BEAR NECESSITIES: What you need to take from Week 6

Did we get answers to our Week 6 questions? Who surprised? Which teams impressed?

Lucky for you, Blitz is here to help you make sense of another week of high school football.

SAC

• Wayne’s 21-7 victory over Snider was more dominant than the score indicated. With the exception of a first half scoring drive that drove the length of the field, the Panthers were unable to get anything consistent going offensively.The most impressive individual performance defensively in Blitz’s mind came from outside linebacker Tristan Pernell. In addition to a key interception, the senior amassed 13 tackles and was a disruptive force all night against a Panthers offense that lacks big-play ability.
• On the season, Pernell has 58 tackles, three sacks and a pair of INTs. We fall into the trap of talking about the same 2-3 guys with the Generals, but this truly is a team effort to get to 5-1 and beat Snider for just the sixth time ever.
• The Generals offensive game plan of spreading the field and winning the individual battles on the outside gave Snider fits and was a big part of the victory. Not only was Wayne able to find mismatches with Craig Young and Cameron Chambers on the perimeter, it also opened up running lanes for Brandan Young on both planned and improvised QB scrambles.Wayne had the talent edge on Friday night and it was obvious.
• The Panthers had two costly personal fouls on Friday night. One came after a play that saw Snider pick up a 1st and goal inside the five in the waning seconds of the first half and the game tied at seven. Instead of a few shots at a momentum-gaining score, the Panthers had to settle for a field goal attempt, which missed.The second personal foul penalty came after Wayne had taken a 14-7 lead. Snider desperately needed an answer on its ensuing drive, but the penalty took their offense out of sequence. A pass looking to make up a chunk of that yardage was picked off by Pernell. The Generals scored again shortly thereafter.
• Penalties are brutal to overcome against solid teams. It bit Snider hard on Friday.
• Never in the 58-year history of Bishop Luers football have the Knights had a stretch quite like the last month.The team’s 45-43 win over Northrop on Friday represented the fourth-straight game for Luers decided by three points or less. The Knights are 3-1 in those games.
• Norm Knapke has now thrown for 1,664 yards, 16 TDs and five INTs on the year.
• In four victories, Homestead is averaging 36.5 points per game. In its two losses, the Spartans are scoring at just a 8.5 ppg clip.The question is, can the Spartans find consistency the next few weeks against Carroll and Wayne? That will help tremendously in what is shaping up to be a highly-competitive Sectional 3 with Homestead, Carroll, Northrop and Snider.

• NORTHEAST 8

•  How big was Columbia City’s 21-7 triumph over New Haven?The Eagles had not beaten the Bulldogs in the regular season since 2010 and had given up 42 or more points in each of the last four games between the schools.
• Many are of the opinion that this conference is East Noble and then everybody else. Then very well may be, but the Columbia City defense, the stingiest in the NE8 based on points allowed, could make things interesting next week when the two teams collide in Kendallville.
• Speaking of East Noble, it had a tough time dispatching of Norwell in a 36-22 victory.Norwell has hung tough with the likes of Eastbrook, Leo and New Haven in addition to Friday’s game. It would not be surprising to see Norwell finish the regular season with four or five wins, another step forward in the rebuilding of the program under coach Josh Gerber.

• ACAC

• Want a favorite for local team most likely to get down to Indianapolis? Adams Central is a safe bet.Friday’s rout of South Adams has the Flying Jets 6-0 for the sixth time in school history. Five of those six years, the program reached at least the regional round of the postseason. The only outlier was 1969 when AC went a perfect 9-0 prior to the adoption of a state tournament.
• Congratulations are in order for Bailea Sprunger, who is now a program record holder at Adams Central.The fact that Sprunger is a girl is inconsequential. Her ability to make 34 straight PATs is impressive no matter who she is. She is as automatic as it comes on extra points, just another weapon for an AC squad that has had too much firepower and too much experience for anyone to get within a stone’s throw of them in the ACAC.
• Might Woodlan present a challenge in Week 9? We will see.
• Congratulations to Nico Tigulis and the Heritage Patriots for picking up their first win of the season, a 32-6 decision over Park Tudor.Heritage has over 15 seniors on the roster. One of those is Hunter Bradtmueller, who leads the team in both receiving yards (343 yards, six TDs) and defensive interceptions (three) despite missing two games.

• NECC

• Angola’s 70-0 pounding of Fairfield saw a couple of records set on Friday.As a team, the margin of victory was the largest in program history for the Hornets.
• Individually, Chase Schnepf broke the team’s all-time scoring record on a 20-yard touchdown. According to Chris Reed of the Herald Republican, Schnepf’s 246 career points eclipses the former mark of 240 set by Mike Berry in the early 1990s.
• With every Angola rout, the murmurs become louder and louder regarding the postseason. Can the Hornets rise to the occasion and knock off a Dwenger or Wayne in regional play?Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sectional 19 is once again shaping up to be absolutely brutal. Five teams have two losses or less, including undefeated NorthWood and one-loss East Noble.
• You could argue that the Angola defense is better than it was a year ago. That may be true, but there are a tremendous amount of offensive playmakers in the sectional. Not saying Angola isn’t up to the challenge, but it’s way too premature to be dreaming about the Hornets knocking off an SAC team if/when the opportunity presents itself.
• If Churubusco coach Paul Sade was an attention seeker (he isn’t), he would be shouting for respect for his Eagles.After a 38-6 win over Fremont following a slow start on Friday, ‘Busco is 6-0 and in command in the NECC Small Division entering a showdown with Central Noble. The defense is allowing just over six points per game, good for 11th in the entire state.
• West Noble and Central Noble present some tough challenges for the defense in the weeks ahead, however.
• These opinions represent those of Blitz and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Blitz on Twitter at Blitz_OTH