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Valley to visit struggling LaVille; Caston to host winless S. Central; NM to visit surging No. 2 Pioneer; Culver gets No. 3 N. Judson; Winamac seeks to end 4-year skid vs. Triton
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester (3-1, 2-0 Three Rivers Conference) at Lewis Cass (2-2, 2-1), 7 p.m.
While the spotlight might have shone brighter on Kale Shotts after rushing for 197 yards and three touchdowns in a half in last week’s 56-26 win over Clinton Prairie, Rochester coach Isaac Shaffer continues to flesh out his roster to fill varying roles.
Shaffer counted only four players who played both ways against Clinton Prairie – Kale Shotts, Grant Holloway, Trenton Meadows and Ethan Bailey – as players like senior lineman Trevor Coplen and sophomore halfback Tanner Horn get more reps.
“I’d like it to,” Shaffer said when asked if he would like to keep the number of two-way players at four. “We’d like to try to stick to that as much as possible. As the season goes on, we’ll continue to evaluate. But it also kind of depends on whom we’re playing every week. Since Gavin Pinder didn’t play defense this last week, he’s going to be back on defense this week in a different role. Mason Oliver and Grant Holloway are going to share time at a position. Every week is going to be different. We still want to avoid them being a full, two-way player – more one-and-a-half guys.”
Shaffer said tweaking a player’s role within the first three to four weeks of a season is now typical as to how player development works. An example is Oliver, who was thought of as getting some snaps at quarterback along with Mitchell Clark earlier in the year. Now Clark has seized quarterback full-time while Oliver is an emerging safety who stepped into a passing lane and took back an interception 97 yards for a touchdown against Clinton Prairie.
Another example is how Shotts was used on defense.
“We kind of thought that Kale Shotts would be our ‘star’ guy,” Shaffer said, referring to a hybrid linebacker-safety position. “We made some adjustments in the Prairie game. He played ‘mike’ backer against Clinton Prairie, and it just looked like a natural fit for him. Grant Holloway was more of our boundary safety; he’s now at the ‘star’ position. He played a great game on defense. … You’re just constantly evaluating things, seeing where you can play less guys the full game.
“That just allows for fresh legs. And guys are getting better conditioned right now as the season goes on, but you still want to have the freshest guys you can in there, and the way to do that is to have as few two-way guys as possible.”
The better depth might be needed against a Lewis Cass team that might be deep at running back. Fullback Connyr Mack leads with 233 yards rushing, but Mack is one of six different backs who have had at least 10 carries.
Brinxston Jones is a junior who provides added depth at fullback.
“Both of them are great fullbacks,” Shaffer said. “Both of them run the ball extremely hard. Not a whole lot of moves. They’re getting the ball, they’re finding their one cut, and they’re going. That makes it really nice for them because that keeps them on schedule. They’re going to churn the legs for three or four yards. Just like us, Cass wants to stay on schedule with three and four-yard gains throughout the game. They do a great job with that.”
In addition, quarterback Cole Rush has completed a pass to six different receivers. Nathan Packard leads with 96 yards receiving.
Shaffer said Rush can progress through his reads very quickly and make quick decisions and occasionally tuck the ball and gain yards on the ground.
“He has a really strong arm,” Shaffer said. “He’s confident in that arm, and he should be.”
Rush only had 11 yards passing last year in a 34-0 loss to the Zebras at Barnhart Field.
They will face a ballhawking defense that has forced multiple turnovers in every game, including four last week at Clinton Prairie. Of the four touchdowns that Clinton Prairie scored last week, only one came against Rochester’s first-team defense.
“This is going to be another game where going into it, we’re thinking there’s not going to be a lot of possessions in the football game,” Shaffer said. “Both teams want to run the ball and chip away at the defense. So we have to make sure we’re taking care of the ball because if we aren’t, once they get a hold of it, they can go and take seven, maybe even eight minutes off a clock, just marching it methodically down the field.”
Meanwhile, Lewis Cass’ defense continues to tighten up in coach Clayton Mannering’s seventh season. The Kings allowed 35.5 points per game two years ago, cut that to 21.1 last year and is allowing only 15.3 this year.
Shaffer said Lewis Cass will run a 3-4 defense while slanting the front three.
But stopping Rochester might be one of Lewis Cass’ biggest challenges. The Kings are 0-3 against Zebras since joining the TRC, and they have allowed nearly 43 points per game and 371 yards rushing in those games.
Hunter Sellers, who also starts at tight end on offense, could play a role at defensive end similar to the one that Owen Lett plays for the Zebras.
“He closes hard, and when you play a triple-option team or you play a wing-T team and you have a guy at defensive end that’s going to close really hard, even if he doesn’t make the tackle, he disrupts a lot of the blocking that you’re doing. Even just his presence on their defensive side causes us some problems and is causing other teams some problems.”
Shaffer said senior Camden Susaraba will miss the game with an ankle injury, and three different players will be called on to replace him: Coplen will start at offensive tackle, Barrett Brown will start at defensive tackle, and Shaffer said he is “leaning” towards having Tanner Krom taking on his kickoff duties. Cain Cortez has also gotten reps at kickoffs in practice.
Shaffer is a 2016 Lewis Cass grad. Scott Mannering, Clayton’s father, was his high school coach.
Tippecanoe Valley (3-1, 1-0 Indiana Northern State Conference) at LaVille (1-3, 0-1), 7 p.m.
Valley trailed 18-6 at one point in the third quarter at Knox last week but came back to pull out a 21-18 win.
With Garrett Hart out with an injury, Hunter Paxton took on extra ball carrying responsibilities and responded with 16 carries for 83 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“Garrett’s a big part of our offense, and we use him to come in and give some guys some breathers, and he’s part of that rotation, and he’s a spark plug that comes in and gives us that boost when we need him,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said. “So not having him hurt. I think overall offensively, we had some success; it’s just we just weren’t on the field very much, to be honest.”
Defensively, Paxton and Owen Omondi each had an interception, and Ty Kiser, Mason Miller and emerging freshman outside linebacker Charlie Moriarty had 11 tackles each. Valley held Knox to just 192 yards on its home field and 3.5 yards per carry.
“We ran a little bit of a different defense,” coach Moriarty said. “We ran like a 4-4, and we just isolated their one up-back to wherever he was at. We would put more pressure because they were moving the ball quite well against us. … Mason and Charlie tied for tackles this week, but Ty was right there behind them, and so was Grant Paxton. I was very pleased with how they stepped up. I thought they shed well. I thought they got over the top (and) really pursued well to the ball carrier and made some big-time plays that gave us an advantage at the end of the game.”
Valley will play the second of three straight on the road when they visit LaVille. The Lancers won a Class 1A sectional last year, but they have lost three straight to North Judson, Evansville Mater Dei and Bremen by a combined score of 152-19 since a season-opening win over Triton. They are trying to avoid their first losing season since 2013.
They are both in a new class (2A) and have a new coach in former Fairfield and Wawasee coach Matt Thacker.
Thacker has kept the 3-4 defense that his predecessor Jeff Kaiser ran, but Thacker has changed the scheme on offense.
“It’s that double wing offense where it’s a lot of option, midline, toss, things like that,” coach Moriarty said.
Senior quarterback Noah Menis leads the team in rushing.
“It’s kind of like the Hunter Randall thing,” coach Moriarty said of Menis, comparing him to his own quarterback. “They will carry the ball with him quite a bit. He’s like another running back in the backfield, let alone throwing the ball. He does a good job of reading the option, and they have designated run plays where they’ll use him as the tailback.”
But ultimately, the key for any Valley opponent is whether they can stop Omondi, who is serving as a running back, receiver, safety, kicker, punter and kickoff returner.
“He’s been leading by example,” coach Moriarty said of Omondi. “He wants the ball in critical situations. He’s a leader on defense and organizes. And the same thing for special teams. He’s an outstanding player, and his mental focus really does help us out beyond his physical capabilities.”
South Central (Union Mills) (0-4, 0-2 Hoosier North) at Caston (3-1, 1-1), 7:30 p.m.
Caston is coming off a 35-7 loss to Pioneer last week while South Central lost 37-6 to Triton.
South Central has lost 15 consecutive games dating back to 2024, and they have not had a winning season since 2021. They are 5-30 in their last 35 games, and they are 1-16 in conference games since joining the Hoosier North in 2024.
Caston is 2-0 against South Central since South Central joined the Hoosier North.
Caston’s Landen Rigney is averaging 8.3 yards per carry and 37.7 yards per reception.
North Miami (1-3, 0-2 Hoosier North) at Pioneer (4-0, 2-0), 7 p.m.
North Miami is coming off a 46-0 loss to Class 1A, No. 3 North Judson while Class 1A, No. 2 Pioneer defeated Caston 35-7.
North Miami also lost 46-0 the last time they visited North Judson in 2024.
Pioneer’s Shiloh Rine set the school single-game record for receiving yards with 191 against Caston.
Pioneer is 2-0 against North Miami since they became conference rivals in 2024.
North Judson (4-0, 2-0 Hoosier North) at Culver (1-3, 1-1), 7:30 p.m.
North Judson whitewashed North Miami 46-0 last week while Culver took a 32-14 loss to Winamac.
Culver’s Brayen Bush ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns against Winamac, but the rest of the team had just 29 yards rushing on 23 attempts.
North Judson is averaging 283 yards rushing per game, and quarterback Javen Christensen is averaging 124 yards passing per game.
North Judson has won the last 13 meetings between the teams, including sectional meetings in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024. Six of the 13 wins have been by shutout. Culver has not beaten North Judson since Aug. 18, 2017.
Triton (1-3, 1-1 Hoosier North) at Winamac (3-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.
Winamac is coming off a 32-14 win over Culver while Triton earned their first win with a 37-6 triumph over South Central.
Winamac rushed for 392 yards against Culver, including 243 yards from wingback Louis Rugg III. The Triton defense allowed a season low 108 yards on the ground against South Central. Prior to that, they were allowing 314 yards rushing per game.
Triton senior quarterback Ryden Gayheart threw for 109 yards and ran for 125 yards against South Central. He accounted for four touchdowns – two rushing, two passing.
Triton has won the last four meetings by an average margin of 30.5 points per game. Winamac is 5-8 in 13 meetings against Triton since they became conference rivals with Triton in 2015. They are 5-6 in the regular season and 0-2 in the sectional.
