Typically, Blitz’s awards wait until the end of the season. But we gotta celebrate the midway point of the season somehow, right?
We can’t truly give out official awards just five weeks in, but what we can do is look at who would likely take home those honors were everything to end today. There is still a lot of football left, but, there have been some truly impressive seasons so far, both individually and as a team.
So here are some mid-season honors as we enter the second half of the 2025 high school football season:
PLAYER OF THE 1/2 YEAR: Jaidon Van Pelt, Carroll
Despite sitting out the first week of the season, Van Pelt is sitting at 30 receptions for 618 yards and eight touchdowns through the air.
Folks, that’s through FOUR weeks. The senior is averaging 154 yards receiving per game and 20 yards PER CATCH. Even in the loss to Bishop Dwenger in which the Chargers were held without a touchdown, Van Pelt hauled in four receptions for 140 yards.
Van Pelt also completed a 57-yard pass against the Saints and has seen considerable time on defense in the secondary.
In a year with some prolific numbers being put up by wideouts in the area, Van Pelt stands out.
Other Candidates: Maalik Moore, North Side; Jerquaden Guilford, Northrop; Rylee Biddle; East Noble; Axton Beste, Bluffton
FIRST HALF MVP: David Callison, Northrop
If you havent heard before, OTH uses the MVP for what it really is: the best player? Sometimes. But always the guy who has been most valuable to their team.
A year ago, the Northrop offense looked positively deadly for a game and a half to start the season, only for it to falter when Callison went down with an injury against Huntington North. While he did return during the season, Callison was never the same, and neither were the Bruins.
With that in mind, Blitz is going Callison here. He is the guy that makes the offense go, adept at getting the ball in the hands of Northrop’s playmakers, as well as making plays himself to the tune of 1,350 yards passing and 14 touchdowns in five weeks as the Bruins have opened the year with four wins in their first five games.
Where would Northrop be without Callison behind center? Probably a lot like last year’s Bruin squad that finished 2-8.
Other Candidates: Jaydin Rivers, North Side; Nathan Foster, Leo; Tytus Lehman, South Adams; Bryce Lawrence, Churubusco; Trey Slusher, Southern Wells; Job Richman, Eastside
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Austin Phillips, East Noble
Already seeing the field a lot on defense to start the year, Phillips was thrust into a bigger offensive role when Ian Ramey went down with an injury in Week 2. Insert the freshman Phillips, who has taken to the job and run with it. Get it?
The freshman has a sculped build that immediately catches your attention, but his football smarts stand out as well. He is learning more and more how to be patient in the backfield, pick your spot and when you do, hit it hard.
Phillips leads the Knights in rushing with 552 yards and six touchdowns on 65 touches. That is 8.5 yards per carry. Oh, and on defense he has a team-high 42 tackles, is second with eight tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead with three sacks.
Phillips is already one of the best all-around football players in the area…as a freshman. Scary.
Other Candidates: Lathen Janes, Huntington North; Eli Schwab, DeKalb; KC Pieper, Bishop Dwenger
COACH OF THE 1/2 YEAR: Quentin Bowen, Northrop
Sitting at 4-1, in the thick of the SAC race and the top-scoring offense in the league, Northrop is the feel-good story in the city so far, and perhaps the entire area.
You have to give credit to Bowen, who has breathed new life into the Bruin program with the help of a talented staff and a roster with some of the area’s best athletes. Northrop has not begun a season 4-1 since way back in 2003.
Other Candidates: Blake Blaker, Southern Wells; Jason Garrett, Bishop Dwenger; Alex Stewart, East Noble; Ryan Robertson, DeKalb
GAME OF THE 1/2 YEAR: Homestead 42, Northrop 36, OT – Week 4
This game not only had excitement in bunches, culminating in Homestead keeping Northrop out of the end zone on its overtime possession to secure the victory, it also was a statement game for both teams.
After wins over Noblesville and South Side, the Spartans were eager to prove that they could score a win over a team that was a step up. Enter Northrop, which sports the highest-scoring offense in the league. Homestead proved it could toe to toe on the scoreboard with Logan Frieden at QB1.
Meanwhile, Northrop, despite losing, showed it can be a factor in the Big Division of the SAC by taking Homestead to the brink.
In the end, Blitz nodded his approval at both teams’ performances that night.
Other Candidates: Week 3 – Bluffton 44, South Adams 41; Week 3 – Eastside 27, West Noble 24; Week 4 – East Noble 21, DeKalb 14; Week 5 – Bishop Luers 31, North Side 28, 2OT
BIGGEST SURPRISE: SNIDER
Any time that the Panthers aren’t at the forefront of the SAC title conversation, it is a surprise.
Perhaps we should have picked up on the signs and scuttlebutt in the preseason, but as Blitz always says, “Snider is Snider.”
Well, perhaps Snider ISN’T Snider this year, with a 47-14 loss to Carroll last Friday the team’s most recent data point. The defeat was the biggest in-conference loss for the Panthers in 52 years.
Just two years ago this program won a state championship, so let’s not push the panic button too hard. But Snider just doesn’t have “down” years, it reloads. The rest of the regular season schedule includes Homestead, Northrop, Bishop Dwenger and North Side, four teams all capable of knocking off Snider if it isn’t careful.
WHO GETS TO STATE? – EAST NOBLE AND ADAMS CENTRAL
East Noble looks like an absolute buzz saw so far this year, and that’s with some injuries, including losing all-conference player Mason Treesh over the summer, Ian Ramey going down and some lingering health woes for some linemen.
Yet through all that, the Knights are 5-0 and are outscoring teams by an average of 25 points, with blowout wins over the likes of Snider and Leo.
Sectional 19 is brutal, and Mishawaka is once again lurking in the north, but could Coach Alex Stewart make it 2-for-2 in state appearances to start his East Noble coaching career? It looks favorable right now.
Meanwhile, Adams Central continues to roll. Asked about the Flying Jets being “down,” South Adams coach Grant Moser said it best when mentioning how if winning 19 straight games and competing in four-consecutive state championships is down, he would love his program to be considered “down.”
While there have been a few games closer than anticipated with Coach Michael Mosser’s team, remember that Garrett beat the Flying Jets in Week 1 last year, only for AC to run off 14 wins in a row en route to a state crown.
Until someone knocks them off, the Flying Jets have earned respect as a perennial state contender from northeast Indiana.
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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