Prep Football: Rivalry Games Spice The Schedule
The “W” Trophy and the “Bell Game.”
That’s really all that needs to be said this week for a pair of huge rivalry games set for the high school gridiron on the local scene.
Warsaw hosts county and conference rival Wawasee with the teams playing for the “W” Trophy, a trophy donated by the Reiff family back in 1986.
Tippecanoe Valley travels the short distance to face league rival Rochester in the clash for the “Bell”.
NorthWood looks to return to its winning ways following a loss at Northridge last week. The Panthers travel to Elkhart Memorial for an NLC contest.
Triton also looks to get back into the W column after a tough week. The Trojans lost a 62-8 final to No. 1 ranked and unbeaten Pioneer Thursday night and then laid to rest teammate Cam Scarberry on Saturday. Scarberry, a junior and two-way starter for the Trojans, was tragically killed in a car accident on Sept. 17.
On a side note, Mishawaka coach Bart Curtis goes for his 200th career win Friday night as the Cavemen play at South Bend St. Joseph. Curtis, a NorthWood graduate, has been at MHS since 2008 after a very successful run at New Prairie. He is 84-26 in charge of the Cavemen with six sectional titles, a regional crown and one semistate championship. Bart’s son Michael is an assistant coach with the Warsaw football program.
The pairings for the football state tournament series will be held Sunday at noon in Indianapolis by the IHSAA. Sectionals game in Class 1-A through 5-A are set for Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 3 with sectional contests in Class 6-A (which includes Warsaw) slated for Oct. 27 and Nov. 3.
Here is a quick look at the local schedule of games set for Friday night.
Wawasee (1-5, 0-4) at Warsaw (3-3, 2-2), 7 p.m.
The unknown.
That’s what worries Warsaw coach Phil Jensen as he prepares his team to face a Wawasee team beset by injuries and on a five-game losing skid.
The Warriors had quarterback Aaron Evans leave early in the game versus Plymouth due to an injury last week and then also lost two-way lineman Elisha Topping, also to an injury, during the 34-6 loss.
“The kind of scary part this week is we really don’t know what to expect,” said Jensen. “Who will play quarterback for them? How will they come out and play? I know this. They (Wawasee) have been through the meat grinder the last few weeks and they have been tested by the best teams in our conference.”
Jensen says regardless of who suits up on either side, one thing should be certain.
“The trophy (the W) has to matter and this is a big deal to both programs,” remarked Jensen. “It’s a championship game within the season. It gives everyone something to play for. It’s a life lesson in that tradition matters.”
Warsaw and Wawasee first square off back in 1969. Robert and Patricia Reiff, who had two sons and three grandsons play for Wawasee, donated the W trophy in 1986 and the Tigers are 19-12 since then versus the Warriors. Warsaw has won three of the last four meetings.
Warsaw will be without Will McGarvey and Trevor York for the rest of the season. McGarvey, the team’s top tailback, is set for surgery next Monday. York, a receiver for the Tigers, will have surgery on Friday.
“We need to have a little more of an edge to us,” said Jensen. “We need that edge to get us to another level. That has to be our mentality.”
NorthWood (4-2, 2-2) at Elkhart Memorial (1-5, 0-4), 7 p.m.
Focus and finish.
Those are the two big things that NorthWood coach Nate Andrews wants to see from his talented team.
“We just need an urgency about our business as we move forward,” said Andrews, whose team lost … at Northridge last week. “We need to finish. Finish every play and every set. We need to have accountability on the little things that matter.
“Things are never as good or as bad as you think that they are at the time. We had a lot of players do good things last week. We played a good team that was better than us in some areas.”
NorthWood, ranked No. 7 now in Class 4-A, was held to just 72 rushing yards last week. That was on the heels of a 454-yard rushing night two weeks ago in a 32-0 home win over Wawasee.
Landen Gessinger continues to lead the NorthWood offense. The senior quarterback has rushed for 809 yards and scored six touchdowns. Brayton Yoder has 694 yards on the ground and seven scores.
Memorial picked up its first win at Indy Shortridge 46-14 last week. The Chargers, who snapped a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season, are led by running back Mark Brownlee.
“Memorial is pretty athletic and Brownlee is Barry Sanders like,” Andrews noted. “He has great vision. They star true to how they are offensively.”
Tippecanoe Valley (2-4, 2-1) at Rochester (5-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.
You don’t have to tell first-year Valley coach Stephen Moriarty how big of a game this is.
“There is nothing better than a good rivalry and this is the biggest game of the year,” said Moriarty, who played for Valley. “It’s more of a pride thing because the communities are so close together. This is why you live in small communities. This game means a lot to both programs and both communities.”
Valley is on a two-game win streak after holding off Manchester 20-14 last week. The Zebras suffered their first loss of the season with a 29-0 setback to Northfield.
“They are the real deal,” said Moriarty of the Zebras. “They play hard and they try to put it down your throat with their line and their running game.
“The challenge for us this week is to control the line and stop them. I think that it will come down to the fourth quarter and who’s in better shape and who has the guts to do it.”
North Judson (2-4, 1-3) at Triton (4-2, 3-1), 7:30 p.m.
The Trojans look to move forward after a trying and awful time.
“Last week just reaffirmed what I thought in that we have a bunch of good kids here,” said third-year Triton coach Ron Brown. “They did what they were supposed to do.
“It meant a lot to us the response that Pioneer showed to us. It let us know that we were not alone and they were here to support us and we really appreciated that. Everything that happened last week was done in the best interest of the kids and thinking about others first. That’s what high school athletics should be all about.”
Triton became the first team last Thursday night to score points versus undefeated and defending state runner-up Pioneer. They now face a North Judson team that edged West Central 11-8 last week.
“Our defense will be key for us Friday night,” noted Brown. “North Judson tries to grind it out. We have to stop them and allow our offense to get on the field.”
Brown, who also coached Scarberry as a wrestler, says he’s been focused on his players throughout the tragedy.
“Last week was a blur,” said Brown. “I was just trying to focus on taking care of others. But I know that I have a job to do to give our players the best opportunity to achieve their goals the rest of the season.”