By Bryan Gaskins and Dave Kitchell
Week 7 schedule:
Kickoffs at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Today
Hamilton Hts. at Northwestern
Western at Eastern
Cass at Taylor
Shenandoah at Tri-Central
Peru at Maconaquah
Carroll at Clinton Central
7:30 — Sheridan at Tipton
Saturday
1 p.m. — Kokomo at New Castle
Northwestern is in the Mid-Indiana Conference football spotlight tonight and coach John Hendryx hopes his players enjoy the experience.
Northwestern (5-1, 3-1 MIC) hosts Hamilton Heights (5-1, 4-0 MIC). Heights leads the league and Northwestern is one game back, in a three-way tie for second place.
“It’s a big football game and a lot of kids don’t get the chance to play in a big football game so we’ve told the kids to enjoy it,” Hendryx said, adding the Tigers turned in a good week of practice in preparation for the game. “This is the first big regular season game that we’ve had to play in, in my opinion, since I’ve been here [2007-09]. It ought to be a good atmosphere and ought to be fun.”
Hendryx knows the Huskies will test his squad, which in his opinion is a good thing with the state tournament looming on the horizon.
“We’ve had a couple games where the starters haven’t played the full game,” he said, referring to lopsided wins the past two weeks. “We need to play for 48 minutes and we need to play people who are big, strong and athletic because that’s what we’re going to see in the tournament. We told the kids last weekend, we kind of want to treat this like a tournament game, have that kind of mental approach.”
Hendryx is plenty impressed with Heights, which is playing well under the direction of first-year coach Jason Simmons. Quarterbacks Tanner Stis and Tyler Sherer have combined for nine touchdowns against just two interceptions, running back Logan Cunningham has five TD receptions and running back Zach Copas is averaging better than 7 yards per carry. Copas, a sprinter in track, has found the end zone six times.
Northwestern is coming off back-to-back shutouts and it also pitched back-to-back shutouts to open the season. In between, Northwestern gave up 72 points in games against Cass and Western.
“We don’t feel like we played real well against Cass and Western defensively. We want to see if we’ll step up to the plate against a team that we know is good offensively,” Hendryx said. “Then on the offensive side, we just can’t make mistakes. We need to keep our offense on the field. We don’t want [the Huskies] out there all night with the football on offense. When we get it, we need to get some first downs and avoid three-and-out possessions.”
Hendryx points to field position as a concern, noting the Huskies’ special teams are strong.
Northwestern beat Heights 27-10 last season to snap a seven-game losing streak in the all-time series.
The Tigers last won a MIC title in 1999, when they benefited from outright champion Cass having to forfeit a win for using an ineligible player. The Tigers last won a MIC title on the field in 1996.
Western (3-3, 3-1 MIC) at Eastern (3-3, 2-2 MIC)
Last season, Western rocked Eastern 69-0 for its 10th straight win in the all-time series.
“We happened to be on top of our game that night,” Western coach Alix Engle said. “It was a pretty lopsided victory, but we’re by no means expecting anything like that [tonight]. We have to come out and play extremely well. They’re a much-improved ballclub.”
Eastern coach Josh Edwards acknowledged the 69-0 loss remains fresh in his players’ minds.
“That’s been on their minds all week. As a coaching staff we haven’t had to bring it up,” Edwards said. “The kids haven’t forgotten that. They definitely don’t want a letdown like they had last year.”
Eastern is 3-3 after losing two straight games. Two weeks ago, Mid-Indiana Conference leader Hamilton Heights beat Eastern 45-21. Last week, defending MIC champion Cass beat the Comets 26-14. Now comes a game against the league’s other traditional power.
“In the Heights game, we had a letdown bigtime in the second quarter on both sides of the ball. In the Lewis Cass game, I think our kids competed for four quarters, which was a big step for us,” Edwards said. “We had some opportunities [against Cass], we just didn’t take advantage of them. That’s a hurdle we’ll have to clear this week. Western is similar — they’re big, powerful, strong and fast. It’s going to take an all-out effort.”
Edwards points to cleaning up the offensive mistakes of the past two weeks and sustaining offensive drives as keys for his squad tonight.
Western is 3-3 after winning two straight games.
“We’re continuing to progress offensively and defensively,” Engle said. “I mentioned the other day, ‘We’re going into game seven and you guys who are sophomores are no longer green.’ We’ve had to stay pretty patient as a coaching staff, but I do think we continue to progress in all aspects of the game.”
Three weeks ago, Northwestern shredded Western’s pass defense for 322 yards and four touchdowns. Eastern is sure to test Western’s secondary too — QB Jonathan Keith throws for an area-best 254 yards per game.
“I’m anxious to see how much we have improved as far as stopping the pass,” Engle said. “They have some guys who can really make some plays. They have some guys who are tall with good hands and they have a quarterback who can put it in there.”
Cass (3-3, 3-1 MIC) at Taylor (1-5, 0-4 MIC)
A demanding stretch of games to open the season left Cass with a 1-3 record, but it has bounced back in fine fashion. Cass beat Peru and Eastern the last two weeks to even its record at 3-3.
Taylor, on the other hand, is mired in a four-game losing streak. Taylor stuck around for a half against MIC leader Hamilton Heights last week, giving the Titans a possible boost as they prepare to play another league power this week.
The Kings own 11 straight wins in the all-time series between the teams. The Kings’ 49-0 win last season marked their sixth shutout during that stretch.
Kokomo (6-0, 4-0 NCC) at New Castle (0-6, 0-4)
This one shapes up an another mismatch for coach Brett Colby’s Class 5A No. 6-ranked Wildkats.
Kokomo hasn’t lost a game while averaging 51 points a game, while New Castle hasn’t won one, averaging 10 points an outing. New Castle’s closest games were a pair of 21-point losses. The fact that it’s New Castle’s homecoming and that the game will be played at 1 o’clock Saturday likely won’t figure in the outcome.
The Kats have had their share of blowouts this season, but in the most recent — 69-6 over Anderson and 55-0 over Muncie Central — they fought off the tendency to play sloppy football. Colby expects the same attention to detail on Saturday.
“The Marion game woke our kids up,” Colby said, noting a lackluster first half that came after a sloppy week of practice. “We have to continue to work at getting better.”
“We’ve put in some new wrinkles defensively this week, so that’s a good thing from a standpoint of keeping the kids sharp. It keeps the attention level up. Defensively we’re still trying to iron a few things out.
The offense is averaging 415 yards per game but it too is in a fine-tuning process heading the down the home stretch of the regular season. Colby noted the move of David Sirmons from guard to tackle and Jake Roberson from center to guard being positive changes.
Kokomo continues to dominate NCC statistics. Casey Shipley (10.2 yards per carry) and Braxton Shelton (9.4) rank 1-2 in yards per carry. Shelton’s 114 points more than double the league’s No. 2 scorer. T.J. Weir leads the NCC in passing percentage (27 of 43 for 63 percent). Drew Marshall remains the top punter at 38 yards per kick and Armon Bridgeforth leads in kickoff returns with a whopping 62-yard average — two returns going for touchdowns.
Peru (1-5, 1-3 MIC) at Maconaquah (1-5, 0-4 MIC)
Miami County rivals Peru and Maconaquah will clash tonight at Bunker Hill and if recent history is any indication, fans should expect plenty of offensive fireworks.
In 11 of the 13 meetings between the teams since Peru joined Maconaquah in the MIC, the winning team scored at least 33 points — and both teams exceeded that total last season when the Bengal Tigers grabbed a 69-39 win.
Peru owns a 22-13 advantage in the all-time series following three straight wins. Maconaquah holds an 8-5 lead in MIC games between the teams.
Around the area
In the Hoosier Conference tonight, Tipton (5-1, 2-1 HC) hosts Sheridan (2-4, 2-1 HC). The Blue Devils are looking to break a five-game losing streak in their series with the Blackhawks.
In the Hoosier Heartland Conference tonight, Carroll (2-4, 1-2 HHC) visits Clinton Central (3-3, 1-1 HHC). Central’s 33-13 win last season marked its fourth straight win in their series.
In non-conference action, Tri-Central (0-6) hosts Shenandoah (5-1).
