Last Game: Warsaw 45, Concord 3; Mishawaka 49, Penn 42 OT
Last Meeting: Penn 40, Warsaw 0 (Nov. 3, 2017, sectional)
Matchup: For the second year in a row, the Warsaw Tigers travel to Penn's Freed Field for a Class 6A Sectional 2 opener. Friday's winner will play either Valparaiso (7-2) or Chesterton (3-6) in next week's sectional final. The Tigers fell 40-0 to the Kingsmen in last season's sectional opener and are 0-11 in the all-time series with Penn. With Jimtown's loss last week, the Kingsmen are now the only football program in the state that has not lost a tournament opener since the IHSAA went to the "everybody makes the postseason" format in 1985. Warsaw enters postseason play with a 7-2 record in its first season with hall of fame coach Bart Curtis. The seven wins in the regular season are the most for the Tigers since 2001. Warsaw concluded the regular season with a 45-3 win over Concord, a win that included a school-record 465 yards rushing, breaking the previous school record of 436 against Columbia City in 1973. Rod Wildman ran for 281 yards on 29 carries in that game 45 years ago. The current Warsaw team has rushed for 2,488 yards and 23 touchdowns this season, but doesn't have a 1,000-yard rusher. Senior Kane Dawson leads the Tigers with 812 yards and six scores, while classmate Josh West has season totals of 628 yards and nine TDs, and fellow senior Bryce Garner 334 yards and five TDs. As a team, Warsaw averages 5.2 yards per carry. Defensively, Warsaw gives up 11.5 points per game, which is third-best in the state among 6A teams. In the win over Concord last week, junior Blake Marsh intercepted a pass and returned it nearly 35 yards for a touchdown. Marsh has five interceptions this season and eight over the last two seasons. The single-season school record of picks is eight by Sterling Watkins in 1972, and the career record is nine by Watkins in the 1972 and '73 seasons. The Kingsmen enter Friday's game on the heels of a 49-42 overtime loss to city rival Mishawaka, a loss that ended Penn's 47-game Northern Indiana Conference win streak. Penn's last conference loss prior to Friday was to Mishawaka in 2010 with Curtis at the helm. Curtis has a 4-9 record against Penn. The Kingsmen are led by 6-foot-3, 225-pound sophomore quarterback Ron Powlus Jr., son of the former Pennsylvania prep standout and Notre Dame Fighting Irish star. In the loss to Mishawaka, Powlus ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.
Curtis: "The thing about Penn through the decades of championships and wins and player development is they have executed and done as good a job as anybody of adjusting their scheme to the players they have. But when the rubber hits the road, they're still Penn. Ron Powlus Jr. can put it in there. He's a big kid, and he presents some problems. To beat Penn, and this is going to sound cliche, you have to beat Penn. They're not going to beat themselves. They're sound in all three phases of the game. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of a group of coaches and players that have beat Penn, and to do that Friday we have to play great football. I don't think we have to convince our kids to believe they can't beat Penn. This group believes in what we're doing, and the last 11 games against Penn have nothing to do with this group. There was a time when Mishawaka had lost 34 straight games to Penn, and we went out and beat them."
MACONAQUAH AT T. VALLEY (3A SECTIONAL 27)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Akron
Coaches: Austin Colby (Maconaquah), Steve Moriarty (T. Valley)
Records: Maconaquah 8-2, T. Valley 6-4
Last Game: Maconaquah 48, John Glenn 13; T. Valley 34, Peru 7
Last Meeting: first meeting between the teams
Matchup: The Tippecanoe Valley Vikings haven't won a sectional championship since 1992. A win over the Maconaquah Braves Friday night would put Valley in position to end their title drought next week against either Knox or Mishawaka Marian. It won't be easy though, as the Vikings will have to slow a Braves team that averages nearly 32 points per game. Maconaquah has never won a sectional title, and its 48-13 win over John Glenn last week was its first postseason win since 2002. The Braves' two losses are by a combined 13 points. Maconaquah lost 22-20 at Lewis Cass in Week 2, and then 21-10 to current 1A No. 3 Southwood on Oct. 5. Since the loss to Southwood, the Braves have won games over Rochester and John Glenn by a combined 76-21. Maconaquah's offense is run-heavy, as the Braves average 260 yards per game on the ground and just 46 through the air. Carter Little has rushed for 739 yards and 15 TDs, while Jared Blake (683 yards, 9 TDs), Zack Bullock (494 yards, 3 TDs), Collin Silvers (360 yards, 10 TDs) and Nolan Kelly (288 yards) have contributed to the ground game. Kelly has completed 30 of 60 pass attempts for 460 yards and four scores. The Vikings enter Friday's game with some momentum under second-year coach Steve Moriarty. After a 1-3 start, Valley has won five of its last six games, with the one loss a 21-20 overtime thriller in the regular season finale and conference championship game to undefeated Southwood, who had given up just 29 points in the previous eight games. Like Maconaquah, Valley prides itself on its running game. Cameron Parker leads the Vikings with 185 carries for 1,013 yards and eight TDs. In last week's 34-7 win at Peru, Parker tallied 201 yards and four scores on 26 carries. Alex Morrison has eight rushing touchdowns this season, while Wes Melanson and Dakota Gaff have five each. Quarterback Noah Miller has completed 27 of 60 passes for 494 yards and three TDs.
Moriarty: "Watching Maconaquah on film you can see their size and their ability to move people up front. They also have a very stingy defense. They are 8-2 for a very good reason. They are a very good football team and they are getting better each week. I think our team has improved in many different areas, but I would say the biggest area is their attitudes. They are becoming students of the game and pushing themselves in practice. The communication is key and they're all on the same page. If we could make it to the sectional championship it would mean a lot to our program and to this community. The players have set their goals high this season and we have fought hard to achieve them. We are close, but we have a big obstacle in our way Friday night."
TRITON AT WINAMAC (1A SECTIONAL 41)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday in Winamac
Coaches: Ron Brown (Triton); Craig Barr (Winamac)
Records: Triton 7-3; Winamac 5-5
Last Game: Triton 34, Culver 12; Winamac 38, Caston 16
Last Meeting: Triton 36, Winamac 20 (Week 8)
Matchup: The stakes are high in this sectional semifinal matchup between the Trojans and Warriors. The winner will face either North Judson or South Central in the sectional championship game. Triton and Winamac played each other just two weeks ago in a regular season finale that was intense and a little chippy. Brown has emphasized to his players to keep their composure, and he hopes Winamac's coaches have done the same. The Warriors will aim to spread the ball around offensively so that the Trojans have to guard every single player. Meanwhile, Triton will continue to rely on a mix of the run and pass and its big-play capabilities. Offensively, the Trojans have a palette of playmakers that include quarterback James Snyder, running backs Delano Shumpert, D'Angelo Shumpert and Ethan Berry, fullback Hunter McIntyre, and wide receiver Tye Orsund.
Brown: "The key to win this game is to keep our head and to play football, and not get involved in extracurriculars. We need to focus on the aspects of the game that we need to control, and focus on the things we've been focused on all year long, (including) playing a nice, clean game. That's what I would like to see."
