Week 10 preview: Winamac seeks first postseason win over Lafayette Central Catholic

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Winamac (3-6) at Lafayette Central Catholic (6-3), 7 p.m.

(Winner will host Rochester in the Class 2A, Sectional 34 semifinals)

Winamac lost three fumbles against Triton last week, two of which came in the first quarter.

The Warriors fell behind 28-0 and wound up falling 35-6 to finish the regular season 3-6. “We just didn’t get off to a very good start,” Winamac coach Josh Burgess said. “I’m not sure why. I don’t know if it was weather-related. We had some senior night stuff going on. So we were kind of out of our routine just a little bit but no excuse. Triton was ready to go and play. We blew a coverage in our first series, gave up a 40-yard touchdown run and had those two turnovers that set up scores inside the 10.

“Just not a good first quarter for us. Once we got through the first quarter, I thought we played pretty even, but we dug ourselves too big of a hole to get out of.”

Addison Allen scored Winamac’s only touchdown and led the Warriors with 100 yards rushing against Triton. With Jadon Jones out with a concussion, Allen’s role in the backfield along with Maddox Bucinski has increased.

“Addison’s a good player for us on both sides of the ball,” Burgess said. “He’s come along on offensively. He had a nice season for us defensively last year, and he’s picked right up with that. So he’s one of our key players, and he’s good for us in all three phases of the game.”

Now Winamac will face the same Lafayette Central Catholic team that beat them 52-8 in last year’s sectional quarterfinals. Winamac is 0-3 all-time against the Knights, having also lost to them in the 2012 and 2020 regionals.

LCC running back Mason Meister had 34 carries for 218 yards and three touchdowns in a 26-7 win over Western, a Class 4A team, last week. The Knights have the reputation of being a passing team, but they ran the ball 75 percent of the time against Western.

“They’re more than capable through the passing game too, but they played in a torrential downpour too,” Burgess said. “I don’t know if weather had a factor in that, but they’re like a lot of spread teams. I think people make the mistake of thinking they’re going to throw it 50 times. They run a lot of spread formations, but they usually spread it out to run it. They’ve got talented kids everywhere. It’s going to be a tough task for us this week.”

Lafayette Central Catholic, ranked No. 10 in this week’s final Associated Press poll of the season, is a four-time defending sectional champion. Rochester, who is ranked No. 12 and received a bye, awaits the winner.