With just two weeks left in the high school season, 4 teams remain in each class and Friday will determine who marches on to the biggest stage in the state. Here you will find my predictions for the big dogs in the state tournament.
6A – Rematch of 2024 looming?
Last year, Brownsburg and Westfield met in the state title game, with the Bulldogs prevailing. Both squads have a chance to get back to Circle City, but there is still work to be done. Westfield is traveling up to Carroll in Fort Wayne and Brownsburg, hosting the Warren Central Warriors.
In the North, Carroll will be looking for a great performance from the combo of junior gunslinger Gabe Frisinger and Senior deep threat Jaiden VanPelt. Frisinger airs it out more; almost everyone else in the state is ranked 5th for passing yards, with over 3100 yards. The only QB with more yards still alive in playoff contention is Tytus Lehman from South Adams. Vanpelt is 4th in the state for receiving yards, (1365 yards in 11 games), only trailing another Starfire ,Wesley Summersett, by 74 yards. The duo lit up the scoresheet vs Penn last week with Frisinger tossing 424 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including 197 yards and a TD to VanPelt. The pair will need to be Dynamic yet again this week to beat the Shamrocks.
For Westfield, they won a slow grinder of a game last week vs Fishers 20-10. The passing game didn’t work as Cooper Melvin went 6/9 for 41 yards, with only two completions over ten yards. The ground game was rolling as the team went for over 200 yards. On the season, senior dual-threat QB Aiden Grabowski has rushed for 547 yards and 12 touchdowns, which leads the team. Grabowski and tailback Deacon King will need to step up to pace the Shamrocks vs the Chargers’ Potent offense.
In the South, Warren Central will look to keep the underdog story alive vs the defending state champs. Last week the Warriors knocked off Center Grove by a field goal to survive. The junior halfback, Keyon Thomas, ran wild vs the Trojans, going for 245 yards and a score. The rest of the offense struggled a bit with 4 interceptions, but the defense stepped up in a big way. Jalonnie Reid was able to get his hand on a field goal attempt, which proved huge in the winning effort. If Reid can similarly influence the game he gives Warren Central a chance.
For Brownsburg, it was business as usual as they rolled Decatur Central 47-23, with most of the damage coming on the ground. Senior Aiden Jobe was basically a wrecking ball, going for 173 yards and four touchdowns. Junior QB Oscar Frye was effective completing 79% of his passes, including a touchdown in the air and on the ground. The defense forced 5 turnovers on the night as well. Surgical performance last week for the Bulldogs. If Jobe can run that freely again on Friday, then the Bulldogs have a very good chance to go back to Lucas Oil.
Picks: Brownsburg is just too much of a powerhouse for Warren Central this week, and they go back to state 49-35. As for the other game, Carroll doesn’t lose at home in the playoffs, and I don’t think that changes this year. Chargers knock down Westfield 31-28.
5A – New Class. Same Result?
Concord takes on Merrillville and Bloomington South takes on New Palestine.
North – The Minutemen and the Pirates match up for the 1st time ever on Friday. Concord was able to win a shootout vs Lafayette Jeff last week 47-45. Senior gunslinger Bo Brunner had 460 yards of offense on the night including three touchdowns. Brunner and company will need to keep playing at a high level if they want to keep up with the Merrillville squad. Michael Hill, the junior commander for the Pirates was also sharp last week tossing two scores through the air in the 34-14 rout of Michigan City. Hill has over 3000 passing yards on the season but a key to watch is feeding Jacquarious Johnson the ball. The senior running back has over 1000 yards this sesaon by himself and the team has another 1500 total. A very balanced attack from both squads. Stanley Freeman has made his presnce felt in the backfield for the Pirates with 8.5 sacks. Look for a shootout this friday.
South – Bloomington South blasted Floyed Central 55-7 last week tied for the most points they have scoreed this year. Senior cornerback Gabe Taylor was a key peice in the win on defense for the Panthers with a 98 yard pick-6 and a forced fumble. Taylor was the brightest star on a night where Floyd Central really beat themselfs with stalled drives. If Taylor can have that type of production again, him and the Panthers could give New Pal a run for thier money. New Pal, on the other hand is a buzzsaw, winning 26 games in a row including the 4A state title last year. The Dragons dynamic backfeild with QB Jacob Davis and tailback Caden Jacobia have run for 1800 yard beteewn the two of them and 27 touchdowns. The rest of the team is no slouch ethier running the rock picking up another 1200 yards and 14 touchdowns. New Pal has a gameplan and they stick to it, run the ball and then do it again. If it aint broke don’t fix is the motto around the team and there are primed to head back to state.