Outside of the start of the season, this is Blitz’s favorite part of the year.
Every Friday from here on out, we are handing out postseason hardware around the state.
Win or go home. Show out or the season is over.
It is the pressure more than anything that excites Blitz. Who performs well with the spotlight on them and who doesn’t?
For each sectional championship matchup in the area, Blitz is identifying which is the key matchup. It could be individual v. individual, unit v. unit or a combination. There are so many factors that play in to if a team wins or loses, but Blitz is here to point out one in particular.
6A: NORTHROP AT CARROLL
KEY MATCHUP: CARROLL DEFENSE V. BRUINS ON THIRD & FOURTH DOWN
Pretty specific, right? Here’s the thing, time and time again Northrop has come up big on third and fourth downs this season, most recently against Snider last week. When these two teams met in early October, Northrop converted 6-of-13 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth down. While decent, those two empty possessions lost on fourth down were huge in what ended up being a 48-37 slugfest.
Both offenses are expected to put up numbers again Friday, but if Carroll can shut down Northrop’s offense when it needs to in order to force a change a possession, that will bode well. So many teams have put the Bruins against the ropes, only for Coach Quentin Bowen’s team to execute, particularly on fourth down.
5A: CONCORD AT NORTH SIDE
KEY MATCHUP: CALEB KIENGELE V. CONCORD DEFENSE
After missing the last few weeks, Maalik Moore’s status for Friday’s sectional title game is still uncertain. If the star wideout is unavailable again, it puts increased pressure on the North Side run game to perform.
Kiengele has had no problem performing over the last few weeks, going for 135 or more yards in three of the last four weeks, including 151 yards and a score against Snider in Week 9 and a 12-135-2 effort in last week’s victory over Goshen.
Good teams can run against Concord. The Minutemen are solid, but their defense isn’t suffocating. The Legends must be able to move the ball on the ground and control the clock. Kiengele (and the offensive line) is key in doing that.
4A: EAST NOBLE AT BISHOP DWENGER
KEY MATCHUP: RYLEE BIDDLE V. BISHOP DWENGER DEFENSE
With the availability of star freshman Austin Phillips currently unknown after the East Noble running back left last Friday’s game against South Side, Biddle may have to carry an even larger load than usual for the Knights at Bishop Dwenger.
It’s not like the senior quarterback can’t handle it. He scored all five of East Noble’s touchdowns against the Archers last week, all on runs. But that was South Side, all due respect. Now, the Knights are facing off against the SAC champions that have let just three teams reach double digits against them all season long.
Biddle has proven he can do pretty much anything on the gridiron. But against the Saints he may have to do literally EVERYTHING offensively if East Noble is going to go into Shields Field and escape with a victory.
3A: GARRETT AT ANGOLA
KEY MATCHUP: HAWK HASSELMAN V. GARRETT DEFENSE
Can anyone slow down Hasselman? All the senior did last week was score all three touchdowns and convert all three extra points in Angola’s upset of West Noble, the latest in a series of dominant performances for him.
Angola won the regular season matchup over the Railroaders, 14-11. In that game, Hasselman rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown. In other words, he was one of the big reasons the Hornets won. A similar performance could be good enough to earn Angola its first sectional crown in seven years.
It will be up to the Garrett defense to prevent Hasselman from taking control of the game.
3A: BISHOP LUERS AT MISSISSINEWA
KEY MATCHUP: TOMMY REICHERT V. KALLEN QUADERER
Bishop Luers quarterback Tommy Reichert has been solid under center through his first two postseason starts, throwing for 416 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions against Delta and Norwell.
But Mississinewa is a much bigger challenge, with the Indians defense led by safety Kallen Quaderer. A senior veteran, Quaderer commands the entire unit from the back end. He has picked off four passes this season with another 13 passes defensed. He feasts on making plays against ill-advised pass attempts, as well as reading quarterbacks and where they are going for the ball.
Reichert is still learning. He is a sophomore, after all. But he has to guard against being too obvious where he is throwing downfield. Luers cannot win this game with the running game alone. Reichert doesn’t need to win the game, necessarily, but he cannot lose it by allowing Quaderer to outsmart him.
2A: EASTSIDE AT ADAMS CENTRAL
KEY MATCHUP: ADAMS CENTRAL OL V. EASTSIDE DL
When these teams met in Week 2, Eastside had immense trouble holding the point of attack on defense. The Flying Jets ran for 329 yards in the 32-21 victory, with the Blazers defense wearing down over the course of the game while under relentless pressure.
That can’t happen on Friday.
It is easier said than done, right? Show Blitz a team that has been able to match or better Adams Central in the trenches this year.
You can’t.
Eastside has to find a way, or else Adams Central is slowly going to grind away, eat up the clock and score points over the course of four quarters.
1A: NORTH MIAMI AT FREMONT
KEY MATCHUP: FREMONT DEFENSE V. NORTH MIAMI’S RUN GAME
Between the trio of Lake Musall, Ryan Meredith and Hartley Hoover, the senior trio has scored 40 rushing touchdowns to go with close to 3,000 yards.
That’s insanity.
So the challenge is easy to identify, but perhaps hard to execute – slow down North Miami’s run game.
Fremont’s defense hasn’t been stifling, particularly against run-heavy squads. Churubusco put up 36 points and Eastside 42 in the Eagles’ last two losses.
Slow down the run, and Fremont has a chance to win its first-ever sectional crown.
1A: HAGERSTOWN AT SOUTH ADAMS
KEY MATCHUP: NICK TINKLE V. SOUTH ADAMS RECEIVERS
Nick Tinkle is a two-way stud for Hagerstown, but it is his defensive prowess that will matter the most on Friday in Berne.
With seven interceptions and six passes defensed this season, the senior safety is Hagerstown’s best defense against the wealth of targets South Adams deploys downfield.
As a safety, Tinkle will have responsibility to protect against the deep ball and chunk plays. If Hagerstown can’t slow down the Starfires’ offense, it has no chance to win. Tinkle, who has proven to be a ball hawk, could give the Tigers a fighting chance with a big play or two to change momentum.
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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