We really have been blessed with great weather on Friday nights this year, haven’t we?
Of course, that just means the playoffs will see some adversity from Mother Nature.
Speaking of adversity, Bluffton overcame some to capture its first ACAC crown since 1989.
What else of note happened on Friday?
Let’s close out Week 8 with some Bear Necessities:
SAC
• So much has been made of the Carroll aerial attack, and for good reason, but Blitz believes that the ability to run the football will be key in providing offensive balance in the playoffs.
If the Chargers make a deep run in Class 6A, there are going to be matchups in which quarterback Gabe Frisinger isn’t going to be able to sling it all over the field seemingly at will. We saw him limited against Center Grove in Week 2.
So it was good to see the running game pick up some steam in Friday’s 57-18 SAC-clinching victory over Northrop, with Carroll picking up 170 yards rushing and averaging 5.2 yards per attempt.
And it was Frisinger himself as the leading rusher, picking up 84 yards and a couple touchdowns, while Asher Wagoner added 64 yards on the ground.
Only 35 percent of Carroll’s total offensive yards have come via the run. Finding some consistency on the ground will help tremendously beginning in just a few weeks.
• Historically, Bishop Dwenger and Snider are known for their physicality and ability to abuse opposing defenses in the trenches, with the rushing game setting the tone.
In their matchup on Friday, one was able to do just that, and one wasn’t.
It was fitting that a pair of rushing scores – one each by Kolyn Campbell and Max Jordan – broke a fourth-quarter tie in the Saints’ 28-14 victory. Bishop Dwenger amassed 272 yards on the ground, with Campbell in his return from injury leading the way with 130 yards and a score on 21 touches.
Meanwhile, Snider could never really move the ball with its run game as it was held to 1.4 yards per rushing attempt, 27 yards on 19 runs.
• It is always a tough decision for a coaching staff to look ahead to next year, but Bishop Luers has started to do that with its personnel deployment.
With a small senior class and a wealth of juniors and sophomores, the Knights already had a lot of underclassmen in key roles, but with just a few games left in the regular season, Coach Kyle Lindsay and his staff want to get a better look at some of the guys who will be relied upon to get the program back to competing for postseason hardware.
We saw that on display in the 48-8 victory over Wayne on Friday. Underclassmen were responsible for all 371 total yards gained by the Knights, including 213 yards rushing and four touchdowns by junior TJ Epperson, and three passing scores by classmate Tommy Reichert, all to Rory Kelly, another junior.
The defense was similar. All but one player who posted multiple tackles was an underclassmen, led by junior Dallas Mata, who recently returned from injury. Juniors also shined in the turnover department, with Cooper Smith picking off a Wayne pass and Arion Lee-Hawkins and Ethan Knuth each forcing fumbles.
Typically this time of year, Bishop Luers is priming for a deep run in the playoffs, but at 2-6 this year, the vision is more so on what can be gained to prep for 2027.
• In 23 seasons under Coach Chad Zolman, Homestead has never lost five consecutive games.
That was the reality the Spartans were facing on Friday at North Side with a defeat, and they came up big.
It is not like Homestead has not been competitive. It was in the game against Northrop in a 12-point loss, and it fell to Bishop Dwenger and Snider in a pair of four-point decisions. But with Warren Central looming next week, the Spartans could have very easily ended the regular season on a six-game losing streak.
And the Spartans dug themselves a hole on Friday, with North Side scoring the first 10 points of the game and getting the ball inside the red zone on a turnover.
But the game changed after a defensive stand inside the 5-yard line, followed by a 95-yard touchdown run for Gavin Wells that gave Homestead some momentum heading into halftime.
Zolman’s team then pitched a shutout the rest of the way in a 24-10 victory.
Logan Frieden and Shane Bardwell added rushing scores for the Spartans, but it was the defense that shut down the rushing attack of North Side that approached 400 yards on the ground last week against South Side.
A very much-needed victory for Homestead.
NE8
• If anyone can figure out Norwell, please let Blitz know.
The Knights began the season 2-0, which included handing Mississinewa its lone loss of the season thus far. They then lost four of five, including a 20-18 defeat to New Haven in Week 5.
Coach Josh Gerber’s team gave DeKalb fits last week, before it went on the road and knocked off Huntington North 24-17 on Friday.
Norwell is 4-4 and a team nobody really wants to draw in sectional, because you just never know what you are going to get.
• Blitz should not have been surprised at Columbia City’s 49-28 victory over Leo, but it was considering just how good the Lions’ defense has been this year.
But in a strength-on-strength battle, it was the Eagles that rushed for 422 yards and thoroughly manhandled the Leo defense. It was once again the one-two punch of Noah Geiger and Lukas Duncan that led the way. The duo combined to run the ball 46 times for 349 yards and five touchdowns.
Prior to Friday, Leo had held six of its seven opponents to 13 points or less, and four of those to seven points or fewer.
Through eight games, Columbia City is still averaging over 379 yards rushing per game. An astounding number.
Geiger has broken the Columbia City single season rushing touchdown record with his effort on Friday.
ACAC
• Who needs a passing game when you can run the football all over?
Heritage did its best Warsaw impression by rushing for 292 yards and seven touchdowns without a single passing attempt in a 62-0 rout of Southern Wells.
Six different players rushed for scores – Sawyer Thiele with two, while Zeb Tigulis, Brady Boyle, Kingston Howard, Elias Litchfield and Lucas Taylor each rushed for one in the win.
Heritage is one of those other teams that Blitz believes no one really wants to see in the playoffs. Its three losses have come to Adams Central, South Adams and Bluffton, and gave fits to all three.
NECC
• Will Eastside be able to pass the ball when it needs to in the playoffs?
It at least showed its ability to do so against Prairie Heights on Friday in a 48-6 victory. Job Richman completed 3-of-6 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns. The scores went for eight, 35 and 73 passes, two hauled in by Gage Fogle and the other by Hunter Rece.
Prairie Heights has struggled this year, so the competition will stiffen the deeper the Blazers go in the postseason, but it was encouraging for their chances to see they can strike vertically.
A trip to Lucas Oil Stadium may come down to how well Richman and his receivers connect come sectional play and beyond.
• Connor Sizemore became Prairie Heights’ all-time leading receiver in both catches and yards last week. For his career, the senior has 78 receptions for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns.
He was held in check against Eastside, however, as he caught just one ball for 38 yards.
• Talk about a senior season to remember.
As a junior, Miguel Gutierrez saw his first varsity action for Fairfield and finished with 252 yards rushing on 55 carries.
But nothing has been able to stop Gutierrez in his final year with the Falcons, as he has ran for 1,503 yards and 11 touchdowns so far this year, including a 221-yard, three-touchdown effort Friday in a 35-28 win over Churubusco.
Gutierrez has eclipsed the 100-yard mark in every game this year except one, Week 5 against Eastside. He is averaging 188 yards per game and has gone over 200 yards in a game four times.
In the last two weeks, Gutierrez has rushed for 548 yards and eight scores.
• Congratulations to West Noble, which captured its third NECC Big Division title in four years with its 14-7 win over Angola.
The Chargers have made it a habit in recent years of being an NECC contender, but one thing that has eluded them is a sectional championship, with the program still seeking its first.
Could this year see the drought end? West Noble may need to knock off Angola again in Sectional 26, with Tippecanoe Valley looking very strong and likely the sectional favorite.
• Garrett and Lakeland had a war of attrition in the opening half on Friday night with Garrett opening up a 14-7 lead just five minutes into the game.
The teams traded scores for a good while before Garrett started to separate itself on the legs of Aiden Reed, while Lakeland lost quarterback Brady West to an injury just before the half, stalling out some of their offensive options.
Reed took off for 22 carries, with 228 yards and three touchdowns rushing to take him over 1,000 yards for the season. He also hauled in a catch that he helped take 80 yards for a score. Sophomore quarterback Adrian Porter added three touchdowns (two rushing and the passing score to Reed) and sophomore Dillon Chisholm ran for 103 yards and a touchdown as he has stepped into the opening in the backfield left by the season ending injury to Alex Guzman.
QUICK HITS
Northrop has been outscored 116-31 during its three-game losing streak to Bishop Dwenger, Snider and Carroll…South Side has secured back-to-back seasons with three or more victories for the first time since 2012-2013…DeKalb’s 69-21 victory over Bellmont was the most points for the Barons since a 97-0 win over New Haven on Sept. 2, 1994…New Haven quarterback Tre McCraney has thrown for a combined 881 yards and 11 touchdowns in the last two weeks…East Noble has scored 65, 59 and 62 points in its last three regular-season games against New Haven…With his four touchdown passes on Friday in South Adams’ 40-0 win over Woodlan, Zaden Baumer now has 24 of them on the year.
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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