Tippecanoe Valley football preview: Seeking 9th straight winning season, Moriarty emphasizing speed

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Tippecanoe Valley football team will open its season with a home game with Plymouth at 7 p.m. Friday at Smith-Bibler Memorial Stadium: Home of Death Valley Football. Valley went 7-3 last year and 4-1 in the Indiana Northern State Conference.

The Tippecanoe Valley football team represents consistent regular season excellence.

They have had eight straight winning seasons, including a 7-3 record last year. They have won the Bell so often – they have not lost to Rochester since 2017 – that it might be allergic to black and gold paint.

But they have also not won a sectional since 1992 nor been to a sectional final since 1993.

Last year, Valley came into the postseason on a five-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 182-49.

And then they lost to Angola, who had gone 4-5 during the regular season, 21-6 in their sectional opener.

Now they must move on without their top two rushers in Wes Parker and Grady Moriarty, both of whom were critical components of the defense. Top defensive end and kicker-punter Gage Overbey; linebacker Diego Gonsalez; linemen Cale DeWees, Carlos Gonzalez and Kolten Sisk; cornerback Hudson Shepherd; and two-way starter Jamison Phillips also graduated.

Their leading returning rusher and receiver on offense and leading returning tackler on defense is the same player – Owen Omondi.

Whether that streak reaches nine straight winning seasons and whether Valley can capture that elusive sectional could come down to whether those players moving into the starting lineup can replace the production of those who graduated.

Coach Stephen Moriarty said there has been a “crazy” amount of competition in camp for starting spots.

“This has been one of the years where going into game by game, we’re not going to know who the starters are because they are fighting,” Moriarty said. “And I think that it is very good because it cleans up practice quite a bit. You know that you’re going to get full effort out of both sides because every practice is an audition.”

The emphasis during the offseason has been on developing speed, according to Moriarty.

“Getting faster off the ball and getting faster in the weight room,” Moriarty said of the offseason emphasis. “Coach (Brandon) Webster did a great job, and it shows in our times when we look at our speed, what we’ve dropped our time down to this year, across the board.”

Offense

Hunter Randall returns at quarterback for Valley for his senior season. He threw for 488 yards last year and ran for another 238. Formerly known as Hunter Stage, he has legally changed his name.

“His development this summer has been extensive,” Moriarty said. “After last season, he put a lot of time in, traveling and going to different clinics. He had a quarterback coach that came in and worked with him. They did a lot of one-on-ones, but his speed has improved immensely. He ran a 4.55 40 in our timing week, which is fast for a quarterback, for us especially.”

Junior Ian Young will be Randall’s backup.

Omondi ran for 393 yards last year and added another 220 yards receiving. Moriarty was asked whether he classifies Omondi as a running back or a recover.

“I see him more as a running back,” Moriarty said. “He does run the ball hard. He’s also an excellent receiver. Finding ways to get him the ball is our challenge this year out of the running back spot or the wide receiver spot.”

Moriarty said that junior Ty Kiser and sophomore Grant Paxton will be the H-backs. In the Valley offense, H-backs operate like lead blockers but can also line up at the wing position in the offense.

Hunter Paxton, Mason Miller and Garrett Hart will be the tailbacks. Tailbacks in the offense can line up both behind the quarterback or on the wing.

“This year, we are going to rotate quite a bit,” Moriarty said. “We want to keep Hunter fresh for defense as well, being an All-Indiana Northern (State) Conference safety. And Owen will rotate in at wing some too.”

Max Harsh and Brixen Blackburn, a move-in from Warsaw, will be the wide receivers. Parker Adamson, Ethan Drudge and Hunter Clyde received equal playing time in practice as they vie for the starting tight end spot.

The offensive line will consist of sophomore Noah Coughenour at center, senior Braxton Alderfer at right guard, junior Braylon Fannin at left guard, senior Jacob Bradley at right tackle and senior Zander Ioannou at left tackle.

Fannin is listed at 6-8 and 385 pounds, but Moriarty said one should not necessarily conclude that this is a slow, plodding offensive line.

“To be honest, we’re fast this year off the ball, except for Fannin,” Moriarty said. “It’s more mobile.”

Defense

Senior tackle Michael Samuels is the lone returning starter on the defensive line. Colter Blackburn, who is Brixen’s twin brother, will start at the other tackle.

Both starters at end – Drudge and sophomore Ruger Benn – are newcomers. 

Hunter Clyde could also get reps at tackle, and Ioannou and Coughenour could get reps at end.

Senior Cayden Bailey will also be in the mix for time on the defensive line.

At linebacker, Miller and Grant Paxton will be on the outside with Jacob Bradley and Ian Young backing up. Parker Adamson and Ty Kiser will play middle linebacker.

Harsh and Brixen Blackburn will be at cornerback with Garrett Hart rotating in as well. Hunter Paxton and Omondi could mean that safety is the strength of the defense.

“I thought we played well,” Moriarty said of last year’s defense. “I think there are some things we needed to improve on our pass coverage a little bit that kind of got exposed against Hamilton Heights, but overall, with our schedule and with our conference, it’s run-dominated for the most part.

“So we’ll have to play the run during the run during the regular season and play the pass once we get in the tournament.”

Special teams

Overbey set the school career record with his 21 made field goals, including seven last year. The two 48-yard field goals he kicked against Plymouth last year were the two longest field goals in school history.

He will be missed “a ton,” according to Moriarty, adding that it will affect fourth down strategy depending on where Valley is on the field.

Coughenour and Omondi are competing for time at kicker, and Omondi, who had to fill in at punter when Overbey was injured, will take over at that spot full time.

Hunter Paxton, Hart and Harsh will be the kickoff and punt returners.

Moriarty identified Omondi, Ioannou, Bradley and Randall as team leaders.

“It was just a tight group of seniors, and they led by example,” Moriarty said, reflecting on 2025. “To fill the void, I think these seniors have stepped up. We have 13 seniors this year, and they’ve done a good job. We’ve had some newcomers out that haven’t played in a long time and came back out. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with our numbers.”

Knox has lost one conference game in the first two years of the INSC, but without Mr. Football and national high school rushing king Myles McLaughlin, Moriarty was asked if winning the conference is a team goal.

“Winning conference, of course,” Moriarty said. “Our goal this year is to get better each week and become more consistent, by far. I feel like our inconsistencies last year caused us our three losses. … I think that being consistent, that’s one of our goals, and then also improving week by week, winning the conference, winning the sectional and seeing where we can go from there.

“But winning a sectional is our number one goal.”

Moriarty was asked what lessons he hopes the team learned from the Angola game.

“I think, by us, we can’t take anything for granted, and that we have to play every down, and we have to be prepared for a battle every time we step on the field because we’re going to get people’s best shot.”

Schedule

Valley dropped Hamilton Heights and Western and added Adams Central and Woodlan to their schedule. Adams Central, who lost a Class 2A semistate to Andrean last year and who moved up to Class 3A for this year based on Success Factor, has not lost a regular season game since 2021. Woodlan is coming off a 2-8 season in 2025.

Aug. 21 – vs. Plymouth, 7 p.m.

Aug. 28 – vs. Rochester, 7 p.m.

Sept. 4 – vs. Adams Central, 7 p.m.

Sept. 11 – at Knox, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 18 – at LaVille, 7 p.m.

Sept. 25 – at Jimtown, 7 p.m.

Oct. 2 – vs. Woodlan, 7 p.m.

Oct. 9 – vs. John Glenn, 7 p.m.

Oct. 16 – at Bremen, 7 p.m.

Oct. 23 – Class 3A, Sectional 26 quarterfinal

Class 3A, Sectional 26

Angola, Fairfield, Jimtown, John Glenn, Mishawaka Marian, South Bend Washington, VALLEY, West Noble