As we move into week four of the high school football season, we want to take a look at who some of the top players and teams are so far. Through 1/3 of the high school football regular season, who is catching Outside the Huddle’s attention in the Allen County Athletic Conference?
TOP OFFENSIVE PERFORMER
James Arnold, South Adams
In three weeks, Arnold has thrown for 869 yards and is close to being on pace for another 3,000-yard passing season. The Starfire slinger has thrown for 13 touchdowns and just one interception thus far.
Arnold has been solid at putting the ball wherever he wants to. The senior goes through his progressions and finds open receivers who themselves have been making great moves to get into the open field.
Arnold has completed 73.8 percent of his passes (45-of-61) in the first third of the season and is averaging 19.3 yards per pass.
Contenders: Hayden Nern, Bluffton; Drew Stutzman, South Adams; Alex Currie, Adams Central
TOP DEFENSIVE PERFORMER
Austin Gorney, South Adams
Picking one South Adams defender is tough, but Gorney has been an absolute workhorse for the 3-0 Starfires. Gorney has secured a team-high 23 tackles, with 14 being solo, in the first three weeks, adding one sack in the process.
The Starfires fly around a lot on defense but it is Gorney who seems to be in on more plays than he is not over the first third of the regular season.
Contenders: Nick Miller, South Adams; Rylan Whitacre, Heritage; Kaine Moore, Bluffton; Aidan Wanner, South Adams; Joe Collier, Adams Central
BREAKOUT PLAYER
Lukas Hunt, Bluffton
This could have been a question through two weeks, but after Week 3’s performance, even in a loss, Hunt jogs to the top of the list.
Far from a true quarterback, Hunt showed miles of heart and toughness against South Adams. He is the one who took control of the positive offensive moments for the Tigers in that game. He threw the ball well and kept South Adams off balance in a few instances.
Hunt has also been able to change the game running the ball and on defense. He certainly has one of the top buzzword names in the ACAC right now.
Contenders: Drew Stutzman, South Adams; Chris Baker, Heritage; Nick Neuenschwander, Adams Central
TOP NEWCOMER
Rylan Whitacre, Heritage
The sophomore has put up 36 total tackles in the first three weeks of the season, including 13 in a Week 3 win over Woodlan.
Whitacre has also recovered a pair of fumbles this season and has come in with a high level of aggression for being just a sophomore.
Contenders: Kaiden Ridenhour, Jay County; Maverick Summersett, South Adams; Ryan Black, Adams Central
BIGGEST SURPRISE
None
No, this is not a cop-out. The reality is the ACAC has gone exactly how it we expected. This is especially true because there have only been a couple of actual conference games played.
It was really expected for this conference to go one way: a set up for Adams Central at South Adams at the end of the season with Bluffton right there winning almost every week, but maybe not against the top two teams. That is still where it looks like we are headed. It may seem like we are avoiding the category, but nothing about the ACAC has been a surprise so far.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Struggles on the back end
The ACAC remains strong at the top, but the back end of the conference is a combined 1-8 to start the season. That one win was against another back-end team with Heritage’s Week 3 victory over Woodlan.
With Southern Wells not even fielding a varsity team this season, the league is stuck at just six teams, disappointing in its own right. Those back three teams have scored just 67 combined points, with 45 of those coming in that Week 3 win for the Patriots.
CONFERENCE FAVORITE
South Adams
While this conference is still expected to come down to the two Adams County teams, South Adams’ high-flying offense is giving them the edge currently. The Starfires haven’t been tested as of yet, but are doing a really strong job of mixing up their offense and putting up monster yardage and numbers that don’t appear to be slowing down, let alone being halted, anytime soon.
As games continue to roll by and the chance of another undefeated regular season lingers, the confidence in Berne is only going to continue to grow. This can be seen on both sides of the football. The Starfires are hitting hard and significantly limiting opponents on offense offense, including -56 rushing yards for Bluffton in Week 3.
A couple of individuals have added program-record performances with Aidan Wanner’s 99 career made PATs and Drew Stutzman having a 12th career multiple touchdown game.
Contenders: Adams Central
These opinions represent those of Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers.
Be the first to comment