It was another beautiful evening weather-wise on Friday, continuing our run this season of solid nights for football. Our luck is gonna run out at some point. Prepare for a soggy and chilly playoff run to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Let’s put a bow on Week 6 with Bear Necessities.
SAC
• With Northrop’s win over Bishop Dwenger, there is not a single undefeated team remaining in the SAC in conference play. For some context, three of the last four league champions went unbeaten, yet four weeks in and we have five teams tied at 3-1.
So who’s the favorite now? Is it Northrop? Homestead? Carroll?
In terms of the easiest road, Bishop Dwenger’s final three games are against Bishop Luers, Snider and South Side. The Saints will be favored in all three. Now, Northrop holds the tiebreaker, but still has to take on Carroll in Week 8, in addition to its rival it hasn’t beaten since 1999 – Snider.
Long story short, so much to still figure out in the SAC.
• Way back in 1965, Snider played its first-ever game in program history against Elmhurst. It was also the Panthers’ first conference game in the old Fort Wayne City Series.
Snider fell 20-7 to the Trojans in that game.
Why is Blitz mentioning this? Because Friday’s 38-0 loss to Homestead was the worst conference loss EVER for the Panthers. That’s right. Never had they lost a game by so many points going back to that first season in 1965.
So what’s going on at Snider? Well, you ask 10 people “in the know” and you will likely get 10 different answers.
If anything, this year is a reminder that things aren’t as automatic anymore with Snider. With the transfer rules now allowing so much more movement, it is so much easier for talent to move around the city – not exactly leaving Snider, but amassing somewhere else.
But it bears reminding everyone that two years ago, the Panthers won a Class 5A state championship and lost just once all year. So the talk about Snider’s demise as a program is greatly exaggerated. Everyone has a down year here or there, even the storied Panthers.
• The streak was bound to end, but it was still a surprise to see North Side’s Jaydin Rivers’ first two interceptions come Friday in the 51-7 victory over Wayne. But he also managed to throw for 330 yards in that game, so take the bad with the really good.
That puts Rivers at 20 touchdown passes and two picks through six weeks, an amazing TD to INT ratio
Rivers could be the real key in North Side ending its 35-year sectional drought. He has shown off the ability to make every throw, and he has deadly weapons in Maalik Moore, Jarmeek Harrison (who had a touchdown reception on Friday) and Sebastian Moore, among others.
• We have talked so much about the usual suspects for Northrop – Jerquaden Guilford, David Callison, Dee Hogue, Cornelious Jackson – but someone else broke out Friday in scoring the eventual game-winning touchdown in the Bruins’ 21-18 victory over Bishop Dwenger
Junior Levi Portee had carried the ball just 15 times this year prior to Friday’s game, but he was pivotal with a pair of touchdowns against the Saints. His second was pure highlight reel. After running to the outside right, Portee cut back, beat a few Bishop Dwenger defenders to the left edge and vaulted over a few others for a touchdown.
It was a huge sequence in the game, and the junior Portee delivered the latest big play for what is proving to be a big season for Northrop football.
NE8
• It is time for this week’s Nathan Foster update!
The Leo senior had just four carries in Friday’s 47-0 blanking of Bellmont. Tough night, right? Well, those four carries netted Foster 173 yards and three touchdowns. That’s over 43 yards per carry.
Ridiculous.
Foster has now rushed for 1,145 yards on 101 carries this year. That equates to 11.3 yards per touch. Oh, and 14 touchdowns.
Will anyone be able to slow him down this season? His low mark for yardage in a game is 133 yards against Bishop Luers in Week 1.
• The season didn’t start off so well for DeKalb quarterback Eli McCormick as he tossed a pair of interceptions in the season-opening loss to Angola.
One week later, he threw a third INT in the win over Garrett.
But McCormick has protected the ball incredibly well since those first two weeks. He threw five touchdowns with zero picks in Friday’s 42-28 win over Huntington North, giving him 12 touchdowns without an INT over the course of the last four games.
The Barons continue to be a bit of a dark horse in Sectional 19 despite taking East Noble to the brink in Week 4. But make no mistake, East Noble, Bishop Dwenger, Leo, none of them want to draw DeKalb in the first round.
In fact, DeKalb will get a chance to show Leo what it’s all about in Week 9 at home.
ACAC
• Every time we give a team a shot to end Adams Central’s long ACAC winning streak, the Flying Jets seem to take their game to another level to ensure it does not happen.
The latest instance was Friday. With South Adams’ offense flying high, the possibility was thrown about that the Flying Jets could fall in league play for the first time since 2020.
Instead, Adams Central led 35-0 before South Adams scored in the fourth quarter. It was equal parts dominance by the run game (320 yards) to play keep away from the Starfires, as well as playing exceptional defense in the pass game, showcased by the four(!) interceptions of Tytus Lehman, including two by Braylend Reber.
Undefeated Bluffton gets a shot at AC in two weeks. Don’t give the Tigers a chance, as the Flying Jets will hear about it and dominate.
• Speaking of Bluffton, its star receiver broke a pair of program records this week.
Senior AJ Streveler hauled in six catches for 133 yards in the 47-14 win over Southern Wells. It added to his career totals that are now in the Bluffton record books.
Streveler now has 113 career receptions, passing Jake McKinley’s mark. Streveler also is the all-time record holder in receiving yards with 1,291. The former record was also held by McKinley, who graduated in 2011.
• Lucas Weber, have a night!
With Zeb Tigulis still nursing an injury, Weber saw action as the starting quarterback against Tipton on Friday. Heritage found itself trailing by four in the fourth quarter before scoring the final 14 points in a 30-20 victory that ended a modest two-game losing streak.
Weber scored all four touchdowns for the Patriots in the win and finished with 212 yards rushing on 28 carries. He also completed 9-of-12 passes for 80 yards, which included a 30-yard strike to sophomore Jax Litchfield.
It hasn’t been ideal for Coach Jeremy Hullinger offensively with Tigulis unavailable for quarterback duties, but the win was a gutsy one that the team desperately needed with Bluffton coming up next week.
NECC
• When talking most valuable players last week in his column, Blitz errantly left off senior Hawk Hasselman of Angola.
So Hasselman reminded Blitz of his error in Friday’s 35-8 demolition of Fairfield, the second lopsided win over the Falcons in as many seasons.
Hasselman finished with 218 yards rushing and four touchdowns as the Hornets improved to 3-3. Whether it is at quarterback, running back or on defense, Hasselman does a little bit of everything.
Garrett turned the ball over five times in the first half in its 17-6 loss to West Noble, but still trailed just 10-6 at halftime after a late second quarter touchdown from Aiden Reed.
It was also a first half that did not see Garrett’s offense take the field until just over 2 minutes left in the opening quarter. West Noble opened the game with a long drive, then recovered a fumble on Garrett’s first kickoff return after a big hit near midfield.
Caleb Saggers, Lucas Conway and Trevor Steele all had interceptions in the first half for the Chargers. Offensively, they were passed by McKale Bottles, who caught all 7 of the targets thrown his way for 62 yards receiving. West Noble had 153 yards of total offense compared to 193 from Garrett.
Quick hits
With Friday’s win over Bishop Dwenger, Northrop has secured its first winning regular season since 2006…Jack Huelsenback of Churubusco had an interception return for 41 yards, a fumble recovery for 49 yards and 16 tackles in the win over Fremont.
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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