Prep Football: League Clashes Spice Up Week Eight Action
It’s a trio of key conference clashes that highlight the week eight docket on the local prep football scene for this Friday night.
While the biggest game in the Northern Lakes Conference, and one of the top matchups state wide will take place at Concord, there will be a pair of intriguing NLC games locally.
Warsaw plays host to a potent NorthWood team in NLC action at Fisher Field. Both teams sit at 3-2 in league play. The game will be the Channel 46 Game of the Week and will be shown Friday night at 11 and again on Saturday at 9 a.m. The Panthers, who were state runner-up a year ago, are ranked No. 7 in Class 4-A in this week’s AP poll.
Wawasee will play host to Elkhart Memorial and one of the two will get their first league win of the season at night’s end.
Triton travels to Knox in a big matchup in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference. Both teams sit at 4-1 in league play.
Tippecanoe Valley will look to keep its focus with the news off the field in Akron this week. Coach Steve Moriarty was suspended on Monday due to an incident that happened in the Valley locker room at halftime of last week’s 38-14 loss to Rochester. The school corporation issued another statement on the matter Wednesday, clarifying the reason for Moriarty’s suspension and the school board is scheduled to meet today to discuss the issue.
Former Valley head coach and current assistant coach Jeff Shriver has been running the team this week in the absence of first-year head coach Moriarty, himself a former player and assistant coach for the Vikings.
It’s also been a tough week for those in the Valley community. This past Monday marked the two-year anniversary of the tragic deaths of former Valley football coaches Scott Bibler and Charlie Smith. The pair of highly-respected men, along with Charlie’s son and former Valley athlete Scott, and Tony Elliott, died in a plane crash on Oct. 2, 2015 while flying to a Notre Dame football game at Clemson. Charlie Smith was also a Warsaw city councilman, while son Scott was an attorney and Elliott a former Sprint Car driver.
The BIG NLC game pits a pair of unbeatens in Northridge, ranked No. 5 in Class 4-A, and Concord, ranked No. 3 in Class 5-A, at Jake Field in Dunlap. The Raiders sit at 7-0 overall, off to the best start in program history. Concord is also 7-0 and both teams are 5-0 in the NLC. The Minutemen won at Plymouth last week and Northridge held off Goshen at home to set up the showdown.
Concord went 5-2 in the NLC a year ago en route to a 6-4 overall finish. The Raiders were just 3-8 last year, including a 2-5 mark in conference play.
Following is a quick look at the local slate of games Friday night.
NorthWood 5-2, 3-2) at Warsaw (4-3, 3-2) 7 p.m.
Phil Jensen is short, and to the point, when it comes to his opinion of NorthWood.
“NorthWood is fast, really, really fast,” said the Warsaw coach of the explosive Panthers. “They are the one team we have faced that is faster than we are. We have a couple of really fast guys. They have a slew of them.”
The Tigers will need to try and keep the potent Panther offense on the sidelines. NorthWood, led by playmakers like quarterback Landen Gessinger and tailback Brayton Yoder, average 30 points-per-game. Gessinger has rushed for 924 yards and Yoder 784 with the pair combining for 17 touchdowns.
The Panthers ran for 465 yards and attempted just one pass (which resulted in a touchdown) in routing Elkhart Memorial 65-14 last week. It was the most points for NorthWood since a 70-6 win over Bremen in 2003.
NorthWood, boasting a plethora of talented toters of the pigskin, has rushed for more than 400 yards in two of its last three games. The Panthers are also allowing just nine points-per-contest.
“We just have to play great, sound, fundamental football against them,” remarked Jensen. “Everyone for us has to do their job. What they do is not complicated, but they are really good at what they do.
“We need to limit their touches on offense, control the ball and not give up big chunk yardage plays. This is a great opportunity for us, just like every Friday night in the NLC. That’s the great thing about our conference. You better come ready to play every Friday night. We just need to play with a good focus and worry about getting better as a team.”
Warsaw’s defense, led by linebacker Lane McClone, has been tough the last month. The group, coached by coordinator Kris Hueber, has allowed just a total of 43 points in its last four games with 24 of those being scored by Northridge.
Jensen now has 102 wins in his two coaching stints at Warsaw. A win Friday night and he would tie George Fisher (1926-51) as the all-time winningest coach in program history. Jensen is 102-83 in his 18th year overall at WCHS, while Fisher compiled a 103-95-15 during his tenure.
NorthWood coach Nate Andrews says that the rallying cry this week for his team is toughness.
“The No. 1 thing I want to see from us Friday night is toughness,” said Andrews, who sports a 33-12 mark in his fourth season in Nappanee. “That’s our MO this week. I also want to see our kicking game play with tons of energy and see us do a tremendous job on first downs on offense and defense.”
“I’ve been pleased with the steps we’ve made as a team and I love how this group has continued to build its own identity throughout our season. We just need to make continued growth in every area these next two weeks to get prepared for the postseason.”
The Tigers, who have won two in a row, count on quarterback Tristan Larsh. The senior speedster had a huge game versus rival Wawasee last week. The track sprinter rushed for 197 yards and had three touchdown runs and threw a pair of touchdown passes in the NLC victory.
“Their quarterback (Larsh) jumps out at your,” noted Andrews about Warsaw. “He’s a great athlete. We need to make sure we keep him bottled up.”
NorthWood has won the last three games in the series, including a 61-24 decision last year at Andrews Field.
Elkhart Memorial (1-6, 0-5) at Wawasee (1-6, 0-5) , 7 p.m.
The Warriors will look to get into the W column against a struggling Memorial team.
The Crimson Chargers have won a total of just five games in the last three seasons counting this fall.
Wawasee, which has dropped six in a row since winning its season opener, lost 35-13 at Warsaw last week.
Tippecanoe Valley (2-5, 2-2) at Wabash (0-7, 0-4), 7 p.m.
Control what we can control.
That’s the message from Jeff Shriver to the Vikings this week amid a controversy that many people think has been way overblown.
“It’s been an emotional week, but we have talked to the kids about focus on the things that we can control,” said Shriver .”They have responded and I couldn’t be more proud of them. We have had good practices. These kids are resilient and their effort has been good this week.
“We are just putting 100 percent effort into what we can control. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to take care of business Friday night. We need to focus on getting better and take a confident attitude into the game.”
Wabash sits at 0-7 after a 41-0 loss to North Miami last week. The Apaches have been outscored 276-109 on the season.
“We will not take anyone lightly,” said Shriver. “Wabash has some great athletes. They have two quarterback who can throw the ball and some very good receivers. We need to come ready to play.”
Triton (5-2, 4-1) at Knox (6-1, 4-1), 7:30 p.m.
Ron Brown saw his team respond in a big way last week.
He wants to see that continue this Friday in a huge league game for the Trojans.
“I was pretty pleased with our guys last week,” said Brown, whose team was playing its second game while still reeling from the tragic death of player Cam Scarberry in a car accident on Sept. 17. “They were intense and they wanted to make a statement. Our defense came up big last week. They were really good against North Judson.
“We just need to continue to get better each week. That’s been our goal all season. We need to continue to progress these next two weeks.”
Triton beat North Judson last week, while Knox suffered its first loss in a 28-7 setback to No. 1 ranked and undefeated Pioneer. The pair of teams both sit at 4-1 in league action and in second place in the conference behind undefeated Pioneer, who is 5-0.
“We can’t let their size or reputation intimidate us,” said Brown of the Redskins. “We have to match their physicality Friday night. We need to possess the football and put up points with our offense.”