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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Proud of its history, Tippecanoe Valley football alumni were invited to view the school’s new football-only locker room as well as its new weight room and other facilities during a fundraiser in June.
A new grass field for Smith-Bibler Memorial Field Home of Death Valley Football, new goalposts and a new scoreboard are also on their way.
But emotionally letting go from last year has not been easy after Valley lost to eventual state champion Indianapolis Chatard 40-7 in a Class 3A, Sectional 28 quarterfinal.
Prior to that, they went 9-0 during the regular season and averaged 41 points per game. Along the way, they won their fifth straight Bell game against Rochester, ended an 11-game losing streak to Culver Academy and also beat Jimtown for the first time ever. They also whacked perennial power West Lafayette 35-13 on the road.
But they remain without a sectional title since 1992.
“No one handled it well, I don’t believe,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said of the Chatard game. “It was a hard loss for one of the better teams that we’ve had in Valley history. But at the same time, we played one of the best teams in the state of Indiana in all classes. They’re ranked number one now in 4A. … I think there was an understanding we played a quarter-and-a-half square with the number one team in the state in all classes. So there’s a sense of pride in that, and I think there’s a little bit of bitterness going forward that we don’t want to do that again. We were close, but we know the things we need to work on to beat a team like that. So I think we’ll be better for it.”
It could be argued that the loss to Chatard ended one era of Valley football and started another.
They begin the new Indiana Northern State Conference this year with Knox, LaVille, John Glenn, Jimtown and Bremen.
They also move from Sectional 28 to Sectional 26, according to the new Class 3A alignment. There is only one private school – Fort Wayne Concordia, who went 0-10 last year – in their sectional, and that might be relevant: Over the last three years, Valley is 28-4. They are 28-1 against public school teams and 0-3 against private schools.
But they will make the move without RTC Player of the Year Nate Parker along with All-RTC first-teamers Wade Jones, Dalton Alber, Kyler Johnson and Issiac Ramsey, all of whom graduated.
Parker and Jones, both of whom now play at Taylor University, accounted for 27 touchdowns between the two of them.
Jones played in the North-South All-Star Game last month. The Indiana Football Coaches Association named him to its Top 50 All-State Team. Alber and Parker both made the IFCA’s Class 3A Senior All-State team.
Alber and Ramsey are two of the four Valley offensive linemen that graduated. The other two who graduated were stalwarts Phillip Smith and Cameron Mason.
They also have to find a replacement for graduated quarterback Cody Eastgate.
Junior Jamison Phillips and sophomore Hunter Stage are vying to replace Eastgate under center. Moriarty said he will wait until after Friday’s scrimmage against Fairfield before choosing.
“I would say Jamison is definitely mobile,” Moriarty said. “He’s very fast. He does a very good job of reading the defense. And Hunter Stage has kind of those same abilities, very shifty when he runs. Moves well. It just depends on which one rises to the top.”
Running backs who could see an increase in carries include Brock Derf and Grady Moriarty. A tailback who could step up include Brandon Stiles.
“You’ll see a pretty heavy dose of them, Grady and Brock, and at tailback a little too,” coach Moriarty said. “Stiles will be our starter coming out of the gates here with Grady backing him up some. We’ve got a mixture of talent. In trying to keep it fresh on both sides of the ball, we’re going to have to have a pretty good rotation in the backfield because all three of those kids are linebackers for us.”
Senior Wyatt Hart, junior Wes Parker and sophomores Owen Omondi and Hunter Paxton will see time both at the wing and lined up at receiver to take advantage of their big-play potential.
Hudson Shepherd could also factor in at wide receiver.
“We’re going to have to grow up fast,” coach Moriarty said of the receivers.
Colton Crabb and Matthew Owens, both seniors, are competing to see who replaces the graduated Landon Durkes and Johnson at tight end.
As for the offensive line, Nash Miller and Asher McGriff are competing to see who replaces Ramsey at center. Cale Dewees and Gage Overbey will be the guards. Kolten Sisk will start at right tackle while Konnar Fountain and Carlos Gonzalez are competing to see who starts at left tackle.
“It’s a different type of offensive line compared to last year,” coach Moriarty said of his bigger offensive line. “We were fast and aggressive.”
On the defensive line, McGriff, Overbey, Fountain and Jacob Bradley will see time at end while Sisk, Gonzalez, Dewees and Will Kelley will see time at tackle.
“On the defensive line, we’ll be big, and it will be defensive line-by-committee this year,” coach Moriarty said. “We’re going to rotate a lot of guys in. I know last year, we went two ways, and those were the guys, and we didn’t sub a whole lot. This year, you’ll see a lot more subbing.”
Derf, who had 81 tackles last year, including 11 for loss, will man middle linebacker. Moriarty and Brandon Stiles are expected to man the outside. Diego Gonsalez will also get a look at outside linebacker.
Wes Parker, Phillips and Hart should factor into the mix at cornerback. Hunter Paxton will compete with Omondi and Crabb for playing time at safety.
Wes Parker has the most experience of anybody in the secondary.
“He had a great season as a sophomore, played really well,” coach Moriarty said. “He got into that starting role, and he just did a great job last year.”
Overbey starts his third year as Valley’s kicker while also taking on new duties as an offensive guard, defensive end and punter. Sophomore Braxton Alderfer has also impressed at punter.
Along with West Noble, Valley will be one of two teams that had an undefeated regular season in Sectional 26. Fairfield, Garrett and Lakeland all won at least six games.
“That’s the common theme about all those teams,” coach Moriarty said. “They’re all returning a lot of players except for us.”
Schedule
Valley will start with three home nonconference games followed by four straight on the road. Hammond Morton, Valley’s Week 3 opponent, is in Class 5A. Four of Valley’s five conference games will be on the road. Like Valley, Knox lost only to Indianapolis Chatard last year; Valley’s loss occurred in the sectional while Knox’s occurred in the semistate.
Aug. 23 – vs. Wawasee, 7 p.m.
Aug. 30 – vs. Rochester, 7 p.m.
Sept. 6 – vs. Hammond Morton, 7 p.m.
Sept. 13 – at Knox, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 – at LaVille, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27 – at Jimtown, 7 p.m.
Oct. 4 – at Western, 7 p.m.
Oct. 11 – vs. John Glenn, 7 p.m.
Oct. 18 – at Bremen, 7 p.m.
Oct. 25 – Class 3A, Sectional 26 quarterfinal
Class 3A, Sectional 26
Valley, Angola, Fairfield, Fort Wayne Concordia, Garrett, Lakeland, West Noble, Woodlan
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