FOOTBALL PREVIEWS: Kings look to bounce back
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Lewis Cass let a 15-point lead slip away during last week’s season opener against Pioneer.
The Kings (0-1) will look to bounce back in their TRC opener tonight at Northfield (1-0).
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Cass won last year’s matchup 43-13. But Northfield turned last year’s 44-15 opening loss to North Miami into a 28-14 win last week.
“They’ll be a challenge,” Cass coach Clayton Mannering said. “I tell everybody I think they’re the best coached team in the TRC. Coach (Brandon) Baker gets more out of those kids, I think, than anybody else. And they run a difficult offense. They run the triple option. So it’s something we’ve not practiced against this year until this week. So we’ll need to have a very good week of practice in order just to be prepared. And then I’m hoping that offensively we can find a way to run our offense regardless of who we’re playing. That’s what great teams do. I think we’ll get there, hopefully we can get there soon.”
Connyr Mack had 51 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards and scored both of the Kings’ touchdowns against Pioneer. Cole Rush passed for 69 yards. Ty Lobenthal led the defense with 11 tackles.
Mannering added Cass is playing the same opponents this year as last other than that Wabash has been swapped out of Week 8 and replaced by Bowman Academy.
“Wabash is gonna go to eight-man football,” Mannering said. “They’re going to play a few 11-man games and then go eight-man for the rest.”
PIONEER (1-0) AT KNOX (0-1)
The Panthers get a chance to play one of the two teams that beat them a year ago during last year’s 13-2 campaign.
Knox made a run to the Class 3A semi-state round but are without the state’s all-time leading rusher, Myles McLaughlin, who is now playing at Murray State.
Knox is in Class 2A this year. The Redskins opened with a 42-0 loss to North Judson, who some are predicting to be the HNAC favorite this year.
Pioneer coach Adam Berry is expecting Knox to be a tough opponent being coached by Russ Radtke, who 426-160 in his 50th season.
“They have a Hall of Fame coach vying for second all time winningest coach behind Coach (Bud) Wright,” Berry said. “They still have cats. They have big guys. They have guys who have been waiting to step up and show that they can play.”
Braxton Maciejewski led the Panthers with 55 yards rushing and two TDs last week. Colton Popejoy passed for 80 yards. Phillip McFatridge had four catches for 62 yards. Colten Long led the defense with 11 tackles.
LOGANSPORT (1-0) AT SB ADAMS (1-0)
Logansport makes the trek to South Bend to take on John Adams High School at Everwise Credit Union School Field.
The Berries are 2-1 in the series, winning the last two games.
Like last year Adams is coming off a win over Culver Military Academy. The Adams Eagles won 9-8 last week with a field goal in the second quarter and a touchdown pass in the fourth.
“They present some problems, especially on the defensive side,” Logan coach Troy Hudson said. “Their linebackers and their defensive line are pretty good. They were pretty physical against Culver and they caused Culver a lot of issues. The only time Culver scored was on the opening kickoff. They scored and got a 2-point conversion. And then the rest of the time they pretty much shut him down with their defense. I think they’re maybe a little weaker in the secondary though, so I think we’ll have some opportunities there or even on some of our runs, if we can get to the second level, I think they’re gonna struggle to get some of our backs down with Karsen and Quincy and Elliot.
“Their offensive line is pretty decent. They have a really good running back, No. 2 (Carson Bryce), he’s a returner from last year. He’s their dude, both on offense and defense. He plays both sides of the ball. They threw the ball I think 12 times in the game, so they’ll throw a little bit when they need to throw it, kind of similar to us in some ways. But they present some issues, especially I really like their running back. He’s really good. They have a couple skill guys. I feel like when I look at our skill guys, we match up pretty good against them. I’ll take our guys all day. But they do present some problems up front on the defensive side.”
Quincy Jackson led the Berries’ rushing attack with 87 yards and a TD last week at Peru. Kuper Jones was 2 of 3 passing for 45 yards. Karsen Jackson led the defense with 17 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
NORTH WHITE (1-0) AT CASTON (1-0)
Cass hosts North White for its home opener at the Crater.
Caston beat North White 55-0 last year, but North White turned a 64-0 loss to Taylor into a 30-16 win last week.
“We got film of them and they are certainly a lot better than what they were last year,” Caston coach Chris Ulerick said. “They look like they’ve grown, they’ve gotten more athletic. They got a win at Taylor. I’m sure that’s a big deal for them because they got off on the right foot at the beginning of the year.”
Caston beat Whitko 54-14 last week. The Comets are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2009.
Tucker Woolever led the Comets with 75 yards rushing and a TD. Logan Mollenkopf passed for 74 yards and a TD. Ashton Bowyer led the defense with seven tackles. Braxton Enyart had a punt return for a score.
WINAMAC (1-0) AT FRONTIER (0-1)
Winamac plays its second straight Midwest Conference opponent when it travels to Frontier tonight.
The Falcons saw their 18-game regular season win streak come to an end with a 28-13 loss to Clinton Prairie last week.
Frontier senior quarterback Ayden Justice passed for 134 yards and a TD and rushed for 55 yards and a TD in the loss. He combined for over 2,000 yards and 42 TDs through the air and on the ground a year ago.
Winamac defeated West Central 34-20 in its season opener. Louis Rugg III rushed for 197 yards and three TDs and also caught a 67-yard pass from Xavier Adriano. Tearson Wolford led the defense with 13 tackles.