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Valley defense to focus on star receiver Graverson; Pioneer to host No. 1 North Judson for Hoosier North share; Caston to host Winamac; Culver, S. Central to meet for first of back-to-back
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester (7-1, 7-0 Three Rivers Conference) at Maconaquah (8-0, 7-0), 7 p.m.
The Rochester football team has defeated Maconaquah by scores of 44-12, 38-14, and 36-14 the last three years.
But this year’s Maconaquah is second in the state with a 4.5 defensive scoring average. Four of their eight wins have been by shutout, including a 77-0 trouncing of Wabash last week.
The matchup on paper might be considered to be just like the previous three years – Rochester’s ground-oriented wing-T vs. Maconaquah’s pass-happy Air Raid offense.
But this meeting has much more meaning. Maconaquah is undefeated and ranked No. 8 in Class 3A. Rochester is ranked No. 14 in Class 2A.
And the winner of this game wins the Three Rivers Conference title.
“Our focus is good,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said. “Everybody seems to understand the game plan. … As far as the heat check on the locker room, everybody is on a high.”
Maconaquah first-year coach Mike Fenters has previous experience on the Braves’ coaching staff. He ascended to head coach after Tyler Campbell left to take the offensive coordinator job at Ben Davis.
“I think it’s just more continuity in what they’re doing,” Shaffer said of Maconaquah’s defensive improvement. “Coach Fenters was their defensive coordinator last year. I think in the last three to four years that we’ve played them, they’ve had a different defensive coordinator every year under coach Campbell. Finally in his last year there, Fenters was the defensive coordinator, and I think he’s still calling the defense. So I think the improvement is just continuity in what they’ve done in the past, and they’re continuing to learn his system and do what he wants defensively.”
Rochester’s defense has also excelled. They are allowing only 8.6 points per game, which ranks in the top 15 in the state. That number would also be Rochester’s best defensive scoring average since 2002.
But Maconaquah is also in the top 10 in the state in offensive scoring average at 46.1 ppg. Seniors A.J. Kelly and Fuddy Kile are two veteran receivers catching passes from sophomore quarterback Aiden Robinson.
But they are not Maconaquah’s only pass-catching threats: Robinson completed passes to seven different receivers against Wabash, and he threw a touchdown pass to five of them.
Another prominent threat is sophomore Marcell Sims. Sims touched the ball five times against Wabash – one rush and four receptions – and had 242 yards of total offense.
Still, Shaffer believes that Robinson will look for Kelly and Kile first.
“I think the focal point of the offense is still Fuddy Kile and A.J. Kelly,” Shaffer said. “I think the biggest change that I’ve seen is that they do have a much better run game with Marcell Sims, and he does catch the ball out of the backfield some, whether it’s on swing passes or screens, and they can also go empty (backfield) with him quite a bit, so he’s a pretty good overall athlete, and so I think that’s the dimension that’s changed for them. I think against Wabash, they were able to disperse the ball probably to just about anybody they wanted to, being a 77-0 game. Probably not a great measuring stick for whether they have more weapons or not, other than they were just able to do whatever they wanted against Wabash.”
As for Maconaquah’s defense, this will be the second time in three weeks that they will face a wing-T. They beat Lewis Cass 42-21 two weeks ago, but Lewis Cass ran for 280 yards on 4.7 yards per carry.
“I think it’s Marcell Sims from the safety position,” Shaffer said when asked who the Zebra offense must account for on the Brave defense. “He makes a lot of tackles for a safety. They’ll bring him close. He’ll be within seven to eight yards of the line of scrimmage. If you motion to his side, he’s going to roll down and be like an extra linebacker in the box. You just can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that he’s lining up at the third level. He makes tackles at the line of scrimmage from there. We are going to have to account for him on every play.”
Tippecanoe Valley (6-2, 2-2 Indiana Northern State Conference) at Bremen (4-4, 2-2), 7 p.m.
Valley sophomore quarterback Hunter Stage had his best passing day in a 22-21 win over John Glenn last week. He threw for 94 yards, which augmented the 166 yards the team gained on the ground. Stage completed passes to four different receivers.
The win meant that the senior class went through their entire careers without losing a regular season home game.
“Hunter did a great job tonight,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said after the game. “Finding the open receivers. … He’s grown up quite a bit here.”
While Valley’s pass offense continues to improve, this game figures to be a test of Valley’s pass defense. Quarterback Silas Laidig threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions as Bremen surprised Knox 46-38 last week.
Senior receiver Tyrus Graverson hauled in 13 catches for 235 yards and a touchdown against Knox. He has 13 career games with at least five receptions, including two with at least 10 receptions.
“He’s one of those players that you’ve always got to know where he’s at on the field,” Moriarty said. “He’s definitely a game-changer. He does a good job of once he catches the ball, getting to the next level. Or making people miss at least. … And his route running is great. So he does a good job of ensuring that he tries to get open. And then the other thing is if there’s 50-50 balls in the air, he’s coming down with 95% of them. He’s one of the better receivers I’ve seen this year.”
Valley beat Bremen 51-16 last year. That ended a four-game losing streak to the Lions.
North Judson (8-0, 6-0 Hoosier North) at Pioneer (6-2, 5-1), 7:30 p.m.
Pioneer lost its chances to win an outright Hoosier North title in a 28-21 loss at Triton last week. Two fourth down conversions by Triton – one in each half, including a 47-yard gain on a fake punt – set up two touchdowns.
“Those were definitely huge, and overall this season, even games that we’ve won, we’ve gotten teams into fourth down, and teams have converted on us,” Berry said. “So those were definitely huge plays, starting off with that fake punt. That set up one of their scores. Their other fourth down conversion set up a score, so definitely big plays, but like we talked to the team on Saturday when we were watching film, they made the big plays when they needed to, and we simply didn’t. But our defense watching film, we were just lining up incorrectly. We were lining up correctly all week in practice, and then we got to Friday night and just having some mental mistakes in that aspect. And going back to guys not reading their correct keys, that hurt us and ultimately may have cost us the game.”
North Judson earned a share of the Hoosier North title with their 69-3 win over Caston last week combined with Pioneer’s loss. Pioneer dropped from No. 8 to a tie for No. 10 in this week’s Class 1A poll while North Judson remains No. 1.
North Judson averages 51 ppg on offense, which ranks second in the state, and they allow only 4.75 on defense, which ranks third.
“They are definitely preventing teams from getting in the end zone,” Berry said. “And they do a good job of mixing up some blitzes. They do a good job of flying to the football. So it’s definitely going to be a battle. It’s going to be a challenge for us, but we are as a team are looking forward to the challenge to see exactly where we are heading into sectionals.”
They have lost their last three meetings with the Blue Jays, including a 40-14 loss in last year’s sectional. But a win this time would earn them a share of the conference title with North Judson and would also open the door for Triton to earn a share if they can win at North Miami.
Winamac (3-4, 2-4 Hoosier North) at Caston (2-6, 2-4), 7 p.m.
Winamac’s 50 points against South Central (Union Mills) last week were their most in a game since a 52-8 win over West Central in 2019. It was their most points in a home game since a 56-0 win over North White in August 2018.
Ashton Bowyer led Caston with 61 yards rushing in a 69-3 loss to Class 1A, No. 1 North Judson. The rest of the team had -8 yards rushing.
Winamac has won the last 12 meetings in the series, including a 28-22 win at Roudebush Field last year. Caston has not beaten Winamac since 2012.
The teams could meet again in the Class 1A, Sectional 42 final.
Culver (1-7, 0-6 Hoosier North) at South Central (Union Mills) (1-7, 0-6), 7:30 p.m.
Culver’s defense allowed 449 yards rushing on 10 yards per carry in a 61-26 loss to North Miami last week.
South Central allows 46 points per game, and they will face Culver quarterback Jonas McCuen, who threw for 245 yards and four touchdown passes against North Miami.
Culver’s only win last year was a 40-15 win at South Central in the sectional quarterfinals.
This is the first game of a doubleheader of sorts: The teams will meet again at Culver next week in the sectional quarterfinals.
