After a bye week, area Class 5A and 6A teams will begin postseason play this Friday around the area.
Blitz is here to quickly preview and discuss the area sectionals, beginning with Class 6A.
SECTIONAL 4
THE FIELD
Noblesville (2-7) at Carroll (8-1)
Northrop (4-4) at Homestead (3-6)
PROJECTED WINNER: CARROLL
Not only is Carroll the clear favorite in this field, it received arguably the best draw. It gets two-win Noblesville at home, and will the play the winner of a matchup with teams that, combined, lost to the Chargers by 70 points.
No team in the area has been able to slow down the Carroll offense, except, interestingly, perhaps Bishop Luers in Week 9, although some of that surely had to do with the wet conditions on a grass field. Quarterback Gabe Frisinger has thrown for over 2,100 yards and 27 touchdowns and he also has the most rushing scores on the team with 10.
The Chargers can beat you in so many different ways. Class 6A is a tough road, but barring a complete collapse, Carroll won’t start facing bumps on its trek until the regional round.
PLAYER YOU CAN’T MISS: LOGAN FRIEDEN, HOMESTEAD
Just how much has Homestead relied upon Frieden this season?
Homestead enters the playoffs having gained 2,532 total yards in nine games. Over 85 percent of those yards, 2,161, have been earned in part by Frieden – 1,496 passing and 665 rushing.
With Frieden on the field, anything is possible for the Spartans. Despite their six losses, the team only fell to Bishop Dwenger and Snider by four points apiece. With the senior quarterback’s abilities to make plays with his arm and his legs, Homestead is, at the very least, a threat to Northrop in the first round.
Frieden deserved more attention for what he has accomplished this year in being really the only consistent playmaker that Homestead has on its offense.
DON’T BE SURPRISED IF: HOMESTEAD GETS REVENGE ON NORTHROP
Since Northrop knocked off Homestead, 28-16, in Week 3, the teams have combined to earn three victories. So safe to say neither put together a run in the latter part of the regular season to give you much in the way of positive vibes entering this sectional.
But Blitz feels that out of the two teams, Northrop is in the more precarious position. The Bruins were able to win their regular-season finale at Wayne, but it was far from a dominant performance in a 19-12 victory. The hope is that the bye helped Northrop get right, but there is a lot of smoke behind the scenes with the quarterback carousel that has been on display in recent weeks.
Both junior Braydon Peppler and sophomore Jaelin Jackson are capable signal callers, but picking one to roll with would be advisable heading into the rematch with the Spartans. One voice in the huddle and all that.
Northrop has the talent to knock off Homestead relatively easily and enter a home game with Carroll for a sectional crown with nothing to lose. But can it put a 1-4 record over the past five weeks in the rearview?
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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