The 8th-ranked Lafayette Jeff Bronchos take on one of the hardest tests on their schedule with a trip to Harrison in West Lafayette.

When: 7:00 PM – 9/12

Where: William Henry Harrison High School ( West Lafayette )

Tale of the tape, Lafayette Jeff: The Bronchos took Head Coach Pat Shanley’s message to heart. Play disciplined football and do your job, and good things will happen. And boy did it, last week they hosted rival McCutcheon at home and scored early and often, winning 42-0. Junior QB Trysten Barrett completed 85% of his passes for 270 yards. The Story of the game, however, was the rushing attack with 209 team yards, with Marquis Adkins carrying the heaviest load with 88 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. The defense was stellar as well, posting a shutout for the 1st time this season as well as getting 6 TFLs, a pair of sacks, forcing three turnovers, including a scoop and score TD, and 2 blocked kicks. An effective night for the Bronchos, to say the least.

Tale of the tape Harrison: The Raiders went into Indy and handed Brebeuf Jesuit a 32-21 loss. Harrison is the lone 6A team in the Lafayette area and played well to start the season. They come into the matchup 2-1 as well, with the other win coming over West Lafayette 28-21 in week one, the lone loss came to Plainfield in week 2, 34-27. Last week, Senior QB Lannonn Nicoloff completed 80% of his passes for 279 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and an interception. Nicoloff also snuck one TD into the endzone on the ground. The rest of the team on the ground went for 103 yards on 18 carries, good for about 5.7 a carry. Junior Sullivan Garrett led the team with 120 receiving yards and a TD, 5 TFLs and 3 sacks, and a pick six helped finish out the win for the Raiders.

Laff Jeff, Captain and Wide Receiver, Bryce VanOstran has some thoughts on the matchup, ” We have to be locked in on the little things all week, you gotta be 100% in practice all week to keep your head right for Friday night… gotta stay focused on the task at hand this week.” Bryce and QB Trysten Barrett have developed a great relationship on and off the field. “Playing with Trysten has helped me throughout my whole eighth grade to now. I know Trysten more than anybody on the team. I feel like Trysten and I have a special connection where I can trust him and he could trust me to where I know he’s gonna put me in a good position to get the ball, and he knows that I’m gonna go up and get the ball.”

COACHES: Pat Shanley, 78-23 in 10th year at Lafayette Jeff. Kyle Holderfield, 2-1 in 1st year at Harrison.

Rankings: The Bronchos are ranked 8th in 5A, while the Raiders find themselves unranked in 6A.

 OPPONENTS’ RECORDS: Lafayette Jeff 6-3. Harrison 3-6

SERIES LAST 40 YEARS: Lafayette Jeff, 27-17
LAST MEETING: Lafayette Jeff, 45-21, Oct. 11, 2024

Bottom Line: Two rivals meet again, both with a lot to play for, and both programs are hungry.