It is going to be a busy week for Blitz.
With sectionals getting under way, breakdowns of each field will be coming through the next several days.
But before we completely turn the page to the postseason, let’s wrap up Week 9 with some Bear Necessities.
SAC
• The wetness of Friday made things difficult for a lot of teams around the area, but perhaps no one was affected more than Carroll.
On a natural grass, slippery Luersfield, the Chargers were only able to put up 23 points in a victory over Bishop Luers. The passing attack of Carroll was severely limited, with Gabe Frisinger completing just 7-of-15 passes, although he did throw a pair of touchdowns to Harry Scheele.
The defense of the Chargers rose to the challenge of the conditions, stifling the Bishop Luers offense for the most part, including a sack of quarterback Tommy Reichert in the end zone for a safety.
Eli Neuhouser was exeptional on defense with 12 tackles, a pair of sacks (including the safety), a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Despite the victory, it makes Blitz wonder if Carroll can score enough points in a 6A showdown with a Carmel, Westfield or Center Grove if conditions aren’t the best.
• Blitz owes Concordia an apology after picking the Cadets to lose by double digits. Instead, Coach Tim Mannigel’s team went out and scored its most points in a game since 2021 in a 42-22 pasting of Calumet.
All of a sudden, the first-round playoff matchup with Adams Central got real intriguing. Eli Trent accounted for four touchdowns and 321 total yards against Calumet, a solid 3A program out of northwest Indiana.
Rashon Johnson and Mike Henley, both of whom hauled in receiving touchdowns on Friday, can stretch the field and will present coverage challenges for the Flying Jets next Friday.
When looking for good first-round games, don’t sleep on Concordia going down to Monroe and trying to steal one in Adams Central’s first-ever playoff contest in Class 3A.
• Two years ago, Snider junior Maddox Shovlin hadn’t even kicked a football in a competitive environment.
On Friday, he was the hero for the Panthers.
Shovlin nailed a 36-yard field goal at the end of regulation against North Side to tie the game and send it to overtime. He then calmly kicked the extra point to win the game for Snider after Max Johnson hit Keaton Robinson for a touchdown in the first overtime.
The 27-26 victory came after North Side elected to go for two on its initial possession of overtime but failed, giving the Legends a six-point lead.
Shovlin said what kickers say after the game, giving credit to his teammates, but he came through in the clutch for the Panthers on a wet night at ‘The Ike.’ The difference between winning and losing in the playoffs can come down to good special teams. Whereas North Side was 1-of-4 on the game in two-point tries due to not having a reliable kicker, Shovlin his two field goals and two extra points for the Panthers.
The little things, like special teams (although most coaches will say special teams are anything but little), are magnified in the postseason. Snider, per usual, has a reliable one to turn to in Shovlin.
• We thought we had seen the last of do-everything athlete Maalik Moore at the high school level.
Turns out, we haven’t yet.
Moore surprisingly returned for North Side in Friday’s game with Snider. After being hurt earlier in the season, the thought was that he would miss the remainder of the year.
But with the blessing of the University of Cincinnati, where Moore is committed, he returned in limited action for the Legends, seeing playing time mostly on defense and special teams.
Moore’s presence, let alone his ability to impact the game in all three phases, is a tremendous boost to North Side heading into the playoffs. The hope is he can be an offensive factor next week at home in the playoff opener against Bishop Dwenger.
• Speaking of the Saints, it was a breakout game of sorts for junior Drew O’Neill, who scored three total touchdowns – two rushing and one receiving – in the Saints’ 37-14 victory over South Side.
O’Neill saw his first action of the season in the Battle of the Bishops in Week 7 against Bishop Luers. Since then, his role has only grown in the backfield for Coach Jason Garrett’s team. He led Bishop Dwenger in yards on the ground on Friday with 62 and hauled in a pass for a 26-yard touchdown from quarterback Tommy Coffman.
The Saints have no shortage of guys who can get it done out of the backfield – Kolyn Campbell, Max Jordan, Landon Tippmann. Add O’Neill to that list.
NE8
• Lukas Duncan has done a little bit of everything for Columbia City this season. That was once again on display in Friday’s 43-13 win over Norwell.
The junior rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns, and also took back a punt 73 yards to the house for a score.
While the offensive line will lose some guys to graduation, the offensive skill positions are laden with underclassmen for Coach Brett Fox’s Eagles. Duncan is a junior, as is Noah Geiger, who combined have rushed for 2,400 yards and 34 touchdowns this year.
Duncan is also Columbia City’s leading receiver, while quarterback Jordan Parrett is also a junior.
And don’t forget about sophomore Braxton Fuller, who went over 100 yards rushing against Norwell and hauled in a 43-yard pass for a touchdown.
A reminder to those discounting Columbia City. Its two losses this year came to teams that both finished the season undefeated (Northridge and East Noble).
• Blitz mentioned earlier about how the kicking game is so important this time of year.
How about some love for Dawson Cleverly? The DeKalb senior his a pair of fields of 35 and 26 yards on Friday in the 29-21 victory over Leo, as well as all three of extra points.
For the season, Cleverly is 33-of-35 on PATs and 5-of-6 on field goals with a long of 48 yards. He has put 42 of his 53 kickoffs into the end zone for touchdowns.
The Barons get New Haven to open sectional play, then will face off against either Bishop Dwenger or North Side.
Cleverly’s impact could be felt in the playoffs in close games.
ACAC
• Despite scoring a school-record 69 points on Friday in a shutout of Blackhawk Christian, the highlight for Bluffton had to be the team led onto the field prior to the game by Defensive Coordinator Casey Kolkman…on his motorcycle.
According to Coach Brent Kunkel, the entrance was desired by the senior class, which wanted an exclamation point of sorts to its final home regular-season game.
Kolkman delivered as he shot across the field on his bike leading the way as the team followed.
Blitz feels this is something that should happen every week now by Kolkman, who is one of the best coaching personalities we have in an area full of them.
• Perhaps one of the most surprising scores of Week 9 was the manner in which Heritage dispatched of Jay County, with the Monroeville Patriots beating the Portland Patriots, 43-7.
The destruction was complete, as Heritage attempted just a single pass while rushing for 324 yards and six touchdowns. Lucas Taylor and Jaxton Litchfield had two apiece, while Zeb Tigulis and Sawyer Thiele added one apiece.
The win is Heritage’s sixth of the season, giving them six or more victories in three of the last four seasons.
We talk so much about the ‘Big 3’ in the ACAC of Adams Central, South Adams and Bluffton, but Heritage has been as steady as they come in the last several years and could be an interesting foe for either Concordia or Adams Central in the sectional semifinals.
NECC/Area
• Northridge had won five games combined in the last two years heading into this season, but with Friday’s 37-30 victory over Warsaw in a battle of undefeateds, the Raiders are Northern Lakes Conference champions for just the second time in school history and first since 2017.
Coach Luke Amstutz’s team did it in dramatic fashion. Facing a 3rd and 27 late in the game down one, Northridge was able to pick up 15 yards to make it a somewhat-manageable 4th and 12.
That is when Amstutz went into his bag of tricks. A completion to Jake Scholl was going to be short of the first, but Scholl flipped to Hayden Gorball on a hook-and-ladder play that got Northridge to the 1-yard line. Scholl easily scored on the next play, then took in the two-point conversion.
Warsaw was intercepted on its final drive.
Scholl finished with a combined 338 yards and four touchdowns for the Raiders, who will take on Mishawaka next week to begin the playoffs in a rematch of a good Week 7 game that saw Northridge win by three.
It has seemed like a win-win with Coach Amstutz going to Northridge, as he has resurrected that program in a short time and Coach Alex Stewart is 33-3 at East Noble since replacing Amstutz in Kendallville.
• Who had Churubusco winning at Lakeland?
Don’t lie.
After allowing the Lakers to score the first two touchdowns of the game, the Eagles bounced back, eventually notching a touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave them a 21-20 victory.
Sophomore Blane Wilson had himself a night, throwing for 123 yards, rushing for 62 more, and scoring three total touchdowns. And he also had eight tackles and a tackle for loss on defense.
Churubusco dresses one senior, Colt Singleton. There are so many juniors and sophomores in key roles for the Eagles, and many play both wins.
Next year is going to be a return to form for Churubusco in the NECC, and Friday was a reminder of that.
QUICK HITS
Bishop Luers has 16 rushing touchdowns on the season, all 16 by junior TJ Epperson…Friday was Snider’s first victory in overtime since beating North Side 17-14 in the 2013 sectional championship…Homestead averaged just 0.8 yards per rush in its loss to Warren Central.
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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