Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Wawasee (1-2, 0-1) at Warsaw (2-1, 1-0 NLC)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Fisher Field, Warsaw.
Series (last 40 years): Warsaw, 27-13.
John Harrell’s prediction: Warsaw, 38-10.
Last meeting: Sept. 13, 2024, Warsaw, 56-6.
About Wawasee: Coach Matt Thacker’s Warriors lost 36-7 at NorthWood in Week 3 … Wawasee took a 7-0 lead on a fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter by sophomore Dirks Miller and a kick by sophomore Salvador Hernandez … Freshman Mason McKibben (46) and sophomore Haynes (40) were rushing yardage leaders … Haynes completed one pass to sophomore Luke Nettrouer for 24 yards … On the season, Haynes is 8-of-18 passing for 201 yards and one TD … Haynes (178), junior J’Ceon Evans (64), McKibben (61) and Carter (59) are rushing yardage leaders … Junior Kaden Andrew (85), senior Cameron Senter (58) and Nettrouer (47) are tops in receiving yardage … Total tackle leaders are Senter (21) and juniors Max Pena (17), Kaden Andrew (14), Jayden Stahl (11) and Johnny Zachary (10) … Andrew, Senter, Miller and Zachary have one fumble recovery apiece … The Warriors own averages of 12.0 points per game on offense and 26.7 on defense … Warsaw has beaten Wawasee in 10 straight matchups. The last Warriors’ win in the series came in 2014.
About Warsaw: Coach Bart Curtis’ IFCA 5A No. 8 Tigers won 37-7 at Goshen in Week 3 … Warsaw led 34-0 at halftime and scored the game’s first 37 points … The Tigers gained 308 yards rushing and 40 passing with 16 first downs … Rushing yardage leaders were junior Tucker Reed (124), senior Brody Duncan (39), senior Quinton Brock (35) and junior Ethan Rivich (32) … Touchdowns were scored by Brock (2), Reed, Duncan and senior Daylon Fitzpatrick and freshman John Conley booted a field goal and two extra points … Brock and sophomore Brady Sauer passed for 20 yards each … Reed and senior Ethan Sroufe were the pass catchers … Warsaw lost two fumbles … Junior Grady Nelson blocked a field goal attempt in the second quarter … On the season, Brock is 3-of-8 passing for 75 yards and Sauer is 1-of-1 for 20 … Rushing yardage leaders are Reed (282 and one TD), junior Michael Schenk (161 and three TD’s), junior Wyatt Harman (166 and one TD), Duncan (137) and two TD’s), Rivich (130) and Brock (99 and three TD’s) … Reed (38), Duncan (37) and Sroufe (20) are receiving yardage leaders … Total tackle leaders are sophomore Ty Martin (37), senior Matthew Flores-Ortega (23), junior Nathan Villa (22), Nelson (20) and junior Robbie Straughan (20) … Martin and senior Enrique Silva have recovered one fumble each and junior Parker Sweet has one interception … The Tigers have produced a 29.7 offensive average and 21.7 defensive average.
Per Coach Matt Thacker:
On Warsaw — We’re trying to execute on offense, be physical and just get better … We’re taking it one day-at-a-time.
Position battles — There’s still some going on. We’ve got some young kids that need to grow up a little faster, but that’s just the nature of the beast.
On NorthWood game — We started off playing the way we wanted to, especially defensively. Offensively, we had some decent things going but we couldn’t finish a drive in the first half. We had a fumble at the end of the first half and NorthWood was able to capitalize … In the second half, we started out pretty well and drove the ball … We didn’t convert on third down and the wheels fell off from there.
Per Coach Bart Curtis:
On Wawasee — I know they are going to come down here for the “W” Trophy and play with their tails on fire. We need to be at our best to compete and win. Two years ago, they came down to our place and should have beat us. We were down 15-7 in the third quarter.
Position battles — Everyday is open territory. If I’m on a one-day contract each day, they’re certainly going to be.
On Goshen game — They are a much-improved team. Coach (Joey) Hecklinski and his staff are doing a great job of bringing this group along the right way … We did score on our first five possessions. But there’s some glaring deficiencies that I’m concerned about the need fixing … Our kids played extremely hard for the most part. I think the effort is there and I did see improvement in areas. What we want to look like and how we operate is not quite there where I want it to be … We can’t continue to make the same mistakes and be the kind of team we want to be … Our halfbacks need to take great pride in their blocking more so than all their ball-carrying abilities.
Knox (3-0) at Tippecanoe Valley (2-1)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m., Smith-Bibler Field, Akron
Series: Tippecanoe Valley 2-1
John Harrell’s prediction: Knox 35-21
Last Meeting: Sep. 13, 2024, Knox 26-3
About Knox: Hall of Famer Russ Radtke’s Redskins come into Friday night’s Indiana Northern State Conference opener undefeated at 3-0. The team’s most recent win was its biggest yet, as Knox crushed Culver Academy 72-24 last week. The Redskin offense is led by Mr. Football candidate Myles McLaughlin, who averages a staggering 352 rushing yards a game. Through three games this season, he’s already broken the 1,000 yard mark. He ranks top 10 all time for state rushing yards. In last week’s win, he had 439 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns as well as a 10th through the air. Knox will look to defend the conference title it shared with Jimtown last year.
About Tippecanoe Valley: The Vikings are finally playing a home game after three straight road contests to begin the campaign. Last week, the team suffered its first loss of the season on the road to Hamilton Heights 35-19. The Huskies used a 13-0 edge in the third quarter to pull away for the victory. Wes Parker had a nice night on the ground, rushing for 149 yards and a score. Quarterback Hunter Stage completed six of 13 passes for 50 yards and a TD. Grady Moriarty had 54 rushing yards. The Vikings will look to improve on last year’s conference play in which they finished 2-3. This will be the first of four straight games at home.
Tippecanoe Valley head coach Steve Moriarty:
On last week - It was a combination of a lot of different factors. Coming off of a big emotional win the week prior didn’t help anything. We had a pretty bad illness make its way through the team last week so practice was limited for a ton of guys. They were a really good team. I don’t think the score dictates how close it was. I made a choice late in the game to go for two that I would take back, but there’s no excuses. We’ll look at that game and do our best to improve. We won’t be the same team two weeks in a row.
On stopping Knox - You almost have to implement a brand new defense in the middle of the season when you face them. You go through your base defense for so long and then all of a sudden you have to spread everything out and get ready for them. There’s adjustments to be made but at the same time you can’t lose your core values and fundamentals on defense. It’s been a challenge this week, but it’s always a challenge for anyone going against Coach Radtke.
On the schedule - We knew going into this season that the schedule we had was a gauntlet. The goal of this schedule and this conference is to challenge yourself each week to sort of prepare you for the playoffs. You want to win the conference and battle it out every week and you hope that prepares you for the tournament. We’re excited about heading into conference play.
Manchester (2-1, 2-0 TRC) at Lewis Cass (2-1, 2-0 TRC)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Owens Stadium, Walton
Series: Lewis Cass 3-2
John Harrell’s prediction: Lewis Cass 31-28
Last Meeting: Oct. 11, 2024, Manchester 49-28
About Manchester: The Squires bounced back from a tough loss to Bluffton two weeks ago with a 47-19 win over Wabash last Friday. Manchester began the game on fire, going up 21-0 before the Apaches had recorded their first first down of the game. Despite Wabash finding its offense in the second half, it was a wire-to-wire victory for Manchester as the team remained undefeated in the Three Rivers Conference. Maddux Greer and Reiss Gaerte each ran for three touchdowns in the victory and each ran for over 100 yards. Quarterback Dallas Martin added a score on the ground and 98 yards rushing to add to the team total of 340.
About Lewis Cass: After beginning the season at 0-1, the Kings have won two straight TRC games heading into this one. The most recent was a 34-32 victory at Peru last Friday. Lewis Cass outscored the Tigers 20-7 in the first quarter and were able to hold off a late comeback. Four different Cass players ran for touchdowns in the game, and the team was led offensively by Gavin Smith and his 103 rushing yards. This is the Kings’ third season in the Three Rivers Conference.
Manchester head coach Brian Enyeart:
On last week - The victory was great and the score looked like we blew them out, but I feel like we kind of got satisfied and let up a little bit. When you have a team on the ropes like that, you have to know how to finish them off. We seemed okay with matching them scoring because we were up, but that’s not how you build a championship team. That’s not how you win consistently.
On Lewis Cass - It’s going to be one of the tougher conference games we have this season so we’ll have to step up. They’re going to look for a little redemption for us beating them last year. I felt like it was our best offensive game of the season. We shocked them a bit. All three phases are going to be huge. I just hope the kids aren’t taking this lightly because we beat ‘em last year.
On the offense - At this point last year we had maybe 40% of our offense down. Right now, we’re probably at about 98%. So I feel really good in the direction we’re heading and how we’re coming along so far this season.
