Blitz has said it countless times before.
The high school football season goes fast.
Feels like a few days ago we were kicking off the 2026 season. After last Friday, we are now a full month in and a week away from passing the mid-point of the regular season.
Wild, ain’t it?
You know what is also wild? Blitz going a perfect 20-0 in his Week 4 predictions. But you’re not here for that (although it needed to be pointed out), so let’s jump in.
SEPTEMBER 11
Thank you to the 122nd Fighter Wing for the flyovers on Friday throughout the area as recognition of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was a really cool gesture and football communities around the Fort Wayne area got to experience a “big deal” with the F-16s buzzing fields before kickoff.
Other schools in the area had additional flyovers, 21 gun salutes and recognition of local first responders.
It is astounding to Blitz that it has been 25 years. He was in college and won’t ever forget the feelings of that day.
SAC
• Carroll was not in a comfortable spot after the first quarter Friday at Shields Field as it faced a 14-0 deficit against Bishop Dwenger.
The Chargers were aggressive on defense early on as they put 7-8 in the box to defend the run. But Bishop Dwenger running back Kolyn Campbell’s field vision was exceptional, as several times he cut back and went around to the weak side, turning the corner on Carroll time and again.
Carroll adjusted after falling behind by backing off and playing more traditional and making sure Campbell wasn’t breaking loose.
Henry Sholl had a stand-out performance for the Chargers as he locked down Bishop Dwenger wide receiver Carter Zent, a favorite target of quarterback Tommy Coffman. Zent only had two receptions for the game for minimal impact.
Carroll was able to roll to a 49-29 win.
• North Side senior Maalik Moore was No. 1 in our preseason Top 50 player countdown, and he showed why he was the easy choice in the Legends’ victory over Concordia.
With the Cadets threatening in the first quarter, Moore used his considerable wingspan to rise up and intercept an Eli Trent pass in the end zone with one hand. He then had the presence of mind to immediately take off in the other direction. The result? A 103-yard return for a score.
One quarter later, Brandon Sanders hit Moore for a 63-yard strike for a touchdown.
And just for good measure, he had a 44-yard punt.
No one in the area, and few in the state, impact the game in all three facets quite like Maalik Moore.
• Blitz continues to be impressed with the Snider offense.
If there was one glaring hole a year ago in the Panthers’ 3-7 campaign, it was the inability to score points. They were held to single-digit point totals in four games and averaged only 15 points a game.
If you can’t score points, you can’t win games.
Fresh off a 42-point effort against Wayne on Friday, Snider is averaging 33.8 points a game. Max Johnson is completing 62 percent of his passes, and the rushing attack is averaging 169 yards per game.
While they may seem like pedestrian numbers, the effectiveness of the offense has been night and day compared to a year ago.
Heading into a Week 5 showdown against Carroll, the offense will face its firmest test thus far. Last year was a 47-14 blowout by the Chargers.
• Is Jayvon Irby the MVP of the area thus far?
He certainly is the MVP for South Side, which won its second-straight game at Luersfield for the first time since the 1989 and 1991 seasons.
Irby scored four total touchdowns – two rushing and two receiving – to go with 239 all-purpose yards and eight tackles on defense.
Irby leads the Archers in rushing attempts, rushing yards, receptions, receiving yards, all-purpose yards, interceptions and passes defended.
South Side is 2-2, signifying its first at- or above-.500 record after four games since the Archers were 3-1 in 2009.
• With every passing week, Blitz is getting 2013 feels out of the Bishop Luers Knights.
That year, Bishop Luers went winless in the regular season before winning two games in the playoffs. A 2-10 year was shocking to a lot of people, but one year later, the Knights returned to form with an 11-2 record and a trip to semistate.
That isn’t to say that this year’s squad is going to go winless (currently 0-4), but it is going to be a struggle. It has been a perfect storm of sorts – a small senior class, a tough non-conference schedule (Adams Central and Andrean), a roster that’s barely above 50 kids in Grades 9-12 and a lot of injuries.
And that doesn’t include the outgoing transfers at key positions in the offseason and the move to Class 4A, which will make things a lot more challenging in the playoffs.
Bishop Luers traditionally does not rebuild, it reloads. But this year is definitely a rebuild.
NE8
• DeKalb had East Noble on the ropes on Friday, until it didn’t.
Up 10-0 at halftime, the Barons were 24 minutes away from beating the Knights for the first time in 19 years.
So what happened?
For the second-straight week, DeKalb failed to score in the second half. It also lost starting quarterback Bracen Staley to injury. By moving running back Xavier Vice to quarterback, it weakened the Barons at two positions. Vice scored the Barons’ only touchdown on a run in the first half, but East Noble clamped down on him and the DeKalb offense after halftime.
Meanwhile, the Knights went to work on offense, with the winning score by Austin Phillips with just over a minute left.
How East Noble clinched the game was also memorable, as senior Alex Scott picked off a Vice pass as the Barons were driving. It was Scott’s 18th career interception, breaking the all-time program record for picks formerly held by Dylan Jordan.
• The junior running back combo of Lukas Duncan and Noah Geiger continues to impress for the Columbia City Eagles.
The duo combined for 270 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in the Eagles’ 34-31 victory over Huntington North. For the season, they have amassed 1,123 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.
In four weeks.
Want to beat Columbia City? Contain Duncan and Geiger.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing for the Eagles is that the duo at running back, quarterback Jordan Parrett and every single player who has a reception so far this year are all juniors.
ACAC
• How random has sophomore Godfrey Shoaf’s performance for Adams Central been this year?
The stat system for the Flying Jets still has him listed as “TEAM” in the box score.
When previewing his team in the preseason, Adams Central coach Michael Mosser mentioned senior Reece Hammond and junior Barrett Collier as key ball carriers entering the season. Shoaf got a mention, but the thought was the upperclassmen would see more work.
Shoaf continues to put up big numbers for the Flying Jets. In Friday’s 42-0 shutout of Jay County, Shoaf had double the carries of anyone else, led the team in rushing with 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Typically, Adams Central has many underclassmen that patiently wait for their time to shine as juniors and seniors. Shoaf has burst onto the scene as a sophomore, even if AC’s stat system wasn’t ready for him to.
• Jax Wanner had himself a night for South Adams against Heritage, hauling in 15 receptions for 179 yards in a 21-13 victory.
At most programs, the 15 receptions would be a record. But not at pass-heavy South Adams. Just last year, Derek McKean hauled in 16 catches for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 44-41 loss to Bluffton which set the school record.
Keep grinding, Jax.
NECC/Area
• Garrett may be struggling with an 0-4 record, but Aiden Reed is doing his part.
The senior running back sits at 650 yards rushing after four games after his 19-carry, 141-yard effort in the 43-28 loss to Angola on Friday. That ranks second in the state according to MaxPreps. Only Levi Crandall of Mississinewa at 673 yards is ahead of Reed.
Reed also leads the Garrett defense in tackles and tackles for loss and had an 80 yard kickoff return for touchdown on Friday against Angola, while also scoring on a massive 54 yard touchdown run just before the half.
• Blitz doesn’t care what you think, Huckleberry Brandeberry is the best name amongst area football players.
The Prairie Heights senior had himself a night on Friday, and not just because of his name. He led the Panthers in their 26-21 loss to Churubusco with 110 yards and a touchdown on 17 touches. He also created a fumble on defense to go with 10 tackles.
Brandeberry is second on the team in rushing and is part of a two-man running attack with quarterback Weston Rasler.
Prairie Heights is still seeking its first win of the season, but Brandeberry is one to watch, and not just for his name.
• Did Angola have the biggest week to week turnaround anywhere for points scored? It had to be close.
After closing out Fairfield 7-6 in week three, the Hornets put up 43 in a win over Garrett on Friday, even if the Railroaders had 28 of their own points.
The Hornets are kind of quietly 3-1. Garrett Sorgen threw for three touchdown passes and 207 yards, while the team ran for another 143. Gus Heavin again feasted on defense with 12 tackles, sophomore Owen Shull had 2.5 sacks and Cody Ruple had a kickoff return for a touchdown, one of at least 4 kickoff return touchdowns in the area this week.
QUICK HITS
Northrop is 2-0 in the SAC for the first time since 2020…Leo allowed 42 points to Bishop Chatard in Week 2. In its other three games, it has allowed a total of seven points…Axton Beste has only attempted 23 passes in four games for Bluffton, an average of 5.7 attempts a contest…Churubusco rushed for 370 yards in its win over Prairie Heights and was 0-of-2 passing…West Noble’s 63 points in its blanking of Central Noble was the most for the Chargers since a 64-7 win over Central Noble on Aug. 26, 1983.
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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