Power Polls can get monotonous this time of year. After all, even Blitz can start to struggle when it comes to finding new things to say about Carroll smashing everyone.
So this week, we are taking a look at the most valuable player for every team in Blitz’s top 10.
Whether that is true or not is open for debate, but here we go.
1. CARROLL (8-0)
MVP: Jimmy Sullivan, QB
This is easy. Yes, the defense is stacked with playmakers who have held SAC foes to barely a touchdown per game, but this team would not be atop the conference without Sullivan.
A late addition to the roster from Homestead, there were questions about how the sophomore quarterback would adapt and if he could learn the schemes on the fly.
Sullivan has answered that question emphatically. He has played with a poise far beyond his age, has limited turnovers and miscues and quickly earned the respect of his teammates. Entering Week 9, the sophomore has thrown for 1,427 yards and 20 touchdowns, is completing 65 percent of his passes and has rushed for seven additional scores.
Sullivan is the easiest choice on this list.
2. SNIDER (7-1)
MVP: Luke Haupert, QB
Sometimes you don’t have to put up gaudy numbers be essential to team success. Exhibit A is Haupert.
The senior quarterback has thrown for just over 900 yards on the season and 11 touchdowns, but it is Haupert’s leadership within the offense of the Panthers that truly makes him invaluable.
Haupert entered the season with the most starts ever by a Snider quarterback entering his senior season. Experience has given the Panthers’ coaching staff comfort in the sense that they know Haupert is going to make the right decisions with the ball. That is evidenced by the fact that Haupert has only thrown one interception in 108 attempts so far this year.
3. NORWELL (8-0)
MVP: Luke Graft, RB/DB
The Knights have several guys that see action on both sides of the ball, but the most impactful is Graft. Not only is he one of the leading rushers for Coach Josh Gerber’s team, he is also the de facto captain of the defense. Versatility? He has it – accounting for 45 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, five sacks and a pair of INTs through eight games.
When talking ‘that guy’ for Norwell, Graft is it.
4. NORTH SIDE (6-2)
MVP: Bohde Dickerson, QB
While North Side has a fair amount of talent most years, it sometimes doesn’t have the quarterback to pull it all together.
This Legends squad has that in Dickerson, who has been everything that Coach Ben Johnson hoped for when the senior came over from Bishop Dwenger.
Dickerson has thrown for 1,660 yards and 22 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He has also rushed for 257 yards and six scores. His impact as a rock-solid leader of the offense may not show up in the box score, but it is immense.
Without Dickerson, North is not having its best regular season in close to a decade.
5. COLUMBIA CITY (7-1)
MVP: Offensive line
When you have a team rushing for close to 300 yards per game, it can be easy to go with the leading rusher for a team.
But that’s difficult with the Eagles, who have four different players that have rushed for 325 or more yards this season.
So let’s go the offensive line for Columbia City, with Jack Maley, Riley Tucker and others leading a unit that has opened up holes times and again for the Eagles.
The unit is not just good on the inside, but it has players who can pull and get out in front on the outside, a favorite play call for the coaching staff.
6. WARSAW (6-2)
MVP: Bryson Brown, RB
Much like Columbia City, Warsaw’s success is predicated on the run game with a variety of different players.
But the most consistent on the field and in the locker room has been Brown, one of a number of seniors who has stepped up as the Tigers got off to a 4-0 start and are a team to watch in Sectional 2.
A multi-sport athlete, Brown is a blue-collar player who doesn’t shy away from contact and craves the contact and physicality of the game, needed attributes in Warsaw’s rough and tumble offense.
7. BISHOP DWENGER (5-3)
MVP: C.J. Davis, WR/DB
The Saints lost a key player to North Side in Dickerson, but gained one from Northrop in C.J. Davis.
That’s how the Fort Wayne transfer portal works sometimes.
Davis has been an impact guy for Bishop Dwenger from the jump, hauling in five catches for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Week 1 against Wayne. For the year, the dynamic athlete headed to Marshall is responsible for 330 receiving yards and five scores. He is kicked away from at every opportunity in the return game and no one is better on the ball amongst area defensive backs than Davis, who has accounted for 59 tackles, four TFL, four INTs and 14 passes defensed this year.
8. HOMESTEAD (4-4)
MVP: PEYTON SLAVEN, QB
It hasn’t been the customary season for the Spartans, who have not lost this many regular season games since 2013.
A steadying presence on an offense that is averaging over 32 points per game has been Slaven, who enters Week 9 having thrown for 1,903 yards and 16 touchdowns.
There have been times in which Slaven has been a bit careless with the football, but the defense has struggled mightily to keep teams out of the end zone, meaning the offense often finds itself having to outscore foes.
One thing that Homestead appears to be missing as opposed to years past is that game-breaking player on the offense, particularly at wide receiver. But the senior Slaven has delivered more often than not.
9. ADAMS CENTRAL (8-0)
MVP: Ryan Black, QB/LB
Quarterbacks in run-heavy attacks scarcely get the credit they deserve, but Black is the player that makes the Flying Jets go on offense.
Black knows every nuance of the offense, having started since he was a sophomore. There is not a situation or defensive scheme that Black has not faced as a QB1, and with that experience he has gained the ultimate trust from the AC coaching staff.
Black is also a dude that is a solid linebacker, meaning he doesn’t have the luxury of going to the sideline and talking things over with coaches while the defense is at work.
10. ANGOLA (6-2)
MVP: Andre Tagliaferri, SB/S
When discussing the struggles the last few years for Angola, Blitz has pointed to the Hornets’ lack of big-time skill position players as a primary reason.
Now back in the mix atop the Northeast Corner Conference, Angola can point to several players that are problems for opposing defenses.
At the top of the list is Tagliaferri. Angola uses the senior in a variety of roles – getting the ball out of the backfield, around the edge or downfield. He is quarterback Tyler Call’s go-to receiver and a threat in the return game as well. He is also a dynamic defender who plays the ball well to the tune of over 55 tackles so far this season.
NEXT FIVE
11. Bishop Luers
12. Leo
13. Concordia Lutheran
14. New Haven
15. Eastside
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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