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Class 5A Sectional 11
Warsaw (6-3) vs. Concord (8-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Freed Field, Penn High School, Mishawaka.
Series (last 40 years): Concord, 23-19.
John Harrell’s prediction: Concord, 31-28.
Last meeting: Sept. 19, 2025, Concord, 38-7.
About Warsaw: Coach Bart Curtis’ Tigers got a first-round bye after beating visiting Northridge 34-19 in Week 9 … On the season, junior Quinton Brock is 12-of-32 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns … Rushing yardage leaders are Brock (535 and five TD’s), junior Tucker Reed (520 and two TD’s), junior Michael Schenck (514 and nine TD’s), senior Brody Duncan (407 and eight TD’s), junior Wyatt Harman (387 and three TD’s) and senior Daylon Fitzpatrick (157 and five TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders are Harman (67 and one TD), Reed (60), senior Logan Carl (49 and one TD) and senior Parker Sweet (45 and one TD)… Freshman John Conley is 22-of-27 on extra points and 1-of-2 on field goals … Tackle point leaders are senior Matthew Flores-Ortega (115), sophomore Ty Martin (102), junior Nathan Villa (87), junior Grady Nelson (80), junior Robbie Straughan (74) and sophomore Ethan Sinclair (64) … Warsaw carries averages of 29.1 points per game on offense and 21.3 on defense … The team has gained exactly 3,000 yards of total offense (333 per game including 300 rushing) … The Tigers’ all-time postseason record is 22-40 … In the Week 5 meeting with Concord at Fisher Field, the Minutemen led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter and 17-7 at halftime … Concord outgained Warsaw 345-278 in total yards.
About Concord: Coach Craig Koehler’s Indiana Football Coaches Association No. 6 Minutemen got a first-round bye after beating Plymouth 45-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in Week 9 … On the season, senior Bo Brunner is 102-of-136 passing for 1,448 yards and 12 TD’s … Rushing yardage leaders are senior Reese Breveard (1,042 and 20 TD’s), Brunner (463 and eight TD’s), senior Derek Gomez (341 and four TD’s) and sophomore Gerrell Suggs (144 and two TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders are Gomez (396 and three TD’s), Breveard (312 and one TD), senior Mark Herman (227 and three TD’s), junior Chase Thompson (205 and four TD’s) and junior Tavion Beach (143) … Senior Nathan Potter is 39-of-42 on extra points and 5-of-9 on field goals … Total tackle leaders are Gomez (72), Breveard (63), senior Camari Jackson (60), junior Zack Myers (57) and junior Carson Weirich (56) … Concord scores at a 38.8 clip and yields 18.9 … The Minutemen’s all-time postseason record is 57-43. Concord is 15-8 vs. Warsaw since 2004 … The winner of the Warsaw-Concord game advances to the sectional championship against the Fort Wayne North Side/Goshen winner on Nov. 7. If Warsaw wins Friday, the sectional title game will be played at North Side or at home against Goshen.
Per Coach Bart Curtis:
Concord — They beat us in every possible fact of the game back in September. We’re going to find out if we’ve improved … They’re hyper-talented and extremely well-coached. Nobody’s completely stopped them. They’re an offensive juggernaut.
Playing keep-away — (Sustained Warsaw offensive drives would keep Concord’s offense off the field). That’s easier said than done. They’re really solid on defense and they know what they’re doing.
Bye week — (The Tigers, who practiced and played through fall break in Week 9, took some practice days off last week). My intention, at least, was to get some kids some rest and recovery time … A couple of linemen were nursing some ankles and a knee. We think they should be ready to go Friday.
Class 2A Sectional 35
Manchester (7-3) at Eastside (8-2)
When: 7 p.m., Eastside
Series: Eastside 1-0
John Harrell’s prediction: Eastside 35-21
Opponents Records: Manchester 39-60, Eastside 46-54
Last Meeting: Oct. 28, 2022, Eastside 42-21 (sectional)
About Manchester: The Squires began sectional play with a dominant performance last week, defeating Prairie Heights 42-0 at home. The victory continued a trend for Manchester, as the team improved to 7-0 against teams with losing records. The team is still searching for its first win against an above .500 team (0-3) this season, and will have its chance on Friday night against Eastside. Quarterback Dallas Martin served as the Squires’ catalyst on offense once again, running for 168 yards on just six carries while scoring three touchdowns. Martin only completed two passes, but both went for touchdowns to receiver Eli Metzger. Landen Bean scored the team’s final touchdown to go with 46 yards on the ground. Ten different players carried the ball on offense, six of them finishing in double figures rushing. A win in this game will put the Squires in the sectional championship game for the second time in three years. Manchester is still searching for its first sectional championship since 1991, and has only made three championship games since then (2023, 2007, 1998).
About Eastside: The Blazers will have a familiar face for Squire fans on the opposing sideline, as head coach Alyx Brandewie spent the first three seasons of his coaching career at Manchester before packing up and heading to Eastside, where he has coached the past three seasons. Brandewie went 8-22 in North Manchester. The Blazers have lost just two games this season, both to teams in Sectional 35. Only one of them, Adams Central remains, and will face Bluffton in the other semifinal. Eastside played four different 3A schools this season, defeating all of them. Most recently, the Blazers dispatched Whitko 48-0 in the quarterfinal round. Five different players ran for at least 20 yards in the win, led by Quarterback Job Richman (92 yards, 2 TDs) and Noah Dove (74 yards, 2 TDs) Richman is the team’s leading rusher, averaging just under 150 yards a game. Dove averages a touch over 75 to get the duo over 200. Richman averages 103 yards through the air and has thrown 14 touchdown passes. His leading receiver is Jake Warstler, who averages 60 receiving yards a night and has caught eight touchdown passes.
Manchester head coach Brian Enyeart:
On last week - We started off well on both sides of the ball, set the tone early and that dictated the outcome of the game. I was happy with how we performed, it wasn’t perfect but a lot to be happy about. I like the fact that we stuck with it and came out of halftime scoring another touchdown, and then playing a complete game even after taking the starters out.
On Richman - I think there’s going to be two great quarterbacks in this game. He’s a great athlete and one we have to account for. Everything goes through him so you can’t take any plays off. We have to play our assignments, do our jobs and go from there.
On the rushing game - We’re doing pretty well with that. A lot of that falls on Dallas making the right read. We’re stressing that getting three or four yards is a great play. It’s fun to get the long touchdowns but as teams get better, being able to move the ball forward is crucial. We can’t get discouraged if the big plays don’t happen. If you end up putting together a 14 play drive that ends in points, that’s a big success.
Class 1A Sectional 43
Triton (7-3) at Fremont (7-3)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Max L. Mitchell Complex, Fremont.
Series (last 40 years): No meetings.
John Harrell’s prediction: Triton, 31-24.
About Triton: Coach Andy Barker’s Trojans beat visiting Southern Wells 60-28 in the sectional quarterfinals … Triton led 30-7 at halftime … Senior Jayden Overmyer rushed for 242 yards and four TD’s and freshman Tyler Painton 39 yards and one TD. Senior Gage Riffle passed for 147 yards and one TD. Junior Cayden Bradley, senior Colton Reynolds and senior Vinnie Prater also got into the end zone. Senior Cam Callahan was 8-of-8 on extra points and the defense scored two safeties … Total tackle leaders were Gage Riffle (9), Prater (7), Reynolds (7) and senior Brady Schuh (5) … On the season, Gage Riffle is 49-of-106 passing for 796 yards and eight TD’s … Rushing yardage leaders are Overmyer (1,627 and 18 TD’s), Gage Riffle (320 and five TD’s), Tainton (198 and three TD’s) and junior Ryder Gayheart (149 and three TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders are senior Isaac Quintana (220 and two TD’s), Gayheart (172 and two TD’s), Bradley (164 and three TD’s) and senior Maddox Dennie (107 and two TD’s) ... Callahan is 29-of-36 on extra points and 0-of-0 on field goals … Total tackle leaders are Reynolds (112), Prater (85), junior Preston Brookins (62), Quintana (58) and Gage Riffle (55) … Triton has norms of 28.2 on offense and 16.2 on defense … All but one opponent (2A Bremen) has been in 1A … The Trojans’ all-time postseason record is 30-40 … It’s about 90 miles from Triton to Fremont in Steuben County.
About Fremont: Coach Trevor Thomas’ Eagles beat visiting Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian 48-10 in the sectional quarterfinals … Fremont led 14-10 at halftime … On the season, junior Jaret Laughlin has passed for 628 yards and seven TD’s and senior Trace Handshoe 399 yards and three TD’s … Rushing yardage leaders are McLaughlin (1,097 and 15 TD’s), senior Carmyne Moreno (913 and 14 TD’s), sophomore Kolton Armstrong (486 and six TD’s) and junior Rylan Morton (125 and two TD’s) … Receiving yardage leaders are Morton (393 and four TD’s), junior Taylor Rodriguez (218 and four TD’s), Armstrong (70) and Moreno (68 and two TD’s) … Morton has also returned an interception for a TD … Fremont sports averages of 36.4 on offense and 19.1 on defense … The three losses came outside 1A (3A Angola, 2A Churubusco and 2A Eastside) … The Eagles’ all-time postseason record is 16-41 … The winner of the Triton-Fremont game advances to the sectional championship against the Southwood/North Miami winner on Nov. 7. If Triton wins, the sectional title game will be played in Bourbon against either team.
Per Coach Andy Barker:
Fremont — It’s about a two-hour bus ride to get from here to there. That’s the first thing we’ve got to overcome. Secondly, they’ve got the same record we do. They’ve got some good size and play hard ... They run some triple option out of the shotgun, some stuff under center from the I-formation then a kind of a spread … (On defense,) they love to stick a bunch of dudes in the box, but I just can’t imagine them trying to do that against us because of our multiple-formation offense. I think what we’re going to see is a 3-3 stack.
Offensive strength — Our guys run the bubble (screen) very well. We can sweep with Jayden (Overmyer), Isaac (Quintana), Gage (Riffle) or Ryder (Gayheart). One thing we have is plenty of speed … We’re definitely a power team with the ability to get the ball outside.
On Southern Wells game — We came out and jumped on them and were up 30-0 and gave up a touchdown right at the end of the second quarter. The game was never really close.
