Week 2 football roundup: Caston blasts N. White with strong rushing attack

W. Central blanks Culver; NM gets first win vs. Taylor; Wolford, Rugg both go over 100 yards in rout of Frontier; Pioneer holds off Knox

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

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Tucker Woolever Landen Rigney

Football

Caston 45, North White 0 (Friday): Landen Rigney ran for 78 yards and a touchdown, caught a 34-yard pass and had two sacks on defense for the host Comets in a rout of North White Friday.

Ashton Bowyer ran for 58 yards and two touchdowns, Tucker Woolever ran for 47 yards and a touchdown, and London Herd ran for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Braxton Enyart ran for 29 yards and a touchdown, Cayman Brown ran for 24 yards, and Bronson Howard ran for 15 yards.

Logan Mollenkopf had 34 yards passing and also ran for a score.

Caston had 299 yards rushing on 7.0 yards per carry.

Woolever led the defense with nine tackles, and Brayden Unger, Abel Lovelady and Bowyer had four tackles each. Unger and Howard each had a fumble recovery. Parker Zimpleman had three tackles and a sack.

Caston led 26-0 at halftime.

Caston is 2-0 for the first time since 2009.

Caston 45, North White 0

North White 0 0 0 0 – 0

Caston 14 12 19 0 – 45

West Central 36, Culver 0 (Friday): Culver dropped to 0-2 with a home loss to sectional rival West Central Friday.

Rosendo Martinez ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans.

North Miami 54, Taylor 16 (Friday): North Miami improved to 1-1 with a home win over sectional rival Taylor Friday.

Pioneer 34, Knox 26 (Friday): Shiloh Rine ran for 78 yards and a touchdown, caught three passes for 50 yards and a touchdown and also had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as the visiting Panthers, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A, knocked off Knox at Community Field Friday.

Rine also took part in 16 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss. 

Phillip McFatridge ran for a team-high 92 yards and a touchdown, and he also had 12 tackles on defense.

Freshman quarterback Colton Popejoy completed six of 10 passes for 76 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also had a touchdown run.

Fullback Braxton Maciejewski ran 13 times for 43 yards.

McFatridge, Carter Mize and Adric Lee had one reception each.

Wyatt Wiles had 10 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Colten Long added nine tackles, Chase VanMeter had nine tackles, Mikaden Tolosa had eight tackles, and Gage Lakes and Jason Gluth had seven tackles each.

Pioneer 34, Knox 26

Pioneer 14 7 13 0 – 34

Knox 8 6 6 6 – 26

Winamac 41, Frontier 6 (Friday): Tearson Wolford ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and Louis Rugg ran for 104 yards and a touchdown for the visiting Warriors in a win over Frontier Friday.

Ivan Cardenas added 70 yards rushing and a touchdown on 10 carries, and he also caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Xavier Adriano.

Adriano had 22 yards and a touchdown rushing in addition to his 45 yards passing.

Winamac ran the ball 44 times and passed it twice. Winamac averaged 8.4 yards per carry as a team. Winamac committed no turnovers.

Winamac led 27-6 at halftime.

Winamac is 2-0 for the first time since 2021.

Winamac 41, Frontier 6

Winamac 14 13 7 7 – 41

Frontier 0 6 0 0 – 6

First quarter

WIN – Ivan Cardenas 11 run (Layne Weaver kick)

WIN – Tearson Wolford 4 run (Weaver kick)

Second quarter

WIN – Louis Rugg III 10 run (kick failed)

FRO – Kesler 10 pass from Justice (kick failed)

WIN – Cardenas 45 pass from Xavier Adiriano (Weaver kick)

Third quarter

WIN – Wolford 1 run (Weaver kick)

Fourth quarter

WIN – Adriano 3 run (Weaver kick)

Rankings roundup

• In Class 2A, Sectional 34, Rochester moved up from No. 12 to a four-way tie for No. 11 in this week’s USA Today media poll despite a 30-0 loss to Tippecanoe Valley Friday. Eastside is No. 4, and Bremen is No. 10.

• In Class 3A, Sectional 26, Tippecanoe Valley moved up from No. 18 to No. 15 following their shutout win over Rochester. No. 11 Fairfield is the only other Sectional 26 team that received recognition. Adams Central, whom Valley will host at 7 p.m. Friday, dropped from No. 3 to No. 5 following their 21-14 loss to Eastside Friday.

• In Class 1A, Sectional 43, Pioneer dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 despite their 34-26 win over Knox. Madison-Grant, who improved to 2-0 following a 36-0 win over Southwood, is No. 13, and Sheridan is tied for No. 16.

• In Class 1A, Sectional 41, North Judson moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 following their 55-12 win at LaVille. Meanwhile, Winamac got their first poll vote of the season and is tied for No. 16.

• Maconaquah, who is No. 10 in Class 3A, is the only other Three Rivers Conference team to receive poll recognition this week besides Rochester.

• Clinton Prairie, who is Rochester’s Week 4 opponent on Sept. 11, is No. 9 in Class 1A.