Football draw: Rochester, Valley to make long drives for sectional openers

Pioneer draws Caston again; Culver to face former conference rival LaVille; Winamac to host familiar faces from Carroll

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley football teams will both make long drives for their sectional quarterfinal games, and rivals Pioneer and Caston will meet in the sectional for the second straight year, according to the IHSAA draw released Sunday.

In addition, Culver will meet a former conference rival, and Winamac will face off against a familiar face.

Here is a recap:

Rochester

Once again, Rochester drew Elwood for their Class 2A, Sectional 36 quarterfinal. Last year, they met at Barnhart Field; this time, they will meet at Elwood, which is about 72 miles south and east of Rochester, when sectionals start Oct. 24.

Elwood is 2-6 and on their way to their 10th consecutive losing season. Averaging just nine points per game, they have been shut out in five of their six losses, and they will be facing a Rochester defense that has already recorded four shutouts and that ranks second in the state with a 4.4 defensive scoring average.

Rochester beat Elwood 46-0 in last year’s sectional quarterfinals.

Elwood has not won a sectional game since 2016 and a sectional title since 2000.

The Zebras will also be in search of their first sectional title since 2000.

If Rochester beats Elwood, they would play their semifinal game at home against either Eastbrook or Alexandria.

Eastbrook is 8-0 and ranked No. 5 while Alexandria is 6-2 and ranked No. 15. Eastbrook beat Alexandria 34-24 in their regular season meeting Sept. 12 at Eastbrook.

In the other half of the bracket, Eastern will travel to Blackford, and Wabash will head to Tipton.

Eastern is 7-1 and coming off their first sectional title in school history last year. Their tournament run included a 28-24 win over Rochester in the sectional semifinals.

Eastern is the only one of the four teams in their half of the draw with a winning record.

Tippecanoe Valley

Valley has won their sectional opener in six of coach Stephen Moriarty’s eight seasons, but one of their two losses during that period was when they made a long bus ride to Indianapolis Chatard in 2023.

Now they will have to make another long bus trip, but instead of heading south, they will work their way 92 miles to the east to face Angola Oct. 24.

Angola is 4-4 and coming off a 14-11 win over Garrett last Friday. Coach Andy Thomas guided the Hornets to back-to-back sectional titles in 2017 and 2018 but has had only two winning seasons since. Prior to Angola, Thomas was the coach at Culver from 2006-13, where he guided the Cavaliers to their most recent sectional title in 2009.

Valley, ranked No. 12, has won four straight games and is 6-2 following their 42-7 win at John Glenn Friday.

Valley has not won a sectional title since 1992 and not been in a sectional final since 1993.

The Valley-Angola winner will face the Fort Wayne Concordia-West Noble winner in the semifinals. West Noble is 6-2 and ranked No. 9 but could drop following a 24-23 loss to Churubusco Friday.

In the other half of the bracket, defending regional champion Garrett will visit Fairfield, and Woodlan will play Lakeland on the road. Garrett already has wins over Fairfield and Lakeland. Woodlan’s two wins are against Class 2A competition.

Caston, Pioneer, Winamac

Pioneer extended their winning streak to 35 over Caston when they beat them 45-13 at the Panther Pit Sept. 12.

Now they will play them again in a Class 1A, Sectional 42 quarterfinal at Caston Oct. 24.

Pioneer, ranked No. 8 and heading to North Judson this Friday for their regular season finale, has notched four shutouts this season, including two in a row. Caston has increased their scoring average from 12.9 last year to 19.5 this year.

Pioneer eliminated Caston 20-7 from last year’s sectional, and Pioneer also ousted Caston in the 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007 sectionals during their winning streak against them.

Caston has won two sectional games in the last decade.

The Pioneer-Caston winner will take on the Frontier-Tri-County winner in the semifinals. Frontier is 8-0 and ranked No. 6, and that included a 62-8 win at Tri-County Oct. 3.

In the other half of the bracket, the Carroll (Flora)-Winamac winner will meet the North White-Taylor winner in the semifinals.

The Carroll-Winamac meeting at Roudebush Field Oct. 24 will mean a return home for John Hendryx. Hendryx, the Carroll offensive coordinator, is a Winamac grad and a former Winamac athletic director and football coach. He went 15-4 as Winamac’s coach from 2019-21 and won Winamac’s most recent sectional title in 2020.

Hendryx’s brother Mark is an assistant coach on Winamac’s coaching staff. Jack Hendryx, who is John and Mark’s father and who died in 2006, was an assistant football coach at Winamac for 36 years.

John Hendryx’s son-in-law is Carroll coach Blake Betzner.

Taylor is 5-2 and coming off its first sectional title in school history last year. North White is 2-6.

Culver

Culver will open Class 1A, Sectional 41 play at home against LaVille Oct. 24.

This will mark the first meeting of the teams since LaVille beat Culver 52-0 on Oct. 13, 2023. LaVille left the Hoosier North and became a founding member of the Indiana Northern State Conference the following school year and dropped Culver from their schedule.

LaVille has won the last 12 meetings against Culver and has not lost to them since 2013.

The LaVille-Culver winner will meet the North Judson-South Central (Union Mills) winner in the semifinals. North Judson is ranked No. 3, and they beat winless South Central 60-6 Sept. 5 in their regular season meeting.

North Judson is also the defending semistate champion and the four-time defending regional champion.

In the other half of the draw, West Central will travel to South Newton, and North Newton will visit Bowman Academy.

West Central suffered their first loss to Frontier Friday, but they are still averaging 45 points per game. West Central already has wins over South Newton and North Newton, and Bowman Academy has a 34-14 win over North Newton Oct. 4.

The tournament

The sectional round of the tournament will occur over three weeks on Oct. 24, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. Regionals are Nov. 14, semistates are Nov. 21, and the state finals are Nov. 28-29 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.