Week 3 football roundup: Paxton runs for TD, passes for TD, but Valley falls to Adams Central
Late second quarter flurry helps Caston past NM; Rine scores 4 TDs as Pioneer handles Winamac; Bush, Carr help Culver blank Triton
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Football
Adams Central 33, Tippecanoe Valley 12 (Friday): Hunter Paxton ran for 43 yards and a touchdown, and he also threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Owen Omondi in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings lost to visiting Adams Central at Smith-Bibler Memorial Field: Home of Death Valley Football Friday.
Omondi ran for 24 yards on four carries, and he also had four receptions for 76 yards. Hunter Randall ran for 23 yards and threw for 128 yards, including a 65-yard completion to Brixen Blackburn in the third quarter.
One week after Valley held Rochester to 94 yards rushing in a 30-0 shutout, the Vikings yielded 240 yards rushing against the Flying Jets. Quarterback Jamison Roach ran for 96 yards and three touchdowns, and Godfrey Shoaf ran for 87 yards and two scores.
Valley lost a fumble in the third quarter that led to Roach’s go-ahead touchdown run in the third quarter that gave Adams Central a 12-6 lead.
On their next possession, Valley turned the ball over on downs on their own 24 on a failed fake punt attempt, and Shoaf capped the ensuing drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 19-6.
Paxton’s touchdown pass to Omondi in the fourth cut the margin to 19-12.
Adams Central converted 6 of 11 third downs and also went 2 for 2 on fourth downs.
Valley had three turnovers while Adams Central had none.
Ty Kiser led the Valley defense with 14 tackles. Mason Miller added nine tackles, and Grant Paxton had eight. Hunter Clyde had three sacks.
Adams Central 33, Tippecanoe Valley 12
Adams Central 0 6 13 14 – 33
Valley 0 6 0 6 – 12
First quarter
(no scoring)
Second quarter
AC – Godfrey Shoaf 1 run (kick failed)
TV – Hunter Paxton 3 run (two-point conversion failed)
Third quarter
AC – Jamison Roach 1 run (pass failed)
AC – Shoaf 4 run (Braylen Cowans kick)
Fourth quarter
TV – Owen Omondi 43 pass from Hunter Paxton (two-point conversion failed)
AC – Roach 2 run (Cowans kick)
AC – Roach 32 run (Cowans kick)
London Herd Ashton Bowyer
Caston 28, North Miami 14 (Friday): Ashton Bowyer ran for 95 yards, and London Herd ran for 49 yards and also returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown as the visiting Comets beat the Warriors for the first time since the schools became Hoosier North rivals Friday.
Logan Mollenkopf added 58 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Landen Rigney ran for 35 yards and a touchdown. Woolever had two two-point conversion runs.
Caston won despite not completing a pass.
Tucker Woolever had five tackles and a sack, and Bowyer and Herd also had five tackles each. Parker Zimpleman had four tackles, including a tackle for loss.
Caston led 28-8 at halftime.
Caston is 3-0 overall for the first time since 2009. They are also 1-0 in the Hoosier North.
North Miami fell to 1-2, 0-1.
Caston 28, North Miami 14
Caston 8 20 0 0 – 28
North Miami 0 8 6 0 – 14
Pioneer 50, Winamac 7 (Friday): Shiloh Rine ran for 96 yards and three touchdowns, and he also had two receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown as Pioneer won their Hoosier North opener over Winamac at the Panther Pit Friday.
Phillip McFatridge ran six times for 72 yards and a touchdown and also caught a 40-yard pass. Braxton Maciejewski ran two times for 46 yards, and Colten Long had four carries for 44 yards and a touchdown.
As a team, Pioneer ran for 263 yards on 10.5 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, freshman quarterback Colton Popejoy completed all four of his passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. One of his completions was a 92-yarder for a touchdown to Rine.
Wyatt Wiles led the Pioneer defense with seven tackles, a tackle for loss and two fumble recoveries. Rine and Mason Shaver had six tackles each. Mikaden Toloson had five tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
McFatridge had five tackles and an interception.
Winamac came in averaging over 310 yards per game rushing, and Pioneer held them to 118 yards on 3.6 yards per carry.
Pioneer has outscored Winamac 161-7 over the last five years.
Pioneer 50, Winamac 7
Winamac 0 0 0 7 – 7
Pioneer 14 30 6 0 – 50
Culver 34, Triton 0 (Friday): Brayen Bush ran 22 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns, and John Carr had 14 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown and also returned an interception for a touchdown for the visiting Cavaliers as they blanked host Triton in their Hoosier North opener Friday.
Braylon Jackson ran for 35 yards and a touchdown on five carries, and Carter Beem had five carries for 29 yards.
Defensively, Colton Falk and Bush forced fumbles, and Zane Whitfield recovered a fumble.
Drake Zorich led in tackles.
Culver held Triton to 107 total yards.
Culver broke a seven-game losing streak to Triton and beat the Trojans for the first time since 2019.
Culver led 28-0 at halftime.
This marked Culver’s first shutout win since a 42-0 win over Attica in August 2024.
Culver 34, Triton 0
Culver 6 22 6 0 – 34
Triton 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
CUL – Brayen Bush 5 run (two-point conversion failed)
Second quarter
CUL – John Carr interception return (two-point conversion good)
CUL – Braylon Jackson 10 run (Bentley Van Horn kick)
CUL – Bush 24 run (Van Horn kick)
Third quarter
CUL – Carr 10 run (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
(no scoring)
USA Today poll rankings roundup
Tippecanoe Valley dropped out of the Class 3A rankings following their loss to Adams Central. In fact, no Sectional 26 teams received poll recognition this week.
Rochester dropped out of the Class 2A rankings despite their 46-6 win over Whitko. No. 4 Eastside and No. 10 Bremen are the Sectional 34 teams that are ranked.
Clinton Prairie, who is Rochester’s opponent Friday, is No. 7 in this week’s Class 1A poll.
Pioneer and North Judson flip-flopped spots in the Class 1A poll. Pioneer improved from No. 3 to No. 2, and North Judson dropped from No. 2 to No. 3. North Judson and Pioneer will meet in Royal Center on Oct. 16.
In addition to Pioneer, the other Sectional 43 teams receiving poll recognition include No. 10 Madison-Grant and Sheridan, who is tied for No. 16.
Winamac dropped out of the Class 2A rankings following their loss to Pioneer. North Judson is the only Sectional 41 team to receive poll recognition.
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