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Valley to travel to offensively-challenged Western; Caston to host Triton; Culver hopes to bounce back vs. Pioneer; Winamac to face top-ranked Judson
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester (5-1, 5-0 Three Rivers Conference) at Northfield (2-4, 2-3), 7 p.m.
The Rochester defense faced a Peru offense last week that played a more straight-ahead, single-wing style and held them to 108 yards rushing on 3.5 yards per carry.
Slightly over 30 percent of Peru’s total offense came after halftime. By then, Rochester was up 38-0, and there was a running clock per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.
“I believe at some point, you’d have to be able to point back to that and talk about good things and bad things that you did, but I thought our kids played it really well,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said. “Yeah, they’re big, big up front, and we handled things pretty well. I don’t think they got anybody over 100 yards, and I think they barely had maybe 100 yards rushing or close to it. So I thought for a team as explosive as they can be, I think our kids played it really well. I think it is something you can point back to if you come across that later.”
Shaffer described Northfield’s offense as “straight forward.” The Norsemen had 365 yards rushing and scored a season high in points in a 49-12 win over Wabash last week. Northfield was clinging to a 14-12 lead in the third quarter before finishing with 35 unanswered points.
Fullback Jared Holmes ran for 162 yards and a touchdown last week. He had only 154 yards rushing in the previous five games this season combined.
He is the midline threat in Northfield’s option offense.
“It is an option, and we’ve seen that with Manchester and handled it pretty well, and now you see a team (with a ) different style, but still, they’re straight at you running the ball, and I think you can start to build on that kind of momentum,” Shaffer said.
Jake Perney and Brayden Rice could both see time at quarterback for Northfield, but neither attempted a pass against Wabash.
Zakk Parks is one of the keys to the defense from his outside linebacker spot.
“We ask him to do a lot of different things,” Shaffer said. “He’s got to be able to support the run but also cover the pass, and he’s kind of that edge setter type of player and also a guy that has to sometimes be in the hook, curl or flat area. And that’s usually the guy that most teams are putting into a conflict. He’s athletic and plays that really well. And we move him around a lot and change his responsibilities from game to game. And he adapts well to it. He’s doing a really good job.”
Defensively, Northfield allowed 287 yards of offense to Wabash last week. That included 160 yards on the ground on 7.6 yards per carry. As a team, Rochester averages 7.0 yards per carry for the season.
“I think a little bit of it, you have to give credit to Wabash,” Shaffer said. “They are getting better. Northfield, though, I think, was playing to me a little bit different scheme than they normally would. I think they were more of a three-man front, kind of a 3-4 to counteract or combat the passing game Wabash can bring. But Wabash was able to run the ball really well. Big plays too, several big plays for touchdowns.
“We think we will see a 4-4 or a 4-3 look or last year, we also saw a 5-2 with a cover-four shell. So that kind of allows them to stay within their 4-4 principles as linebackers, but they add an extra d-lineman in there. We just know from week to week, we might see everybody’s defense of the week to try to stop us, so a lot of preparation in just knowing rules and blocking several different types of defenses in practice.”
Mason Hisey is a two-way threat for the Zebras at both guard on offense and end on defense. He is also a regional qualifier in the discus on track, and Shaffer also helps with the coaching of the throwers.
“I think it starts in the weight room,” Shaffer said. “He’s a lot stronger, so he’s more confident in what he can do is the big thing. He’s probably one of our best pullers on our jet sweeps. He gets out there and gets in front. He does a really good job in that, and he’s more athletic than probably many give him credit for. Even some of that goes to his track work, a lot of footwork with his spin in the discus and what he does in the shot put. So he’s got really good feet, and yeah, he’s a guy, and I think I’ve stated this before, he just doesn’t seem to get tired. He had a motor, and that motor just keeps burning and burning and going.”
Rochester has won the last two meetings, including a 62-0 rout of Northfield at Barnhart Field last year. But the Zebras are just 1-3 in their last four games at Northfield.
Tippecanoe Valley (4-2) at Western (0-6), 7 p.m.
The Valley offense managed 118 yards rushing in a 14-0 loss to Jimtown last week but had just one completed pass for nine yards.
Grady Moriarty ran for a team-high 67 yards, but Jimtown’s speed on defense kept Valley’s offense between the tackles.
“We couldn’t seem to get it outside,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said. “We moved the ball well, to be honest. We just couldn’t pass. We didn’t have any passing yards. And then, every time we’d get close, we’d fumble the ball. Turnovers again were the Achilles heel.”
Moriarty also said windy conditions at Jimtown were a factor. Moriarty wanted the wind at their back in the fourth quarter and got it, but they also had punts of 12 and 9 yards into the wind in the third quarter.
“So this week, we’ve got to learn to pass the ball better, and we can’t turn the ball over,” coach Moriarty said. “And with that game, with the wind, it was pretty daunting. We got stuck in bad field position as well. It was 0-0, we were shutting down their run for the most part, and then they started passing, and then after that, coming out at half, we got stuck with the wind in our face and couldn’t get out of that side of the field.”
Moriarty also lamented a pass interference call on his team that gave Jimtown a first down on a third-and-15 play, and that set up the Jimmies for their first score in the third quarter.
Valley will now take on a Western team that is winless and averaging just 4.5 points per game for new coach Blake Conklin. Like Valley, Western was also shut out last week as they fell to West Lafayette 20-0.
Western has not scored more than seven points in any game this year, but four of their previous six opponents have winning records.
Moriarty said Western will run the ball about 70% of the time.
“They’ve indicated on film that they’re a very good team,” coach Moriarty said. “They’ve just had trouble running into some very good teams, and they’ve had a hard time moving the ball against them a little bit, but you know, they’re showing last week against West Lafayette… That shows what type of team they are.”
Coach Moriarty also said Western likes to run a 3-4 defense, but they might walk a linebacker up to the line to make it almost look like a 4-3.
“Their linebackers move well, and they’ve got good size up front for both o-line and d-line,” Moriarty said.
Coach Moriarty was asked about the mood in the locker room. Valley has lost two of its previous three games after going 31-4 over its previous 35 games.
“We have to set our goals small for one game at a time,” Moriarty said. “And try to get back on track here. I think last week was a game we should have won, but the turnover bug got us. But I think the kids understand how good we can be. They’re pretty positive right now and want to get back out there. Waiting until the Western week has been a long time. They’re ready to get back on track.”
Coach Moriarty also said that Wes Parker will miss the Western game with an injury. He declined to specify the nature of the injury.
Triton (4-2, 3-1 Hoosier North) at Caston (2-4, 2-2), 7 p.m.
Caston has won two straight games since an 0-4 start. This marks the first time they have won back-to-back games since the formation of the Hoosier North in 2015. Their last two-game winning streak occurred in 2014 when they beat Tri-County and Seeger in back-to-back weeks. Caston has not had a three-game winning streak since 2012.
Triton is Caston’s homecoming opponent. The Trojans will try to bounce back from a 40-0 loss to Class 1A, No. 1 North Judson last week.
Caston has lost the last eight meetings against Triton, including a 30-14 loss in Bourbon last year. They have not beaten Triton since 2016.
Ashton Bowyer leads Caston with 482 yards rushing. Jayden Overmyer has a team-high 665 yards rushing for Triton.
Culver (1-5, 0-4 Hoosier North) at Pioneer (5-1, 4-0), 7 p.m.
The Culver defense allowed 248 yards rushing in a 21-20 loss to Caston last week. Now they will try to stop the Pioneer ground attack that had 268 yards rushing on 9.2 yards per carry in a 57-6 win over South Central (Union Mills) last week.
No Pioneer rusher had more than 62 yards rushing, but Phillip McFatridge, Micah Rans and Jason Gluth all had at least 57 yards against South Central.
Pioneer has won four games in a row while Culver has lost five in a row.
Pioneer is 8-1 against Culver since the teams became conference rivals in 2015. Culver’s 28-8 win at the Pit in 2022 remains Culver’s lone win over Pioneer.
Winamac (2-3, 1-3 Hoosier North) at North Judson (6-0, 4-0), 7:30 p.m.
Winamac is coming off a 41-14 loss in Aiden Schooler’s quarterback debut. North Judson is coming off a 40-0 win over then-No. 6 ranked Triton in Bourbon.
North Judson is 11-1 in its last 12 games dating back to last season.
North Judson has won the last three meetings against Winamac, including a 21-8 win in Starke County last year.
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