On the Gridiron

WARSAW AT PLYMOUTH (NLC)

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Plymouth

Coaches: Troy Akers (Warsaw), John Barron (Plymouth)

Records: Warsaw 2-0, 0-0 NLC; Plymouth 2-0, 0-0 NLC

Last Game: Warsaw 14, Homestead 10; Plymouth 39, Rochester 7

Last Year: Plymouth 48, Warsaw 14

Matchup: The Northern Lakes Conference opener for both teams and the Channel 46 game of the week, on paper this battle of rivals appears to be a defensive battle. In two games this season, Plymouth has given up just 13 points. Warsaw has given up 24 points, and last week held a talented Homestead offense to 10 points. In non-conference games with Columbia City and Homestead, Warsaw's defense tallied 42 tackles for loss. In those two contests, Tiger junior Shaun Cabrera tallied four sacks and 11 total tackles for loss for 63 yards. Cabrera leads the team with 22 tackles. Junior tackle Jake Buck has 15 tackles through two games, five of which were behind the line of scrimmage and totaled 20 yards. Thus far, senior Michael Wienhorst has passed for 356 yards and three touchdowns. Classmate Antonio Castillo has caught five passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, including the 80-yard game-winner last week. Against Rochester in Week 2, the Rockies were led on the ground by Jared Gaul's 19 carries for 124 yards, while Coty Singleton added 81 rushes on 11 carries.

Akers: "We need to establish the run. We said we'd build a team around defense, and we've done that. The defense is off to a great start. The one thing that will be different this week is the type of offense we'll see. We've been able to get a lot of tackles for loss, Plymouth doesn't put themselves in position for that. Plymouth lines up every play and tries to give you a bloody nose. They come at you every play. They've got a good offensive line, three running backs that have done well, and they're going to come right at us. I've been around Coach Barron and I know what he stands for. I'm happy for him personally that the folks over there aknowledged his loyalty and gave him a chance to be head coach. He's a real tough competitor and I know he'll have the kids fired up and ready to go. He's a high-intensity guy."

Barron: "We're young in some spots, but we have a lot of experience on defense. Warsaw is a good football team. I think Troy has done some nice things. I don't know if we have anyone who can run with (Antonio) Castillo or (Thomas) Balestri. We need to eliminate their big plays and establish the running game. We need to not turn ball over. It's a big game for both teams. Nobody wants to start out 0-1 in the NLC."

NORTHRIDGE AT NO. 10 (4A) WAWASEE (NLC)

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Syracuse

Coaches: Jon Kirkton (Northridge), Joe Rietveld (Wawasee)

Records: Northridge 1-1, 0-0 NLC; Wawasee 2-0, 0-0 NLC

Last Game: S.B. Clay 10, Northridge 9; Wawasee 42, Fairfield 28

Last Year: Wawasee 17, Northridge 7

Matchup: Kicking off the Northern Lakes Conference portion of the schedule, these two programs enter on different ends of the spectrum. Wawasee comes in as a favorite for the conference championship, while Northridge has won just four NLC contests since 1994. Through two games this season, Wawasee senior Jordan Swain has rushed 42 times for 376 yards, an average of 9.0 yards per carry, and five touchdowns. Senior quarterback Kory Lantz has completed 24 of 37 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns. He has also rushed for 59 yards on 14 carries. Ben Champoux leads the Warrior receiving crew with eight catches for 147 yards and three scores. Northridge came into this season, its second under the direction of coach Jon Kirkton, with a 21-game losing streak. The Raiders beat Prairie Heights in the first game of the season, and then lost 10-9 to South Bend Clay last week.

Kirkton: "We feel like we're heading in the right direction. Wawasee is a very good football team with a lot of speed and a lot of weapons. (Jordan) Swain has breakaway speed, it didn't seem like he had that last year. Their offense is a little scary. To have success, you have to be aggressive. I think we can do things against their defense, the pressure is on their offense."

Rietveld: "Northridge is definitely an improved team from year's past. They have more kids out and they have better kids out. They have some confidence after winning the first game of the season. They're the best team we've played this year. If they lined up against Fairfield and Whitko I think they could win those games. They present some problems defensively, they keep you on your toes. The Crawford kid is a good athlete, and anytime you have a good athlete at quarterback you can do some things."

SOUTHWOOD AT WHITKO (TRC)

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in South Whitley

Coaches: Terry Siddall (Southwood), Bryon Sprunger (Whitko)

Records: Southwood 0-2, 0-0 TRC; Whitko 0-2, 0-0 TRC

Last Game: Southwood 32, Wabash 20; Col. City 27, Whitko 20

Last Year: Whitko 12, Southwood 3

Matchup: Whitko enters this Three Rivers Conference opener seeking its first win of the season, which would give long-time head coach Bryon Sprunger his 130th win with the Wildcats. Whitko is seeking its fourth straight win over the Knights. Through two games, Tyler Wilkinson leads the Whitko rushing attack with 196 yards on 43 carries. Jarad Eberly has 109 yards on 34 carries, while John Carroll has 80 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Nate Hart has completed 7 of 24 passes for 50 yards thus far with three touchdowns and two interceptions. In last week's game against Wabash, Southwood's Kyle McCoart rushed eight times for 198 yards. Included in his big night of rushing were touchdown runs of 60, 58 and 33 yards.

Siddall: "I look for a very angry football team. I know Coach Sprunger was not happy after the Columbia City game. We're expecting they'll be breathing fire Friday. I think we have to get better. We have to improve to be on Whitko's level."

Sprunger: "From the Wawasee game to the Columbia City game, I thought we improved. We still had too many turnovers and penalties. One of our goals is to improve each week, and I feel confident we can do that, but we need to cut down on the mistakes. Southwood has great tradition. In my 25 years at Whitko, Southwood has always put a quality football team on the field."

MANCHESTER AT VALLEY (TRC)

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Akron

Coaches: Brandon Baker (Manchester), Scott Bibler (Valley)

Records: Manchester 0-2, 0-0; Valley 0-2, 0-0

Last Game: Heritage 28 Manchester 6; Mississinewa 6 Valley 0

Last Year: Valley 41, Manchester 20

Matchup: Manchester head coach Brandon Baker is looking for his first win with the Squires, while Scott Bibler is looking for his first win this season. Both teams fell victim to bad weather last week, with Manchester's game eing canceled midway through the second quarter. Last year, Valley ran away with a 41-20 win against the Squires. This year if Manchester hopes to top the Vikings in Death Valley they'll have to do so without starting quarterback Joe Egner. Egner, who had surgery this week, is out at least six weeks. Junior Brian Runkel takes over signal calling duties. The Vikings have defeated Manchester eight of the last 10 years. The Squires' last win over Valley was in 1999, a 27-9 victory.

Baker: "We've got to be physical. They're big and physical up front and they have a great running back. We can't arm tackle. We can't out muscle them. We're going to have to use technique. I think we ironed some things out (from last week) so we'll see how things turn out.

Bibler: "We're looking for improvement. We're going to open up a little and throw the ball a bit more to keep people honest. For that we got to go back to more pass protection. Manchester is defnitely spreading the field. We need to have pressure on the quarterback and have good coverage with our defensive backs. We have to control the ball and put some points on the board. It's important for us to score first and put the pressure on them.

CULVER AT TRITON (NSC)

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Bourbon

Coaches: John Johnson (Culver), Rodney Younis (Triton)

Records: Culver 0-2, 0-0; Triton 1-1, 0-0

Last Game: South Central 34, Culver 7; Triton 13 Northfield 0

Last Year: Triton 40, Culver 0 (sectional)

Matchup: Triton grabbed it's first win last week against Northfield, while Culver is still in search of its first win of 2004. The Cavaliers have lost 19 games in a row. Culver's last win was against the Trojans, a 6-0 double overtime victory. While Triton has 41 players on it's roster this year, Culver has a 25-man roster, 18 of which are freshmen and sophomores. If Culver is looking for a win, it needs to stop Bryon Overmyer. The senior running back has rushed 41 times for 179 yards on the season. Ben Bell adds to the Triton running attack with 19 carries for 99 yards.

Johnson: "Triton got a big win last week. We're still searching for that first one. I was impressed with Triton's team speed. Bryon Overmyer had a great game against us last year, so that's something we have to watch for. I expect us to play better against Triton this week. We're going to try and grind it out."

Younis: "Culver is a young squad. They have just seven juniors and seniors. Coach Johnson does a good job getting them to play hard. The key for us is to match their intensity. We need to cut down on mistakes in the redzone. We're pleased with our improvement so far. The biggest question mark for us going into the season was our offensive line. We're starting three sophomores. We had 309 yards rushing last week so the line is improving."