Week 5 preview: Rochester hope to ‘buck’ trend against Lewis Cass running game

Valley to face Czarnecki, LaVille; Caston to host South Central; Pioneer to face NM for first time in 16 years; Culver gets No. 1 Judson; Winamac to host No. 6 Triton

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester (3-1, 3-0 Three Rivers Conference) at Lewis Cass (2-2, 2-1), 7 p.m.

Pitching shutouts is a source of pride for the Rochester defense. They held Manchester to 169 yards in a 36-0 win last week, which marked their second shutout of the season and their sixth in the last two years.

“The mood seems good,” Shaffer said. “Spirits are high. You keep winning and that happens. … It’s a goal. They have incentive for them to have a shutout, so they like the idea of getting that and reaching their incentives.”

While the Rochester defense has allowed only 34 points total in four games, they will face a Lewis Cass team that scored 55 points just last week.

However, it was not enough to win. In a game that featured 1,253 combined yards, the Kings lost 64-55 to Northwestern to drop to 2-2.

Lewis Cass lost despite having three 100-yard rushers – Jonathan Mack (250), Trevor Rowe (112) and Luke Sparks (107).

Mack’s 250 yards were more than double his career high. He is averaging 11.5 yards per carry following his pulling guards on the buck sweep.

“Mack is a halfback for them,” Shaffer said. “He’s running their buck sweep and some of their jets, but the majority of his yards come off what we call buck sweep.

Rowe, a senior, has run for over 100 yards in eight of his last nine games dating back to last year.

“His yards are being gained on trap, belly, belly down or a C-gap down play,” Shaffer said. “His are more straightforward; Mack may be more on the perimeter or the edge of a defense.”

Shaffer also said Lewis Cass’ offensive line is smaller and quicker with guards able to pull to open holes.

But they also gave up 604 yards on defense and could not hold onto a 28-14 lead in the first quarter.

“We think there are some holes we think we can expose,” Shaffer said. “But we really have to kind of look at that Peru game (a 24-20 Lewis Cass win on Sept. 6), and in the Peru game, even though they gave up a bunch of yards, they still end up winning the game. So they’re tough up front. They play hard the entire time. It does make them a little scary that they can stop the run as well as they did at times, but then also, I think the (Isaiah) Korba kid ran pretty well against them too. So we see like we have an advantage in the run game, but they get tough at the right times.”

Meanwhile, Rochester ran for 329 yards on 8.5 yards per carry against Manchester, even though the Squires committed 10 or 11 men close to the line. That included 179 yards from Brant Beck.

“We feel like that becomes an advantage,” Shaffer said. “Even though there’s maybe a numbers advantage for them, there’s a disadvantage to the fact that it doesn't match what you normally do, so you’re doing something outside your defense for one week. We try to work and work and work. … Even last week, we played a little different defense than we would against most teams, so we had to have great discipline in that. So it causes a defense to have greater discipline. They blocked their rules, so I don’t think they ever came back to the sideline in frustration, just knowing we’ve got to stick to what we do and know they’re in trouble if they’re junking their defense up.”

This marks Rochester’s first trip to Lewis Cass since the 2011 sectional semifinals. Lewis Cass won 28-7 that night in what turned out to be the final game of Mark Miller’s coaching career.

Lewis Cass also knocked Rochester out of the 2004 and 2007 sectionals in Walton. Rochester has not won at Lewis Cass since Aug. 28, 1998. Rochester beat Lewis Cass last year 44-6.

Tippecanoe Valley (3-1, 0-1 Indiana Northern State Conference) at LaVille (2-2, 1-0), 7:30 p.m.

The Valley offense had scored at least one touchdown in 44 of its previous 45 games prior to last week’s game against Knox.

Make it 44 out of 46 as the Redskins held Valley to 111 total yards in a 26-3 win.

Valley averaged only 2.3 yards per carry and only three yards per pass attempt.

“They performed a lot better than what I thought they had in the past,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said. “They had one of their better games. … They moved well. Their defensive line did a good job. We had a hard job blocking there. Their defensive linemen had a lot of speed up front.”

Quarterback Myles McLaughlin and running back Jake Conroy combined for 212 yards rushing between them.

“I felt like we held them for the most part, but their big plays are what caused us issues,” Moriarty said. “Overall, I thought that our effort was good. It just wasn’t good enough during that circumstance.”

Valley trailed 14-3 at halftime, but Moriarty said he felt “confident.” But a fumble in their own red zone early in the third quarter led to a McLaughlin 12-yard scoring run, and Knox built a 20-3 lead.

“Having a turnover right after half was very frustrating and kind of deflating a little bit, but those things happen sometimes,” Moriarty said.

Now Valley will hit the road for the second game of their four-game road trip against a LaVille team coming off a 13-12 win over rival Bremen last week.

Collin Czarnecki has moved to quarterback for his senior year, and he threw for 112 yards last week. He will be handing off often to senior running back Cody Allen.

“Their quarterback, he does a good job,” Moriarty said. “He is a play-action kind of guy. He’s kind of their field general, if you would. He’s still not afraid to carry the ball. He is a great athlete. They try to make sure by putting him at quarterback, he kind of is the field general for them.”

LaVille plays a 3-4 defense.

“They blitz well,” Moriarty said. “Their linebackers are very well-disciplined. It’s hard to have them come off. … They fly. They have a good nose for the ball. Their defense is very well-coached.”

Coach Moriarty said Grady Moriarty was checked out for a possible clavicle injury after the Knox game, but X-rays were negative, and he will play. Hunter Paxton remains out for the fourth straight game.

South Central (Union Mills) (1-3, 0-2 Hoosier North) at Caston (0-4, 0-2), 7:30 p.m.

• Caston is coming off a 63-6 loss to Pioneer while South Central lost to Triton 48-12.

• Caston’s longest play from scrimmage against Pioneer was a 55-yard pass from Gavin Mollenkopf to Logan Mollenkopf. Ashton Bowyer had a 31-yard run.

• South Central has lost three straight since a season-opening win over winless Bowman Academy.

• South Central beat Caston 40-6 in the 2021 sectional quarterfinals in their most recent meeting. South Central beat Caston 27-13 on Sept. 15, 2006, in their most recent regular season meeting.

North Miami (3-1, 1-1 Hoosier North) at Pioneer (3-1, 2-0), 7 p.m.

The Pioneer wing-T ground attack ran rampant against the Caston defense, rushing for 540 yards and eight touchdowns.

“They’re doing a great job to start the year,” Pioneer coach Adam Berry said of the offensive line that opened holes for Noah VanMeter, Micah Rans and Shiloh Rine. “Most times, it starts in practice. They’re determined to get to their spots on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and that’s carrying over to Friday. We say all the time: Our offensive line, you don’t get all the accolades that the backs do with all their carries and all their yards and all their touchdowns, but you guys do all the work. That was Friday night. They got to their spots. They stayed on their blocks. And we executed.”

Rine, a sophomore, had two carries for 102 yards and a 21-yard touchdown reception.

“He’s just getting more comfortable,” Berry said. “Last year, he was repping at wingback and some at quarterback, and he was just all which way, but we are just primarily focusing on him at wingback this year. He’s just getting more comfortable. He knows his primary jobs are to block and catch the ball when thrown to him. And then take advantage when you get the ball in your hands. He did that on Friday night.”

While Pioneer moved into the top 10 of the Class 1A USA Today media poll at No. 10, North Miami dropped out after a 46-0 loss to top-ranked North Judson moved them to No. 14.

Still, North Miami already has more wins this season (three) than they did all of last season (two).

Junior Hartley Hoover, who stars at both quarterback and defensive end, ran for 115 yards two weeks ago in a win over Caston but just 11 yards against North Judson. At 6-1 and 215 pounds, he is one of the larger quarterbacks Pioneer might face.

“He is a big guy, and he also plays defensive end for them,” Berry said. “But they are a classic kind of flexbone/wishbone team that runs midline and veer, and he does a very good job with it. North Miami’s historically been that offense and coaches that offense, and you can just tell he’s been in the system for awhile. Obviously, we don’t know a ton about their program, but just watching on film, he’s a big body, and he can get his yards.”

This is the teams’ first meeting since Pioneer beat North Miami 28-7 in the 2008 sectional final.

Triton (3-1, 2-0 Hoosier North) at Winamac (2-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.

Winamac sophomore Tearson Wolford ran for a team-high 113 yards in a 22-14 win over Culver last week, but his biggest contribution might have been on defense when he returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

“Probably a little bit of both,” Winamac coach Josh Burgess said when asked if Wolford’s pick-six was a result of film study and preparation during the week or football instinct. “Tearson’s a kid who’s a sophomore who started for us about midway through the season as a freshman. He’s a football guy. He’s well prepared. He pays attention to the scouting report. He watches film, but he’s got a lot of physical ability for us too. He’s a real leader on the field, and he made a really nice play. A lot of times, we’ll send our linebackers. We didn’t in that situation, and he was able to get back to the slant curl and get that interception, which was a huge play for us.”

This week, Winamac hosts Class 1A, No. 6 Triton, who has bounced back with two straight wins after a Week 2 loss to Bremen.

With the graduation of Cole Shively, Ben McFarland has taken over at quarterback for the Trojans, and he will look to hand off to junior running back Jayden Overmyer, who ran for 222 yards in a 48-12 win over South Central. Vincent Prater is another junior back with experience.

“They’re very athletic,” Burgess said. “Their tailback, number three, the Overmyer kid, he’s about 200 pounds, but he’s got some quickness. He runs the ball really hard. Their fullback too with Prater, number 42, he’s a similar type of kid. So those kids jump out on film, but I think upfront too, they lost some guys upfront last year, but they’ve obviously found some replacements. They get off the ball really well offensively. They’re going to try to get their power running game going first, but their quarterback… is really athletic too.

“We’re going to definitely have our hands full containing their offense. We’re going to have to tackle well. We’re going to have to make sure we’re in position and make sure we know what our assignments are on every single play.”

Triton has won the last two meetings over Winamac by a combined score of 77-12.

North Judson (4-0, 2-0 Hoosier North) at Culver (1-3, 0-2), 7:30 p.m.

• Culver has lost three straight since a season-opening win over Attica. Last week, they lost 22-14 to Winamac despite shutting out the Warriors in the second half. After Triton amassed 373 yards against them in a 49-8 loss in Week 3, Culver held Winamac to just 231 yards.

• Culver’s Anthony Sommers had a team-high 87 yards rushing against Winamac.

• North Judson, top-ranked in the Class 1A USA Today media poll, has won their four games by a combined score of 181-29. They are coming off back-to-back shutouts of Hoosier North newcomers South Central (Union Mills) and North Miami by a combined score of 107-0.

• North Judson has won the last 10 meetings in the series. Culver has not beaten North Judson since August 2017.