Last year, northeast Indiana had a quartet of teams represent the area at Lucas Oil Stadium over state finals weekend.
Might we one-up that this season?
Five teams remain, with all five having a decent shot at advancing.
We can’t bat 1.000, can we?
Wouldn’t that be wild?
Last week: 5-1 (.833)
Overall: 198-48 (.804)
WESTFIELD AT CARROLL. The Chargers’ offense has been unstoppable of late, scoring 44 points per game during its eight-game winning streak. But the Westfield defense is equipped to challenge the Carroll offensive front. The Shamrocks’ all-Class 6A schedule concerns Blitz. This is a team that has been through the battles. It will not see anything on Friday that it hasn’t seen at some point this year in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. Does Gabe Frisinger has another huge game in him? Blitz thinks so. BLITZ SAYS CARROLL BY 3.
SOUTH BEND ST. JOSEPH AT BISHOP DWENGER. Two teams that don’t surrender a lot of points. However, Bishop Dwenger’s defense has been through tougher wars than the Huskies. The Saints have players at all three levels of the defense, and St. Joseph, while decent on offense, isn’t going to challenge that unit downfield. The magic number for Bishop Dwenger in Blitz’s mind is 14. If the Saints score 14 points, this game is over. Just don’t see the Huskies being able to put up a ton of points against that defensive unit. BLITZ SAYS BISHOP DWENGER BY 16.
KNOX AT BISHOP LUERS. The state’s eyes will be on Myles McLaughlin and his quest for the national record for rushing yards in a prep career. It will take a huge night to break it Friday, 364 yards. But hey, McLaughlin put up 374 last week. Bishop Luers is going to make things tough on McLaughlin and Knox, but he is still going to get his. Will it be enough? The Knights are scoring less than 20 points a game for the season. Even against good teams like Mississinewa and Twin Lakes over the last two weeks, they scored 23 and 14 points, respectively. Is that enough to overcome McLaughlin? Blitz doesn’t think so. Blitz said before the season that he felt Bishop Luers was a year away. He is sticking to what he said. BLITZ SAYS KNOX BY 3.
ADAMS CENTRAL AT ANDREAN. A rematch from last year’s semistate game where the Flying Jets won 20-13. Expect another close one, with the Fighting 59ers looking to keep AC off balance with its pair of quarterbacks – senior Brady Elish and sophomore Dylan Gore. In a way, everything that Andrean has done this year has been to prepare for this rematch. Jamison Roach will need to take center stage by striking downfield a few times if the Flying Jets are going to extend their 27-game winning streak. Adams Central hasn’t lost a road playoff game since 2019 to Lafayette Central Catholic in semistate. Blitz could go either way here. Home field equals three points, so…BLITZ SAYS ANDREAN BY 3.
PIONEER AT SOUTH ADAMS. Blitz has no doubt that the Starfires can throw for big yardage against Pioneer. What he isn’t so sure about is if the defense can get enough stops of the punishing Panthers rushing attack that averages 339 yards on the ground each game. South Adams needed some heroics from Tytus Lehman to pull out a win on the road last week against run-heavy North Miami. Pioneer is better than North Miami, and proved it with a 19-point victory in the regular season. South Adams needs to put up points and a lot of them. And even then, will it be enough? BLITZ SAYS PIONEER BY 7.
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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