The start of the conference season across the area gives us plenty to talk about.
Allow Blitz to detail all the happenings coming out of Week 3.
SAC
• It’s tough to see what’s going on at South Side.
Make no mistake, Coach Andre Goodwell is the right guy for the Archers, but it is so incredibly difficult to dig out of the cellar in this city.
From almost knocking off Marion in Week 1 and the new turf at South Side to the positive vibes around Goodwell, there was a lot to like.
But the Archers were smashed by South Bend St. Joseph in Week 2, then allowed the most points in program history in the 78-6 loss to Carroll on Friday.
Coach Goodwell is going to keep grinding. You just hope kids (and parents) stay engaged and committed. There are brighter days ahead if people commit to the program.
That’s the problem in Fort Wayne. Talent gravitates towards winning programs. It can ebb and flow really quickly. The team everyone wants to be a part of can be an afterthought seemingly overnight depending on wins and losses.
Goodwell and the Archers just need to keep that positive energy. Unfortunately, we live in an instant gratification world. If kids and, to a bigger extent parents, think they are better than the program and jump ship, it makes rebuilding something all that more difficult.
It gets no easier for South in Week 4, a road date with Snider.
• Bishop Dwenger‘s first victory of the season wasn’t overly glamorous, but it was crucial that the Saints get some positive vibes around the program after two lopsided losses to begin the year.
The big sequence came early in the fourth quarter. North Side drove inside the Dwenger 25, but was stopped on fourth down. The Saints then went on an 11-play drive that featured nine runs and a pair of passes. The chunk play came on a 30-yard completion to Carter Minix from Ethan Springer, but Bishop Dwenger was able to command the line of scrimmage in crunch time and run it down the Legends’ throat.
The drive culminated in a five-yard touchdown by Trent Tippmann that put Dwenger up two scores in an eventual 21-12 win.
From getting the necessary stop of a driving North Side team to being able to march the ball down the field to get a game-clinching score, the Saints showed a lot of moxie when it counted in a much-needed dub.
• When talking Snider, it’s easy to start with Uriah Buchanan and the running game. But defensively, the unit that has set the tone for the Panthers is the secondary.
With another multi-interception game in Friday’s rout of Concordia, Snider now has seven INTs through three games. Senior Levi Overholser and junior Jamarion Kolagbodi each have two, but overall the Panthers have had five different players notch picks through the first third of the regular season.
It’s setting up to be quite the combination for the Panthers, with a running attack that is torching defenders and helping Snider build a lead to a secondary that is feasting when opponents have to go to the air when playing from behind.
• The Homestead-Wayne matchup is a classic example of putting too much stock into non-conference games.
Heading into Friday, everyone was wondering what was wrong with Homestead while conversely, the city was full of folks singing Wayne’s praises.
One team was winless, the other undefeated.
Even Blitz bought in to the Wayne hype, picking the Generals to win. But what Friday showed us is take sweeping judgments out of non-conference games at your own risk, particularly when one team is playing a considerably more difficult schedule.
Wayne had no answer for Homestead’s rushing attack that averaged over six yards per touch. Brett Fuchs rushed 25 times for 192 yards and a score, setting the tone behind a Spartans offensive front that commanded the line of scrimmage all night.
Meanwhile, Homestead made Wayne one-dimensional by holding the Generals to 2.7 yards per rushing attempt. While the playmakers on the outside for Wayne are dangerous, they are considerably less so when a defense can key on them with the run game flummoxed.
The Generals still appear to be the favorite in the SAC’s “B” Division, but they got a dose of reality on Friday.
NE8
• No one feasted more on Friday night than James Getts of Columbia City.
The senior opened the scoring on the first play with an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He then added two rushing touchdowns and a 27-yard catch and score from Grayson Bradberry.
We talk a lot about Stratton Fuller with the Eagles, and for good reason. But what made Columbia City so good last year, and what is their backbone against this season, is the rushing attack. What allows guys like Fuller to thrive in single coverage is the fact that defenses have to account for the running game, which has amassed 724 yards through the first three games.
That said, the traditional case of Columbia City’s schedule being EXTREMELY backloaded is even more prevalent this year. It’s first four opponents this season sit at 1-11 overall. Weeks 5-8 see teams that are a combined 9-3.
• The difference between East Noble being good and very good this year is in the hands of one player: Zander Brazel.
That may seem like a drastic statement, but it’s true in Blitz’s mind.
So far, Brazel has been that guy, most recently on Friday throwing for 296 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a rout of Huntington North.
Through three weeks, Brazel has raised his completion percentage almost seven percent from a year ago with five TD passes and just one pick. Last year, he threw 10 TD and eight interceptions.
Brazel does not need to be a do-everything type signal caller for East Noble. What he needs to be is a dude who can force defenses to respect the pass and make opponents pay when they don’t. So far, so good.
• All due respect to Mylan Graham, Leo‘s Kaden Hurst has impacted the game in more dynamic ways through the season’s first three weeks.
That’s not to say that Hurst is the better athlete or better college prospect, because we know that’s a silly argument. What Blitz is saying is that through three weeks, Hurst has scored on INT returns, kickoff returns and pass receptions. All three have been for big yards.
On Friday, Hurst opened the scoring against Norwell with a 38-yard receiving score. Less than six minutes later, he picked off a pass and returned it 85 yards to paydirt.
Don’t come at Blitz with recruiting rankings. If it was that simple, the 100 top recruits in the country every year would be the top 100 high school players. That’s a simpleton’s argument and it’s not accurate.
Graham is electric and beyond dangerous. But Hurst has been lucky (and skilled) enough to be in the right spots at the right times to be an absolute monster through the first third of the regular season.
• Speaking of Mylan Graham, you can see why he is a five-star prospect at the wide receiver position. DeKalb couldn’t cover him. Lord knows it tried, but it couldn’t on Friday.
The senior hauled in nine balls for 123 yards and a touchdown. If New Haven hadn’t started coasting in the second half, he could have had double those numbers if the Barons had been able to keep pace on the scoreboard.
Graham is Austin Mack-esque in his abilities. He can take over a game without seemingly trying, as he did on Friday. Who shuts him down in the NE8? Leo gets its shot next.
ACAC
• Blitz isn’t taking Adams Central for granted by any means, but what he has seen from Bluffton and Heritage makes him think that we could have an interesting race for the league championship.
When South Adams has been a thorn in the Flying Jets’ side, it is because the Starfires are able to put considerably more speed and athleticism on the field than AC. No one is going to go toe-to-toe in the trenches and between the tackles against AC and win, at least not in the league. But the Tigers and Patriots are no joke when it comes to talent and quickness. Couple that with a brewing confidence that they can give the Flying Jets a run for their money could make the next six weeks very interesting.
NECC/Area
• What was the difference in West Noble‘s 41-17 win over Eastside on Friday? Apart from Drew Yates throwing for four touchdowns, ir was the Blazers’ inability to get off the field on defense.
West Noble was 7-of-9 on third down for the game. Add a conversion on the one fourth down try and the Chargers converted eight of 10 times on third and fourth down.
When taking on a good team like West Noble, you have to get off the field as a defense. Eastside was unable to do that.
QUICK HITS
Leo beat Norwell 33-0 in Week 3 after losing to the Knights 27-0 last season, a 60-point swing…Heritage shutouts this season through three weeks – two; Heritage shutouts from 2017-22 – two…Lakeland has scored 130 points in two weeks; the 69 points scored against Prairie Heights on Friday were the most since an 83-19 win on Aug. 19, 2011. The opponent? Prairie Heights.
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