Carroll (6-3) at Snider (7-2)
Prediction: Carroll wins 20-17
Both Carroll and Snider have had very good years, but one will have to be eliminated after this week. While both teams’ offenses have played well up to this point, they have struggled against good defenses. Neither team reached double-digits against Dwenger, both had a few touchdowns against Homestead, and Snider actually scored 36 against the Spartans, but most were when the game was already over. Now they will face each other for the second time and the offenses will face playmakers on both sides. For the Chargers LB Matthew Ottenweller and DL Larry Sible will look to have an impact by slowing down the running game led by RB Lenny Bennett, RB Kameron Trotter, and QB Jon Barnes Jr. Meanwhile, Snider DL Gianini Belizaire and CB Jayshawn Underwood will try to rattle QB Jeff Becker, who had one of his best games against the Panthers with 244 yds passing,132 yds rushing, and 3 TD. Snider got outplayed by Carroll last time but was lucky to sneak by with a win. This time they won’t be so lucky as the Chargers get their revenge.
Homestead (9-0) at Noblesville (1-8)
Prediction: Homestead 56-0
We don’t mean to be disrespectful to Noblesville, but this is a mismatch. Noblesville is getting outscored to 273-82 this year and that trend should continue this week. That’s because Homestead QB Luke Goode (2,164 yds, 63% comp, 23 TD) and his talented wide receiver corps with Jared Kistler (23 rec, 533 yds, 4 TD), Jake Archbold (25 rec, 445 yds, 10 TD), and Griffin Little (28 rec, 421 yds, 5 TD) should be able to score a lot of points on Friday, as they have all season.
Bishop Dwenger (8-1) at North Side (4-5)
Prediction: Dwenger wins 35-14
The Saints ended the year with a narrow victory, winning 9-7 against Northrop. That close win should fuel them to play better this week as they take on the Legends. The key for the Saints will be to take RB Alex Holliday-Robinson (772 yds, 5.7 yds/car, 8 TD) out of the game, leaving North Side to be dependent on their passing game. If they can do that, the Dwenger offense should have no problem scoring in this game QB Brenden Lytle (1,441 yds, 61% comp, 12 TD).
Northrop (4-5) at Goshen (1-8)
Prediction: Northrop wins 34-3
Northrop will start out against a struggling Goshen Redhawks team that comes in with 8 straight losses as they are being outscored by an astonishing 333-79. Redhawks QB Colin Turner also comes in with only 1 TD and 9 INT. The Bruins shouldn’t have much of a problem riding RB’s Damarius Cowen (490 yds, 6.1 yds/car, 4 TD) and Jeremiah Green (480 yds, 4.4 yds/car, 7 TD) to victory in this one.
Norwell (5-5) at Concordia (5-5)
Prediction: Concordia wins 31-21
Norwell comes in with a formidable 5-5 record after they beat Bellmont 49-0 last week. They have been inconsistent all season though, blowing out some teams, then getting blown out by others. These teams are actually pretty similar, but Concordia’s firepower on offense is what will lead to them winning this game. Look for Cadets QB Brandon Davis (1,841 yds, 16 TD) to have another big performance.
Bishop Luers (3-7) at Eastside (8-2)
Prediction: Eastside wins 24-13
Eastside has a great year, as they won the Northeast Corner Conference with their 4-0 conference record. The Blazers are led by QB Laban Davis (1,170 pass yds, 511 rush yds, 18 total TD) and RB Matthew Firestine (540 yds, 5.1 yds/car, 5 TD) who have been very impressive this year. They’ll continue to play well against Luers, who had a nice win last week but appears outmatched this time around.
