High school football is back, and we already have plenty to talk about after Week 1.
Post-Week 1 is always interesting because you have folks ready to make snap judgements on 48 minutes of football. This team is great, that team stinks, etc.
For those unfamiliar, yours truly will be here every weekend to wrap up the Friday that was. We will look back at some of the top plays, stats, fun facts and more from game day as Blitz provides his opinion about it all, conference by conference.
SAC
• How quick some people are to jump onto the ‘Carroll isn’t good’ train with the 14-point loss to Hamilton Southeastern.
There are some warning signs, but let’s also factor in that HSE may very well be one of the top three teams in the entire state.
And a loss to a state power doesn’t necessarily drop the Chargers in Blitz’s eye as the league favorite (Power Poll tease?).
Carroll’s offense struggled in two key areas – dropped passes and the line. Jimmy Sullivan was effectively running for his life all game. He was sacked six times and ran 19 times for 16 yards, many of those not being designed runs. He also threw a pair of interceptions, just the second time in his starting career that he has done that.
What was so key to Sullivan’s development and success in 2022 was he consistently had time in the pocket. He didn’t have it in the state title game and he didn’t have it on Friday.
• What could have been for the Homestead Spartans.
With about six minutes to go in the fourth quarter in a tie game, sophomore Michael White threw a perfectly-placed ball that would have been a go-ahead touchdown, but the pass was dropped. Just two plays later, IU commit Christian Peterson of Carmel picked off White and returned it for the go-ahead and game-winning touchdown in a 14-7 final.
It was a disappointing end to the season opener, with Homestead having a few possessions late to try and tie it, but Blitz came away very impressed by the Spartans.
Over the years, Carmel has been able to dominate this series in convincing fashion. But on Friday, we saw a Homestead team coming off a .500 season with not a lot of hype around it battle one of the best programs in Indiana to the end.
That sophomore class for Sparty is going to be one to watch.
• There was no performance in the entire area more impressive than what Snider did to host Warren Central in a 42-20 win, making it five wins in eight tries all-time by the Panthers in this series.
We knew going to the season that the backbone of Snider this season was going to be the power running game. That’s not surprising for this program, but we didn’t know how the execution would go with a new QB and dudes in the backfield.
All QB Ke’ron Billingsley and back Uriah Buchanan did was combine for 49 carries, 295 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
To be fair, Warren Central hasn’t been the WC of old in several seasons, but this is still an eye-opening dub for the Panthers.
Luckily for us, Carroll will take on Warren in Week 2, giving us a great comparison between the top two squads in the SAC.
• Blitz pointed out in the preseason how Wayne had a wide receiver corps 1 thru 4 that can rival anyone in the area. Yes, a top-rated recruit may not be part of the discussion, but it has talent and depth in bunches.
That was on display in the rout of Attucks on Friday, with Harold Mack, Jacob Sharin and Ki’Shawn Toles each hauling in touchdown passes. The one guy who didn’t find the end zone – Deonte Williams Jr. – led the team in receptions.
Bigger tests await for that offense, but the Generals are off to a good start.
An extra kudos to Kimar Nelson, who was a monster for the Wayne defense with 16 tackles in a sack as the Generals were one of just two SAC teams to open the new type of schedule with a win.
• Bishop Luers has some solid, hard-hitting defenders in guys like Mickey Daring and Isaac Zay, but that unit’s success or failure is going to fall on the defensive front.
East Noble completely demoralized that unit on Friday by getting a steady push up front on most every play. While Bishop Luers didn’t allow too many chunk plays, it was wore down by an offense that went up-tempo and played downhill. It didn’t help that the Luers defense was on the field for three-fourths of the contest.
The offense, which picked up just four first downs on Friday, is not going to be as electric as in years past, making the defense is going to have to lead the way, particularly early on in the season. That didn’t happen Friday.
NE8
• A tale of two considerable talents in the NE8.
Columbia City attempted just seven passes in a 49-8 rout of Churubusco, but when it did it targeted its best player. Stratton Fuller hauled in five of the team’s six completions, three of which went for touchdowns.
Conversely, Leo was unable to get the ball to Brock Schott in much of any capacity as the Lions let an 11-point lead slip away in a loss at Kokomo. Schott had just one catch for six yards on three targets. Some of that had to do with the Wildkats who specifically keyed on the four-star talent.
Back in the day, Bishop Dwenger had a set amount of “Get John Goodman the ball” plays that it went to when it felt like their stud wideout wasn’t getting enough touches. New Haven has something similar now for Mylan Graham.
Leo needs the same for Schott. He is a top 175 player in the Class of 2025 for a reason. Feed him and let him eat. Even some end arounds or line him up in the backfield. Get crazy!
Despite the loss, Leo got to see some solid work for newcomer Kaden Hurst, who caught two passes for 52 yards and returned a kick 99 yards for a touchdown.
• East Noble recovered three onside kicks in Friday’s win over Bishop Luers. One was a perfectly-executed boot-and-scoot by Alex Sprague, while the other two were hard liners along the ground off the front line of the Luers return team.
It was as good of execution on one side as it was poor awareness out of Bishop Luers, but coupled with a 32-yard field goal make it was a great night for Sprague.
• Aaden Lytle has settled in nicely as QB1 for DeKalb. A question for the Barons entering the season with a lot returning was if Lytle could fill in admirably for the graduated Tegan Irk. Through one game, the answer is yes as Lytle threw for 240 yards and four touchdowns against Angola. He also had an interception.
The NE8 schedule is full of challenges for the Barons, so we will see if Lytle can continue to perform.
The main target for Lytle was Caden Pettis, who scored all four of those touchdowns through the air and tied a program record for receiving touchdowns in a game in the process.
Despite the fact that New Haven is loaded with receiving, Tre Bates took to the ground early and often to break out for the Bulldogs in their win over Northrop.
Bates ran for three touchdowns, including two quickly in the first quarter of the win. It showed that New Haven has more than one way to get the job done in what should be a fun NE8 all season long.
The New Haven defense was huge too, including a Malik Farrow interception return for a touchdown. Throughout portions of the game, especially early, the Bulldog defense has Northrop’s sophomore quarterback running for his life, often in his own endzone with no space to work.
Mylan Graham wasn’t quiet, making his three receptions count as he went for 82 yards in the New Haven opening week win.
ACAC
• If Kobe Meyer continues to have Fridays like he did against Bellmont, it is going to bring a lot of eyes on Heritage in 2023.
The senior quarterback accounted for 327 total yards and five total touchdowns in Heritage’s 34-0 victory. He threw for 114 and ran 15 times for 213 yards.
In there, Meyer ran for touchdowns of 44 and 70 yards.
Blitz went Heritage to finish runner-up to Adams Central in the ACAC for several reasons, none bigger than the potential of Meyer. So far so good.
• Bluffton sophomore Khamel Moore was expected to be a prime breakout candidate this season, but with him nursing an injury, freshman Cooper Craig took center stage with senior Ben Ramseyer.
While the senior rushed for 103 yards and a TD, Craig hauled the mail for 139 yards and three scores.
After being shut out by Northfield in Week 1 last year, this season is already off to a better start for the defending sectional champions. A lot of that has to do with the youngster Craig.
NECC/Area
• Want a player to watch in the NECC? Keep an eye on sophomore QB Hawkins Hasselman of Angola. He is being thrust into the QB1 role because of his athleticism, evidenced in Week 1 as he threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for over 100 more.
Now, Hasselman was also picked off three times in a loss to DeKalb, but you take the good with the bad out of a sophomore talent like Hasselman as he grows more comfortable.
• While there are still a lot of things for Eastside to work out in the long haul of this season under a new coach, Friday was a win and the Blazers will take it. Something that hasn’t changed? Reloading with another heavy yardage runner. Dax Holman was that guy each of the last two years while his quarterbacks also were known for big gains.
Now it is Linkin Carter’s turn. He turned up for 193 yards on 32 carries, with three touchdowns on Friday night. Is he the heir to the big yardage thrown in Butler?
The game itself was an odd one. Despite a score difference of just 10 (30-20), Eastside had a 30-5 edge in first downs for the game. When Woodlan was able to move the ball, a lot of it was with their defense. They are still settling in too with Ty Loudon at QB. But, if you can have first week growing pains and still only lose by 10 to a team you haven’t been within 21 of the last two times you’ve played, there are things to build on.
• Blackhawk Christian kicked off their 11-man football program on Friday in a fashion they’d probably like to forget. That said, it is still a major accomplishment for the program who had NO football at this time two years ago.
The Braves opened this chapter of their program with a “home game” at Snider’s Bowser Field. It is a quick jaunt for the Braves to get to Snider and opening with a home game was an important thing for their program. It also brings up some questions about Bowser Field being used on a Friday night. Like, add a grandstand, visiting bleachers and maybe some of that FWCS turf and are the Snider Panthers in line to play actual home games in the future?
For Blackhawk Christian however, they had to wait tome time to actually get on the scoreboard on Friday. When they did, it was Gage Bennett who pushed it in, followed by a Roman Mayer two-point conversion
QUICK HITS
The 44-point loss by Bishop Dwenger to Brownsburg is the most lopsided defeat for the Saints since a 66-10 loss to Snider on Oct. 8, 2004 It’s the worst season-opening loss in program history…At 1-0, Wayne is above .500 for the first time since 2018…South Side has lost 19 consecutive Week 1 games…West Noble‘s 47-7 win over Central Noble was the 2nd largest margin of victory for the Chargers against their rival over 49 years…Warsaw‘s Tyler Bush had three interceptions in a win over Michigan City…Lakeland beat South Bend St. Joe for the first time since 2006 and just the fourth time ever…Southern Wells snapped a 22 game losing streak with a win over Elwood.
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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