33rd Indiana State High School 1A & 2A Football Tournament
A Preview by USA-365's Mark Smith

10-21-2005

CROWN POINT (10-19-2005) - The thing that is deceptive about the Indiana football state tournament is the length of it. It begins before Halloween and ends after Thanksgiving. It is much longer than than the major league baseball playoffs, the NFL playoffs or all aspects the Bowl Championship series.  It goes without saying that the six-week Indiana state football playoffs is longer than any high school sports post-season in Indiana or Illinois. Only when the NBA playoffs got spread out for television, did they become longer than the Indiana state football tournament. Brittney Spears has had shorter marriages.

There's a lot of time to think.  You play two hours and then wait seven days.  You can only practice so much so there is a lot of down time to think about where you are.  It's important not to lock yourself up with how far you have come, how much you think you've accomplished and what people around you are saying about you.

Boys, maybe for the first time in their lives, see their names and photos in the local paper every other day. It's almost impossible for them not to think of themselves as being more important and bigger than they are.  Idle thoughts on Monday drift to Friday's game and how crucial it is instead of the real parts of your life that week.  Constant thoughts of the same thing builds pressure where it didn't exist and the adrenaline, while motivating, is very tiring.

The result is that teenage football players and teams wear themselves out by getting caught up in the craziness of a town and a team making a long run in the longest state tournament on the planet earth.  Teams beat themselves by making the game too large and choking on something that isn't as big as they're making it. Like choking on two Rice Kris pies.  You can do it if you try. You can choke on anything if you panic under pressure.

Teams that win in the state tourney make a conscious effort to keep the whole thing small. One game is nothing and one or two or three individual victories doesn't matter, unless that's all you wanted.  The routine has to stay the same, as much as is possible. Media access should be limited.  They mean well but excessive media attention always hurts your team. There's plenty of time to talk in December.  For the time being, no matter what happens Friday night, you've still got to take out the trash Saturday morning.

CLASS 1A   - Northern Indiana bracket
Quarterfinals  - 10-21-2005 

SECTIONAL 33
*River Forest [1-8] at Whiting [9-0]
*LaVille [3-6] at Lake Station [2-7]
*Culver [0-9] at (Union Mills) South Central [4-5]
*West Central [8-1] at South Newton [7-2]

SECTIONAL 34
*Southwood [3-6] bye
*North Miami [1-8] at Adams Central [8-1]
*Northfield [2-7] at Triton [3-6]
*Fremont [1-8] at Southern Wells [5-4]

SECTIONAL 35
*Attica [4-5] at Seeger [8-1]
*Pioneer [9-0] at Caston [2-7]
*North White [2-7] at Frontier [6-3]
*Tri-County [5-4] at Lafayette Catholic [6-3]

SECTIONAL 36
*Tri-Central [3-6] at Clinton Prairie [4-5]
*Sheridan [7-2] at (Flora) Carroll [0-9]
*Lapel [7-2] at Wes-Del [2-7]
*Frankton [4-5] at Clinton Central [5-4]

FRANCESVILLE (10-20-2005) - As far as Northwest Indiana is concerned, Whiting and West Central are the hopes for post-season glory. WC beat Whiting 14-13 in last season's Sectional 33 championship game and both teams returned most of their skill position players.

Whiting (9-0) is almost certain to win two games and reach the Nov. 4 final. The Oilers cannot ask for easier games than River Forest (1-8) and Lake Station (2-7). West Central (8-1) has played a much tougher schedule than Whiting and will face a much tougher path to the sectional title game.

South Newton (6-3) is a potent passing squad led by Eric Watt, who threw for 356 yards last week (10-14-2005) in a 49-7 win over North Newton.  Watt was 20-of-43 against Tri-County for 234 yards and 12 of 19 for 260 yards against Caston on Sept. 30.   I'd like the Rebel's chances better on a warm night on a dry field.  They will have neither Friday.

I'd also like SN's chances better if they hadn't already lost 42-20 to West Central on Sept. 16. In that game, Watt was 22 of 43 for 330 yards,  but he threw four interceptions. West Central ran 61 times for 385 yards.  I don't think South Newton can do much better this time in worse weather.  West Central has already beaten Culver 55-14 and South Central is only scoring 18 points a game. Not enough to beat WC.

So that puts Whiting in the Sectional championship game on the road at West Central.

Whiting is the two-time undefeated champion of the Lake Athletic Conference (LAC)  Blue Division but only Kankakee Valley (6-3), Wheeler (5-4) and Whiting (9-0) have winning records in that league.  The Oilers faced just two tests all years... a 6-0 win in the rain against arch-rival Clark and last week's 35-7 win over Kankakee Valley.

The pivotal player in this sectional is Matt Kobli (6-3, 195), a three-year starter who was 85 of 140 for 1,614 yards and 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions after eight games.  Kobli, who also has run 68 times for 423 yards, has been a dominant player against lesser competition.  The question is, what happens when he goes against more significant defenses.  In last year's playoff game against West Central, Kobli was just 13 of 28 for 282 yards with four interceptions.  WC, which had 21 pass interceptions in their first nine games, is a better team this year.

But this is a defensive problem for both sides. Whiting must go on the road in November against an unusual option offense called the 'flex bone', that is built for NW Indiana conditions.  West Central QB Justin Nelson (24 of 50, 446 yards) isn't a very good passer but the Trojans are a rare team with two 1,000-yard rushers.  Halfback Jake Fritz (122-1,188 yards, 15 TDs) and fullback Kalyn Ballard (142-1,057 yards, 15 TDS) plus third back Bryon Geyer (60-553 yards) have run for 3,000 yards. The Oilers will be hard-pressed to stop the run, as they were last year when WC gained 230 yards rushing and rallied from a 13-0 deficit to win.

Another Oiler problem here is that South Newton and Eric Watt (128-242, 2,201 yards, 22 TDs, 9 INTs) is a very good warm-up for Whiting.  Nobody Whiting plays prepares them for West Central, certainly not RF and Lake Station.  For West Central to lose 21-20 to 1A  No. 1 Pioneer (9-0), a bigger team physically, indicates that the Trojans are ready for the post-season.  In that game, trailing 21-20 after a fourth quarter TD, West Central went for the win. Even though kicker Corey Howatt was 2-for-2 kicking extra points, WC tried an option two-point conversion run was stopped by the Pioneer defense. WC outgained Pioneer 286-284.  Whiting has come-from-behind capability but the Oilers' defense has to get shut down WC and nobody has this year.

West Central needs 250-300 yards rushing to win and they have been over 250 yards rushing in every regular season game.  WC averages 365 yards rushing per game.  If Whiting can't get 250 yards passing, they can't win against top teams.  Obviously, it's much easier to stop the pass than the run.

I think the winner of Sectional 33 beats the Sectional 34 champ. Adams Central (8-1) allows 19 points a game against a schedule that doesn't look that tough. The pivotal game in the north in 1A is what figures to be the projected sectional semifinal match of Pioneer (9-0) and defending state champion Seeger (8-1). The rushing of halfback Matt Vianco (101-1,032 yards - 8 games) behind a big offensive line has carried Pioneer to wins over South Newton, Lafayette Catholic and West Central.  Pioneer, 52-7 the last five years, is the superior team this year by about 10 points to Seeger.  Oddly, the 1A northern bracket has been comparatively much  tougher than 3A or 4A.

Pioneer, Seeger, Whiting, Lafayette Catholic, West Central and Sheridan all could conceivably reach the finals and there simply aren't six teams in 3A or 4A in the north that can realistically reach the title game.

I see Pioneer, the undefeated (15-0) 1997 state champ,  beating Caston (2-7), Seeger, Lafayette Catholic, Sheridan and West Central to reach the Class 1A state finals.   
     

CLASS 2A   - Northern Indiana bracket
Quarterfinals  - 10-21-5

SECTIONAL 25

*Winamac [3-6] bye
*North Newton [3-6] at Bishop Noll [3-6]
*North Judson [5-4] at Knox [3-6]
*Wheeler [5-4] at Rensselaer  [8-1]

SECTIONAL 26

*Bremen [5-4] at Jimtown [8-1]
*John Glenn [6-3] at Central Noble [3-6]
*Prairie Heights [2-7] at Garrett [5-4]
*Fairfield [4-5] at Eastside [4-5]

SECTIONAL 27

*Rochester [7-2] at Woodlan [5-4]
*Churubusco [8-1] at Wabash [1-8]
*Manchester [2-7] at Harding [4-5]
*Lewis Cass [9-0] at Heritage [8-1]

SECTIONAL 28  

*Winchester [5-4] at South Adams [3-6]
*Centerville [6-3] at Oak Hill [6-3]
*Eastbrook [8-1] at Bluffton [2-7)
*Madison-Grant [7-2] at Alexandria [2-7]

RENSSELAER (10-20-2005)  NW Indiana is not a strong area of the state in Class 2A unless you slide down to Jasper and Starke County.  NW Indiana's premier player plays for Rensselaer in QB, SS, PK, KR Jacob Kiger, who has scored 120 points while running and passing for 2,000 combined yards.  On a dry field, the challenge of stopping him is formidable. Benton Central found that out last week as Kiger (5-10, 175) ran for two TDs and kicked two field goals in a 25-0 Rensselaer win.

In the Bombers' only loss, a 35-32 loss at Sheridan on Oct. 7, Kiger was 19 of 27 passing for 268 yards. In Rensselaer's 24-0 win over North Judson on Sept. 2, Kiger was 9-of-15 passing for 202 yards and 3 TDs. Judson (5-4) will have trouble getting by arch-rival Knox in the quarterfinals and they do not seem offensively equipped to outrun  Rensselaer and the Judson-Rensselaer winner is almost a lock to take the Section 25 title on Nov. 4.

I thought North Newton, led by the Scheidt triplets, would be better than they have been.  QB Rich Scheidt (59-101, 838 yards, 10 TDs and 4 INTs) and brother Reid Scheidt (43 catches-747 yards, 12 TDs) may produce enough points to get North Newton past Noll but Rensselaer has 20 interceptions and has already beaten the Spartans.

Is it possible that Wheeler, which has averaged 31 points a game over the last four weeks against decent competition,  beats Rensselaer this Friday?  Even though Kiger (75 of 123, 1,333 yards, 15 TDs, 5 INTs) is the field leader that no one else here has, on a bad field, it could happen. Rensselaer has not played especially well in early October while Wheeler appeared to be gaining ground behind QB Devin Schlueter (86 of 176, 1,437 yards, 13 TDs, 12 INTs - 8 games). 

If there are three major upsets in NW Indiana Friday night, Wheeler over Rensselaer is one of them.

But it may not matter. In Sectional 26, Jimtown has clearly hit their stride with three consecutive shutouts coming into the playoffs. Jimtown has the No.1 scoring defense in Class 2A state-wide, allowing just 61 points and if you take away a 27-10 loss to 4A Concord, almost nobody has scored on them. Absolutely no one has scored on them in the month of October.  The Elkhart school has allowed only six touchdowns all year and seven teams have been held to less than 100 yards rushing.

The Jimmies (8-1), the undefeated 1997 and 1998 Class 2A state champions, have already defeated Sectional 26 rival John Glenn 26-7 on Sept. 23 and they beat 3A power New Prairie 19-10.  The Jimmies were upset by John Glenn in the 2004 sectional after years of headline-making success.  The pressure is on for them to get back to the regional title game and beyond. That's what is expected of coach Bill Sharpe's team which is 260-50 in the last 25 years.

Two of the top teams will be eliminated early in Sectional 27 as No. 1 Cass (9-0) plays No. 5 Heritage on opening night. The winner Friday will eventually have to deal with No. 6 Eastbrook (8-1) at the regional level.  I truthfully discount No. 8 Churubusco (8-1) due to the schedule they play.  That makes it all the better for the team coming out of the northern  sectionals.

I see Jimtown, which may have to play three of the first five playoff games on the road,  beating Bremen, Glenn, Garrett, Rensselaer and Eastbrook to reach the 2A finals on Nov. 25.

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Revised: October 22, 2005 .