It’s one of the most anticipated games of the season. It’s been known all season that this Sectional 19 in Class 4A was going to be loaded and would feature some of the top teams from the area. Although the excitement was high, the two teams that face this week for the Sectional title have dominated their opponents through this postseason run. The East Noble Knights will host the Bishop Dwenger Saints for the Sectional title this Friday.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE
Last season, these two teams faced off under the same circumstances. Dwenger went into that match-up with two losses, one to Indianapolis Roncali and a tough road loss to Northrop. The Knights were undefeated and were led by quarterback Rylee Biddle, but even with him, the Saints were too physical and overpowered East Noble with a 32-0 victory. The year prior to that, East Noble was able to get the job done and shut out Dwenger 38-0. So both teams have gotten the best of each other in recent years.
“They are a fantastic team and we expect them to give us their very best. We need to play East Noble football. Be physical, play smart, and execute at a high level,” East Noble coach Alex Stewart.
This year, the Knights come into the Sectional title game undefeated and Dwenger has one loss to a very good Carroll team. If East Noble wins, they get redemption and revenge from last season. Not to mention, beating the reigning state champion would have to give them the most confidence in Class 4A the rest of the way. If the Saints once again defeat the Knights, the story remains it’s Dwenger and then everyone else in the area in 4A.
“They are a very good team in all 3 facets; they run and throw well, mix defensive fronts and coverages and can hurt you in special teams. We must win the LOS in both sides of the ball as well as turnovers battle. We just minimize penalties and be efficient in the red zone,” Dwenger coach Jason Garrett.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
You better believe that East Noble is going to come with tons of energy out of the gates. They way they’ve won so many times this season by coming from behind late in the game won’t work as well against a program like Dwenger. The first player to watch for the Knights is the most underrated player in the state in Alex Scott. As one of the senior leaders, he is going to be looking to make huge plays at both offense and defense to get revenge from last season. He has been a menace on defense all season and has six interceptions this season.
As he’s quickly becoming one of the top players in the nation in the Class of 2029, Austin Phillips will be looking to do what he did last week against Columbia City. Last week, the running back/linebacker ran for 117 yards and four rushing TD’s to help the Knights overcome a 17-6 deficit at halftime. It will be intriguing to see what he does against the Saints’ defense this week and follows up that performance.
If the Knights are going to be successful, they will need to provide some pressure up front on both Dwenger’s running game and their quarterback. Tayden Getts has been a threat getting into opposing team’s QB’s and RB’s all year with 55 total tackles, 23 tackles for a loss, a pick six, and three fumble recoveries, one for a touchdown. He’s going to have to do all of that for East Noble to win this game.
Both teams will be expected to do what they’ve done all year. Run the ball and open up a chance for their quarterbacks to be successful. Despite missing some time this season, Dwenger running back Kolyn Campbell has been one of the best backs in the city all year in his first year as the leading back. He ran for 92 yards against DeKalb last week and three TD’s. They will look to continue to feed him the ball against the Knights as well.
In terms of efficiency, Dwenger quarterback Tommy Coffman has been the best in NE Indiana. He has thrown for 1500 yards, 12 TD’s and zero interceptions. He has also ran for nearly 600 yards and three rushing TD’s. Against a good secondary at DeKalb, he completed 8 of 13 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He is a threat both in the air and on the ground and the Saints will look to their first-year starter to make clutch plays like he’s done all season.
When it comes to providing pressure, defensive lineman Xavier Douge is going to need to continue flying to the football early and often to put pressure on East Noble quarterback Easton Kline and company. He finished with just three tackles last week, but he will be looking to add to his nine sacks that ranks in the top 20 in the state this week. A name to watch in this one for sure.
It all comes down to this, after it is all said and done, who walks away with bragging rights in NE Indiana in Class 4A and moves on to Regionals? It will be a fun one in Kendallville and we will have feet on the ground for that one.
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