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
• Bishop Luers dropped its second-straight season opener to a team from the NE8. It wasn’t as dramatic as last year’s 45-7 loss at East Noble, but the Knights will look back at opportunities lost in the 20-17 defeat to Leo.
We saw last season how the Knights used lessons learned in the non-conference and applied it in conference, leading to an SAC co-championship. Coach Kyle Lindsay will look to do the same with this group.
The hope is Bishop Luers gets healthy. It’s sometimes a misnomer that teams are their healthiest at the start of the season. The Knights were missing their starting center (Michael Brough) and one of their starting linebackers (fellow senior Colin Weber), and a few others who played but weren’t at 100 percent.
• Let’s talk Northrop. Junior quarterback David Callison tied the program record with five touchdown passes in the Bruins’ 53-48 win over New Haven in one of the crazier games we saw in Week 1.
Callison has weaponry to throw to. Jerquaden Guilford, who picked up a Georgia offer last week, is the centerpiece. But Gabe Lewis is a stud, hauling in a pair of touchdown passes on Friday. Junior Legend Relue also had a touchdown reception and is one to watch as a guy who can get lost by defenses accounting for the other dudes.
Northrop’s 53 points in the win are the most scored by the Bruins since a 53-14 victory over North Side on Oct. 6, 2017.
The question remains if the Bruins can have offensive success against the majority of teams on their SAC schedule, but you can’t ask for a much better start.
And that defense must figure out a way to contain the run.
• Was hoping to see South Side get a home win over Marion to start the season. It was a winnable game for the Archers and momentum is everything with a program.
South Side tied the game at 21 late with a touchdown pass to TJ Snow and the ensuing extra point. Marion scored on its first play from scrimmage in the first OT, putting the pressure on the Archers.
Facing a must-score situation, quarterback Robert Murphy bought some time outside the pocket before appearing to make a forward throwing motion with his arm. But he stopped that motion then the ball came loose. It was recovered by Marion. After discussion, officials declared that Murphy’s arm did indeed stop its forward motion and called the play a fumble.
It was an unfortunate ending to a solid effort from the Archers.
• How often has a team won with negative-48 yards rushing?
That was Concordia Lutheran on Friday, ending an 11-game losing streak with a 20-14 victory over Scecina.
The Cadets simply could not run, with quarterback Jack Andrews being sacked three times and issues in the backfield leading to more lost yardage. But Andrews made up for it in the passing game, throwing for 146 yards and three touchdowns – two to Avery Cook and one to Noah Trent.
The running game and offensive execution needs work, but it’s easier to work on those things after a win
• Another program not hitting the panic button is Snider after a 15-0 loss to Warren Central.
The stats aren’t pretty – just 47 yards of total offense, 0-for-11 on third down and the first shutout of the Panthers since 2013. But the defense played very well against a team many consider a 6A title contender. The offensive line struggled in terms of opening holes, but it could have been worse facing a pair of Power 5 defensive ends in Tyrone Burrus Jr. (Louisville) and Damien Shanklin (LSU).
Snider gets East Noble in Week 2, which will be a better barometer of where the Panthers are. Blitz isn’t ready to declare the ‘A’ division of the SAC up for grabs just yet.
• Bishop Dwenger struggled again defensively to open the year, a 45-13 loss on the road to Brownsburg.
There is no doubt that Brownsburg is a top team in 6A, but it’s another example of a squad getting the better of the Saints’ defense.
Consider this. Over the last 31 games, Bishop Dwenger has allowed 40 or more points in seven of them. In the previous 100 games prior to that, the Saints allowed 40 or more in just three games.
Critics of Coach Jason Garrett will point in his direction. Blitz isn’t one of those. The coaching hasn’t changed much in a program that was winning regionals, semistates and a state title from 2018-2020 or so.
What has changed? In Blitz’s mind, it’s the feeders. St. Vincent used to be good for at least 25 8th graders a year flowing into Bishop Dwenger as freshmen. Now, St. Vincent is struggling to get numbers for its 7th and 8th grade teams.
The dynamic has changed in CYO and we are seeing the repercussions at the high school level.
• A year ago, North Side dropped its opener to Northridge at home in what ended up being a disappointing three-win campaign.
Fast-forward to this year’s game on the road at Northridge and all the negative memories from last year were washed away on the strength of a pair of standouts.
Caleb Kiengele, who was mostly used as a wide receiver last year as a freshman, started at his natural position in the offensive backfield and rushed for 211 yards and a TD.
And how about Tristen Newsome? The outstanding defensive back was superb as the quarterback, accounting for 337 total yards and four touchdowns.
The Legends now enter a stretch of three-consecutive home games at newly-turfed Chambers Field, starting with Lawrence North this Friday. Coach Ben Johnson’s team has the opportunity to build a lot of momentum over the next few games at its home confines.
• Blitz has seen some absurd stat lines over the years, and then there is what Kimar Nelson did on Friday.
It was amusing in the preseason when Blitz heard the response, ‘Who?’ from a few folks when talking up the top players in northeast Indiana.
Educate yourself, folks.
Wayne coach Sherwood Haydock texted Blitz to ensure him that Nelson’s stats were legit, having reviewed them via film on Saturday morning. The senior accumulated 27 tackles in the 40-34 win over Attucks, adding six tackles for loss, four sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery. He also rushed for 71 yards, scored the game-winning touchdown and finished with two total scores.
Haydock reinforced his opinion of Nelson after the performance.
“I’ve been saying this. He is the best defensive player I have coached and the second-best I have ever seen after Jaylon Smith.”
Kimar Nelson, everyone.
NE8
• Sometimes, occasionally, Blitz knows what he’s talking about.
One of his sophomores to watch in our month-long season preview was East Noble’s Alex Scott. The sophomore earned a starting safety spot to open the season and proved why on Friday when he took an interception back 40 yards for a touchdown in the Knights’ 42-6 pasting of Bremen.
After a slow start with Bremen leading 6-0 after the first quarter, East Noble scored 42 unanswered in the rout.
Scott is going to be one of the top players in the area over the next couple of years. His future is at quarterback, but much like teammate Rylee Biddle, he is every bit as good in the secondary.
• Blitz may just mention this every week.
It astounds this bear that Notre Dame did not offered Brock Schott.
Schott, the Leo standout, is a high-level FBS player at both tight end and defensive end. He was unblockable when Bishop Luers put a single blocker on him on the edge. To contain the Miami (FL) commit, the Knights had to assign multiple guys to contain him. During Luers’ final drive, it even sent a running back to assist, basically triple-teaming Schott.
It finally stopped him, but it allowed other Leo linemen to get into the offensive backfield and impact the effectiveness of the passing game when the game was in the balance.
Blitz isn’t a recruiter, but he does know how good Schott is. A four-star talent in your own backyard and you don’t even offer the kid? Insanity.
• DeKalb is that X factor in the NE8 that no one really knows how good it can be. Through one week, the reviews are good.
The Barons rushed for 348 yards against Angola in a season-opening dub, with Caiden Hinkle responsible for 202 of those yards and a pair of touchdowns.
DeKalb went 6-5 last fall and was consistent in that they beat the teams it was more talented than and lost to the squads who were better than them. How many teams is DeKalb better than this year?
All of a sudden, the Barons’ home game against Garrett this coming Friday looks mighty spicy.
ACAC
• Does Adams Central’s loss to Garrett mean that the ACAC is wide open? Not necessarily.
The problem with Week 1 is that folks love to judge a team by just four quarters, making sweeping judgements on how the rest of the season is going to go.
The Flying Jets have some youngsters in key spots. The offensive line needs work. Jamison Roach is still learning as a sophomore. But this is still, in Blitz’s opinion, the top team in the conference.
Couple that with the fact that AC’s top two challengers – Heritage and Bluffton – do not play the Flying Jets until Week 5 and Week 8, respectively. Plenty of time for Coach Michael Mosser to work out the kinks.
• Welcome back behind center, Eli Tigulis.
The quarterback returned to his natural position this season after making way for Kobe Meyer in previous campaigns. All Tigulis did in a 46-7 drubbing of Bellmont is throw for 127 yards and four touchdowns, two to Braden Walter.
Meyer was the do-everything guy offensively for this team a year ago, helping Heritage finish the ACAC campaign with just one loss. If Tigulis can bring the same energy and results, the Patriots will be in good shape to at least replicate that success in 2024.
NECC
• You gotta feel good for Prairie Heights.
The Panthers are coming off a winless 2023 which included a shutout loss to Whitko in Week 1. Coach Pat McCrea’s squad turned it up to start this year with a 56-14 win.
Numbers are up significantly for Prairie Heights in the program, a huge boost when it comes to depth and talent. Both were on display against Whitko.
Will Heights be a factor in the small division of the NECC? Probably not. But if McCrea’s squad can continue to get some wins it will build program momentum.
And the 56 points scored? The most against an IHSAA opponent since a 70-0 blanking of Howe Military on Sept. 21, 1979. Also, Jordan Klumpp‘s three receiving TDs set a program record.
• While the headline out of Garrett’s big victory on Friday night was about Calder Hefty and his strong performance through illness, there was plenty more to be excited about in Big Train Country.
First, the Railroaders’ ability to grind the clock is something that not only came in handy in week one, it will likely come in handy again. Controlling the momentum and the narrative of a game is huge and Garrett showed that perhaps they will be one of the best at doing it this season in the area.
A big part of that was the 117 yards that Cam Ruble grinded out for Garrett in their 20-7 win over Adams Central.
Another standout is the Garrett defensive front and how they helped hold Adams Central to their lowest point total since a 2018 semi state loss to Pioneer and the first time the Flying Jets haven’t reached double digits since September 25, 2020.
AC picked up just 84 yards on 42 carries and that kind of average won’t benefit anyone but Garrett in this scenario. While Adams Central quarterback Jamison Roach showed flashes of potential in the loss, the Garrett defense turned Roach’s 46 yards of positive rushing into a net gain of one single yard because of how often they were able to get at the AC QB in the backfield.
AREA
• There is bending but not breaking and then there is what the Warsaw defense did against Michigan City.
The Wolves got into the red zone at least four times on Friday night. Each time, the Tigers stopped Michigan City from scoring. Not just touchdowns, but prevented a single point from being scored.
That’s astounding.
We talk so much about “Bart Ball” and Warsaw’s ability to control games with their methodical rushing attack, but Coach Bart Curtis’s team is more than just one stellar attribute. That showed on Friday with an insane amount of defensive stands when it counted.
• Speaking of insane, how about this?
Per Chuck Freeby Sports, South Bend Riley became the first high school team in the nation to record at least four safeties in a game since Niobrara County notched five of them in Wyoming in 2000. Riley shut out Hammond Noll 35-0 on Friday.
QUICK HITS
Huntington North is 1-0 for the first time since 2015…West Noble rushed for 343 yards and six TDs in its win over Central Noble while holding the Cougars to negative-7 yards rushing…South Adams has a losing record for the first time since it was 0-1 in 2016…Was a tough night for New Haven’s defense, but the offense did its job, in particular Nevon Gibson, who rushed for 177 yards and five touchdowns in the loss.
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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