Week 7 football preview: Northfield’s Perney, Eviston key Northfield attack against staunch Zebra defense

Valley seeks 3rd straight win against ‘physical’ Western defense; Caston, Triton offenses hope to bounce back after losses; after containing Comets, Culver defense will try to hold down Pioneer; Winamac to host No. 4 Judson

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester’s Callen Ferverda

Northfield (1-5, 1-4 Three Rivers Conference) at Rochester (5-1, 5-0), 7 p.m.

The Rochester offense turned the ball over on downs at the Peru 2-yard-line to start last week’s game, but a Zakk Parks 40-yard punt return for a touchdown seemed to turn the momentum back in its favor in a 50-0 win at Bengal Memorial Stadium last week.

“They came out and were lined up in a different formation offensively than we thought,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said. “They were really overloaded on one side. Our kids adjusted pretty well, played that well and did get the three-and-out and force the punt, and a really nice job of … Zakk fielding the punt because not very many people have fielded punts against Peru and then some pretty good blocking downfield by different players along the way to get him in the end zone.” 

Rochester had a 372-57 advantage in total yards, including a 115-6 advantage in passing yards. Carson Paulik set both a season-high for passing yards in a game and a career-high for touchdown passes in a game with three. On five other occasions, he had thrown two touchdown passes in a game.

“I would say his best game at doing it so far this season,” Shaffer said when asked about Paulik’s ability to pick out and hit the open receiver. “He had good time, really good presence at what was going on with the protection to deliver the ball correctly to the correct receiver. I think it was probably a game that can catapult him forward in the passing game, and we can see really good things from him the next couple weeks in what we’re trying to do offensively.”

But if Rochester’s offense might be performing at the peak of its powers, then the same might be said about Northfield, who scored a season-high in points in a 47-41 win over Wabash last week.

Now they will try to move the ball against a Rochester defense coming off back-to-back shutouts against Lewis Cass and Peru. Both the Kings and Tigers gained exactly 51 yards for the game against the Zebras. Lewis Cass was held to 1.4 yards per carry while Peru had just 1.7 yards per attempt.

Quarterback Jake Perney and fullback Luke Eviston key the Northfield offense.

Perney ran for 172 yards against Wabash and threw for another 104. Eviston will either go straight up the middle or go off-tackle on a “railroad track” within their option attack, according to Shaffer.

“To me, he’s their cog that makes everything go,” Shaffer said of Perney. “He’s their leader, the quarterback over the last two seasons now. He’s a big, strong, lanky guy who throws the ball and runs the ball well. He’s the focal point of what we’re trying to do defensively and who we’re trying to stop.”

Defensively, Northfield is allowing 39 points per game, and they gave up 212 passing yards and four touchdown passes to Wabash quarterback Haiden McWhirt last week. Rochester is averaging just under 49 points per game the last three years against Northfield.

Shaffer said that Northfield coach Brandon Baker will tailor his defensive game plan to match up with the opponent’s strength.

“We’ve seen them as an even front,” Shaffer said. “We’ve seen them in an odd front. Coach Baker’s defenses are always good at giving you a scheme for the week rather than something they rely on playing all year long. It could be the defense of the week that we’re going to have to figure out how to play against. I would anticipate an odd-front defense with two to three backers inside with some kind of a three-shell. I doubt they’re going to man us up like they (did against) Wabash because it just kind of takes them out of their run game.”

Rochester has won the last three meetings against Northfield. The Norsemen have not beaten Rochester or had a winning season since 2021.

Western (5-1) at Tippecanoe Valley (4-2), 7 p.m.

Valley continues to ride their running back duo of Wes Parker and Grady Moriarty, who combined for 315 yards in a 38-28 win over LaVille two weeks ago and 371 yards in a 33-0 win over Jimtown Friday.

Valley’s Carlos Gonzalez

Valley coach Stephen Moriarty noticed improving communication on the offensive line to open up holes for Parker and Grady Moriarty, and he praised guards Cale DeWees and Kolten Sisk.

“I thought that Cale DeWees has done a good job,” coach Moriarty said. “He’s really stepped up here recently with getting his knee healed up. He’s done a good job. Same thing with Kolten Sisk on the right side. And then the left side, I would say all of them. Blake Cooksey and Carlos (Gonzalez), all of them have their place, and they do a good job of making those big holes and those opportunities for the backs that we got. I think they’ve been doing a good job of getting a surge up the middle. Getting movement off the ball has been one of our bigger things that has caused us to have such success.”

While the run offense makes gradual improvements, the pass defense turned around in one night: Valley allowed just 24 yards passing against Jimtown after allowing 184 yards per game passing in its previous three games against Hamilton Heights, Knox and LaVille.

“I thought that in general we played more as a team,” coach Moriarty said. “I thought that we communicated better. And I think that helps a lot. I think our secondary really stepped up this week and did a good job of locking things down, and we were able to contain their running game as well. I was just very pleased overall with our communication as a whole.”

Now Valley will host a Western team undergoing perhaps the state’s biggest turnaround. Last year, Western went 0-10 and averaged five points per game. This year, under first-year coach Austin Colby, they have won five straight games since dropping their opener to Indian Creek, and their scoring average is up to 33 points per game.

Last week, they beat West Lafayette 34-20. It was their first win over West Lafayette in at least the last 30 years. They had lost their previous 11 meetings with the Red Devils.

Their winning streak also included a 46-14 rout of Indianapolis Lutheran in Week 3. Indianapolis Lutheran won three straight Class 1A titles from 2021-23 and made semistate in 2024.

Colby’s father, Brett, is a Western grad and on his son’s coaching staff just as he was at Austin’s previous stops at Maconaquah and Kokomo. He is an Indiana Football Hall of Famer and a seven-time sectional champion as a coach. The Colby offense is often described as “football in a phone booth,” where the offensive linemen are standing foot to foot and it is often disguised who has the ball on the snap.

Levi Shoemaker is Western’s quarterback, and he is listed at 6-5 and 225 pounds. Matthew McKitrick leads the team with 898 yards rushing on 6.6 yards per carry.

“(Shoemaker) is their quarterback, but he also becomes the lead blocker sometimes,” coach Moriarty said. “They put him off to the side, and they run that lonesome polecat where the tailback will just take it, and he’ll lead. It’s your traditional double-wing offense where the splits are foot-to-foot, and everything’s tight as it can be, so it’s hard to find the ball. They’re really good at what they do, and they’re talented about making things happen. That’s what worries me a little bit if you can’t find the ball. … And they are very big upfront, very comparable to us if not bigger.”

Defensively, Western has cut their defensive average from 31 points per game last year to just 13 this year.

“They go back to that 3-4 look,” Moriarty said. “They are aggressive though. They’ve got quite a few two-way players, and it’s the same athletes that are getting after it, and they like to fly to the ball, and they do their assignments well. They don’t give up many big plays. That’s for sure. This will be probably one of the toughest defenses we’ve played all year… besides Rochester and Plymouth. … Boy, they’re physical. They’re just very big and athletic.”

Coach Moriarty said Michael Samuelson will “probably” remain out, and quarterback Hunter Stage is “questionable” with what coach Moriarty described as a head injury. If Stage can’t go, then Parker will move over to quarterback.

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

• Caston comes in off a 12-7 loss to Culver while Triton fell 10-7 last week to North Judson.

• Caston lost to Culver despite having a 274-133 advantage in total yards. Caston held Culver’s ground attack to just 2.8 yards per carry.

• Triton running back Jayden Overmyer has run for 890 yards on 6.6 yards per carry, but North Judson held him to 65 yards last week.

• Triton has won the last 10 meetings in the series. Caston has not beaten Triton since Aug. 19, 2016.

Pioneer (5-1, 4-0 Hoosier North) at Culver (2-4, 1-3), 7 p.m.

• Culver comes in off a 12-7 win over Caston in what might be the most impressive Cavalier defensive effort since Austin Foust became coach in 2023. Class 1A, No. 9 Pioneer has won four straight after its 49-7 win over South Central (Union Mills) last week. Class 1A, No. 4 North Judson is the only other unbeaten in the conference, and they are scheduled to meet in Week 9.

• Culver held Caston to 3.6 yards per carry at the Comet Crater last week. Pioneer averaged 14.7 yards per carry against South Central, and they have averaged at least seven yards per carry in all five of their wins.

• Pioneer has cut their defensive scoring average from 21 ppg last year to 13.3 this year. They will try to stop sophomore running back John Carr, who ran for 72 yards against Caston last week and whose 26-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter down to the Caston 1-yard-line set up the winning touchdown.

• Pioneer has won the last two meetings in the series. Culver’s only win ever against Pioneer was a 22-8 triumph at the Panther Pit in 2022.

North Judson (5-1, 4-0 Hoosier North) at Winamac (1-5, 1-3), 7:30 p.m.

• Winamac allowed 30 unanswered points in the second half and lost 44-14 to North Miami last week. Class 1A, No. 4 North Judson squeezed out a 10-7 win over Triton.

• Sophomore Evan McGowen ran for 114 yards on 21 carries for North Judson last week; no other back had more than eight carries. North Judson has utilized younger backs coming off last year’s state runner-up season: Of the 49 rushing attempts against Triton, seniors made only eight of them. Meanwhile, Winamac gave up six rushing touchdowns to North Miami last week.

• Can Winamac big-play receiving threat Ethan Burgess make a big play? Triton averaged only five yards per completion against the North Judson defense last week.

• North Judson has won the last four meetings against Winamac by a combined score of 150-27. That includes a 48-6 win last year. Winamac has not beaten North Judson since a 14-8 win in the 2020 sectional final.