged, “and that we got five home games and knew all our games before the last school year was out. It also helps our program that we’re guaranteed a JV game every week.”
Valley formally shared on March 31 that it was intending to end its nearly 50-year affiliation with the TRC, effective at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, so that it could join a newly forming league with Bremen, Glenn, Jimtown, Knox and LaVille.
At the time, the school requested that 2022-23 count as year one of a two-year exit notification under league bylaws and ’23-24 as year two.
The TRC responded by giving Valley three options: remain in the league for two more full school years through ’24-25; pay $1,000 to each of the nine remaining schools to facilitate an exit after ’23-24; or be voted out effective at the end of the ’22-23 school year.
Valley defaulted to that last choice and was voted out 8-0-1, triggering a scramble for its sports teams to schedule new opponents. Football was slammed hardest given that eight of its nine games this year were going to be league contests.
Sturtevant was able to fill every week, including, much to Moriarty’s delight, holding on to the storied Bell trophy rivalry game against TRC member Rochester, set for Week 2 on the road.
The schedule is spiced by four first-ever meetings for the Vikings — visits to Glenn and powerhouse West Lafayette in addition to hosting Twin Lakes and Tipton. Home games with Culver Academy, Jimtown and Bremen were added as well.
All those opponents own notable football histories.
Each school on Valley’s schedule ranges from Class 2A to 4A, too, no more than one spot removed from the Vikings’ 3A.
“This year’s going to be geared toward using every game to get ready for postseason,” Moriarty said of the fact TV won’t have a conference title to chase for the first time since its 1975 maiden season.
Valley, after tying Rochester and Southwood for the TRC crown last fall at 7-1, begins its isolated season as an independent on the heels of a 9-2 record overall.
Four of last season’s seven All-TRC picks are back in Dalton Alber, Landon Durkes, Wade Jones and Nate Parker. Each is a projected two-way starter, among seven two-ways overall.
On offense, just four full-time starters return, but they’re playmakers in Parker at tailback, Jones at wing/receiver, Durkes at tight end and Cody Eastgate at quarterback, each a senior.
Parker, as the Vikings’ featured back last fall, rushed for 1,375 yards and 24 touchdowns on 196 carries (7.0 average). Jones and Durkes were the team’s top two receivers, combining for 40 catches, 633 yards and seven TDs, with Jones picking up another 448 yards and seven scores on the ground off just 26 carries (17.2 average).
The efficient Eastgate, an All-TRC honorable mention pick, completed 62-of-85 passes for 1,032 yards and 10 TDs against four interceptions.
“He really worked hard in the offseason on his craft,” Moriarty said. “He’s gone to a lot of camps. He’s doing a good job reading his progressions and finding his targets.”
Junior Brock Derf, keyed by his blocking ability, gets first crack at fullback on a team returning several tested ball carriers and capable targets, while doing the blocking up front will be an entirely new starting group in senior Issiac Ramsey at center, Alber and junior Asher McGriff at guard, and seniors Phil Smith and Cameron Mason at tackle.
Over on the other side of the ball, “this will be one of the better defensive units I’ve coached,” predicted Moriarty, who begins his seventh season with a 41-24 record, including 19-3 over the last two years. “They’ve got great speed and they’re aggressive, so it’ll come down to smarts.”
Jones, who intercepted a staggering 11 passes as a sophomore in 2021 and earned a 3A junior all-state nod last fall, is back at safety, joined by Parker, who was third in tackles last fall with 42 and tops in that category among returnees.
Trent Marshall (34 tackles) is a returning starter at cornerback, with fellow senior Cody Black penciled at the other corner.
Durkes, a returning starter at linebacker who is coming off six tackles for loss and three interceptions in 2022, will be joined on that unit by Derf in the middle and sophomore Grady Moriarty at the will.
Up front, Alber and senior Kyler Johnson are both returning starters, with Mason and Smith slated to accompany them. Alber led Valley in sacks last year with seven and was second in other tackles for loss with nine.
Gage Overbey, 40-of-45 on extra points as a freshman last fall, is back at kicker, while Jones resumes punting chores after averaging 35.3 yards.