Gridiron Digest Indiana Football Report - Sectional Week 1

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Rivalry rematches highlight sectional openers

Andrew Smith
GridironDigest.com

The opening of sectional play means every one of Indiana’s football teams starts clean, with an equal shot at making the trip to Lucas Oil Stadium on Thanksgiving weekend. 

Seventeen teams finished the campaign undefeated, but their records all reset as tournament play begins for Classes A-4A this week. Classes 5A and 6A will kick off their sectional tournaments next week. 

For many teams, it’s an opportunity to face new squads who don’t appear on the regular season schedule. But, given the geographical nature of the sectional fields, it also means rematches are aplenty. 

One of those will take place in Class 4A, where defending state champion Mt. Vernon will host No. 1 New Palestine in Sectional 22. New Palestine won a 5A sectional last season and is returning to 4A after spending seven seasons in 5A due to the Tournament Success Factor. 

The host Marauders are 6-3, the visiting Dragons 9-0 on the season. New Palestine won a 42-6 decision in Week 4, snapping a two-year losing streak to Mt. Vernon, allowing the Dragons to reclaim the Hoosier Heritage Conference title - one of the two schools has won the HHC title each year since 2010. 

The two arch-rivals have played every year since their programs began in 1968, but this is their seventh postseason meeting and first since 2013. 

“The one thing that helps in football that’s different from a lot of other sports is teams evolve as the year goes on,” New Palestine coach Kyle Ralph said. “We’ve evolved quite a bit offensively, and defensively, we’ve had to play some bizarre gameplans, but we’ve evolved. We’re learning more what our kids can do. I’m sure they’ve done the same thing. It’s going to be ‘what type of team are they in Week 10 compared to Week 4, and what type of team are we in Week 10 compared to Week 4.’ You come up with a new plan and you give it your best shot. It’s really interesting.” 

NP’s Grayson Thomas ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns in the Week 4 meeting, while senior quarterback Danny Tippit threw for 220 yards and three scores - 86 each to junior Kyler Kropp and senior Ball State commit Isaiah Thacker. 

Defensively, the Dragons held Mt. Vernon to 197 total yards, and they’ve been holding opponents to 194 yards and 9.7 points per game this season, led by sophomore Michael Thacker, who has 25 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Linebacker Eli Hook and defensive back Blaine Nunnally lead New Palestine in tackles. NP has shut out its opponents in the first quarter of every game this season.  

“Our guys on defense have done a great job. Coach (Scott McMurray) has great gameplans and our boys execute them,” Ralph said. “Our guys come out, play fast and physical and they play sound. We pride ourselves on being very physical and very aggressive. Those guys, when they get the juices going, they’re hard to deal with. It’s got to stay that way. Great defenses are usually the teams that end up getting themselves deep in the tournament, that and teams that run the football together.” 

The Marauders have run the table since that September meeting, and have done so with offensive fireworks, averaging 50 ppg in that span, including a 63-45 victory over Yorktown last week that saw MV score 34 points in the second half.  Freshman quarterback Luke Ertel continues to gain experience, having now thrown for 1,159 yards. He has two solid targets in Purdue commit George Burhenn at tight end (666 yards) and Xavier baseball commit Eli Bridenthal at wideout (534 yards). Both were starters on last year’s title team. 

“Luke Ertel is improving each week due to the fact that he is investing hundreds of quality reps and those experiences are compounding in his growth and development,” Mt. Vernon coach Vince Lidy said. “At this point he has seen almost every possible defensive front and coverage a player can see in high school, so when the game plan is presented he is able to process and understand where the football needs to go sooner than what he was doing in August.  Another thing that has benefited Luke is that he has a great selection of skill players around him and the threat of our running game that past 4 weeks has helped take some pressure off the passing game.  It's a game of numbers and match-ups and if we can gain some ground running the football we feel it opens up some passing lanes for Luke and the wide receivers.” 

Second verse in Dearborn County

Another rivalry rematch takes place in Dearborn County, where South Dearborn hosts 3A No. 5 Lawrenceburg for the second consecutive week. 

This time, it’s with the season on the line in the first round of Class 3A’s Sectional 31. 

Lawrenceburg won last week’s first meeting 31-0, but both teams come in with solid marks. Lawrenceburg is 8-1, South Dearborn 7-2. Both have a loss to East Central on their records, in addition to their head-to-head matchup. 

For South Dearborn, which is receiving votes in the IFCA poll, their victory gave them the championship in the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference’s small-school division. 

“Winning a conference championship was a goal we set at the beginning of the season and it means a great deal to our program and community to achieve this goal,” Knights coach Rand Ballart said. “We have not won a conference championship here at South Dearborn since 1996 so it has been a long time coming for us. I am proud of the coaches and players for working hard this season to accomplish this goal and bringing the conference championship to South Dearborn this year. “ 

Lawrenceburg enters the sectional having won three straight sectional titles and six of the last seven under coach Ryan Knigga. Last year, the Tigers dropped a 31-29 decision to eventual state champion Gibson Southern in the regional, and are trying to return to Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time since a state runner-up season in 2016. 

South Dearborn's program development has accelerated under Ballart. The program had won two games total in the three seasons prior to his taking over in 2015. He implemented a two-platoon system to promise opportunities to players. Things turned around in 2018 with an 8-3 season, when his first freshman class was seniors, coming within seconds of winning the sectional. The Knights have won seven games each in back-to-back years and have had significant facility upgrades to take the program to another level. 

“It has taken a lot of work and a lot of commitment from our community, administration and students,” Ballart said. “When I took over in 2015 there were 29 players in the program and 20 of them were seniors, so needless to say we had to get folks to buy in and get out in the hallways and start recruiting kids to come out and play. 

“It worked out as planned with the thought of this group being the ones to get us over the hump. We increased our numbers to around 75+ every season and have a solid coaching staff of around 16-18 coaches who are committed to this program. We have been blessed with incredible support from our administration to get the things we needed and our community has been very supportive.” 

Junior Adam Kunkel has thrown for 2,121 yards and 18 touchdowns through nine games. Austin Ballart (49-783, 6 TDs) and Olli Babcock (37-448, 2 TDs) have been his top two targets. 

“Adam has done an incredible job leading our offense this year, Coach Jason Babcock does a great job with him to see the field and take what the defense is giving him. He does have a solid connection with his receivers and that is a testament to their work ethic and staying after practice everyday and throwing routes,” coach Ballart said. “I also credit a lot to our offensive coaching staff for buying into the system and being able to get the kids to respond. The uptempo offense that offensive coordinator Jon LeMasters has introduced has really taken off and we have been able to produce so far.”

Lawrenceburg enters the sectional with six straight shutouts and a defense that has allowed a total of 20 points since Week 2. 

The Tigers’ defense is led by senior Jake Pierce (69 tackles, 8 TFL), senior Niko Ferreira (43 tackles), junior Zavyn Slayback (41 tackles) and sophomore Noah Knigga (40 tackles, 10 TFL). The Tigers have forced 25 turnovers. 

Playing a second game in a week provides a unique challenge to both teams. 

“The game this week is the one that matters as it’s, win and move on or lose and season over,” Ballart said. “Our kids are fully aware of what is at stake this week and are determined to come out and prepare and get ready to go for this Friday. Playing a county rival two weeks in a row can be interesting and it hasn’t disappointed.” 

Wildcats find perfection

On the other end of the state, 3A No. 4 Hanover Central has also used a stout defense to become one of the state’s 17 unbeaten teams entering the sectional. The Wildcats open Sectional 25 play at Rensselaer. 

Hanover Central has posted back-to-back shutouts, including a 42-0 defeat of Calumet last week in a game of unbeatens that gave the Wildcats the Greater South Shore Conference title. They’re now seeking their second straight sectional title in just the ninth season as a varsity program. 

“Thus far, our recipe for success has been our ability to play a fast and physical brand of football,” coach Brian Parker said. “I think we’ve done a good job of playing complimentary football where all three phases of the game feed off of one another. We’ve done a good job of establishing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Regarding our game against Calumet, our defensive staff did an excellent job of scheming to take away what they do best offensively. On the offensive side of the ball, the gameplan was to pound them up front with our big guys and choose opportune times to take our shots downfield.” 

Defensively, Hanover Central has shut out four teams and hasn’t allowed more than a touchdown in any game this season - giving up 33 total points on the year, a season that began with three wins over 4A and 5A squads. After defeating East Chicago, Hammond Morton and Culver Academy, the Wildcats rolled through the GSSC schedule with a 47-7 victory over Griffith the closest contest. 

Junior Collin Foy (57 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 3 sacks), senior Ryan Hildeman (44 tackles, 16.5 TFL), freshman Dylan Boewn (41 tackles) and senior Luka Zakman (38 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 3 fumble recoveries) lead the defense, as well as senior Gannan Howes, who has six interceptions. 

“In our 3-4 hybrid defense, we have tremendous size and explosiveness along the defensive line,” Parker said. “Within our scheme, we have linebackers that are strong and can run from sideline-to-sideline and defensive backs that are sure-tacklers with exceptional ball skills.” 

Offensively, Kyle Haessly has run for 1,078 yards and Howes has 662 receiving yards and 10 TDs. Junior QB Matt Koontz is completing 63 percent of his passes for 721 yards and 13 scores. They run behind a strong offensive line of Leo Vukmirovich, Maddux O’Brien, Mitchell Oostman, Davin Hunt and Hildeman, that has the team averaging 330 yards per game. 

“Matt is a dual threat QB that can has a strong arm and is very fast when he tucks it and runs,” Parker said. “Gannan is a 2-time IFCA JUnior All-State player for us, who is rare blend of speed, toughness and is the ultra competitor. The hammer for us is Kyle. With the speed and athleticism we have on the outside, Kyle allows us to play a hard-nosed style of offense by running the football.” 

This weekend’s sectional opener features a matchup with one of the top 3A programs in the area in Rensselaer, as the Wildcats seek to win a second straight sectional. The Bombers are 5-4 and are coming off a 28-14 defeat at Cass, but are always a dangerous team. Rensselaer is seeking its seventh consecutive winning season under 24th-year head coach Chris Meeks, who led the Bombers to a state title in 2014. 

“First and foremost, we have the utmost respect for for Coach Meeks and his staff. Bomber football is predicated on toughness and our team toughness will be tested this upcoming Friday night,” Parker said. “We are going to have to play a clean game with no turnovers, stay ahead of the chains on offense and play assignment-sound defense. If we can do that, I believe we will put ourselves in a good position to be successful.” 

Top matchup in southern Indiana

Out of many good matchups in southern Indiana this week, one of the best comes in Class 3A’s Sectional 32, where 8-1 Southridge - the Pocket Athletic Conference Small School Division champion - hosts 7-2 North Harrison. Southridge is ranked No. 10 both polls. 

North Harrison enters the sectional having won four straight games, including a 21-14 victory over Providence last week. Coach Mark Williamson’s team features a powerful running game that averages 340 yards a game, led by senior Sawyer Wetzel (1,675 yards, 16 TDs) and quarterback David Langdon, who has accounted for 821 yards of total offense and 16 touchdowns passing and running. 

“North Harrison will provide us with our biggest test of the season in regards to a team that wants to play power football and just come downhill right at a defense,” Southridge coach Scott Buening said. “They are much bigger than we are up front and use a lot of variations in formations to get their tailback the football who is very talented and a load to bring down.” 

Southridge enters with an 8-1 mark and has seen much success under Buening, who has led the Raiders to four sectional titles, three regional championships and a state title in 2017. Their upperclassmen were part of a semistate team in 2020. 

The Raiders also have won four straight, finishing the season with a 35-7 victory over Heritage Hills and a 42-14 win over Forest Park. 

“We think the strength of our team has been our ‘connectedness’ as a team,” Buening said. “We have a lot of guys who have been great teammates and have worked hard over the course of their time through our youth, middle school and high school program and just want to win football games.  We play one offensive lineman over 200lbs, most are between 165-180, and all three starters on our DL are in that 165-180 pound range. We think over the course of the season we have been able to evolve into an identity on both sides of the ball that will give us an opportunity to compete for a sectional championship.  I think overall, finishing the season on a high note is good, and we are looking forward to the challenge we have this week with a very good North Harrison team.” 

Southridge’s defense is allowing eight PPG, led by Reid Schroeder and Caleb Kramer, the two inside linebackers. 

The Raiders have been very multiple on offense, led by junior quarterback Hudson Allen (1,178 yards passing, 13 TDs) and Schroeder (685 yards). Six backs have at least 200 rushing yards. 

“Balance has definitely been key for us offensively.  We don't have the size up front to just impose any kind of ‘will’ on defenses,” Buening said. “We don't have the ability to force a round peg into a square hole in the run game. The development of our passing game has helped us tremendously be more balanced offensively, so we can use it when we need to use it and as the season has gone on, it has become more of a weapon for us, not just something we can use when we need to. We have balance in both the run game and the pass game.  We really have 6-7 guys we are comfortable using at any point in the run game and about the same in the passing game.” 

Other games to watch this week

• 4A 21: Lebanon (6-3) at No. 8 Mooresville (7-2)

• 4A 21: No. 10 Brebeuf Jesuit (5-3) at Northview (6-3)

• 3A 25: Twin Lakes (1-8) at No. 1 West Lafayette (9-0)

• 3A 27: No. 7 Norwell (8-1) at Heritage (6-3)

• 3A 28: No. 9 Guerin Catholic (5-4) at Oak Hill (9-0)

• 3A 30: Vincennes (4-5) at No. 2 Gibson Southern (9-0)

• 3A 30: No. 6 Owen Valley (9-0) at Mt. Vernon (Posey) (5-4)

• 2A 33: Whiting (4-4) at No. 2 LaVille (9-0)

• 2A 34: No. 10 Rochester (8-1) at Seeger (7-2)

• 2A 37: No. 1 Linton (9-0) at South Vermillion (7-2)

• 2A 40: Perry Central (8-1) at No. 5 Evansville Mater Dei (6-3)

• 1A 4A: No. 4 North Judson (8-1) at South Newton (6-3)

• 1A 44: No. 2 Adams Central (9-0) at Southwood (7-2)

• 1A 46: No. 3 North Decatur (9-0) at No. 7 Tri (8-1)

• 1A 47: No. 9 South Putnam (7-2) at No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran (9-0)

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