We’ve officially made it!
The final week of the regular season.
It feels like yesterday we were setting up at Northeast Indiana HS Media Day talking to coaches and players to preview this season. Yet, here we are. The sectional brackets have been revealed and everyone is preparing for the postseason.
With that being said, there are some good games on slate for Week 9 that will give us a solid preview of what to expect next week as the playoffs begin. Let’s flip the script once again and see where some of the kids’ heads are heading into Friday and make sure they’re not looking ahead.
SAC: North Side @ Snider
Both teams need a win to give them some extra confidence heading into sectionals. After winning four consecutive games, the Legends fell at home to the Homestead Spartans last week to drop to 5-3. The Panthers have two impressive wins over teams the Legends couldn’t defeat in Homestead and Northrop and sit at 4-4 after losing to Bishop Dwenger at home in Week 8.
North Side is preparing for a loaded Sectional 19 that includes their first opponent in the defending state-champion Saints. Meanwhile, Snider will prepare for Sectional 11 in Class 5A that includes an opening round matchup against South Side and a possible rematch against Warsaw in the final.
There’s some personal meaning for this game with former Snider quarterback from 1996, Larry Davis Jr., now a coach for North Side prepares for his first trip to Snider’s new stadium, “The Ike.” In addition to that, we’ve got two talented SAC teams going head-to-head.
“We’re really fired up,” said North Side defensive back Jarnard Moore. “They’ve got a couple of talented receivers in Caleb Clapper and Keaton Robinson. We expect to come out and play real dominant, hard-nosed, North Side football.
“I expect us to come out with the win this week. No doubt about it. We’ve been going through a lot, facing a lot of adversity and even losing guys like Maalik Moore going down, losing our head, things like that. We’ve been going through a lot. It’s only a matter of time before teams gotta feel us. So I expect us to come out and dominate and win this football game.”
“I expect Snider to make us seem undisciplined like other teams see us,” added North Side D-lineman Omarion Waites. “I feel like they will try to run the ball on us to try to open up the pass, but we will be very good at stopping the run.
“Snider does like to throw quick stuff in the passing game to try to move the ball. They will try to out-physical us, but we have to come out of the gate, hit them in the mouth and shut them down early.”
“I expect Snider to be physical and use their strengths to an advantage by trying to run the ball like they do most teams,” Legends lineman Derrion Goodwin said. “But with the D-line we have, we can stop that and still account for the run. We have to work together as a team. We have to be elite on offense, defense and special teams.”
Snider is well aware of the talent that North Side has and plans not to take it lightly.
“They are one of the most talented teams in the area,” Snider’s Keaton Robinson said. “I definitely expect a lot of speed on the perimeter and physicality up front. I think we need to be sound offensively and defensively.
“If we come out with high energy and just play Snider football, I think we will put ourselves in a good spot to get the victory.”
“I’m expecting them to come out physical and try to take advantage of every opportunity and every mistake we may make,” Snider defensive back Que Hunter said. “Their backs are going to run hard, so we just have to make tackles and on our side we just have to take the ball away and stop them on third and fourth downs and play fundamentally sound football.”
NE8: DeKalb @ Leo
In what may be the best game the area has to provide for Week 9, DeKalb and Leo are set to clash just north of Fort Wayne. DeKalb has won two games in a row, while Leo is coming off a tough loss to a very good Columbia City team.
One of the highest-scoring teams in the NE8 (DeKalb) against one of the stingiest defenses in the conference (Leo). For this being a season where some people called it ‘rebuilding’ years for both programs, both have exceeded expectations and remained competitive all season.
It’s a great rivalry that projects to be the best game (on paper) in northeast Indiana this week. Looking ahead, DeKalb has a rematch with New Haven in the first round of sectionals, and Leo will face Columbia City for the second time in three weeks. Leo knows what DeKalb will bring this Friday ahead of the postseason.
“They have some great athletes and a big line that we are ready to compete against,” said Leo wide receiver Landon Kindschy. “But for us, the main thing is being more physical than the guy in front of us. We are expecting them to run a lot, so our defense has to be very physical, fly to the ball and make tackles.
“To come out with the victory on Friday we need to be physical. We need to be more physically and mentally tough than DeKalb. We need to be able to mix in the run and pass game very well, and also shut down everything on defense.”
DeKalb beat Leo last season by a field goal and lost to them twice in 2024. The Barons are expected to welcome back starting quarterback Bracen Staley this week. Meanwhile, the Lions may be without its most productive athlete Isaiah Detmers. As conference rivals, the Barons leaders are well aware of what Leo will bring to this showdown.
“We are expecting them to pass the ball a lot,” DeKalb senior Drake Hall said. “After giving up around 250 passing yards last Friday and having their best running back out, they are going to look to pick apart our DBs.
“As a defense, we have to take the next step by trusting each other and not trying to do someone else’s job.”
“They’ve shown on film they’re pretty balanced offensively and we are kinda expecting the same,” DeKalb linebacker Eli Schwab said. “Obviously, we’re walking into a big game with a really established program, but we are hungry to prove we can finish a game against a top-tier opponent.
“I believe we can win if we put four quarters of solid Baron football together, which I don’t think we have done yet this year.”
“What I am expecting from Leo is a lot of passing, because they won’t have Isaiah Demers,” Staley said. “But what we got to do is stay consistent and do our jobs and we will be fine. This is our revenge time.”
ACAC: Jay County @ Heritage
With so much attention surrounding Bluffton, Adams Central and South Adams, some of the other teams in the conference can be overlooked. Both Jay County and Heritage have a plethora of playmakers on both sides of the ball. The Patriots are one of the highest-scoring teams in the conference and are led by running back Leighton Brown, who has 1,300 rushing yards and 17 total TDs. As one of the most dynamic players in the ACAC, I was excited to catch up with him and preview this game against Heritage.
“We’re expecting a very fun football game out of Heritage,” Brown said. “They’re a team similar to us that makes their identity in running the football. Our keys to victory are stopping the run, forcing turnovers when the opportunity comes (their possessions last a long time) and remaining able to attack on the ground and through the air on offense.”
Since this game will be in Monroeville in a battle of Patriots, Heritage will have the home crowd behind it. It has been known this year for a defense that has only allowed 86 total points, second only to Bluffton in the league. Senior Bryson Berg leads the team in tackles with 65, but it’s Jaxton Litchfield who is the anchor on defense. He has 41 total tackles, six sacks and 14 tackles for loss. Offensively, Heritage likes to run the ball with Zeb Tigulis, Litchfield, and Lucas Taylor. They know that Jay County will be aiming to halt the rushing attack on Friday.
“I’m expecting them to try and keep us contained in the run game,” Taylor said. “We have to establish the run early, which should ultimately open up some passes.”
This should be a great one in Monroeville. Last season, Jay County won in a close 15-14 nailbiter.
NECC: Fremont @ Fairfield
Goshen is a little bit of a trip, but if you love Friday night lights, this NECC battle should be fantastic. The last time Fremont and Fairfield faced each other was back in 2021 when the Falcons won big in a 51-12 rout.
There is a two-class difference between the two teams, but Fremont has one of the most impressive quarterbacks around in Jaret Laughlin. He has now thrown for 1,256 yards and 12 passing touchdowns and has ran for 1,222 yards and 18 more scores. Combined, he has surpassed over 2,400 total yards and 30 touchdowns. I was able to chat with Laughlin and preview this tough matchup.
“Fairfield is a very tough football team,” Laughlin said. “Offensively, it doesn’t pass the ball much, so we have to make sure our linebackers and defensive lineman are locked in to prevent it from running all over us.
“Defensively, (the Falcons) have many good players we have recognized on film. We need to stay true to our assignments and fight hard. Fairfield has almost triple the guys on its roster than we do, so we can’t let fatigue catch up to us and lose us this ball game. If we scratch and claw all the way until the end, we should come out on top.”
As Laughlin stated, Fairfield doesn’t pass much. In fact, Falcons running back Miguel Gutierrez has broken several program rushing records, including most rushing yards in a game (against Garrett in Week 7) with 327 yards. He has 1,500 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. Another running back, Isaac Yoder, is a guy that has only played five games, but has been productive. I wanted to catch up with him and sophomore linebacker Isaac Almiray, who has double-digit tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
“We’re expecting a heavy pass game, but can’t take our eyes off of No. 10 (Laughlin),” Almiray said. “He’s a dual threat and he’s not afraid to run or throw a mean deep ball over your head.
“We just have to execute, take away long passes and rough them up and let them feel a physical defense, while keeping that QB contained and playing at the highest standard.”
“We’re expecting them to throw the ball and run with the quarterback a lot,” said Yoder about Fremont. “We just got to stay disciplined and stick with our stuff to come out with the victory.”
Fairfield’s offense presents challenges of its own, which Fremont defender Kolton Armstrong is all too aware of.
“Knowing that Fairfield is a run-heavy, wing-T offense, we’re gonna have to play sound football on defense,” Armstrong said. “Playing against this offensive scheme is very simple, but when you become undisciplined that’s where the problems will occur.
“Winning this game is going to rely on our offense, big time. Offensively, I believe we can move the ball with no problems, we just have to show up and play a hard-headed, four-quarter football game.”
This should be a great game in Goshen and has the potential to be a high-scoring affair.
Let’s have a great and healthy week and head into sectionals with healthy teams ready to fight for an opportunity to play at Lucas Oil!
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