Week 6 football preview: Rochester, Peru’s defenses going in different directions

Valley seeks more rushing success vs. Jimtown; Caston to host Culver on Homecoming; Pioneer to take on struggling Satellites; Winamac seeks to slow down NM running game

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester’s Trenton Meadows

Rochester (4-1, 4-0 Three Rivers Conference) at Peru (1-4, 1-3), 7 p.m.

The Lewis Cass defense was determined not to let Rochester run their trap play to fullback Brant Beck last week. Beck still ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yarder in the fourth quarter that completed the scoring in Rochester’s 34-0 win.

Rochester had 411 yards rushing despite Lewis Cass’ best efforts to take away certain plays.

“They wanted to take away trap for sure,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said. “And they were slanting pretty hard trying to take away our power. So we went ahead and ran a lot more of our off-tackle toss to Brant and our down play, which is still an off-tackle play for Brant. But trap was pretty tough just the way they were playing their defensive front, slanting. So for us, we just had to figure it out. It did help us with some jet sweeps, especially early in the game. Yarber got free on a big one and almost broke another one. So that’s what’s the special sauce about this offense is that if we can figure out what they’re trying to take away, then there’s an if-then statement. There’s something that we can go to and turn to that should work.”

And while Beck shined, the Zebra defense shut down Lewis Cass star fullback Gavin Smith, holding him to 29 yards rushing. Smith came in averaging 142 yards per game.

The Rochester defense allows opponents just 2.8 points per game, which ranks second in the state. They also allow opponents only 31 yards rushing per game.

“You’re handcuffing that offense when your fullback can’t get anything and your halfbacks can’t either,” Shaffer said. “It’s the most frustrating thing. I’m sure coach (Clayton) Mannering on the other side, he’s ready to shred his call sheet in half because it’s frustrating when everything you call isn’t working. And that’s a credit to our defense. I think it also shows that when you’re stopping Smith and they have to go now to their halfbacks and their halfbacks can’t get anything, it’s a pretty good defensive effort.”

This week, the stout run defense will clash with a Peru offense that has multiple running threats in Isaiah Korba, Ryne Babbs and quarterback Aiden Sheets. Korba is seeking his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game, and as a team, Peru averages 294 yards rushing per game.

Shaffer calls this the “toughest task” for their defense this year.

“They line up, and the halfback and the quarterback kind of share a position,” Shaffer said. “They don’t really line up directly behind the center. Both of them could take the snap at any time. We’ll see that on Friday night. … They’ve got weapons all over on their offense.”

It might figure that Peru will have to score a lot of points in order to beat Rochester. The Zebra offense averages 36 points per game, and opponents have torched Peru’s 4-3 defense for 35 points and 391 total yards per game.

They gave up a season-worst 528 yards of offense in a 31-28 loss to Maconaquah last week, and they gave up 324 yards last year in a 38-6 loss to Rochester at Barnhart Field. 

“They’re scoring at a clip of about 24 points a game,” Shaffer said. “They were shut out (by Logansport) in the first game, and since then, they’ve averaged about 30 points a game if you take that into account. So they can really put points up. It’s just how does their defense play. Can they stop you?”

Korba is also a top tackler on defense.

“He’s a really, really patient runner,” Shaffer said. “He reminds me a lot of watching Le’Veon Bell back in the day with the Steelers. He stays behind his blockers well and just looks for that alley or opening and is explosive out of it. But he’s very good from their strong linebacker position because he kind of plays it the same way. He looks for his openings to shoot to make tackles, but he adds a dimension we didn’t see last year because he was out of the game because of a suspension. But he’s definitely on our radar this year.”

Rochester is 4-5 against Peru since Peru joined the TRC in 2015.

Shaffer said right guard-defensive tackle Callen Ferverda is “questionable” with an ankle injury.

Jimtown (1-4, 0-1 Indiana Northern State Conference) at Tippecanoe Valley (3-2, 1-1), 7

Valley’s Diego Gonsalez

p.m.

The Valley rushing attack tore through LaVille’s defense last week, rushing for 395 yards as a team – both Wes Parker and Grady Moriarty ran for over 100 yards each – in a 38-28 win. That followed 279 yards of rushing as a team in a 36-21 loss to Class 3A, No. 5 Knox the week before.

Coach Stephen Moriarty credited better offensive line play.

“I would say yes, that’s been our most successful outing running-wise,” coach Moriarty said. “I think our offensive line played very well. I think the o-line communicated well and was able to get up to the second level to the linebackers, and they were doing a good job of sustaining their blocks. And of course, Grady and Wes did a good job of breaking a few tackles to make those longer runs.”

Meanwhile, Valley won despite their defense allowing 388 total yards. On the subject of pass defense, the good news is that Gage Overbey returned an interception for a touchdown, and coach Moriarty called Overbey the “anchor” of the defensive line and gives the defense extra “security.”

The bad news is that LaVille quarterback Brayden Schwitz completed 10 passes with an average of 26.2 yards per completion. One of those completions went for a 90-yard touchdown to Konnor Amor.

“I don’t think it’s our ability,” coach Moriarty said of the pass defense. “I think sometimes it’s just communication is a big factor in that. You know, I think sometimes if you get mixed up in which coverage we’re in, sometimes that’s where it allows the big plays.”

Shoring up the pass defense could be critical as Jimtown passes more than the typical Jimtown team – about 37 percent of the time, according to Moriarty.

“This week’s going to be a concern for us again,” coach Moriarty said. “They pass more than the average Jimtown team, you would say. … We’re going to have to make sure that our i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed this week and that we have good communication on defense. I think we’re going to try to simplify things to rectify that situation.”

The vice-grip defense for which Jimtown is known, however, is a thing of the past. They are allowing 24 points per game, which would be their most in at least 30 years. Last week against Bremen, they could not hold on to a 15-0 lead and wound up losing 29-22.

Bremen’s offense scored only one of their four touchdowns. Two came on fumble returns, and another came on an 87-yard punt return.

Three of Jimtown’s losses are by seven points or fewer.

“They’re a hard-nosed team,” Moriarty said. “It’s a typical Jimtown team. You’re going to see the same stuff you’ve seen for years, and they’re good at it. They’re a physical team. They’ve played a lot of tough teams. Their record doesn’t show how good they are. They’ve had a really tough schedule so far, and I think they’re going to be one of those teams that if you don’t match their physicality, then you’re going to be in for a long evening.”

This is the ninth meeting between the teams. Jimtown holds a 7-1 all-time lead in the series, according to Valley football historian Micah Lukens. Jimtown won last year 14-0. Valley has averaged just eight points per game in those nine meetings.

Michael Samuelson is out this week with an ankle injury, and Wyatt Bradley is “questionable” with a knee injury, according to coach Moriarty. These injuries could test Valley’s depth at defensive tackle.

Culver (1-4, 0-3 Hoosier North) at Caston (2-3, 1-2), 7 p.m.

• Culver has lost four straight since winning their opener. That includes a 41-0 loss to North Judson last week.

• Caston is coming off a 46-0 win over South Central last week. Both of Caston’s wins this year have been by shutout.

• Culver allowed 241 yards rushing against North Judson last week. Meanwhile, the Caston offense had 332 yards rushing on nearly eight yards per carry against South Central.

• Caston has won the last two meetings in the series, including a 21-20 win at Culver last year. Prior to that, Culver had beaten Caston eight straight times.

• Tonight is Homecoming at Caston.

South Central (Union Mills) (0-5, 0-3 Hoosier North) at Pioneer (4-1, 3-0), 7:30 p.m.

• South Central has lost six straight games dating back to last year and 13 of their last 14. Meanwhile, Pioneer has won three in a row, including a 41-22 win at North Miami that knocked the Warriors out of the top 10 in the Class 1A USA Today media poll.

• Pioneer had 440 yards rushing as a team – including a school-record 325 from quarterback Micah Rans – on 12.6 yards per carry last week. Meanwhile, the Satellite defense is allowing nearly 50 points per game.

• South Central quarterback Rylon Rondo threw three interceptions against Caston last week. He has thrown 10 interceptions in five games this season.

• Pioneer beat South Central 57-6 last year in their first meeting as Hoosier North rivals.

North Miami (3-2, 1-2 Hoosier North) at Winamac (1-4, 1-2), 7 p.m.

• North Miami dropped from No. 7 to No. 10 to No. 13 in the Class 1A USA Today media polls following losses to North Judson and Pioneer in the last two weeks.

• Winamac is coming off a 35-6 loss to Triton last week. Winamac is allowing 37 points per game, and North Miami scores 31 per game. However, the North Miami defense allowed 440 rushing yards to Pioneer last week. Are there holes in the North Miami rushing defense, and can runners like Tearson Wolford, Ethan Burgess and Ivan Cardenas exploit them?

• The North Miami trio of Hartley Hoover, Lake Musall and Ryan Meredith combined for 298 yards rushing in a 41-14 win over Winamac in Denver last year. All three are back this year.

• Winamac is 0-2 at home. Winamac has not lost its first three home games in a season since 2006.