The regular season is over and now we enter the portion of the season where if you don’t bring your best each and every week, there’s a good chance your year is gonna end.
The mission is a simple one, win and advance or lose, turn in equipment and begin getting ready for a long off-season.
Let’s take a look at Class 5A, Sectional 11.
THE DRAW
Warsaw (6-3) at Concord (8-1)
North Side (5-4) at Goshen (2-6)
THE FAVORITE
CONCORD (8-1)
Last year, Concord entered this sectional as the favorite, only to fall to Warsaw 31-28 in the championship game, a team it beat by four in the regular season in Northern Lakes Conference play.
After handling the Tigers in the regular season this year, the Minutemen get them again in the playoffs. So safe to say that Coach Craig Koehler has his squad’s attention as it seeks the program’s first sectional title since 2018.
Concord’s lone loss this season came at Mishawaka in a 38-34 game. The Cavemen once again are one of the teams to beat in the Class 4A North.
Against Warsaw in the regular season, Concord quickly got up by 10 early on to set the tone in what ended up to be a 38-7 rout. And that was at Warsaw, like the semifinal matchup will be.
Concord has a 1,000-yard rusher in Char’rese Breveard, while fellow senior Bo Brunner has completed 75 percent of his passes through the air.
This is a very physical team that will grind you down while taking away what you like to do best offensively.
THE CONTENDER
NORTH SIDE (5-4)
North Side is going on Year 35 without a sectional title, but the draw did the Legends some favors in potentially ending that drought.
Coach Ben Johnson’s team does have to open on the road, but it will take on 2-7 Goshen, the lone team currently under .500 in the four-team field. It will then get Concord at home if the Minutemen beat Warsaw.
However, North Side is coming off a pair of disappointing performances, getting shut out by Homestead in Week 8 followed by blowing a 17-point lead to Snider in a 24-20 defeat to cap the regular season.
Have the Legends been able to recover mentally during the bye week and set to enter the playoffs with renewed vigor? Or did the last two games take them out of their groove permanently?
There is no doubting the fact that Maalik Moore is the best wide receiver in this sectional. Caleb Kiengele may be the most dynamic ball carrier. But it takes a team to beat good squads, and North Side will need to play together in all three facets to have a shot to beat Concord (if that matchup comes to fruition).
THE REST
WARSAW (6-3)
If the Tigers had received the draw of say, North Side, Coach Bart Curtis’ team would be the contender above. Instead, Warsaw has to open with its conference foe Concord, a team that beat it up by 31 in mid-September.
To knock off the Minutemen, Warsaw has to better contain Concord’s rushing attack that gave the Tigers a taste of their own medicine. They controlled the line of scrimmage and did not allow Warsaw to control the ball and work its way progressively down the field with its run game.
To have a shot in Round 2, Warsaw’s defense must come to play.
GOSHEN (2-7)
Coach Joey Hecklinski is making strides with the Redhawks in Year 2, going from a winless campaign to two dubs this season.
That said, Goshen still has a ways to go. However, if North Side comes out flat in the semifinal matchup, Goshen could hang around.
Quarterback Douglas Diaz has thrown for 1,441 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is also Goshen’s leading rusher at 267 yards and three scores. Sophomore Spencer Elliott is the team’s leading receiver with 79 catches for 805 yards and seven TDs.
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