By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
6A No. 3 Carmel Greyhounds (5-1) at Ben Davis Giants (1-5)
The Greyhounds and Giants continue their long-standing rivalry for the 52nd time on the lower west side of Indianapolis tomorrow night. Ben Davis has a slight 26-25 edge and won last year at Carmel, 58-30. The ‘Hounds have won 11 of the last 20.
Last week, Ben Davis lost its third straight game at Lawrence North, 48-19, but they also play one of the tougher schedules in the state. The Giants’ lone win so far was a month ago in a home game with Pike, 31-14.
Carmel’s Week 6 saw them dominate yet another opponent. North Central took the brunt of what one of the highest-scoring 6A offenses has to offer in a 63-14 drubbing of the Panthers. The Greyhounds put up 56 first half points, which is a school record and they also had their highest points scored in a homecoming game.
Through six games, Carmel is scoring 46.3 points per game and yielding just 16. The last time the Greyhounds scored this much, head coach Kevin Wright’s 2011 squad posted 41.2 per contest and won the 5A state championship.
Aside from their 41-28 loss at Louisville Trinity on Sept. 5, Carmel’s five wins are by an average of 39 points.
Quarterback Anthony Coellner ranked 6th in 6A with 1,130 yards passing. He’s been extremely efficient, completing 80 of 102 for 78.4 percent with 14 touchdowns and five INTs. Coellner has also ran for 333 on 37 carries and has six rushing TDs.
Andrew Pemberton is 7th in 6A with 538 rushing yards, gaining those on 69 runs for a 7.8 per carry average and five touchdowns. Ayden Johnson provides backfield depth with 296 yards on 62 carries and has a team-leading seven TDs.
Jacob Bellin sits 11th in 6A with 474 receiving yards and 26 receptions, scoring six times. Dominic Shockley has 260 yards with a pair of TD, while Spencer Sell has five touchdowns and 195 yards. The two have 30 catches combined.
Will Massey is 5th with 64 total tackles and Chase Jarred 7th with 62 amongst 6A competitors. Dane Bathurst is 5th with five sacks.
Team statistical information provided by the Carmel High School athletic department and athletic director Jim Inskeep.
Hamilton Heights (2-4, 1-1 HC Big) at 3A No. 11 Twin Lakes (5-1, 0-1 HC Big)
The Huskies and Indians have met 17 times with Heights winning 12 of those. They have also won six in a row in the series, including last year’s 26-16 win at Husky Stadium.
Last week, Twin Lakes had a cake walk and got back on the winning side of things with a 75-6 romp at Benton Central. Two weeks ago, the Indians lost at home to Logansport, 45-28.
Prior to losing to Logansport, the Indians opened up with a home win over North Montgomery (39-14), following that up with a pair of road wins at Delphi (41-6) and Tipton (42-22) along with another home win over Lafayette Central Catholic (52-3).
Tomorrow night’s game in Monticello has become a more pivotal game for the Huskies, as well as the Indians. Heights is now 1-1 in the Hoosier Conference Big School division after beating Logansport last week at home, 22-14.
The Huskies started off 0-2 with a home loss to 2A No. 3 Lapel (23-7) and at 2A No. 10 Triton Central (28-13). They got their first win at home versus Tippecanoe Valley (35-19). Before last week’s win over the Berries, Heights dropped two single-digit games to Danville (27-24) and at Western (22-13).
Drew Woodruff is 12th in 3A with 1,004 passing yards, completing 56.2 percent (73-130) for 9 TDs. AJ Flanagan is the leading rusher with 228 yards on 52 carries with two touchdowns. Cam Fleming is the go-to target with 21 for 345 yards and five TDs. Andre Chandler is second with 219 yards on 14 receptions, scoring twice.
Defensively, Nathan Flanders is tops with 62 total tackles. Will Duncan has 3.5 sacks to pace Heights up front.