By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
With the IHSAA revealing the sectional football pairings last Sunday, are Indiana’s teams starting to think about the post-season already?
Nope. There’s still two more weeks of regular-season games left to play, and at this point, each game is important – especially for those teams involved in a chase for a conference championship.
The Hoosier Crossroads Conference has become very tight, with three teams tied for first place. Avon, Brownsburg and Fishers all have 3-1 records in the HCC. The Tigers will travel to Westfield’s Riverview Health Stadium to play the Shamrocks on Friday. Meanwhile, Noblesville will host the Bulldogs.
“A win this week puts us where we want to be in terms of being part of the conference race,” said Tigers coach Rick Wimmer. “Looking at anyone besides Westfield and this game does nothing to help our cause.”
Fishers is coming off a non-conference loss to Roncalli, the top-ranked Class 5A team last week. Westfield, meanwhile, dropped a 24-6 game to the Orioles. Both teams have a healthy respect for each other and know this will be a battle.
“Westfield plays fast, plays hard, and is very well coached,” said Wimmer. “Their defense give us a lot to prepare for with multiple fronts, coverages, and blitzes and they do a good job of creating turnovers. Offensively, they are a physical football team who is pretty well balanced so that always makes it tough on a defense. I’m also very impressed with their kicking game so it is important that we be very sound and mistake-free in that area.”
“I’m really impressed with Fishers,” said ‘Rocks coach Jake Gilbert. “A lot of people thought they were dead in the water after their start to the season, but they have really rebounded. Their losses are all to really good teams. They are disciplined and execute well as usual. They rarely beat themselves.”
Both teams have got solid quarterbacks. Westfield’s Cameron Nance is throwing at a 54.8 percent clip and has five touchdowns and 775 yards to his credit. Jon Vore has six TDs for the season, with 683 yards and 56 completions. Collin Statz is the Tigers’ leading receiver with 27 catches, including a pair of touchdowns. Matthew Meyer has 15 catches for the Shamrocks.
“We definitely got better last week,” said Gilbert. “We had a great week of practice and played Avon really tough. We just made too many mistakes to win.”
Last season, Noblesville traveled to Brownsburg and fell behind 21-0 in the fourth quarter. But the Millers would go home winners, stunning the Bulldogs with a big comeback to claim a 22-21 victory.
When Noblesville got its big win last year, Brownsburg was unbeaten. This year’s Bulldogs team is 5-2 and has won its last three games.
“Brownsburg is very explosive of offense,” said Millers coach Jason Simmons. “They have athletes that can stretch the field horizontally and vertically. They have playmakers on both sides of the ball. Their line of scrimmage players on both sides of the ball have good size, are physical, and have a good take-off. This will be a challenge that we must embrace on Friday night.”
The Bulldogs have a senior quarterback, Kyle Strakis, who is passing for 1227 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Junior Bryce Kirtz is his top receiver, with 35 catches, including seven scores. Sophomore Donny Marcus is Brownsburg’s top rusher with 796 yards and five TDs.
“We have to continue to get better every day,” said Simmons. “We must embrace the competition. We must believe we can compete with conviction.”
ROYALS HOST BREBEUF
Hamilton Southeastern will take a break from the HCC this week when it hosts Brebeuf Jesuit Friday at Reynolds Royals Stadium.
Both teams are 3-4 for the season, but are coming off wins. The Royals edged out Noblesville 13-10, while the Braves won a Saturday night game over Guerin Catholic 21-7. Brebeuf plays in the Circle City Conference, and last week’s victory gave it a 1-2 league record, after losses to Bishop Chatard and Roncalli.
“Brebeuf is a good team,” said HSE coach Scott May. “They are very athletic in the skilled positions. I really like their quarterback, he can throw it and is a threat to run on designed run plays and just scrambling on broken pass plays. Their defense is aggressive and will load the box and come after us – we must give our quarterback time to throw the ball.”
The Braves’ quarterback is senior Derrick Ozobu, who has compiled 1196 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Ozobu has also scored three rushing TDs this season. Freshman Isaiah Martin is Brebeuf’s leading runner, with 222 yards, while senior Jacob Pressler has 49 catches and seven scores.
WARREN COMES TO CARMEL
After falling last week at No. 1 Ben Davis, Carmel will return to its stadium on Friday. But this week’s game will be another tough one: Warren Central.
The Warriors are 4-3, with wins over Center Grove, North Central, Pike and Lawrence North. Losses have come from Louisville Trinity, Lawrence Central, and guess who? Ben Davis.
“Warren Central is one of the best five teams in Indiana and will pose a significant challenge,” said Carmel coach John Hebert. “Their offensive running attack is very solid due to their physical offensive line and great running backs. We’ll have to play with a lot of toughness on defense to neutralize that. Warren utilizes two quarterbacks with very different skill sets so preparation this week for each is important. Defensively, they are very big and physical, making it tough to run the football.”
The Warriors’ quarterbacks are senior Dean Tate and junior Jayden George, who has thrown eight touchdown passes this season. Tate has completed over 60 percent of his passes, going 39-of-64 for 812 yards. David Bell has 28 catches and four TDs for Warren. Junior Romeir Elliott has been a force on the ground, with 726 yards and 14 scores.
Carmel will be without its starting quarterback Jake McDonald, who is out with an injury.
“We are still waiting for more information related to Jake’s situation but he is definitely out for the next few weeks,” said Hebert.
The Greyhounds are 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the MIC.
“We played 12 sophomores in our game against Ben Davis last week and all performed well,” said Hebert. “We will continue to be a work in progress until our time is up this season but we can definitely see great improvement in many areas.”
‘HAWKS CAN WIN OUTRIGHT
Sheridan will travel to Eastern Friday to finish Hoosier Heartland Conference play.
If the Blackhawks win, they will complete an undefeated season in the HHC. Overall, Sheridan is 5-2, coming off a loss to Tipton last Friday.
The Comets are also 5-2. They started the season 4-0, defeating Oak Hill, Madison-Grant, Wes-Del and Taylor before falling to Carroll. Eastern then beat Clinton Central and lost to Tri-Central.
“They’ve got some speed,” said Sheridan coach Bud Wright. “The quarterback can throw the ball pretty good.” The coach also noted that the Comets have good size in their offensive and defensive lines.
The Blackhawks will come at Eastern with two of Hamilton County’s leading scorers. Joe Callahan has 15 touchdowns and clipped the 1000-yard rushing mark last week. Gunnar Williams has scored 67 points.
“We’re playing to get momentum going into the playoffs and try to get a couple wins here,” said Wright. “We’re playing for a lot of pride.”
HUSKIES HOST WESTERN
Hamilton Heights will play its third straight game at the Husky Dome on Friday, taking on Western.
The Panthers are 3-4. After an opening win over Frankfort, Western dropped four straight games, to Lafayette Jefferson, West Lafayette, Culver Academy and Tipton, before picking up wins over Lewis Cass and Northwestern.
“Western is big, physical, and fast,” said Huskies coach Mitch Street. “I think that describes them well in all phases of the game. Their quarterback is definitely the guy on offense, and is as good of a playmaker as we have seen all year. Defensively, I think they have several really solid pieces, and because of their speed and strength can definitely cause you some problems. Their special teams are very solid as well.”
Senior Tyler Knepley is the quarterback, and he gets most of his yards on the ground. Knepley has rushed for 1287 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, but has also thrown four TD passes.
This game will determine who Heights will play in next week’s Hoosier Conference placing game. The Huskies are 1-2 in the East Division.
“Unfortunately, we aren’t in the running to win the conference championship, so we are very focused on getting better this week, and hopefully coming out of it with a win,” said Street. “Whoever we end up next week, is who we end up with, and we will have the same approach with that game as well. We want start playing the best football this team is capable of as we head down the stretch and into the post season.”
GC HOSTS BOWMAN
Guerin Catholic will host Bowman Academy from Gary Friday night. Due to the travel and difference in time zone, this game will begin at 8 p.m.
The Eagles are 5-2 for the season. Bowman started 4-0, getting wins over three Indianapolis teams (Washington, Northwest and Howe) then beating Gary West Side before falling to Gary Roosevelt. After that, the Eagles beat Tindley, then lost to Appleton West from Wisconsin.
“We have seen Bowman on video,” said Golden Eagles coach Tom Dilley. “They are loaded with athleticism and have good size. They have played well this year. They play hard.”
Sophomore George Johnson is the Eagles’ quarterback and has thrown for 1086 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior A’Torione Howard has 25 catches, while senior Tawan Starling has rushed for 541 yards to lead Bowman’s ground game.
“We have learned a lot from prior weeks of the season,” said Dilley. “We simply try to take what we can learn and turn the page each week – win or lose. Our focus is on daily improvement. We don’t worry about things that are in the past.”
Westfield quarterback Cameron Nance has completed 54.8 percent of his passes this season with five touchdowns and 775 yards. The Shamrocks host Fishers on Friday. (File photo)