Western’s football team is once again in control of its Mid-Indiana Conference destiny with two weeks to go.

Western visits league leader Hamilton Heights tonight. Western and Cass are 4-1 in league play, one game back of Heights, and the Panthers can create a tie atop the standings by beating the Huskies.

The Panthers also went into the final two weeks of the 2001-08 seasons either sharing the league lead or lurking in second place, one game back of Heights or Cass — and the Panthers always tangle with those two teams the last two weeks.

“I think our kids are excited,” fifth-year Western coach Alix Engle said. “I’m just hoping the kids bring it, that they realize what they can do.

“Heights is a heck of a team. I think they continue to get better each and every week. We’re going to have to play a spotless game of football. There’s little room for error.”

Engle is impressed with the Huskies’ speedy playmakers, Zach Copas and Logan Cunningham. Copas averages 6.5 yards per carry. Cunningham, as Northwestern learned last week, is a threat in the passing game and on special teams.

Western held its last three opponents to a combined 16 points.

“I think we continue to get better at certain things,” Engle said, noting Western held Eastern’s passing game in check last week. “Against a team like Heights that has speed and explosiveness, you have to tackle well, you have to swarm to the ball and you have to prevent the big play from happening.”

Western will have to play without two-way starter Jake Askren, who has to sit out the game following his ejection from last week’s game. Askren is the Panthers’ top offensive threat, having rushed for 900 yards and 16 touchdowns through seven games.

“We’re going to do what we do,” Engle said. “You can’t replace a kid like Askren, but we have a couple guys who are looking forward to the opportunity to step in and the other 10 guys are going to have to step up and perform well.”

Heights holds a 7-4 advantage in games against Western since 2000, but Western holds a 3-2 lead under Engle’s direction. The Panthers took a 38-13 win last season.

Eastern (3-4, 2-3 MIC) at Taylor (1-6, 0-5 MIC)

Upstart Eastern is looking to climb back to .500 following consecutive losses to perennial MIC powers Hamilton Heights, Cass and Western.

“I think we’re gaining confidence,” Eastern coach Josh Edwards said. “In the Heights game, it was new territory, playing [for sole possession of the MIC lead], and we didn’t play well for four quarters. I think against Cass, we rebounded well and played better, defensively especially. And then last week was the best game defensively I’ve seen out of our guys in three years.

“We’re still not putting the whole package together. The defense is playing well now, but our offense is struggling. But the kids are confident. They know we’re close to being to a very good team. We just have to clean some things up.”

Taylor, meanwhile, is mired in a five-game losing streak.

“We’re playing a lot of young kids and we’re struggling with immaturity and getting them to give a constant effort and be confident in themselves,” Taylor coach Josh Ousley said. “I don’t know why this is, maybe it’s because we’re past the rough part of our schedule, but we’ve been like a totally different team this week in practice. The kids are really getting after it.”

Edwards is expecting the Titans’ best shot tonight.

“They’ve been through a tough stretch as well, playing some of the larger schools and the tougher competition,” he noted. “It’s a huge rivalry game as well — the kids know each other well. I think both teams are going to be pretty fired up and prepared to play.”

Eastern holds a 29-11 advantage in the all-time series, but Taylor has won the last five meetings. The Titans took a 40-35 win last season.

“It’s been a while since Eastern has beaten us so I’m sure they’re really going to want to put one to us,” Ousley said. “They’re going to play with a high level of intensity and we’re going to have to match that early on. If we don’t, it’s going to be a long night for us.

“I think we’ve found some things we can do, that’s going to make us successful, but it’s going to come down to execution and taking care of business — being physical and running the football. If we can’t run the football, we’re not going to be in the game.”

N’western (5-2, 3-2 MIC) at Peru (1-6, 1-4)

Northwestern coach John Hendryx liked what he saw from players in practice this week following a disappointing loss to Hamilton Heights.

“Obviously, coming off that loss, we were all disappointed, but I think we found out some things that we needed to see,” he said. “Our attitude has been great — we’ve had a good week of practice [through Wednesday]. We’ve tried to focus on doing some things better. We had a pretty big emphasis on a couple special teams this week and also [overall] execution.

“We had a big fundamental day Tuesday and I think that was really good for us,” he added.

Peru upset Northwestern 27-24 last season. Northwestern drove to the Peru 1-yard line with less than two minutes remaining, but officials ruled a fourth-down QB sneak failed to crack the end zone. The Purple Tigers had one more crack after forcing the Bengal Tigers to punt, driving to the 2-yard line — but another QB sneak was turned back on the final play.

“We haven’t talked a lot about what happened a year ago. We’ve just really been focused on trying to get our own mistakes cleaned up,” Hendryx said. “I’m looking forward to going over there and playing. I have a lot of respect for their coaches and their staff. I have an ex-assistant who is now an assistant there [Dennis Sipe]. I know they are really good guys.”

Maconaquah downed Peru 41-32 last week, extending the Bengal Tigers’ losing streak to three games.

Maconaquah (2-5, 1-4 MIC) at Cass (4-3, 4-1 MIC)

Cass seems back on track following a difficult start to the season that included three losses by a combined 11 points. The Kings have put together three straight wins to reach the happy side of .500.

“Obviously, I don’t think our last three opponents were as strong as what we played early in the season, but I do think we’ve improved,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “We’ve had to overcome some injuries and I’ve been pleased with how the guys have responded.

“We have quite a bit to do yet. Hopefully we’re going to get to play enough football to see if we can reach our [full potential],” he added.

Quarterback Damon Foreman, who suffered a shoulder injury against Hamilton Heights in Week 4, is close to returning and Mannering hopes he is able take some snaps tonight. Foreman returned to the defensive lineup last week.

Cass has beaten Maconaquah 10 straight times to build a 34-13 advantage in the all-time series. Recent meetings have been extremely lopsided — 47-0 in 2005, 54-7 in ’06, 61-0 in ’07 and 69-0 last season.

Mannering owns a 20-5 career record against Maconaquah. Tonight, he will go against his eighth different Maconaquah coach as Mark Hartman makes his debut in the series.

“I listen to coach Hartman on the radio and it seems he is trying to instill a fighting attitude there — not be complacent and not accept where they’re at and I think they’ve bought into that,” Mannering said. “Their victory over Peru last week was huge for them.

“They have some talent. [Phillip] Newbill at quarterback is dangerous. He kind of gets creative back there and he can scramble and throw.”

Newbill passed for 177 yards and rushed for 131 yards to lead Maconaquah past Peru 41-32.

The Braves have snapped long overall and MIC losing streaks this season. Next on their to-do list is to snap a 14-game road losing streak.

Around the area

Clinton Central can take a large step toward securing a second-place finish in the Hoosier Heartland Conference by beating Clinton Prairie tonight. Central is 2-1 in the HHC and closes league play tonight. Prairie is 2-0, but still has to play Class A No. 1 Lafayette Central Catholic (3-0 HHC) next week.

Central beat Prairie twice last season, 28-9 in the regular season and 61-0 in a sectional game. Overall, the Bulldogs have won the last eight meetings.

In the Hoosier Conference, Class 2A No. 8 Tipton will look to maintain its second-place standing when it visits Twin Lakes tonight. Tipton is 3-1 in league play and 6-1 overall. Twin Lakes is 2-3 and 3-4.

In non-conference play, Carroll (2-5) hosts pass-happy Frontier (4-3) tonight, and Tri-Central (0-7) visits Wes-Del (2-5) on Saturday.



Week 8 schedule:

Kickoffs at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted

Today

Eastern at Taylor

Northwestern at Peru

Western at Hamilton Heights

Maconaquah at Cass

Cl. Prairie at Cl. Central

Frontier at Carroll

7:30 — Richmond at Kokomo

7:30 — Tipton at Twin Lakes

Saturday

4 p.m. — Tri-Central at Wes-Del