This is it, ladies and gentlemen, the regular season is over. The fun part begins this week, and that is postseason football. From here on out, it’s win or go home for everyone in the state of Indiana. As they say, you can’t win state until you win sectionals first. Here is where the Big School Division stands heading into postseason play.
Big School Division
1. Angola Hornets 6-3, 4-0 (Big) (Clinched Outright Division Title)
Located in Angola, IN (Steuben County)
4A Sectional 19
Current Ranking: 1st Big School Division; 2nd NECC
Previous Ranking: 1st Big School Division; 2nd NECC
Previous Outing: L 28-7 Eastside
Next Game: 10/21 vs East Noble
- Head-to-Head Series: 13-10-1 East Noble
- Postseason Record: 1-0 East Noble
- First Meeting: 10/21/1966 a 21-21 tie at Angola
- Last Meeting: 10/22/2004 East Noble won 21-8 at Angola (Sectionals)
- These are former conference rivals from the now-defunct Northeast Indiana Athletic Conference (NEIAC). They met every year from 1966-1988.
- This is East Noble’s first trip to Angola since October 9, 1987, where East Noble won 42-6.
- Angola’s last win against East Noble came on October 11, 1985, where Angola won 27-12 at Angola.
Angola had their worst performance of the season against the Eastside Blazers, and a lot of that was simply due to the excellence that Eastside showed last Friday. The Hornets had their most active game throwing the football in 2022 going 11-22 for 129 yards, and Michael Burelison had six catches for 63 yards.
However, the rushing game was contained by the mighty Blazer defense as they were only able to run for 130 yards or 3.3 yards per carry. Gavin Willis led that game with 60 rushing yards on 15 carries. The troubling sign with Angola has very little to do with the outcome of this game. Rather, the concern is on the health of Tyler Call, Andre Tagliaferri, and Burelison, which is not an ideal place to be going into sectionals.
On the season, Call not only is their quarterback (when healthy), but he also led the team in rushing yards with 927 rushing yards and 13 TDs. In fact, when adding Andre’s numbers, they account for nearly 67% of their entire rushing attack on the Pistol Motion offense. Andre also leads the team in targets with 21 and receiving yards with 346, which is 46% of their offense among wide receivers.
So, yes, it’s easy to look at the score and say, ‘That wasn’t Angola’s best game’, but health is a big concern, especially on offense. If all three can’t play this week, you’re looking at an inexperienced quarterback in junior Micah Steury, and essentially having to go to Lane King a lot more as a go-to target. That sounds great in theory, until you realize how valuable Lane is as an integral part to the offensive line.
The backfield, on the other hand, is not entirely in a bad spot because there is some depth with Willis, as well as Josh Kunkle and Ethan Miller. For Steury, I guess it is not a terribly bad situation.
Now, the defense for Angola has been great all year led by Ethan Miller, Braden Toigo, Jake Land, and Jack Archbold. However, Andre has also been essential in establishing that front 7 to utilize the most out of Land and Archbold, and Burrielson is a key part outside of the box. When factoring in the injuries, their depth gets tested.
Therefore, these other guys like Wyatt Maggart, Bradley Bartrom, and Brayden Duke mean a lot more to this team. The good news is they don’t have to worry about Leo or Columbia City right now, but East Noble’s running game can get hot if the injuries hurt Angola’s momentum. This is something to keep an eye on as we get close to kickoff.
But the question is can Angola’s rushing defense bounce back against East Noble? Over the last two weeks, Angola has allowed 212.5 rushing yards per game. East Noble has averaged 250 rushing yards over the last two games. And trust me, when their running backs coach is Trevor Tipton, you know this game intrigues me.
2. West Noble Chargers 7-2, 3-1 (Big)
Located in Ligonier, IN (Noble County)
3A Sectional 26
Current Ranking: 2nd Big School Division; 4th NECC
Previous Ranking: 2nd Big School Division; 4th NECC
Previous Outing: W 51-13 @ Prairie Heights
Next Game: 10/21 vs Mishawaka Marian
- Head-to-Head Series: 6-0 Marian
- Postseason Record: 1-0 Marian
- First Meeting: 9/03/1983 Marian won 7-6 at Mishawaka M.
- Last Meeting: 11/01/2019 Marian won 42-20 at West Noble (Sectionals)
- West Noble is looking for their just their 12th postseason win ever
Ok, West Noble ends the season on a high note, but the Prairie Heights game is not going to show me whether they can win in this difficult sectional. Those questions will be answered this week against Mishawaka Marian, who are only 2-7 this season.
Now, unlike most 2-7 teams, Mishawaka Marian plays the toughest schedule among teams in 3A as it is ranked 83rd statewide. Their opponents are 47-34, which includes a 28-0 loss to Angola in Week 7.
Against Prairie Heights, West Noble answered with a season-high of 443 yards rushing led by Seth Pruitt’s 214 yards and 4 touchdowns. Obviously, he is essential to how far West Noble can go, but so is the play of Drew Yates and the Charger defense. While Yates failed to complete a pass and threw a pick, he did run for 67 yards on 3 carries and scored a TD.
Defensively, look for the play of Zach Beers and another freshman by the name of Lucas Conway. With Xavier Yates done for the season, this is next-man-up mentality for the Chargers’ unit and both Beers and Conway had a pick along with 2.5 TFLs. Special teams could play a huge role in giving Marian a ton of problems.
Mishawaka Marian will probably try to test the secondary and the defensive ends through the passing game. Marian’s backfield averages just 44 rushing yards per game, and they have been shutout in two straight games. Marian’s quarterback Bryce LaSane averages 81.4 passing yards per game and has only thrown three passes for TDs.
3. Garrett Railroaders 2-7, 1-3 (Big)
Located in Garrett, IN (DeKalb County)
3A Sectional 27
Current Ranking: 3rd Big School Division; 5th NECC
Previous Ranking: 5th Big School Division; 7th NECC
Previous Outing: W 40-23 Central Noble
Next Game: 10/21 vs Bellmont
- Head-to-Head Series: Tied 5-5
- Postseason Record: 1-1
- First Meeting: 9/08/1967 Garrett won 35-6
- Last Meeting: 10/19/2018 Bellmont won 16-6 @ Bellmont (Sectionals)
- These are former conference rivals from the now-defunct NEIAC. They met every year from 1967-1972, and from 1979-1980.
- This is Bellmont’s first trip to Garrett since Halloween Night 2014.
Garrett heads into sectionals winners in two of their last three games after a 0-6 start. Once again, this success can be credited to the offensive line led by Jack O’Connor and the play of Robert Koskie.
Against Central Noble, the Big Train ran for a season-best 312 yards, led by Koskie’s 202 yards and three TDs. Sophomore Xavier Nusbaum had a nice game as well running for 71 yards on six carries and a TD. Now comes postseason time, where Garrett hopes to avenge a postseason loss to Bellmont from four years ago.
Bellmont basically runs a triple-option that assembles a very young offensive unit. While the Fighting Velez’s play hard, Bellmont has their flaws. It wouldn’t surprise me if we get at least one more week of Garrett football because I like the way this program is going with sectional football now just days away.
4. Fairfield Falcons 5-4, 1-3 (Big)
Located in Goshen, IN (Elkhart County)
3A Sectional 26
Current Ranking: 4th Big School Division; 6th NECC
Previous Ranking: 3rd Big School Division; 5th NECC
Previous Outing: L 35-14 @ Busco
Next Game: 10/21 @ John Glenn
- Head-to-Head Series: 9-6-1 Glenn
- Postseason Record: 1-0 Glenn
- First Meeting: 9/11/1970 Glenn won 13-6 @ Glenn
- Last Meeting: 10/29/2004 Glenn won 35-0 @ Glenn
- These are former conference rivals from the now-defunct Northern State Conference. They played every year from 1970-1979 as conference rivals, and from 1997-2000.
- Fairfield’s last win against John Glenn came on October 1, 1982, where Fairfield won at home 40-13.
For the fourth time in the last five weeks, Fairfield was on the short end of the stick as Busco ran for 322 yards, while Fairfield had just 154 yards of total offense. Carter Kitson was decent at quarterback going 6-9 for 30 yards and a TD.
However, the concerning part is the lack of offensive punch from their backfield. Three of their last four games have seen Fairfield failing to rush for at least 150 yards on the ground. Sophomore Brecken Maran had a fantastic start to this season but has since struggled. Maran’s last 100-rushing yard effort came in Week 3 when he ran for 141 yards against Central Noble.
Consistency is still a concern as they get to meet an old rival from the South Bend area in John Glenn. Former Plymouth Head Coach John Barron is leading the Falcons to a respectable 5-4 record heading into sectionals. Glenn will throw the ball a lot as they have already produced 1,373 yards and 17 TDs. They usually go to Aden Johnson, the senior quarterback who has 947 passing yards and 10 TDs. But they do use another quarterback for various play calls in junior Chase Miller, who has a .750 % completion.
5. Lakeland Lakers 3-6, 1-3 (Big)
Located in LaGrange, IN (LaGrange County)
3A Sectional 26
Current Ranking: 5th Big School Division; 7th NECC
Previous Ranking: 4th Big School Division; 6th NECC
Previous Outing: L 28-7 @ Bluffton
Next Game: 10/21 @ Knox
- This is Lakeland’s first meeting against the Redskins
- Bluffton has 6 straight seasons with 4 or more wins, which is a PROGRAM RECORD
- Lakeland is seeking their 13th postseason win of all time.
- Knox won their only sectional title in 2019
The youth of Lakeland is starting to show cracks at the wrong time as they head into a tough sectional scoring less than two touchdowns in two of their last three games. The Bluffton game saw Lakeland producing 152 yards of total offense, with only 61 rushing yards.
Senior Kham Malaivanh did lead the way in the backfield but only ran for 36 yards on 15 carries. If Lakeland is going to survive beyond this week, the Lakers’ rushing attack must find an answer soon. As talented as Brayden Holbrook is, he is only one freshman kid that still has a lot to learn. This week, the seniors need to be the ones coming out with their best game against a tough Knox team that averages over 40 points a game.
Knox runs the Option attack that dominates in pounding the football led by senior quarterback Cohen Watson.
