It’s Week 5 of the high school football season. By now, we’ve figured out which teams in each conference are the real deal. Last week in the SAC, the Northrop Bruins fell to the Homestead Spartans on the road in a 42-36 overtime loss. This means there’s no longer an undefeated team in the conference.
In the A Division, the Bishop Dwenger Saints, Homestead and Northrop are all 3-1. In the B Division, the North Side Legends remain with only the one road blemish to the two weeks ago.
To lead the charge in the area, the East Noble Knights are the talk of the town as they continue their dominance in the NE8, but this week they face they best opponent they’ll face all regular season in the Leo Lions. It’ll be a battle between two top five ranked teams in 4A.
In the ACAC, the Bluffton Tigers and Adams Central Flying Jets both remain unbeaten as well at 4-0. The conference could be on the line when those two teams match up on October 10th.
As I predicted last week, the West Noble Chargers defeated the Angola Hornets with a 28-14 victory. This week, they face the only remaining 3-1 team in the conference as they travel on the road to face the Fairfield Falcons. A lot at steak in Week 5, so let’s get into some previews and predictions.
SAC Spotlight: Homestead vs. Bishop Dwenger
Last season, Dwenger traveled to Homestead and lost a close 17-14 battle, but this year’s Saints are a much improved team. Last week in an old school defensive showdown, Dwenger prevailed on the road over the Carroll Chargers with a 9-6 victory for their first victory over them since the 2020 season. What’s been so impressive about this year’s Saints is their relentless defense. Going into Week 5, they’ve only allowed 24 points. Seniors Douglas Henry and KC Pieper led the charge on defense with 40-plus tackles a piece so far this season. In addition to that, Pieper also leads the team in sacks with three. In the secondary, junior Carter Zent leads Dwenger with two interceptions.
On the other side of the field will be a resilient Spartans team that have been quietly impressive. Last week’s overtime victory over Northrop could prove to be one of the best games of the season. After losing their starting quarterback Michael White (committed to Grand Valley State) to injury, junior Logan Frieden has stepped up and played very well for Homestead. After a rough outing against Westfield, he got more comfortable in the pocket with two solid performances against Noblesville and South Side. He’s thrown for 685 yards, five touchdowns, three interceptions and a 84.6 QBR this season. Senior wide receiver Carter Kennedy has been the primary target this season as he has 421 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
On defense, senior Austin Handle has been phenomenal for the Spartans. He has accumulated 25 tackles and leads the team in sacks with three. Linebacker Anthony Fields Jr. leads the team with 35 tackles, meanwhile junior safety Caleb Hollingsworth has 32 tackles as well this season. It’ll be a fun SAC battle that could decide who takes control of the conference. Keep an eye out on Dwenger kicker Lucas Nguyen went 3-3 in field goals to help secure the victory over Carroll last week.
In preparation for this game, I was able to chat with Dwenger head coach Jason Garrett to talk about their keys to victory over a confident Homestead team.
“We will need to execute at a very high level. Win the LOS and the turnover battle to be successful. They are a very sound team in all three facets. Junior George Hackman has done a nice job stepping into the role of corner for us. He has two passes defended in the end zone last week versus Carroll,” coach Garrett said.
Predictions
Dwenger over Homestead 17-14.
North Side over Luers 21-7.
Northrop over Concordia 48-6.
South Side over Wayne 21-7.
Snider over Carroll 14-10.
NE8 Spotlight: Leo vs. East Noble
Week 5 brings us the game of the year between Leo and East Noble. Both undefeated, both filled with playmakers, and both have revenge on the mind. After falling to New Palestine in the State title game last year, the Knights have been on a mission this year. They’ve outscored their opponents 131-21 this season. Leo will be a different monster though with running back Nathan Foster leading the charge. That’s the key matchup to watch for is if the Knights’ defense will be able to slow him down. So far opposing defenses have been unsuccessful to say the least in slowing down Foster. He has 720 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in four games this season.
Leo has no easy task on defense either, as East Noble is loaded with playmakers on offense. Quarterback Rylie Biddle leads the way with his dual-threat abilities, but freshman Austin Phillips has helped add another weapon on the ground (394 rushing yards, three TD’s) for the Knights. Between Biddle, Phillips and junior wide receiver Alex Scott, the Lions will have their hands full. I was able to speak with Leo head coach Jason Doerffler and ask about what they’re looking for against a team like East Noble.
“East Noble is a very good football team that prides itself on playing extremely physical and running the football. They also play great defense. We will have to do a great job up front on both sides and take care of the football to put ourselves in a position to be successful. The kicking game will be critical as well,” coach Doerffler said.
Last season, the Knights prevailed over the Lions in a close 35-29 victory. What will happen this time around?
Predictions
East Noble over Leo 28-21.
Columbia City over DeKalb 24-14.
Huntington North over Bellmont 40-0.
Norwell over New Haven 21-6.
ACAC Spotlight: Heritage vs. Adams Central
Coming off a 42-14 loss against the South Adams Starfires, the Heritage Patriots have an even tougher matchup this week against the Flying Jets. Adams Central has outscored their opponents 120-34 this season, meanwhile, Heritage’s defense has allowed double the points. Their quarterback Zeb Tigulis and senior running back Lucas Weber have been great offensively for the Patriots. It’ll be up to their defense to keep up with Adams Central and not get behind early like they did last week against the Starfires (down 20-0 to end 1st qtr).
The Flying Jets look to continue what they’ve been doing and that’s win the battle at the line of scrimmage. Head coach Michael Mosser spoke to us about what he expects for this week’s game against Heritage. “This game is always physical. I expect that again this week. We will have to control the line of scrimmage,” coach Mosser said. Last season, the Flying Jets defeated the Patriots 33-14. What happens this year?
Predictions
Adams Central over Heritage 38-14.
Bluffton over Jay County 35-21.
South Adams over Blackhawk 55-0.
Woodlan over Southern Wells 28-7.
NECC Spotlight: West Noble vs. Fairfield
Last week, I somehow predicted the exact final score of West Noble-Angola and look to continue that luck into this week’s preview and predictions. We’ve got a battle between West Noble and Fairfield, who are both 3-1, but have done so in very different ways. Fairfield is 3-1, but has allowed their opponents to score 99 points in four games this season. The Falcons are led by senior running back Warren Kaufman, who has rushed for 520 yards and added nine touchdowns this season. Head coach Cory Stoner is in his second year with the program after leaving Jimtown and has Fairfield playing some good football this season. The Falcons haven’t beaten West Noble since the 2020 season, so they look to outscore the Chargers this week.
West Noble’s head coach Monte Mawhorter is in his 27th season on the sideline. This season, his offense is led by senior quarterback Trey Shisler. He has thrown for 603 yards and six touchdowns to go along with a 96.8 QBR. While he has been great, the defense will have to be what wins the battle this week against Fairfield, who has a solid running game. McKale Bottles leads the Chargers with 4.5 sacks and Xavier Yates leads the team in tackles with 34. Coach Mawhorter spoke to us about some keys to victory for this huge game against Fairfield.
“We must try to slow down Fairfield’s running attack and not get caught sleeping on their passing game. We hope to try and get them to defend the whole field and be able to score in the red zone. Limit turnovers and penalties and win special teams,” coach Mawhorter said.
Predictions
West Noble over Fairfield 21-14.
Fremont over Central Noble 17-10.
Churubusco over Prairie Heights 35-7.
Eastside over Garrett 16-14.
Angola over Lakeland 28-21.