Now a third into the regular season, we are beginning to see things come into focus around northeast Indiana – especially in the SAC.
Let’s put a bow on Week 3 with your favorite weekend highlight – Bear Necessities.
SAC
• Through three weeks, Carroll is undefeated with victories over Bishop Luers, Snider and North Side.
For anyone to TRY to convince Blitz that the Chargers aren’t the top team in the league would be futile.
There is plenty of football that remains to be played, but Carroll will be favored in all six of its remaining games (by this bear at least).
Yet here is the wild thing. Carroll now resides in Sectional 2 with the likes of Warsaw, Penn and Elkhart. Combined, the quartet of squads are 11-1, with the lone loss by Penn in a 14-point defeat to No. 3 Cathedral.
You could make the case that while Carroll is the most complete squad in the SAC, it is the fourth-best team in its own sectional.
Does that say more about the SAC or Class 6A?
• Kudos to Wayne for not only getting its first victory of the season, but also making SportsCenter’s Top Ten as the No. 1 play in the country on Friday night. Not bad considering Serena Williams’s final US Open appearance was No. 2.
If you haven’t seen it, check it out as Generals QB Christian Trimble evades tacklers and stays upright just long enough to fling the ball downfield. Whether it was an errant throw or a targeted ball, Lamarion Nelson was able to haul it in, hurdle a defender and score a touchdown.
There was just one problem – hurdling is not allowed in Indiana high school football.
While the play stood because officials either didn’t see the leap or didn’t know the rule – the fact remains that the play should have been dead the moment Nelson left the ground.
Still a crazy sequence though.
• What CJ Davis is doing to opponents continues to be completely unfair.
The senior opened the scoring in Friday’s Bishop Dwenger rout of South Side with a pick-six and finished with a pair INTs on the night.
The problem for opponents is the fact that it is difficult to go away from Davis. He is so good on the back end of the defense that he can make himself known anywhere on the field. There is no such thing as throwing “away” from Davis because of the positions he plays and how Bishop Dwenger employs him.
Speaking of stunting away from Dwenger players, opponents may want to stop kicking to junior Carter Minix.
Minix was already averaging over 26 yards per return heading into Friday’s game with South Side before he broke loose for a 62-yard punt return for a score in the first quarter, following by a 79-yard kickoff return to the house in the second quarter.
We talk so much about CJ Davis (for good reason), but there are some other stud athletes to recognize on the Saints’ roster.
NE8
• There were so many positives for Norwell in their win over Leo, especially considering the NE8 implications in week one of conference play.
Luke Graft‘s play stood out, but Lleyton Bailey, Kline Neuenschwander and Drew Ringger all added to the defensive stops with interceptions, as did Graft, Brody Bolyn was just a lane clogger on defense as Leo tried unsuccessfully to move the ball up the middle and on offense, Lleyton Bailey showed that Norwell isn’t just a running team.
Norwell only had 72 yards passing but those passing plays helped them get the ball moving down the field when they couldn’t run early on. Jon Colbert and Cohen Bailey each made plays offensively on receptions that opened things up for the Knights.
• Speaking of the Lions, they had some signs of life that should be mentioned.
First of all, when was the last time that Leo threw 32 passes in a single game? Kylar Decker is learning and building and there remains a lot of intrigue to that. Decker completed 13 passes and sure, he sailed some and threw some picks, but learning requires some failures. Jaxon Keller and Brock Schott were consistent targets of his and while things weren’t perfect, the Lions took chances and you can’t hate that.
Defensively, forcing a three and out on the opening possession was, for the time, eye opening. Drew Baker ended the game with 8.5 tackles while Alex Holcomb ended with eight of his own. It is a 27-0 loss, it is a NE8 streak ended. But, take it for what it was and move on. How does Leo respond against New Haven?
• There are much bigger challenges that await Columbia City in the near future, but how about Colten Pieper behind center?
Stepping in for the departed Greg Bolt, a multi-year starter that commanded the offense in recent years, Pieper was an unknown quantity. But all the senior has done through the first three games is throw six touchdowns against just one interception as the Eagles are off to a 2-1 start.
Pieper only completed three passes in Friday’s game, but two went for touchdowns – both to sophomore Stratton Fuller.
How Pieper handles tougher defenses like New Haven, Norwell and Leo will go a long way towards deciding how successful of a season it is for Columbia City, but so far as good with the senior that has waited for his time behind center.
• Huntington North fell late to East Noble when the Knights scored a touchdown and converted the PAT with 25 seconds left.
The Vikings were led in the recieving game by Asher Chipchoskey, who hauled in one catch for 13 yards.
That’s it. That’s the note. Blitz just wanted folks to read the name ‘Asher Chipchoskey.’
ACAC
• Kudos to Heritage, which went on the road and earned a commanding 32-14 win over Woodlan.
Junior quarterback Kobe Meyer was the difference, throwing for a touchdown and rushing for three more in the Patriots’ victory.
Coach Casey Kolkman is one of the best guys in the business in this area. Refreshing, fun and a dude who gets what’s important to players at the high school level.
It’s great seeing Heritage begin to turn it around under Kolkman’s leadership.
• Two players led the way in the Adams Central-Covenant Christian contest down at Taylor University.
Keegan Bluhm of the Flying Jets rushed for 206 yards and three scores on 23 carries.
Tony Flatt of Covenant threw for 310 yards and two TDs on 25-of-36 passing.
Adams Central averaged nine yards per play in the victory.
• Bluffton went over the 500-yard mark of total yardage in its game against South Adams on Friday. It amassed 25 first downs and held the ball for 11 more minutes than its opponent.
And the Tigers lost by 15 points.
The difference? Maverick Summersett tied two school records in his five touchdown night. Summersett tied the single game TD mark with those 5, something that was set in 1988 by Scott Bixler against Southern Wells. In that same game, Bixler scored 30 points himself, as did Taylor LeFever in 2010 vs Northfield. Summersett now adds his name to those records too.
NECC/Area
• Fairfield completed passes in its victory over Central Noble – two.
Central Noble interceptions throws in its loss to Fairfield – two.
High school football is funny sometimes.
• West Noble junior Drew Yates is having himself quite the start to the season.
The quarterback has scored 10 total touchdowns – four through the air and six on the ground – including all four of the Chargers’ TDs in the one-point win over Eastside on Friday.
There is improvement needed when it comes to accuracy and execution in the pass game, but when you have the junior Yates as the elder statesman with offensive playmakers Seth Pruit (sophomore), Francis Macias (sophomore), McKale Bottles (freshman) and Xavier Yates (freshman), West Noble looks pretty scary in relation to the rest of the NECC.
QUICK HITS
Snider picked off four Eli Mattox passes in its 42-0 win over Concordia…Warsaw‘s 70 points are the most in a game for the program since dropping 89 on Columbia City in 1922…On Saturday, Blackhawk Christian picked up the first win in school history in their inaugural 8-on-8 season, 37-12 over Irvington Prep Academy. Congrats to the Braves!
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
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