Week 2 football preview: Caston seeks first 2-0 start since 2009

Culver seeks to bounce back vs. W. Central; Taylor, NM coming off opening losses; Winamac seeking first 2-0 start since 2021; Pioneer to face Knox coming off rare shutout

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

North White (1-0) at Caston (1-0), 7 p.m.

• Caston beat Whitko 54-14 last week. Caston has not started a season 2-0 since 2009.

• Caston beat North White 55-0 last season in Monon. That was Caston’s largest margin of victory in Chris Ulerick’s 24 years as coach.

• Four of North White’s first five games are on the road. They opened with a 30-16 win over Taylor last week, avenging two losses by a combined 149-6 last year to the Titans.

• Caston ran for 273 yards last week despite no individual having more than 75 yards.

• Quarterback Carter Applegate and running back Mason DeBoard are top threats for North White.

West Central (0-1) at Culver (0-1), 7 p.m.

• Culver lost its opener 35-7 to visiting Central Noble while West Central took a 34-20 road loss to Winamac.

• Can Culver skill position players John Carr, Braylon Jackson and Colton Falk put up big numbers against a West Central defense that allowed 263 yards rushing to Winamac last week?

• The Central Noble passing attack amassed 208 yards against Culver last week. Can Culver clamp down on West Central receiver Grant Peter, who had nine catches for 104 yards against Winamac?

• West Central has not started a season 0-2 since 2021, but they have not lost to Culver since 2022.

Taylor (0-1) at North Miami (0-1), 7 p.m.

• Taylor started with a 30-16 loss to North White while North Miami fell to Northfield 28-14. Taylor did not score in the second half against a North White defense that allowed 41.1 points per game last year.

• North Miami will try to limit its turnovers after four giveaways against Northfield.

• Keyshawn Galloway and Devin Underwood figure to be the top receiving threats for Taylor. They combined for 826 yards receiving and eight touchdowns last year.

• Though they averaged 5.1 yards per carry, the 14 points North Miami scored against Northfield were its fewest in its last 22 games, dating back to a 2024 game against Pioneer.

• This is the teams’ first meeting since a 42-6 North Miami win on Aug. 26, 2022.

Winamac (1-0) at Frontier (0-1), 7 p.m.

• Winamac beat West Central 34-20 last week. Winamac has not started a season 2-0 since 2021.

• Winamac had 330 yards of offense against West Central. Senior Louis Rugg III accounted for 264 of those yards rushing and receiving.

• Frontier lost to Clinton Prairie 28-13 last week. Frontier had been 17-0 in regular season games in the Jack Barron era as coach prior to last week. The 13 points were the fewest Frontier has scored in a regular season game under Barron. Frontier scored on their first two drives to build a 13-0 lead but did not score again.

• Frontier senior quarterback Ayden Justice led the team in both passing yards (134) and rushing yards (55) last week. When somebody other than Justice carried the ball, Frontier had -15 yards rushing.

• Frontier beat Winamac 54-21 last year. That ended a 10-game losing streak to Winamac dating back to 2005.

Pioneer (1-0) at Knox (0-1), 7:30 p.m. Eastern

• Class 1A, No. 2 Pioneer rallied from a 15-0 deficit to beat Lewis Cass 20-15 last week while Knox lost to Class 1A, No. 3 North Judson 42-0.

• Pioneer ran for 153 yards on 3.7 yards per carry. North Judson ran for 225 yards on 6.3 yards per carry against Knox’s defense.

• Knox is a four-time defending sectional champion in Class 3A. They have moved down to Class 2A this year.

• Knox quarterback Ashton Walker did not connect on any of his seven passes last week. Meanwhile, Lewis Cass quarterback Cole Rush completed just four of 13 passes last week against Pioneer.

• Pioneer has lost the last four meetings against Knox. Pioneer has not beaten Knox since Oct. 1, 2021.