Small School Division
(1-1) Eastside Blazers (1st Small, 3rd Overall)
- Last Week: L 42-7 vs Adams Central
- This Week: Friday vs West Noble
- Series Record vs West Noble (1975): 17-18
Despite a beatdown in Week 2, the Blazers are still the beasts in the Small School Division. So far, the Small School division has not lived up to the potential of being a tight race, and on paper Eastside not only has the best frontline in the division by a long shot, but it has the better all-around defensive talent, especially with the ability to force turnovers.
Where challenges come within their depth. The Blazers have been banged up in recent days, but so far it has been a “Next Man Up Mentality”. The question I have is can the Blazers weather through these injuries? The Power spread offense when it’s at its best can be a dangerous power run offense. But we’ll see what they can do against a very good West Noble team that can stop the run effectively.
(0-2) Churubusco Eagles (2nd Small, 7th Overall)
(Up 1 in Division and 1 in NECC Rankings)
- Last Week: L 61-39 @ Lakeland
- This Week: Friday @ Garrett
- Series vs Garrett (1964): 11-17
After a rough week 1 against Columbia City, the Busco Eagles made the trip to LaGrange and put up a very inspiring effort against a talented Lakers team. Unfortunately, the heat that both teams had to deal with plus the lack of depth within Busco’s program proved to be very costly in the end.
Two games into the season, we can look at Busco in a few ways. The first is the big negative with Busco: this is not a consistent team according to Coach Sade. While the team has tremendous heart and chemistry, they’re nowhere near ready to compete with Eastside right now. The second is the good things about this season thus far. Angelo Ianucilli is becoming a very reliable all-around player at Busco, Brennan Gaff is having a breakout season on defense, Gavin Huelsenbeck has become one of the NECC’s premier tight ends, and Weston Rinker is a nice feel good story for Busco.
The final point to make with Busco is there’s still hope for a turnaround despite their first 0-2 start since 2015. Ironically, Busco went 0-2 before winning @ Garrett and finishing 6-5, despite the doubts of having to overcome the loss of quarterback Drew Buffenbarger. While Busco’s struggles are noted, the Small School Division has been a complete disaster so far outside of Eastside.
So, if this a slow start for Busco, this is very encouraging. Now, if they can go into Garrett in a rowdy atmosphere and win that game, everything changes about Busco going into division play at home vs Eastside.
(1-1) Fremont Eagles (3rd Big, 8th Overall)
(Up 1 in Division and NECC Rankings)
- Last Week: W 43-15 @ Blackford
- This Week: Friday North Central (OH)
- 1-1 vs North Central (OH)
You know this is the 2023 Small School Division when FREMONT is surpassing Central Noble. But there’s a reason why.
The Eagles’ defense has been strong so far giving up just 8 first half points all season long and are only allowing 21.5 points per game, that’s better than what it was last year. Now let’s pump the brakes for a moment, the two games they played were Shenandoah and Blackford, it’s nothing too amazing. But considering how awful Central Noble and Prairie Heights have been, it’s not nothing…it’s something.
Brody Foulk has become a nice rising player on this football team as is the case with basketball and baseball. The kid has talent when he sets his mind to it. I’m really intrigued by the sophomore running back Camyne Moreno who ran for 190 yards and 3 TDs.
Will this be sustainable? I have my doubts, but a good road test to North Central High School out of Pioneer, OH is a good measuring stick performance.
(0-2) Central Noble Cougars (4th Small, 9th Overall)
(Down 2 in Both Division and NECC Rankings)
- Last Week: L 30-16 @ Woodlan
- This Week: Friday @ Fairfield
- Series vs Fairfield (1980): 20-27
I’m extremely upset that I have no choice but to do this. Let me just say this before you bring out your pitchforks and torches. I didn’t drop CN to be a hater, or because I don’t think there’s talent, nor am I going to call out anyone specifically. Central Noble dropped because this team has severely underperformed compared to what’s expected out of them. I wasn’t expecting a championship caliber team…I just wanted a fun team that’s excited to play football………it’s not there right now.
If this was a team that was a Prairie Heights or in most years a Fremont team, then I can understand the issues they have. But as you can see on film, the Cougars are a parody of themselves right now. They don’t know what scheme they want to run, they don’t know exactly who to trust to make plays, and the defense as a whole just doesn’t get nearly enough stops. Before I get to my reasons of venting..let’s talk about the good.
Tysen Deck is Central Noble’s best player two weeks in, not because no one else isn’t good, but it’s because he’s been the guy making the big plays. The problem is that’s not enough to overcome these issues when he’s gotten a team best two TD catches on 7 receptions. Not bad, but considering what this team could have been, the offense is a bit underwhelming as a whole for the team. Drew Pliett has struggled so far, but I know somehow he’s going to find his game soon. Drew is way too talented to not have a bounce back.
Quarterback Brody Morgan has done fine considering the issues with this team, and trust me there’s a lot of issues. At Woodlan, he led the team in total yards throwing for 91 yards for a TD and ran for 88 yards (although I really hope he’s known more for being a contributor in the passing game).
Devin Hiestand, last week, had the best game of his career as he showed tremendous poise, speed, and strength in being able to pound the ball. He’s got good hands and can make plays.
I don’t know, Tyler Shisler is not bad at all…..I just don’t understand what he’s supposed to be…they’ve played him as a wide receiver, which that’s a good thing. And they have given him some snaps at QB…… Heck, Conner Fish and Matthew Rockey have made some solid plays on defense, which right now there isn’t a lot to say there.
Compare to Week 1, the CN frontline was at least decent, I suppose. Did they struggle to get to the QB at times? Yes. But it was improvement. And that’s where the positives end….
Yeah, I don’t know how to say it without acting like a jerk, but I know less about the 2023 Central Noble Cougars today than I did in the preseason, which is unacceptable when you know this team has lethal offensive firepower. It’s not like this team is incapable of doing anything, it’s just for some reason this team has zero consistency across the board. That’s what frustrates me so much.
A team that’s supposed to be good at spreading the ball across the field……didn’t show any of that in the first half @ Woodlan. Major kudos to Woodlan, they had an excellent gameplan. But for CN to look this predictable early in that Woodlan game is what makes fans lose sleep at night. My issue is there’s not enough balance with this team.
Week 1: 23 passes to 12 rushes
Week 2: 42 Rushes to 20 passes
I’m sorry but I’m confused by the drastic differences in both weeks and both times led to basically underwhelming results. I’m still optimistic the offense will find its game, but it needs to turn things around fast.
And don’t even get me started about the secondary. Woodlan Senior Braden Smith is a stud, and the pass coverage was a dud. Unless there’s MAJOR adjustments coming in the weeks to follow, this might be the worst secondary in the NECC….no not just the Small School Division, but the entire 10-team NECC. That’s not an achievement. That’s really bad.
I don’t know a solution to this right now, because this team has a lot of soul searching to do, and they better to do so within the next 48 hours, or things could get a whole lot worse @ Fairfield.
Central Noble, it’s major gut check time.
(0-2) Prairie Heights Panthers (5th Small, 10th Overall)
- Last Week: L 40-12 @ Bronson (MI)
- This Week: Friday vs Lakeland
- Series vs Lakeland (1966): 10-47
- 55th Milk Can Game
This is not an ideal situation for the Panthers as they struggled badly against the Bronson Vikings. But there’s some progression with the team as quarterback Mac Armstrong connected for his first TD of the season to Tanner Czarnecki, Armstrong ran the ball on a QB keeper for another score, and he threw the ball 4 times for 74 yards to Jayden Stutzman.
With We the Heights, there not always the most talented, but they always play so, so hard. Is there a lot of things to clean up? Absolutely, but the fight is still there. I really like the start from the frontline led by Kris Levitz.
It’s a daunting task ahead as they try to snap a 19-game losing streak against LaGrange County rival Lakeland.
