Week 2 preview: Caston, N. White seek to bounce back from opening losses

Pioneer to face Knox, speedy McLaughlin; Winamac to host Frontier; Culver to visit W. Central

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

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

• Caston lost 41-6 to Class 1A, No. 4 Carroll (Flora) last week.

• North White lost 64-0 to Class 1A, No. 15 Taylor last week. That marked North White’s worst margin of defeat since a 78-0 loss to Pioneer in September 2018. They have lost three straight games dating back to last year by a combined score of 129-14.

• North White is hosting Caston for the first time since a 14-6 loss to Caston in the 2023 sectional, a loss which spoiled the Vikings’ undefeated season.

• Caston and North White have split their last 14 meetings dating back to 2009.

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

Lewis Cass averaged 33 points per game last year, but Pioneer blanked them 28-0 last week. Lewis Cass had just 77 yards of offense and averaged just 1.6 yards per rushing attempt.

“Lewis Cass, they got some first downs, and they were moving the ball in the first quarter,” Pioneer coach Adam Berry said. “They had great ball control after we scored early. We had that bend-but-don’t-break (effort) on our first defensive drive, and then second quarter on, we really settled in and held them in check. Extremely proud with how our defense played. It really put our offense in great field position all night. We had guys flying to the ball more than we have had the last couple years, so you know, watching it live, we were really pleased with the effort, and that effort showed when we watched film.”

Stars on defense included the 158-pound Colten Long, the 136-pound Cole Franklin and the 153-pound Kit Gotshall.

“Historically, we haven’t had a lot of just looking at them in street clothes, thinking, man, they don’t seem like football players,” Berry said. “But we have guys that with great effort, and … if you get to the ball, good things are going to happen.”

Knox, ranked No. 8 in Class 3A and coming off a 38-6 win over defending Class 1A runner-up North Judson last week, figures to be an even bigger challenge. Knox senior quarterback Myles McLaughlin broke the school rushing record during his sophomore year and passed the 7,000-yard mark for his career last week. He had 190 yards rushing last week and has averaged 175 per game for his career. He also threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Cain Weber last week.

He has accounted for 120 career touchdowns – 105 rushing, 15 passing.

“In the single wing, they probably list someone as the quarterback, but they have two guys back there a lot of times, and sometimes they use someone else as technically the quarterback and Myles as the running back and then obviously, they just direct-snap to him a lot of times and just let him do his thing. He has the title of quarterback, but he is their main running back, and he is definitely their focal point obviously these last couple years.”

Knox has won the last three meetings against Pioneer. They have averaged 53.3 points in those games.

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

• Winamac is coming off a 24-8 loss to West Central in which they allowed 342 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Frontier is coming off a 37-26 win over Clinton Prairie.

• Frontier receiver Chase Winkler figures to test the Winamac secondary. He had 789 yards receiving and nine touchdown catches last year, and he caught two more touchdown passes and returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a score against Clinton Prairie.

• Winamac has won the last nine meetings against Frontier and has not lost to the Falcons since 2005. Last year’s meeting in Week 2 was ruled a no-contest after inclement weather in Chalmers and an inability to find replacement officials for the following day forced the game to be abandoned.

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

• Culver is coming off a 26-7 win over Attica in which they held the Ramblers to -10 yards rushing. West Central, meanwhile, ran for 342 yards in a 24-8 win over Winamac.

• West Central freshman quarterback Connor Huber ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns last week, and he added another 21 yards passing. Huber’s touchdown runs were 84 and 46 yards in length.

• Culver ran for 276 yards against Attica, but the West Central defense held Winamac’s running game to less than three yards per carry. Isaiah Gonzalez ran for 110 yards past week for the Cavaliers, and John Carr ran for 78.

• West Central won 28-16 at Culver last year. West Central has won the last two meetings against the Cavaliers, breaking a run of nine straight Culver wins in the series.