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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Tippecanoe Valley at Wawasee, 7 p.m.
Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said last week’s scrimmage at Knox was good in helping the players who might see JV or varsity playing time get various looks in various situations.
He also said Valley excelled in its short-yardage offense from the Knox 10-yard line, scoring six times in 10 plays.
“So I felt very confident inside the 10,” Moriarty said. “The first 15 (plays) from the 35(-yard line), we looked rusty and a little shellshocked, you would say almost. But once we settled into the game, then we started to make improvements, and I think that was shown when we got down to the 10-yard line and we scored that many times.”
Wawasee is a new addition to Valley’s schedule. This is the first meeting between the two teams. Valley has had three straight winning seasons. Wawasee, a Class 4A team, has had six consecutive losing seasons, including a 3-7 record last year for coach Jon Reutebuch.
Reutebuch, who is starting his third season as coach, is a 1987 Winamac grad and a junior on the first sectional championship team in Winamac history in 1985.
“This is a very, very good Wawasee team,” Moriarty said. “To compete with them, we’re going to have to play our very best.”
Lucas Ringler is a senior who has moved to quarterback after spending previous seasons at wide receiver. Moriarty expects a balance between 50-50 running and passing and some sprint-out passes involving Ringler. Moriarty said Ringler is “without a doubt” the player to stop on Wawasee’s offense.
“The quarterback that they have is very agile and can move well,” Moriarty said. “And they use him quite a bit to run.”
Valley fullback-middle linebacker Joel Cisneros will miss the game with an injury that Moriarty declined to specify.
