The first Friday of postseason play is behind us and boy did it deliver.
Before moving fully ahead into sectional semifinal week, let’s look back at what Week 10 gave us.
CLASS 4A
• Prior to Friday, Nathan Foster’s worst game of the season was 44 yards and a touchdown on just three carries in Week 8 in a 30-7 victory for Leo over Columbia City. It was the first indication that Foster was dealing with some ailments that led him to rest up in Week 9 in preparation for the playoffs.
Even in the limited action against the Eagles, he averaged 14.7 yards per touch. He had scored at least once in every game he appeared in.
So what Bishop Dwenger did to Foster on Friday was nothing short of incredible.
The Leo senior had no running room all night as the Saints’ defense hounded him all night, holding him to just 43 yards on 22 carries (less than 2 yards per carry) and keeping him out of the end zone for the first time this season.
Titus Stoller did the best he could with 110 yards and a score on the ground, but it was clear that Bishop Dwenger was content with the Leo quarterback picking up yardage with his legs, as long as Foster wasn’t doing it.
Mission accomplished, as Leo found the end zone just once with less than 90 seconds left in the game as the Saints rolled, 31-7.
It teases a colossal matchup (potentially) in the Sectional 19 title game with East Noble, but Bishop Dwenger must deal with Columbia City first.
Speaking of…
• When Columbia City fell to DeKalb 28-7 in Week 5, outsiders saw a game in which the Eagles were outclassed.
But Coach Brett Fox saw was his team making too many self-inflicted miscues, particularly on defense.
Those were cleaned up in Round 2 between the NE8 foes, with the Eagles earning a 16-10 win over the Barons on the road.
“We knew the circumstances of the first game were that we gave up a long touchdown on a blown coverage, a second touchdown on a miscommunication in how we lined up, a third touchdown when two of our players ran into each other going for an interception…and a fourth touchdown with 50 seconds to go after a turnover on downs,” Fox said. “We trusted that it wasn’t them who had beaten us. Instead, it was our mistakes in all three phases of the game that led to the defeat.”
Fox credited his players for recognizing the mistakes and learning from them. The result? A win that caught a lot of people off guard.
The Eagles were held to just nine yards passing, but controlled the ball on the ground predominantly through Trace Parrish (35 carries, 135 yards, TD) and kept the mistakes to a minimum on defense to get the dub and move on.
• Credit to the Logansport pass defense, which was able to completely limit Huntington North QB Lathen Janes. The Berries held the sophomore to 10-of-19 passing for just 90 yards and sacked him four times.
Janes entered Friday averaging 190 yards per game through the air. Wideout James Linker was held to just one reception for seven yards, by far his worst outing of the season for a guy that entered the playoffs with 997 yards receiving.
Despite the struggles, Huntington North led until midway through the fourth quarter when Logansport took the lead. But the Vikings, who have been prone to big plays offensive all season long, were stymied by the Berries, with Janes and Linker in particular prevented from connected for chunk yardage throughout the game, but particularly in the fourth quarter as Huntington North attempted to come back and win.
CLASS 3A
• The first game this season between Garrett and Fairfield delivered in Week 7, a 21-14 overtime victory for the Railroaders.
The playoff rematch was just as exciting.
Garrett scored with less than two minutes on a Carter Fielden run to earn a 7-0 victory and advance.
Interestingly, the Railroaders began the season with a 7-0 loss to Adams Central. In the first game of the postseason, Garrett turned it around with a 7-0 win of its own.
The Railroaders get Lakeland next Friday, a team it beat 28-7 on the road in Week 4.
• Angola’s game plan wasn’t particularly exotic against Tippecanoe Valley. In fact, it’s a similar game plan that the Hornets have employed all season long.
Get the ball to Hawk Hasselman. Let him eat. Repeat.
The senior Hasselman scored all three Angola touchdowns in a 21-6 victory over Tippecanoe Valley. He was nothing short of sensational, a mix between making guys miss and bowling others over. Coach Andy Thomas’ team was methodical and predictable, moving the ball downfield slowly but surely. The Vikings couldn’t stop it, in particular Hasselman, who now has 17 touchdowns on the season.
Blitz is a huge fan of Hasselman. Perfect example of a kid who doesn’t get the hype of a D1-bound player but is every bit as good at the high school level as anyone in this area. Gonna be tough not seeing him on Friday nights.
• It is safe to say that the quarterback position has been a bit of a struggle for Bishop Luers this season. Two sophomores, Tommy Reichert and Knox Johnson, have gone back and forth trying to take command of the position.
But with the playoffs beginning, a regular season of learning and growing more comfortable paid off against Delta, with Reichert finishing 13-of-17 for 226 yards, a touchdown and zero interceptions in the 38-7 win. It was easily Reichert’s best performance of the season.
We always talk about “Wait until Luers gets into the playoffs,” and while that is true, the uncertainty at QB1 has loomed large in Blitz’s mind when thinking about if this Knights team is capable of getting back to the Class 3A state championship game.
Reichert delivered against Delta, and it is a big boost to not only him, but that entire offense. This is not your typical Luers squad with playmakers all over the field, so it needs to execute and avoid turnovers, as it doesn’t have much in the way of leeway. Friday was a tremendous start for Reichert in his first-ever postseason start.
CLASS 2A
• Blitz thought that Churubusco needed to keep its game against Bluffton low scoring to have a shot against the Tigers. Turns out, it didn’t, but couldn’t contain the combination of Axton Beste and AJ Streveler enough.
The duo hooked up with 1:53 remaining in the fourth quarter to bring Bluffton to within one, then did so again on the two-point conversion that propelled the Tigers to a 39-38 escape of Turtle Town.
For the game the Beste-Streveler connection went for 125 yards and a pair of scores, in addition to that two-point conversion.
While Churubusco had trouble slowing down the Bluffton offense, it was able to keep pace on the scoreboard, helped by 352 yards rushing, with Grant Sievers (20 rushes, 166 yards, two TD) and Bryce Lawrence (7-100-1) each surpassing the 100-yard mark.
CLASS 1A
• South Adams looked to be in the midst of a shootout against Madison-Grant to open sectional play as it held a 33-28 halftime lead on the road on Friday.
But the Starfire defense pitched a shutout in the second half in an eventual 45-28 dub for Coach Grant Moser’s squad.
How did they do it?
“We made a couple adjustments on defense with slants and alignments, but honestly, we told our kids that we could see on film that their studs wore down in the second half of big games all year,” Moser said. “It was a 12-round heavyweight fight and we just needed to keep throwing punches.”
While Madison-Grant rushed for 336 yards, a lot of that came in the first half. Meanwhile, the South Adams offense kept delivering haymakers, with Tytus Lehman throwing for 322 yards and four scores, two of which went to Wes Summersett, who finished with nine catches for 164 yards in addition to the pair of touchdowns.
QUICK HITS
With three more touchdowns on Friday, East Noble freshman Austin Phillips now has 12 on the year, second only to Rylee Biddle on the Knights…South Side’s 52-14 win over Wayne was its first postseason victory since 2020…West Noble’s 42-0 victory over Concordia was the program’s first-ever win over a team from the SAC…Norwell had four interceptions of Heritage passes in its 24-6 win…Eastside’s last shutout victory in the playoffs prior to Friday came in a 42-0 blanking of Prairie Heights on Oct. 30, 202
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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