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3A Sectional 26
Tippecanoe Valley (8-1) at Jimtown (6-3)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Knepp Field, Elkhart
Series: Jimtown 7-3
Last Outing: Tippecanoe Valley defeated Bremen 25-7, Jimtown defeated Dowagiac (Mich.) 40-14
John Harrell’s prediction: Tippecanoe Valley 28-21
Last Meeting: Sep. 25, 2026, Tippecanoe Valley 17-15
About Tippecanoe Valley: The Vikings put the finishing touches on a perfect run through the Indiana Northern State Conference last Friday night, as the team defeated Bremen 25-7 to capture its first INSC title since the conference formed a few years ago. Valley’s win in the regular season finale extended its winning streak to six games heading into sectional play. In the win over the Lions, Hunter Paxton led the team in rushing yet again with 141 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Hunter Randall added a touchdown run as well, finishing with 55 yards. Owen Omondi hit a pair of field goals in the victory. Valley defeated Jimtown 17-15 in a thrilling game earlier this year. Paxton ran for 90 yards in the win, with Randall and Omondi reaching the end zone. The Vikings are searching for their first sectional championship since 1992.
About Jimtown: Since falling to the Vikings back in the final week of September, the Jimmies have been perfect since, going 3-0 with wins over Knox, LaVille and Dowagiac, having outscored their final two opponents 77-24. Jimtown finished in second place in the INSC this season, going 4-1. Jimtown’s last sectional title came back in 2014, the final of three in four years.
Tippecanoe Valley head coach Steve Moriarty:
On a conference title – This is a big accomplishment, especially for our senior group. They were along for the ride of joining the INSC. We have three goals every year. We want to win the Bell, we want to win the conference and we want to win a sectional. We’ve checked off two of those boxes and now we’re focused on the third.
Peaking at the right time – We’re playing the best football we’ve played all year. Is it perfection? No, there’s still things we’re working on each week and trying to improve on. Last week against Bremen was the best we’ve played so far and we’re hoping to keep it going for the tournament.
On Jimtown – Playing the same team twice, they’re going to try to make the same adjustments that we are. That’s where it turns into a chess match a little bit. There were some things that we didn’t do well in that first game that we have improved on. I know they have too. It’s not difficult to get up for the Jimtown game. It’s a very cool opportunity.
Class 4A Sectional 19
East Noble (9-0) at Wawasee (1-8)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Warrior Stadium, Syracuse.
Series (last 40 years): Tied, 2-2.
John Harrell’s prediction: East Noble, 51-0.
Last meeting: Oct. 23, 2009, East Noble 32-0 (sectional).
About East Noble: Alex Stewart’s Indiana Football Coaches Association No. 3 Knights won 47-0 at Bellmont in Week 9 … Easton Kline was 2-of-7 passing for 12 yards and one touchdown … Rushing yardage leaders were Ian Ramey (138 with three TD’s), Alex Phillips (138), Austin Phillips (85 and one TD) and Aaron Perlich (79 with two TD’s) … Austin Phillips caught a TD pass … Total tackle leaders were Alex Phillips (4) and Holden Budwalda (4) … Jack Slater intercepted a pass … On the season, Kline is 61-of-110 passing for 989 yards and nine TD’s with four interceptions … Rushing yardage leaders are Austin Phillips (902 with 12 TD’s), Perlich (638 with five TD’s), Ramey (389 with nine TD’s) and Alex Phillips (346 with five TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders are Alex Scott (521 on 29 catches with five TD’s) and Alex Phillips (182 on 15 catches with three TD’s) … Total tackle leaders are 2 A Phillips (92), Alex Phillips (75), Ramey (53), Tayden Getts (46), Perlich (45) and Henry Prater (40) … Getts has three fumble recoveries … Scott (5), Perlich (4) and Alex Phillips (3) are interception leaders … East Noble’s all-time playoff record is 44-40. The last of six sectional titles came in 2024 … The Knights carry a 36.2 offensive average and 13.6 defensive average.
About Wawasee: Mark Osmiakowski’s Warriors lost 42-13 to visiting Mishawaka in Week 9 … Johnny Zachary was 8-of-15 passing for 99 yards and one TD with one interception … Rushing yardage leaders were Kaden Andrew (105), Mason McKibben (76) and Jaxon Brown (48 and one TD) … Receiving yardage leaders are Jaylen Lowery (57 on four catches with one TD and Luke Nettrouer (30 yards on one catch) … On the season, Zachary is 84-of-182 passing for 1,073 yards and five TD’s with 11 interceptions … Rushing yardage leaders are Andrew (545 with six TD’s), McKibben (293 with one TD) and J’Ceon Evans (93) … Receiving yardage leaders are Lowery (444 on 27 catches with three TD’s), Nettrouer (258 on 19 catches with one TD), Andrew (138 on 12 catches with one TD), Luke Lehman (93 on five catches) and Evans (83 on 13 catches) … Total tackle leaders are Max Pena (72), Westen Haab (61), McKibben (47), Aidan Beer (41), Brown (41) and Lehman (36) and Dirks Miller (32) … Lowery has two fumble recoveries … Mason Hatfield has two interceptions … Wawasee’s all-time playoff record is 22-42. The last of two sectional titles came in 2004 … The Warriors’ last postseason victory came in 2023 … Wawasee has a 14.9 offensive average and 34.3 defensive average.
Per Coach Mark Osmialowski:
On East Noble — They are a very good team. They're very disciplined. They're very well coached. They have a couple really good athletes that you know we need a game plan for … Offensively, we’re not going to change much of what we do, we're just going to identify where their stud linebacker and that dictates what we're going to do from there … (East Noble) likes to run the ball. If we can get to the point where we're stopping the run and we're trying to force them to throw, then we'll be in a good spot defensively.
Fall Break — We’re going to try to keep it as normal as possible. We'll meet at 3:30 like we normally do, go over the scouting report and things like that. The rest of the week, we're at the same time ... Friday, we’ll bring them in a little earlier, just to make sure they're awake and get them in a mobility circuit going so their hips and stuff are loosened up since fall break. They're probably doing a lot of relaxing like they should be doing, but just to make sure that their bodies are prepared.
On Mishawaka game — We were able to give him fits early on. Both teams had a total of five possessions in that first half. We scored on the first one. The second one, we got down to (the Mishawaka 2). Then we just had a bad snap and ended up getting a field goal blocked. We’ve got some things to clean up on that end. But we played very well in the first half … In the third quarter, we kind of came out a little flat. In the fourth quarter, we played better but we’ve got to be able to put four quarters together.
2A Sectional 34
Manchester (3-6) at Central Noble (1-8)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Albion
Series: Manchester 1-0
Last Outing: Manchester lost to Peru 33-23, Central Noble lost to Garrett 38-6
John Harrell’s prediction: Manchester 28-27
Last Meeting: Oct. 27, 2023, Manchester 28-21 (sectional)
About Manchester: The Squires wrapped up an underwhelming regular season last Friday night with a 33-23 loss to Peru to finish off a 3-6 campaign that saw the team finish 2-5 in the Three Rivers Conference. Caden Young led the team with 61 yards on the ground and a touchdown. He also had a team-high 19 tackles, one for loss. Cody Carroll threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Miller for his lone completion. Korbin Presl also added a touchdown on the ground. Three players finished with at least 10 tackles in the game. The Squires’ last sectional championship came back in 1991. Manchester has lost three of its last four sectional games, starting with a 42-0 loss to Bishop Luers in the 2023 championship game.
About Central Noble: The Cougars opened up the season with a 35-7 win over Culver Community back in August and has not won a game since, heading into sectional play having lost eight straight games, including a stretch of four straight games in the middle of the season in which the team was shut out. Central Noble’s most recent result was a 38-6 loss to Garrett last Friday. Quarterback Ryan Lemish completed 16 of 36 passes for 226 yards. Atticus Duncan served as the team’s leading rusher, reaching the century mark with 115 yards. Zack Chenoweth is the team’s top receiver, averaging just under 70 yards a game. The Cougars have won just one sectional championship in their history, coming back in 2002.
Manchester head coach Brian Enyeart:
On last week – This was another game that we had some chances to win but turnovers were an issue. We needed to limit our mistakes and we just didn’t. We had some injuries on Thursday that we were scrambling to replace, but after the kids kind of started slow I think they ended up playing pretty well.
The second season – Everybody is 0-0 again. Records don’t matter. You’re playing to keep playing, and we can’t underestimate anybody or take anything for granted.
On Central Noble – We have to control what we can control. Secure the football, long drives, positive yards every play. We need to limit their passing game, that’s where they’re going to get most of their offense from. We need to be at the right place at the right time to slow them down.
Whitko (0-8) at Northfield (5-4)
Game time: 7 p.m., Dawes Field, Wabash
Series last 40 years: Whitko 27-10
Last meeting: Northfield 47-6, Oct. 11, 2014 Last Whitko win: 19-7, Oct. 9, 2015
John Harrell prediction: Northfield 52-7
About Whitko: The Wildcats got an unplanned bye last week when Wabash was not able to field an 11-man team for the regular-season finale. (Wabash has primarily played 8-man football this season.) In what turned out to be their last game before sectional play, Joseph Quinones rushed for 101 yards on 25 carries, and quarterback Crew Ebbinghouse had 52 yards on the ground on 12 totes. Ebbinghouse also had a 54-yard touchdown pass to Mason Hersha. But that was the extent of the offensive output for the game in a 28-8 loss to Southwood Oct. 9.
About Northfield: The Norsemen, who finished fifth in the Three Rivers Conference at 3-4, run the ball at a rate about five times greater than they throw. Sophomore quarterback Logan Holmes has 635 yards this season on 111 carries, an average of 5.7 yards an attempt, and eight touchdowns. Four others have between 336 and 381 yards on the yards on the ground. Holmes has also passed for 674 yards and 10 scores. Junior wideout Briggs Baker averages 43.9 yards receiving and has caught six TD passes; no other Norseman has more than one.
Whitko head coach Thomas Tyree
On how the Wildcats used the bye week: “I gave them Monday off. We (did conditioning drills) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I think they enjoyed it. Obviously, they wanted to play a football game because who doesn't want to play a game when we're in season, but, I think that they're rested up and ready to go.
On Northfield’s running attack: “I just think you have to fly around and just tackle; make the reads and try to just tackle them. At the end of the day, if you tackle, we can give ourselves a chance to be successful.”
On the attitude of the team: “I just think they show up every day. I think for a while, like most people do, they kind of felt sorry for themselves, like poor me. And then I kind of just have been the same with them the entire season, like, ‘man, like, you have to make the choice to want it to stop. Right? You have to stop the bleeding. Nobody's gonna stop it for you. Nobody's coming to put a Band-Aid on you. You have to, you know, buck up. Say enough's enough and compete for four quarters.’ I think it started with the Lewis Cass game, then Manchester game, we didn't compete at all, which was a little disappointing. And I was, I was very clear and honest with them about that, even though we had a lot of freshmen out there. I just feel like we didn't compete. Um, and then fast forward to the Southwood game. I felt like we competed. We just didn't have enough. We were able to run the ball on them. But we needed to throw the ball some too, and we were just too young on the outside. This week, I think it's another game like Southwood, we're pretty evenly matched. We just have to fight, even if things don't go well, we still have to fight, and if we do that. Uh, we'd be in a better position at the end of the game.”
On Expanding the playbook: “I think that that's what a lot of people do when you're perceived to be a bad team. They change things up and do more. We do less, and we're just trying to figure out how to do what we do better. That's been the focus, and I think we've done all right. If you look at the Southwood game, or a little later on in the Manchester game when we decided in the second half we were going to compete. Because Manchester had their starters in until the fourth quarter. So we were able to move the ball on their starters. It’s just when things go bad, we don't respond well. So I just call a spade a spade; I think that's all you can do, is just be honest, and I try to be honest as I can. And they understand that too. I don't pull any punches. It is what it is. We just show up and we compete. And like I told them before the Southwood, there's gonna be moments when things don't go well. We can't just shut it down and go, ‘oh man, the game's over.’ Because guess what? We still have four quarters to play. So you go out there and you feel sorry for yourself in the first quarter, you're (giving up 40 points) in the first half. If you go out there and fight, even when stuff doesn't go well, we’ll be okay. So it's kind of just been the mentality and I think they're getting it. They understand.
Class 1A Sectional 41
North Judson (8-1) at Triton (1-8)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Trojan Field, Bourbon.
Series (last 40 years): North Judson, 11-4.
John Harrell’s prediction: North Judson, 55-0.
Last meeting: Sept. 25, 2026, North Judson, 42-7.
About North Judson: Brett Lambert’s IFCA No. 4 Bluejays lost 35-9 at Pioneer in Week 9 … Javen Christensen was 3-of-6 passing for 45 yards with one TD … Rushing yardage leaders were Branden Metzger (48) and Aiden McGowen (45) … Receiving yardage leaders were Aiden McGowen (19 on one catch) and Zander Nowak (15 on one catch — a TD) … Total tackle leaders were Elijah Allen (15), Aidan Christensen (11) , Aiden McGowen (10) and David Johnson (8) … On the season, Javen Christensen is 38-of-58 passing for 947 yards and 11 TD’s with three interceptions … Rushing yardage leaders are Aiden McGowen (631 with 14 TD’s), Metzger (480 with six TD’s), Logan Pradke (307 with two TD’s), Javen Christensen (274 with seven TD’s), Evan McGowen (251 with two TD’s) and 35 A Kajer (122 with two TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders are Alexander McGowen (455 on 14 catches with five TD’s), Nowak (240 on 12 catches with four TD’s) … Total tackle leaders are Allen (78), Aidan Christensen (62), Johnson (54), Ryker Shidler (50), Nowak (41), Ayson Harper (42) … Nowak (3) and Aiden McGowen (2) lead in fumble recoveries … Kajer has two interceptions … North Judson’s all-time playoff record is 80-47. The last of 17 sectional titles came in 2024 … The Bluejays hold a 39.6 offensive average and 9.0 defensive average.
About Triton: Andy Barker’s Trojans lost 41-12 at North Miami in Week 9 … Cayden Bradley was 6-of-13 passing for 68 yards and Drew Barker was 1-of-1 passing for 0 yards … Rushing yardage leaders were Ryder Gayheart (49) and Cayden Bradley (27 with two TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders were Blake Ousley (34 on two catches) and Lukas Nicely (26 on three catches) … Total tackle leaders were Nicely (11), Ashton Jacobs (8), Logan Collins (7), Cayden Bradley (5), Gayheart (5) and Rylan Stetzel (5) … Nicely intercepted a pass … On the season, Cayden Bradley is 20-of-42 passing for 205 yards with one TD and two interceptions and Gayheart is 15-of-30 for 140 yards with two TD’s and two interceptions … Rushing yardage leaders are Gayheart (675 with three TD’s), Cayden Bradley (152 with one TD) and Nicely (85) … Receiving yardage leaders are Nicely (144 on 17 catches with one TD), Cayden Bradley (88 on nine catches with one TD) and Ousley (82 on six catches) … Total tackle leaders are Christian McIntosh (66), Nicely (51), Collins (50), Jacobs (41), Brayden Gunnels (37), Gayheart (36), Cayden Bradley (34), Ousley (33) and Channing Heckaman (31) … Nicely has two interceptions … Triton’s all-time playoff record is 30-41. The last of three sectional titles came in 2018 … The Trojans post and 8.6 offensive average and 39.9 defensive average.
Per Coach Andy Barker:
On North Judson — They're a good team. We've already seen them. They know us. We know them. The message to the boys on Monday was: What If? What if you do the right thing, play hard for four quarters? You look up and the scoreboard and we won, we shocked the state.
Teammate Time — We’ve been talking to boys about competing and fighting, and enjoying the time they have next to their teammate. We preach about being a family, and this is that time to enjoy our time with family, work our tails off and see if we can't shock the state … This week's more about rallying the troops. This week’s about the will to fight. It's hard to tell these young men that it's OK to fight. Unfortunately, we live in a society where we've tried for generations now to drive that out of us, and that's not necessarily the right thing to do.
On North Miami game — It was a tough game. The guys fought pretty hard for that first quarter again, and then started to slip, and then one thing led to another.
