Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warren Central (0-1) at Warsaw (1-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Fisher Field, Warsaw.
Series (last 40 years): Warren Central, 1-0.
John Harrell’s prediction: Warren Central, 31-21.
Last meeting: Aug. 30, 2024, Warren Central, 34-0.
About Warren Central: Coach J.T. Whitaker’s Indiana Football Coaches Association vote-getting 6A Warriors lost 24-6 against Center Grove in Week 1 … Junior Anthony Dennison completed 6-of-15 passes for 93 yards to six different receivers … Junior Keyon Thomas ran 23 times for 126 yards, one interception and one touchdown … Leaders in total tackles were senior Terrell Harris Jr. (14), junior Dexter Smith (13) and junior Andrew Winkle (8).
About Warsaw: Coach Bart Curtis’ IFCA 5A No. 6-ranked Tigers won 38-30 at Warsaw in Week 1 … Junior defensive back Parker Sweet’s interception at the end of the game helped put the win on ice … In a contest with five lead changes, the winning points — a 5-yard TD run by senior fullback Brody Duncan and junior halfback Tucker Reed’s conversion run — came with 1:39 to go … junior fullback Michael Schenck (134 with three TD’s) junior halfback Wyatt Harman (114 with one TD) and junior quarterback Ethan Rivich (98 and 0-of-3 passing) led the way in rushing yardage as the Tigers gained 462 … Leading tacklers were senior Matthew Flores-Ortega (17), junior Nathan Villa (15), sophomore Ty Martin (14 with one fumble recovery) and junior Robbie Straughan (9) … Warsaw lost two fumbles and yielded 367 yards (308 on the ground).
Per Coach Bart Curtis:
On Warren Central — Warren Central is kind of an enigma. They played one of the best teams in the state if not the Midwest in Center Grove so it’s a little bit hard to gauge … But Warren Central is going to be Warren Central. They’re big, fast and physical … They want to throw the ball a little more than last year. They still have a very potent running game … We’re going to have our hands full for sure … We want to play the best that’s out there that’s available that’s going to make us better for the long game.
Managing misfortune — The best thing I saw (against Fort Wayne Snider) is that we handled adversity better than I thought we might. Being down 10-0 early and turning the ball over two or our first three snaps was not the start we were looking for.
On Fort Wayne Snider game — It was obviously a wild game with a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs … It was a game where whoever had the ball last had an opportunity to win … Our run defense needs to improve. Overall, we defended pass very well … (The team) showed me something Friday night. They’re competitors and they’re trying to forge their own identity, so that’s kind of cool.
Tippecanoe Valley (1-0) at Rochester (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Barnhart Field, Rochester
Series: Tippecanoe Valley 23-18
John Harrell’s prediction: Tippecanoe Valley 21-14
Last Meeting: Aug. 30, 2024, Tippecanoe Valley 22-12
About Valley: The Vikings are coming off a 20-3 win over Plymouth in the season opener last Friday. The defense led the way for Valley in the team’s first ever meeting against the Rockies, holding Plymouth to just three points and -10 rushing yards in the second half. The D totalled four turnovers in the win, all of them interceptions. Two of them came from junior Owen Omondi, who took the first one to the house for the game’s first touchdown. He’d also add a highlight-reel catch on offense, high pointing a ball in triple coverage to come down with a 27 yard gain. Offensively, kicker Gage Overbey was the story in this one, as the senior set a new program record with a 48-yard field goal to end the first half, only to match it with a second 48-yarder in the third quarter. Wes Parker led the way in rushing with 123 yards and a score on 19 carries. Grady Moriarty finished the night with 79 yards on the ground. Now, the Vikings turn their attention to the Bell Game against rival Rochester. Valley has won six straight wins in the series, matching the longest streak in the rivalry’s history. The last time the Vikings had won six straight Bell Games was 1978 to ‘83.
About Rochester: The Zebras also looked very good in their opener on Friday night, dismantling Southwood 42-0 to begin the season 1-0 both overall and in the Three Rivers Conference. Rochester’s signature ground-and-pound offense was on full display here, totalling 346 yards on the ground. Leading the way was Kale Shotts, who had 125 yards rushing to go with three scores. Brant Beck also broke the century mark, running for 109 and a touchdown. Quarterback Carson Paulik completed just one of his three passes for eight yards. Rochester’s last win in the Bell Game came back in 2017. The team’s longest winning streak in the rivalry is also six games, from 1997 to 2002.
Valley head coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week’s defense - I thought the players did very well at tackling and sticking to their assignments. I thought they did a great job of working together as a unit. Being able to function and do your job really helps out the next guy. I think we did a great job containing their quarterback and their tailback, and the secondary did a fantastic job in coverage coming up with those picks.
On Omondi’s big night - He’s an asset to have out there wherever you put him. He covers so much ground and he has such a nose for the ball. As you get older and more experienced the game sort of slows down for you and that’s what we see happening to him. He does a great job of anticipating and coming across the middle. He’s like a center fielder out there. And offensively, he’s always a threat whether it's downfield or at the line of scrimmage. He’s done a lot of work to get better and stronger and that work started to pay off on Friday night.
On the Bell Game - We’re going to have to perform well on the defensive front. They’re very disciplined when it comes to running the ball. They have great players and great coaching. So we’re going to have to match that discipline. We’re going to have to take care of the ball, and hope we can win the special teams battle as well. It’ll be crucial to control field position and to make sure we don’t give up any big plays.
Wawasee (1-0) at West Noble (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Charger Field, Ligonier.
Series (last 40 years): West Noble, 7-4.
John Harrell’s prediction: West Noble, 28-7.
Last meeting: Aug. 31, 2024, West Noble, 55-6.
About Wawasee: Coach Matt Thacker’s 4A Warriors beat Jimtown 10-9 in Week 1 … Senior Kassidy Carter led in rushing yards with 52 of the team’s 132 … Junior Johnny Zachary (touchdown followed a bad Jimtown snap in punt formation), freshman Cash Walter (field goal) and sophomore Salvador Hernandez (extra point) accounted for the points … Total tackles leaders were senior Cameron Senter (11), junior Kaden Andrew (8), Zachary (7) and junior Max Pena (6) … Senter, Andrew and Zachary recovered one fumble apiece …
About West Noble: Coach Monte Mawhorter’s 3A Chargers won 35-8 at Central Noble in Week 1 … Senior Trey Shisler completed 7-of-16 passes for 102 yards and two TD’s — one each to seniors Dustin Richardson and Xavier Yates … Yates (45 with one TD), sophomore Brogan Parks (36) and Richardson (35 with one TD) were tops in rushing yardage … Senior McKale Bottles (4) was the total tackle leaders.
Per Coach Matt Thacker:
On West Noble — They have a ton of speed. They may not have (Estil) Pruitt (who rushed for 1,804 yards and 33 TD’s in his senior season in 2024), but they’re still able to run the ball very effectively. They still do a great job of defense … It’s going to be a tough, tough game for us. We’ve got to continue to grow, learn from our mistakes and not get frustrated with ourselves. We need to have a next-play attitude and see what happens.
Dealing with disappointment — We got down 7-0 and our kids were resilient. A lot of things offensively early on was what Jimtown was doing to us, giving our quarterback (sophomore Mark Haynes) a different read and a different look … Mark never gives you the impression that he’s rattled … We had plenty of sophomores and seven a few freshmen stepping up and helping us out to win a game at the varsity level.
On Jimtown game — It was a nail-biter … Both teams played extremely hard and both defenses were ahead of both offenses overall … We were able to get some things figured out and have two pretty good, long drives. We just didn’t come away with touchdowns in the second half, but we were able to give our defense a rest and then it stepped up … (Junior) J’ceon Evans had a big forced fumble toward the end of the fourth quarter and Kaden Andrews was able to get on it. We were able to run some plays, take a safety then basically just run the clock out on Jimtown.
Manchester (1-0) at Bluffton (1-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Park Field, Bluffton
Series: Bluffton 16-4
John Harrell’s prediction: Bluffton 35-24
Last Meeting: Aug. 30, 2024, Bluffton 28-14
About Manchester: The Squires found themselves trailing 21-0 to Three Rivers Conference foe Northwestern in the first half of last Friday’s season opener. The team had a miraculous turnaround in the second half, scoring on five straight drives to storm back and stun the Tigers 33-21. Manchester had an incredibly balanced attack in the victory, passing for 262 yards and running for 225. Quarterback Dallas Martin had the best game of his career, completing 10 of 14 passes for the aforementioned 262, as well as two scores. His main receiver was fellow senior Eli Metzger, who hauled in five catches for 147 yards and a TD. Martin also led the team in rushing with 74 yards and also added two touchdowns on the ground. Reiss Gaerte was the team’s leading rusher out of the backfield, totalling 57 yards. Gaerte was also everywhere on defense, leading the team with 13 tackles. Manchester’s last win over Bluffton came in 2009, a 46-23 stomping.
About Bluffton: The Tigers began their 2025 campaign with a narrow 29-27 win over Shenandoah last Friday night. Like the Squires, Bluffton was able to use an incredibly balanced offense (212 passing yards, 222 rushing yards) in the victory. Quarterback Axton Beste completed 13 of 18 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Elijah Bertsch led the receiving corps in yards with 106, while Aaron Streveler’s two TD grabs were a team-high. Cooper Craig ran for 118 yards on just nine carries. The Tigers have won the last 15 games in the series with Manchester.
Manchester head coach Brian Enyeart:
On last week - The first half was really ugly on our part. We weren’t following the game plan, we had a few mental lapses that led to some long scores. Offensively, we moved the ball well but some costly mistakes would get in our way. We weren’t panicking at the half, we just needed to execute the way we should. In the second half, we did that. We held them scoreless and scored on five straight drives after going down [21-0]. A win like that is huge for the guys. It shows them that we can do stuff like this. We can come back from big deficits. We can win big conference games. They showed a lot of fight tonight.
On Martin’s career night - The opportunities for us to throw were presented to us and we felt like we could take advantage. Do we go into a game planning on passing it 14 times? Usually, if we’re throwing it more than five I’m assuming it’s because something’s wrong, but the way the game was going and the defenses they were presenting to us gave us the opportunity to do so. You have to take what they’re giving you, and it eventually opened up the run and that’s where we really started to be successful.
On Bluffton - They’re always good. They’ve got a lot of returners, especially on defense. They’re extremely aggressive so we will have to make sure we’re prepared and know our assignments well ahead of time. It’s going to take 48 minutes to get the job done. If we go down 21-0 to these guys it’s probably going to be a different story.
