Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Fort Wayne Northrop (0-0) at Warsaw (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Fisher Field, Warsaw.
Series (last 40 years): Warsaw, 4-2.
Last meeting: Oct. 25, 2013, Warsaw, 40-20 (sectional).
About Northrop: Coach John Schaefer’s 6A Bruins did not play in Week 1 due to a cancellation by Gary West Side … In 2025, Kobe Reese gained 467 yards with seven touchdowns and Levi Portee picked up 375 yards and seven TD’s … Maddox Weil had 968 receiving yards with eight TD’s.
About Warsaw: Coach Bart Curtis’ 5A Indiana Football Coaches Association No. 5 Tigers downed visiting Fort Wayne Snider 33-30 in Week 1 … In winning the program’s 12th straight season opener, Warsaw scored the winning points on a 95-yard run on a counter play to the weak side by halfback Wyatt Harman and conversion run by quarterback Brady Sauer at 2:19 of the fourth quarter … The Tigers trailed 17-12 at halftime and 30-18 heading into the final period where the outscored the Panthers 15-0 … Warsaw gained 478 yards rushing including 257 on 13 carries and three TD’s from halfback Tucker Reed, 104 yards on two carries from Harman and 81 yards on 12 carries from Sauer … Snider gained 238 yards rushing and 218 passing … The Tigers were penalized nine times for 80 yards … Total tackle points leaders were Matthew Flores-Ortega (20), Nathan Villa (14), Jack Bradford (10), Ty Martin (10), Mark Haynes (8), Jaxon Hershberger (7) and Jacob Stoffer (7).
Per Coach Bart Curtis:
On Northrop — They are hyper-talented and hyper-athletic … I believe they have five or six kids that have gotten offers for big-time schools … Their D-line is aggressive and active. They will make us look foolish when they have the ball in their hands if we don't tackle better and take better angles in the open field. They're that talented.
Observations — We handled the situation of being down 12 (to Fort Wayne Snider) in the fourth quarter pretty well … We’re down 30-18 late in the third quarter and had a chance to pull within one score. We had two snaps from the 1 and did not get the ball in the end zone. so that’s concerning … We need to do a better job of blocking and getting off blocks. Being able to run our base offense is something we're going to need to do, and it's concerning … Late in the game, we were able to get the fullback established a little bit … The pleasant surprise is we’ve got a couple of fast halfbacks (in Reed and Harman).
On Fort Wayne Snider game — It was an exciting atmosphere with a great crowd and I’m grateful that we were able to pull out the win … We played very opportunistic defense late in the game. We were able to stuff them. We forced them to punt twice and then on the last drive of the game they turned it over on downs … We struggled for three quarters defensively.
Rochester (1-0) at Tippecanoe Valley (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Smith-Bibler Memorial Field, Akron
Series: Tippecanoe Valley 24-18
Last Outing: Rochester defeated Southwood 46-0, Tippecanoe Valley defeated Plymouth 22-14
Last Meeting: Aug. 29, 2025, Tippecanoe Valley 7-2
About Rochester: It will be the first Bell Game for Zebra head coach Isaac Shaffer, who picked up a 46-0 win over Three Rivers Conference foe Southwood in last week’s season opener, which doubled as his debut. Rochester has been on the wrong end of this rivalry for some time now, with the team’s last victory over the Vikings coming in 2017. Outside of that series though, the Zebras have put together some very good seasons in recent years, winning seven games or more in each season since 2022. Last week’s win over the Knights saw Rochester run for over 300 yards and five scores, with a jaw-dropping 12 players carrying the ball. Quarterback Mitchell Clark also passed for 59 yards and a touchdown.
About Valley: The Vikings will look to hold on to the Bell for an eighth straight year after narrowly keeping it with last year’s 7-2 win. It was the first victory in the streak over the Zebras to come by less than one touchdown since the one that started it in 2018 (13-7). Head coach Steve Moriarty is 7-1 against Rochester in his career. The seven straight wins in the series is the longest streak by either team. Last week, his crew took care of business against 4A Plymouth, handling the Rockies with a 22-14 victory. Like this week’s opponent, the Vikings had a field day rushing, compiling 298 yards and four touchdowns. Six players ran the ball, with quarterback Hunter Randall getting a bulk of the carries (17). He finished with 46 yards and a score. Passing, he completed just two of seven tries for 27 yards. Owen Omondi carried the ball nine times, making the most of it with two touchdowns to go with 146 yards. The senior also made nine tackles on defense and came up with an interception.
Valley head coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week - I thought we did a good job of stopping the run, which is one of the main things I was concerned about. I think our defensive front did very well and thought our linebackers did a good job coming over the top. Overall I was pleased, I think we definitely need to cut down on the penalties.
On overcoming inexperience - The penalties were definitely one of the more frustrating things about last week, but when we look back, we had a lot of brand new guys on the field. So something like that can definitely be a learning experience. I think after this, we’ll be alright.
On the Bell Game - I think we have to go into this game looking to win it, not trying not to lose it. We have to stay aggressive, and we have to take care of the football. I think this is a game that could come down to special teams. Both of us go for a lot of two-point conversions. Our defense will need to read their assignments and stay sharp, and hopefully we’ll pull it out.
West Noble (0-1) at Wawasee (0-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Warrior Stadium, Syracuse.
Series (last 40 years): West Noble, 8-4.
Last meeting: Aug. 29, 2025, West Noble, 35-19.
About West Noble: Coach Monte Mawhorter’s 3A Chargers lost 62-32 to visiting Northridge in Week 1 … Jackson Christlieb was 16-of-22 passing for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception … Brody Mast caught three passes for 69 yards and Xy’mire Barnes-Bridge five for 64 yards with one TD … Christlieb rushed for 100 yards and 20 carries and two TD’s and Barnes-Bridge had 49 yards on the ground with 11 carries with one TD … Total tackle leaders were Ethan Yates (9), Caleb Saggars (8) and Spencer Miller (6) … Brogan Parks recovered one fumble.
About Wawasee: Coach Mark Osmialowski’s 4A Warriors lost 41-21 at Jimtown in Week 1 … Johnny Zachary was 6-of-14 passing for 121 yards, one TD and two interceptions … Kaden Andrew caught three passes for 69 yards and one TD and rushed six times for 48 yards and one TD … J’Ceon Evans ran for 38 yards on seven totes and Mason McKibben 31 on eight … Zachary had a 5-yard TD run … Total tackle leaders were McKibben (15), Jaxon Brown (11), Westen Haab (9) and Luke Lehman (6) … Jaylen Lowery recovered two fumbles …
Per Coach Mark Osmialowski:
On West Noble — They have a lot of big-play ability. They have a quarterback (in Christlieb) that can throw it long. They have a couple running backs that are pretty good out in space ... We’ve got to be able to force them to run the ball up inside and take away their outside passing game. Offensively, we’ve got to protect the football. We’ve got to be able to convert third downs. We’ve got to be able to maintain drives. If we can do that, I think we'll be in a really good spot.
Observations — We played a whole 48 minutes (in Week 1). We did not let up. I was very proud of that. But we’ve got to be able to start stacking and winning each play. We know we can't go and win two plays, and then give up a play. We’ve got to be able to put together plays consistently on offense and defense … On first and second down, we were playing pretty well, and then on third down, we either jumped offsides or we gave up a first down.
On Jimtown game — We made plenty of mistakes. The good news is it's all fixable mistakes. We can't jump off sites eight times. We can’t turn the ball all over four times … In the third quarter, we only had five plays because we had two drives where we turned it over on the first play. That’s just hard to battle back from. In the fourth quarter, we were able to start putting drives together … If we can mitigate those mistakes, then we're in a much better position … If we can focus on winning each play, the game will take care of itself.
Peru (0-1) at Whitko (0-1)
When: 7 p.m., Huff Stadium
Last Outing: Peru lost to Logansport 61-20; Whitko lost to Caston 54-14
Series last 40 years: Peru 9-0
Last meeting: Peru 33-22, Aug. 29, 2025.
About Peru: The Tigers have traditionally been a run-first team, and the statistics from last week show the trend continuing. Junior Kasen Hiles led Peru with 70 yards rushing, including a 44-yard gallop, on 11 carries. Senior Lukas Ulrey averaged 3-1/2 yards on each of his 14 carries. Peru finished with 202 yards on the ground to its 100 yards passing. Senior signal-caller Aiden sheets competed 6-of-11 passes, three to junior receiver Kingston Eldridge.
About Whitko: The Wildcats did have some success throwing the football against Caston, with sophomore quarterback Cooper Laukhuf finding senior wideout Crew Ebbinghouse twice for touchdowns. Laukhuf completed half of his 16 passes for 155 yards, averaging nearly 20 yards per completion. Ebbinghouse had a total of four receptions for 129 yards and the two scores. But Whitko struggled to run the ball as well as on defense and special teams. The Comets’ first score was a punt returned for a touchdown. The Wildcats had a chance to go into halftime within striking distance, with the second score coming with about a minute left in the second quarter. But a defensive breakdown allowed Caston to tack on a touchdown right before the intermission, and Whitko never recovered. The setback extended the Wildcats’ losing streak to 10 games. Whitko has lost 20 of its last 21 contests, and 48 of its last 51 dating back to the start of the 2021 campaign. The team is looking for its first Three Rivers Conference win since a 21-14 victory over North Miami on Sept. 17, 2021.
Whitko head coach Thomas Tyree:
On the loss to Caston: “I just think some of our inexperience showed, but I'll say some (of the blame goes to) the coaches, like as far as myself, just not making the proper adjustments early enough. At the end of the day, you know, we didn't, we didn't execute either, so that, that wasn't helping us … We just kept shooting ourselves on the foot with just a lot of mistakes. After we’d score, a young team tends to relax, and we turned around and gave up a score … We just have to be better as coaches for our young men, at the end of the day. And that's the plan this week; become better coaches for them. Watching what's going on, making the proper adjustments, communicating as much as we can, and I said as possible with, with the, with the boys, and just go from there.”
On Friday’s game: “Peru is Peru; they’re a single-wing team. They're going to run the ball. They run some misdirection stuff. They make you play in a phone booth. Bunch you up, run outside type of thing. That’s really it, to be honest. They bunch you up, run outside. Try to try to get you to make mistakes. And if, you know, you don't cover all the gaps, they hit home runs. They throw the ball a little bit more this year. They have athletes. We just have to become more disciplined and go about it like we know we can.”
Triton (0-1) at Bremen (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Don J. Bunge Field, Bremen.
Series (last 40 years): Bremen, 36-4.
Last meeting: Aug. 29, 2025, Triton, 14-0.
About Triton: Coach Andy Barker’s 1A Trojans lost 24-6 to visiting LaVille in Week 1 ... Ryder Gayheart had 32 carries for 173 yards … Triton ran for 182 yards … Four passers combined for 3-of-11 passes for 43 yards (with Israel Miller tossing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Cayden Bradley in the fourth quarter) … Gayheart and Miller both took turns at quarterback … LaVille gained 233 yards rushing and 23 passing … Total tackle leaders for Triton were Lukas Nicely (7) and Gayheart (6) … Gayheart recovered a fumble.
About Bremen: Coach Justin Bogunia’s 2A Indiana Football Coaches Association vote-getting Lions defeated visiting Churubusco 49-14 in Week 1 … Jake Rodriguez was 5-of-6 passing for 63 yards and rushed 10 times for 145 yards and three TD’s … Logan Moser ran for 111 yards on 18 totes and Jace Pippenger 88 yards on eight carries … Aaron Jimenez caught two passes for 51 yards.
Per Coach Andy Barker:
On Bremen — They're a good team. They're all coached. They have some really good athletes … Defensively, we need to stop their run … We were able to move the ball last game (against LaVille). We just couldn't punch it into the end zone. So it's a little bit more about us than Bremen. They're going to have some big guys that we need to try to move out of the way and try to create some holes up front.
Observations — The most positive thing that we had (in Week 1) was the fact that they never quit. There was no die. They were giving full effort the whole time. Sometimes it was just lack of experience and a little bit of lack of knowledge on the schemes and whatnot. That was ultimately the only negative. It’s the speed and the violence of the game. It’s just not as fast on JV.
On LaVille game — The biggest takeaway is just the lack of experience was kind of apparent. The boys learned a lot. For a lot of them, it was their first (varsity) game, and there was some excitement built up.
