Week 1 roundup: Omondi’s TD runs help Valley beat Plymouth

Enyart’s punt return for TD keys Caston win; turnovers plague NM in loss to Northfield; Culver falls to pass-happy C. Noble; Pioneer rallies, beats Lewis Cass for 4th straight year; Winamac’s Rugg burns W. Central in Davis’ debut as coach

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

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Owen Omondi Braxton Enyart

Football

Tippecanoe Valley 22, Plymouth 14 (Friday): Owen Omondi ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, including the go-ahead 29-yard run in the fourth quarter, and he also had an interception on defense as the host Vikings beat Plymouth for the second straight year Friday.

Senior quarterback Hunter Randall ran for 46 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter that stretched the Valley lead to 22-8.

Garrett Hart ran for 29 yards and also had a 15-yard reception. Max Harsh caught a 12-yard pass.

Valley had a 252-83 advantage in rushing yards.

Brock Adamson also had an interception.

Omondi also had two two-point conversion runs and averaged 42 yards per punt on four punts.

Ryder Goodman threw for 96 yards and two touchdowns for Plymouth.

Valley won despite going 0 for 7 on third down conversions and 1 for 9 on fourth down conversions. Valley also had nine penalties for 65 yards.

The game was tied 8-8 at halftime and stayed tied through three quarters.

Valley won their season opener for the sixth straight year.

Valley 22, Plymouth 14

Plymouth 0 8 0 6 – 14

Valley 8 0 0 14 – 22

First quarter

TV – Owen Omondi 70 run (Omondi run)

Second quarter

PLY – Owen Verhaeghe 6 run (Christian Cruz-Mahler pass from Ryder Goodman)

Third quarter

(no scoring)

Fourth quarter

TV – Omondi 29 run (Omondi run)

TV – Hunter Randall 6 run (two-point conversion failed)

PLY – McKoy Gantz 15 pass from Goodman (PAT failed)

Caston 54, Whitko 14 (Friday): Braxton Enyart returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown, and Tucker Woolever ran for a team-high 75 yards and a touchdown on five carries as the visiting Comets handled the Wildcats Friday.

Logan Mollenkopf threw his first career touchdown pass, an 18-yard strike to Ashton Bowyer, and also ran for two scores. Bowyer also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown. London Herd and Bronson Howard also had touchdown runs.

Bowyer led the defense with seven tackles, and Parker Zimpleman had six tackles and a forced fumble. Mollenkopf and Brayden Unger had five tackles each. Ethan Reasor had an interception and a 15-yard return. Cohlton Browning had a fumble recovery. Jayden Cox had a sack for a seven-yard loss.

Caston had a 273-55 advantage in rushing yards. 

Caston led 35-14 at halftime.

The win was Caston’s first over a Three Rivers Conference since beating North Miami, who was then in the TRC, in the 2020 sectional.

Caston 54, Whitko 14

Caston 6 29 13 6 – 54

Whitko 0 14 0 0 – 14

Northfield 28, North Miami 14 (Friday): Oliver Wildermuth ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns, and Cooper Pattison ran for 54 yards, but the host Warriors could not overcome four lost fumbles in a loss to the Norsemen Friday.

Alex Towles ran for 37 yards on five carries, and he also had a 10-yard reception.

Alan Wildermuth threw for 21 yards. Oliver Wildermuth had an 11-yard reception.

The lost fumbles offset North Miami’s 205-147 advantage in rushing yards.

Logan Smith led the defense with 12 tackles. Alan Wildermuth added nine tackles, and Jension Carr had eight stops. Nathan Hiffner had a sack.

Liam Clark ran for 55 yards and a touchdown for Northfield, who had lost their previous three meetings against North Miami.

Central Noble 35, Culver 7 (Friday): Ryan Lemish threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns for the visiting Cougars in a triumph over Culver Friday. Zack Chenoweth had seven receptions for 104 yards.

Central Noble led 21-0 after the first quarter.

Central Noble (1-0) equaled their win total from last year.

Central Noble 35, Culver 7

Central Noble 21 0 0 14 – 35

Culver 0 7 0 0 – 7

Pioneer 20, Lewis Cass 15 (Friday): Braxton Maciejewski ran for 55 yards and two touchdowns, and Colton Popejoy ran for 46 yards and a score in his first game as Pioneer’s starting quarterback in a road win over Lewis Cass Friday.

Pioneer rallied from a 15-0 deficit and beat the Kings for the fourth straight year in the season opener.

Popejoy also had 80 yards passing. Phillip McFatridge added 40 yards rushing on 11 carries and another 62 yards receiving on four catches. Maciejewski added 10 yards receiving on two catches, and Gage Lakes had an eight-yard catch.

Mikaden Tolosa had 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss. Colten Long had a team-high 11 tackles. Blu Rosen-Jacks had seven tackles.

Pioneer held Lewis Cass to 2.9 yards per carry and had a 153-92 advantage in rushing yards.

Connyr Mack ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass for Lewis Cass.

Shiloh Rine had four carries for 14 yards for the Panthers. He did not play after the first quarter after suffering a hip injury, according to the Pharos-Tribune.

Pioneer 20, Lewis Cass 15

Pioneer 0 6 8 6 – 20

Lewis Cass 0 15 0 0 – 15

Winamac 34, West Central 20 (Friday): Louis Rugg III ran for 197 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, and he also had a 67-yard reception for the host Warriors in helping Eric Davis win his coaching debut.

Tristan Wolford ran for 36 yards and a touchdown, and Ivan Cardenas also had a touchdown run for Winamac, who ran the ball 36 times and passed it three times.

Wolford led the defense with 14 tackles. Xavier Adriano had nine tackles. Wheeler had an interception.

Winamac had a 263-163 advantage in rushing yards. Each team had two turnovers.

Winamac had 15 penalties for 155 yards while West Central had nine penalties for 60 yards.

Winamac led 14-8 at halftime.

Winamac 34, West Central 20

West Central 8 0 12 0 – 20

Winamac 7 7 7 13 – 34