Warsaw (4-3, 3-2 NLC) at NorthWood (3-4, 2-3 NLC)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Andrews Field, Nappanee.
Series (last 35 years): NorthWood, 23-12.
John Harrell’s prediction: Warsaw, 28-21.
Last meeting: Sept. 15, 2023, Warsaw, 45-21.
About NorthWood — Nate Andrews’ Panthers lost 14-10 at Plymouth in Week 7 … NorthWood’s points came on a 58-yard run by Hayden Lechlitner and Dominic DeFreitas extra point in the second quarter and a 33-yard field goal by DeFreitas in the third quarter … Landon Perry ran 22 times for 88 yards and completed 3-of-7 passes for 46 yards … DeFreitas booted a state-record 62-yard field goal in Week 6 against Concord … On the season, Micah Jarrell leads the team in passing (61-of-90 for 709 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions) and rushing (51 carries for 278 yards and three TDs). Perry (54 carries for 273 yards and three TD’s) and Jeffrey Eash (43 carries for 217 yards and two TD’s) are close behind … Deondray Monroe (30 catches for 406 yards and seven TD’s) and Perry (24 catches for 306 yards and three TD’s) are the top receivers … Total tackle leaders are Austin King (47), Kent Miller (43) and Brady King (42) … The Panthers score 23.1 points per game and give up 19.6.
About Warsaw — Bart Curtis’ 5A AP No. 11/IFCA vote-getting Tigers won 21-13 against visiting 4A AP No. 4/IFCA No. 4 Mishawaka in Week 7.
A 4-yard TD pass to Ethan Egolf from Quinton Brock plus Mason Smythe extra point put the Tigers up 21-13 with 2:50 to play. Mishawaka led 10-7 at halftime. Warsaw was ahead 14-13 at the end of the third quarter.
Paced by Brock (13 carries for 137 yards), Brody Duncan (22 totes for 67 yards), Tucker Reed (three runs for 38 yards and one 27-yard TD) and Evan Davis (two carries for 12 yards and one 6-yard TD), Warsaw gained 254 yards on 41 rushes … Each team had two turnovers … Mishawaka punted twice after punting two times in the season’s first six games … The Tigers are 3-3 against NorthWood since NWHS graduate Curtis arrived at Warsaw for the 2018 season … On the season, rushing leaders are Brock (45 carries for 531 yards and six TD’s), Drew Sullivan (72 carries for 295 yards and five TD’s) and Davis (13 carries for 101 yards and two TD’s … Sullivan is 11-of-26 passing for 203 yards and four TD’s with two interceptions and Brock is 5-of-12 for 54 yards and two TD’s … Egolf has 11 receptions for 163 yards and two TD’s … Tackle point leaders are Daylor Vilamaa (70), Gavin Schultz (54), Tristan Wilson (52), Jayden Habegger (49) and Cohen Ready (41) … Kicker Mason Smythe is 25-of-27 on extra points, 2-of-2 on field goals and has 24 touchdowns in 37 kickoffs … In third down conversions, the Tigers are 30-of-61 and opponents 0-of-17 … Warsaw scores 29.8 points per game and yields 18.3 … In this week’s rankings, Warsaw is AP No. 11 and IFCA No. 10 in 5A. Mishawaka is AP No. 6 and IFCA No. 6 in 4A.
Per Coach Bart Curtis:
On NorthWood — They are dangerous. (Nate Andrews) is going to have them ready to go. They’re a well-coached outfit and their kids play really hard … Perry is like a single-wing tailback. He can choose his holes and his gaps really well. We’re going to fit our gaps really well and make sure don’t do a bunch of crop circles and chase the ball from the back side. We’re going to have to execute and don’t turn the ball over. I’m sure they’re thinking the game thing.
Stayin’ alive — Everyone can hold off on that last shovel of dirt on the Tiger casket … We care what goes on in the locker room and our football circle. We know the hearts of these kids and they responded really well. As hard as they played (against Mishawaka) had it not gone our way and we had not come out on top, I would be just as proud.
Mishawaka game — It was a hard-hitting collision event Friday night with two teams who were similar in nature. Both teams made some big plays. Both teams made some mistakes. We were fortunate enough to make a couple plays more at key times. That was really the difference in the game. Other than that it was an even match … I was super proud that our kids handle hard better than they have the last five quarters.

Glenn (1-5, 0-4 INSC) at Tippecanoe Valley (5-2, 1-2)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Smith-Bibler Memorial Field, Akron.
Series: Valley leads 1-0.
Last meeting: Valley won 37-14 on Oct. 7, 2023.
John Harrell’s prediction: Valley, 28-14.
About Glenn: The Falcons’ record is a bit deceiving in that they’ve been competitive in every outing but one. Of particular note from a Valley-related perspective is a comparison regarding common opponents. Glenn’s lost 22-14 to Jimtown, 26-7 at Knox and 17-7 at LaVille, while the Vikings lost 14-0 at Jimtown and 26-3 at Knox besides beating LaVille 32-21. Thus, the Falcons own the better result against two of those three foes. … Glenn comes in on a five-game losing streak, the program’s longest skid in six years. In last week’s 17-7 loss at LaVille, Brody King’s 85-yard kickoff return for a score helped the Falcons draw even at 7-7 in the opening quarter, but the Lancers shut out their guests the rest of the way. Austin Pranger had an interception for Glenn, but standout junior running back Blake Wright suffered a serious leg injury in the second quarter and never returned.
About Valley: The Vikings, after four consecutive road games, are finally back in Death Valley for their regular-season home finale. Those four straight road contests mark the program’s most since at least the early 1990s. … In last week’s 31-14 win at Western, fullback Brock Derf starred with 118 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries. Wyatt Hart and Grady Moriarty added another 163 combined ground yards, while quarterback Hunter Stage finished 4-of-4 throwing for 75 yards and a TD to fellow sophomore Owen Omondi. … Wes Parker, the Vikings’ leader in rushing yardage on the season at 78 per game, is expected to play Friday, per coach Steve Moriarty, after missing last week due to an injury suffered in the first half of Week 6 at Jimtown. … Valley, which closes its regular season next week at Bremen, is seeking to improve to 9-0 at home over the last two years and win its 21st straight regular-season home game since September 2020.
Valley coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week — “I thought we played better. We still had a couple turnovers — that’s too many — and some penalties, but defensively, we only gave up one touchdown (the other TD was on a kickoff return), so we were OK there. I thought we passed well, which is something we’ve been working on.”
On being back home — “We’re ready to be home. It feels like, I don’t know how long. Traveling is always different. You have to prepare a little differently. Last week after an hour and a half on the bus getting there, we were a little stiff and sore, so it’s going to be good to be home.”
On Glenn — “They’re good. They have a huge offensive line and a quarterback (junior Brayden Benwell) who runs well. They’re aggressive defensively and their middle linebacker, (senior Eli) Beeney, he’s a really good, tough player.”

Concord (7-0, 5-0 NLC) at Wawasee (1-6, 1-4 NLC)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Warrior Stadium, Syracuse.
Series (last 35 years): Concord, 37-4.
John Harrell’s prediction: Concord, 45-10.
Last meeting: Sept. 15, 2023, Concord, 52-0.
About Concord — Craig Koehler’s 5A AP No. 1/IFCA No. 1 Minutemen won 49-0 against visiting Goshen in Week 7 … It was 49-0 at halftime. Scoring TD’s were Jamar Moton (5-, 9- and 6-yard runs), Jaron Thomas (15- and 35-yard runs), Will Danner (68-yard kickoff return) and Jack Jewett (24-yard pass from Bo Brunner … On the season, Brunner is 82-of-113 passing for 1,036 yards and 12 TD’s with three interceptions … Thomas (127 carries for 931 yards and 10 TD’s), Char’rese Breveard (27 carries for 175 yards and two TD’s) and Brunner (28 totes for 131 yards and two TD’s) pace the team in rushing … Leading pass catchers are Breveard (38 for 467 yards and four TD’s), Jewett (14 for 259 yards and three TD’s), Derek Gomez (15 for 153 yards and four TD’s) … Total tackle leaders are Thomas (87), Milo Martinez (73) and Gomez (48) … Concord has won 22 straight against Wawasee — the last loss being in the 2004 postseason when the Warriors went on to be 4A state runners-up … The Minutemen score 33.6 points per game with opponents averaging 18.9 … In this week’s rankings, Concord is AP No. 1 and IFCA No. 1 in 5A.
About Wawasee — Matt Thacker’s Warriors lost 44-15 at Northridge in Week 7 … Wawasee got a second-quarter safety when Northridge was called for holding in the end zone. Dallas Miller caught a 66-yard TD pass from Cameron Senter and the conversion failed in the third quarter and Benjamin Brace ran 2 yards and the conversion as no good in the fourth quarter … The Warriors gained 68 net ground yards on 33 carries (including 12 for 66 by Brace) … The Warriors have an offensive average of 11.0 and 40.7 given up on defense.
Per Coach Matt Thacker:
On Concord — Concord’s very impressive. They’ve got dudes. They’ve had success against everyone they’ve played. We’ve got to go out and compete and get better. We’ve got to just keep working on what we’re trying to get accomplished here.
Progress — We were able to move the ball at times (against Northridge) ... There were no turnovers. We didn’t throw a pick. We didn’t fumble a pitch … That’s progress.
Northridge game — Northridge was the best 1-5 team in the state. They’ve played a very competitive schedule so far. We knew we had our hands full.

Manchester (4-3, 4-2 TRC) at Lewis Cass (3-4, 3-3 TRC)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Owens Stadium, Walton
Series: Cass 3-1
John Harrell’s prediction: Cass 31-28
Last meeting: Oct. 6, 2023, Cass 38-7
About Manchester: The Squires won their third straight game last Friday for the first time since the 2021 season, defeating Whitko 35-14 in the team’s home finale which doubled as Senior Night. Quarterback Dallas Martin threw the first two touchdowns of his career in the win, both of them going to Eli Metzger. Metzger caught all three of Martin’s completions, ending with 57 yard receiving. Reiss Gaerte had a huge game as well, rushing for 108 yards on just eight carries with a long of 47 yards and two scores. Maddux Greer added 48 yards on the ground. Caden Young had an interception on defense while Bryson Enyeart added a sack. The team totaled 19 first downs in the game and held possession for 29 minutes. Manchester is 4-2 in the Three Rivers Conference, good enough for 4th place. The team hasn’t finished in the top four of the conference since the 2017 season.
About Lewis Cass: The Kings were defeated by TRC co-leader Maconaquah last Friday night, falling 42-21 at home. Cass led 7-0 after the first quarter before 35 unanswered points by the Braves. Trevor Rowe was the bellcow for the team in the loss, carrying the ball 26 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Griffin Wolf threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kolten Young to round out the scoring. Gavin Smith added 65 yards on the ground, while Jonathan Mack had 47. Like the Squires, Cass is 2-2 against common opponents this season. Unlike Manchester, who has faced opponents with a combined 21-28 record, Cass has faced juggernaut of a schedule, with opponents boasting a 30-19 record.
Manchester head coach Brian Enyeart:
On last week - I think everything is starting to come together. We’re getting to our areas where we need to block and it’s opening up a ton of running lanes. We’ve got the same group of kids running the offense the last couple of weeks. The effort was really good, kind of let up a little bit but responded when we needed to.
On Martin’s improvement - Dallas has gotten a lot more comfortable back there which helps us operate the offense a lot better. We’re spending a lot of extra time with him on his footwork, drop backs and proper pitch placement. He’s embracing it, and it’s a lot to handle for a kid but he’s up for the challenge. I can’t ask for much more out of him.
On Lewis Cass - They’re a 3-4 team but they’re a talented 3-4 team. We have to execute on offense on every play. No negative yard plays and no turnovers. We need to go on long drives that end in touchdowns. We’re going up an offense that these kids have run since they were born. They know how to execute so we will have to as well. If we can do that over and over,we’ll be in a good spot.

Northfield (2-5, 2-4 TRC) at Whitko (0-7, 0-6)
When: Friday: 7 p.m., Huff Stadium, South Whitley.
Series: Whitko leads 31-14.
Last meeting: Northfield won 33-0 on Oct. 6, 2023.
Last Whitko win: 19-7, Oct. 9, 2015.
John Harrell’s prediction: Northfield, 38-21.
About Northfield: The Norsemen are averaging 218 ground yards per game and have tallied 18 rushing touchdowns to compensate for shaky passing. Junior Jake Perney, splitting time at multiple positions, leads the way at 354 rushing yards, a 7.2 average and six TDs. Four other individuals are at 184 to 336 yards apiece. Through the air, conversely, three QBs have combined to complete just 25-of-67 passes for 322 yards and one touchdown against nine interceptions. Perney has 11 catches for 127 yards and that one score. … Defensively, senior standout Kameron Pratt leads the way, nabbing four interceptions and figuring in 90 tackles. … Northfield’s two wins are 35-34 over Southwood (0-7) in Week 4 and 49-12 at Wabash (1-6) in Week 6. … The Norsemen have taken six straight meetings against Whitko, all by at least 22 points, since the ultimately 6-6 Wildcats’ ironic 2015 win over an ultimately 12-2 Northfield club. Those Norsemen won what remains the program’s lone sectional and regional titles.
About Whitko: The Wildcats play their regular-season home finale looking to snap a Huff Stadium losing streak that’s reached 17. The Cats’ last home win is 21-14 over North Miami in September 2021. … Whitko battled to easily its closest full-game loss of the season in last week’s 35-14 decision at Manchester (the Cats fell 27-6 to Peru in Week 2, though that contest went less than a half before being halted by weather and not resumed). … Trevor Freel caught a pair of passes for 54 yards and a touchdown against the Squires, while freshman tailback Hunter Long rushed for 50 yards and Whitko’s other TD. … The Cats expect to regain two players Friday who could particularly help on defense in Lincoln Koser and fellow junior Ryan Campbell. Koser’s been out due to injury since Week 2 and Campbell all season. … Whitko and Northfield have four foes in common. The Cats lost 49-12 to Rochester, 62-0 to Maconaquah, 49-6 to Cass and 35-14 to Manchester, while the Norsemen’s losses against those clubs are 42-7 against Rochester (last week), 42-6 to Maconaquah, 22-19 to Cass and 20-14 in overtime to Manchester.
Whitko coach Brad Sprunger:
On last week — “I felt like the second half, we played really well. The second quarter, we didn’t play so well. We’re still trying to figure that out. It’s our problem quarter a lot. Other than that, I thought it was one of the best defensive games we’ve played. We’ve been giving up about 430 (yards) and gave up 283.”
On individual highlights — “Hunter Long really stepped up. He had an amazing 45-yard run for a touchdown where he outsprinted them and refused to get caught, because he said he didn’t want razzing from his teammates. Then a couple times our outside linebackers came so hard and fast that they might’ve gotten the ball if they saw the pitch (the team’s backers include Freel, Long, Landon Smith and Isaac Irwin).”
On Northfield — “We’re gonna see the same offense and defense we saw last week. It’s a hard concept sometimes for the kids to think about having responsibility for a (specific) guy in the triple option; they just want to go find the ball and hit, but you can’t be a superhero and try to do somebody’s else’s responsibility. Last week was one of our better games in that respect.”

Pioneer (6-1, 5-0 HNAC) at Triton (5-2, 4-1 HNAC)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Trojan Field, Bourbon.
Series (last 30 years): Pioneer, 8-3.
John Harrell’s prediction: Pioneer, 28-24.
Last meeting: Sept. 22, 2023, Triton, 27-16.
About Pioneer — Adam Berry’s 5A AP No. 8/IFCA No. 8 Panthers won 45-20 against visiting Culver Community in Week 7 … Pioneer outgained the Cavaliers 419-195 in total yards. Micah Rans rushed for 180 yards and and TD and passing for 87 yards and one TD … Shiloh Rine ran for 115 yards and TD’s … Noah Van Meter scored three TD’s — two rushing and one receiving … For the season, Rans (98 carries for 769 yards and 16 TD’s), Van Meter (71 carries for 663 yards and eight TD’s) and Rine (16 carries for 256 yards and three TD’s) are top rushers … Rans is 17-of-32 passing for 218 yards and four TD’s … Van Meter has four catches for 83 yards and two TD’s … Total tackle leaders are Eli Guffey (64), Van Meter (51) and Juan Solano (39) … Pioneer’s lone loss came in Week 2 at 3A Knox (57-6) … The Panthers score 38.4 points per game and allow 16.7 … In this week’s rankings, Pioneer is AP No. 8 and IFCA No. 8 in 1A.
About Triton — Zach Whittaker’s 1A AP No. 9/IFCA No. 10 Trojans won 42-0 at Caston in Week 7. Triton led 21-0 after one quarter and 42-0 at halftime.
It was the second shutout of 2024 … Of Triton’s 150 rushing yards, leaders were Vinnie Prater (six carries for 56 yards and one 17-yard TD), Ryder Gayheart (five carries for 51 yards), Jayden Overmyer (seven carries for 29 yards and one 4-yard TD), Dante’ Workman (on carry for 11 yards) and Ben McFarland (three carries for 10 yards and one 1-yard TD) … McFarland competed 3-of-3 passes for 156 yards and two TD passes to Workman (30 and 60 yards) … Total tackle leaders were Prater (7), Colton Reynolds (7) and Gavin Riffle (7) … Triton has a three-game win streak against Pioneer — two wins in 2022 and one in 2023 … The Trojans score 28.1 points per game and yield 12.4 … In this week’s rankings, Triton is AP No. 10 and IFCA No. 10 in 1A.
Per AD and former head coach Rodney Younis (Zach Whittaker unavailable):
On Pioneer — They are traditionally a strong team. They have a good quarterback and that offense runs through him. Defensively, they play fast and fly to the football.
Lineup change — The injury bug has hit us and there’s been change on the line and there’s been growing pains. Wayne Reichert is a senior and team player that’s moved from tight end to guard.
Caston game — We had a good start. Our kids came out with a lot of energy. We clicked on offense.