Last Friday our community lost four wonderful men in a plane crash in South Carolina. I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said about Charlie Smith, Scott Smith, Scott Bibler or Tony Elliott. The loss of those men is something that the Kosciusko community will not be able to replace.

Over the past few weeks it seems as if the community has been littered with bad news. I’m pretty tired of writing about death, reading about death and hearing about death. It’s draining in every way possible, especially when it’s something that has seemed so prominent over a small period of time.

While Friday night brought a lot of heartache for a lot of people, another story was lost in the shuffle that should bring joy to everyone.

Whitko’s team manager, Jared Hartman, has been a staple for the Wildcats during his time at Whitko. He has led the team on to the field, been the voice of encouragement on the sideline and out of season he is always easy to find in the Whitko student section cheering on the rest of his friends. Friday night Hartman was given the opportunity of a lifetime during Whitko’s game with Manchester. In agreement with the Squires, Hartman scored a “touchdown” late in the game in a moment that can only put a smile on your face. (Video by the Post and Mail)

If you’ve been to any Whitko events and have ever seen Jared, you’ll know why that is such a cool moment for him and the Wildcats. Hartman wore No. 77, the same number his father wore a player.

Good luck to all the harriers competing at sectional races this weekend. Get out and support the runners and the morning then find your closest soccer sectional and support those players in the evening. Both Warsaw’s boys and girls teams will be competing for sectional championships Saturday night. Best of luck to both teams.

If you saw me Wednesday, you saw me wearing a blue Cubs No. 70 Joe Maddon shirt. If you see me on any other day the Cubs are playing, I will probably be wearing the same shirt. Don’t judge my fandom.

Don’t forget that Sunday night is the sectional pairings show for football!

Just high school games this week for the picks. Let’s get to it.

Last Week: 7-3
Overall: 43-19

High School Football 10/9

NorthWood (4-3, 2-3) at Warsaw (4-3, 3-2), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: The Tigers took a while to get going last Friday against Wawasee, but eventually the turnovers stopped and offense opened up a little bit. That led to a 21-0 win in what was a very solid defensive effort by Warsaw.
This Friday the Tigers host NorthWood and I am going to lean on that defense again as the difference maker here. It’s strange, but I feel like we are still confused as to what this Warsaw team is capable of even though we are seven weeks into the season. Every week I waver back and forth on how good the Tigers truly are. Sometimes I think they might be thinking the same thing. Either way we know that Warsaw can win games whether they are blowouts, close games, it doesn’t matter. They’ve proven that they can win. Riley Rhoades doesn’t have enough touchdowns this year, I think he will find a way to make this senior night very special. Warsaw’s defense gets the big stops late to help preserve the win.
Nick’s Pick: Warsaw 34, NorthWood 26.

Elkhart Memorial (2-5, 1-4) at Wawasee (2-5, 0-5), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: It’s all riding on the coin flip here. Okay, not really.
Wawasee has struggled to come back in games this year. They run an offense that’s not built for playing catch up. That’s why getting the ball first and scoring early/first are big goals for the Warriors game to game. Wawasee’s defense has done an excellent job this year in giving its offense more opportunities. I like senior night. It bring more emotion and pride out of players than homecoming does. Senior night is why I picked the Tigers over NorthWood. Per usual, Wawasee can’t afford to get into a shootout with a more athletic team like Memorial. If Wawasee can avoid that then I like the Warriors defense to highlight the team’s first NLC win in a low-scoring affair.
Nick’s Pick: Wawasee 16, Memorial 10.

Tippecanoe Valley (2-5, 2-3) at Wabash (5-2, 3-2), 7p.m.
The Scoop: I had the big speech, I had the awesome video clip. I had everything I thought I needed in order to rally the Vikings over Rochester last Friday. Unfortunately, it was not enough. This week should be an exciting game as well.
Wabash brings in a defense that is only allowing 11 points per game. Cracking that defense is going to be the challenge for the Vikings in this game. The Apaches are allowing 14 PPG in conference games, but that is not much more encouraging. I’m sticking with my theme and taking the home team
Nick’s Pick: Wabash 24, Valley 17.

Whitko (3-4, 2-3) at Northfield (7-0, 5-0), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: I won’t tease Whitko fans here. This is going to be a very tough game, Northfield’s record is not misleading. The Norsemen are outscoring opponents, on average, 43-10. You can’t really fluke that kind of performance. If Whitko starts to control the ball and tempo early, than this can be a close game. Nothing surprises me in sports anymore so I’ll give the Wildcats a fighting chance, but I’m picking Northfield.
Nick’s Pick: Northfield 37, Whitko 20.

Triton (1-6, 1-5) at Knox (2-5, 2-4), 7:30 p.m.
The Scoop: The Trojans have taken some rough losses lately but the schedule finally eases up a little in these last two weeks. Knox presents a winnable game as does next week’s opponent West Central.
I want to pick the Trojans here but I am struggling to do that without knowing just what Triton’s offense can do. The Trojans have not scored more than 14 points since the season opener. I feel this will be a low-scoring affair and I’ve only picked home teams this week, so I’ll wrap the picks up with that theme.
Nick’s Pick: Knox 18, Triton 12.