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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Winamac (4-0) at West Central (1-5), 7 p.m.
If there was any fear that Winamac might be rusty after two weeks without a game due to COVID reasons, they quelled it by scoring on their first two possessions in a 28-0 win over Culver last week.
“They were just so ready to play,” Winamac coach John Hendryx said right after the Culver game. “You don’t come out for football to practice. A lot of them haven’t been here. They were ready to go. We had a great night (Thursday) night. Great night. They carried it onto the field.”
Said senior quarterback-defensive back Russell Compton of the hiatus: “Like Coach said, it’s like dogs not eating for two weeks. They’re hungry. They’ve got to eat something.”
Compton threw two touchdown passes to Jaden Terry in the first half against Culver. Terry also had a 25-yard reception from Compton on Winamac’s first drive that brought the ball down the Culver 1-yard line before Hayden Clark ran it in on the next play. Compton credited both Terry for getting open and senior linemen like Kyle Olds, Logan Schultz, Dylan Brown and Caleb Seymour for giving him time to throw.
“Jaden is a really athletic person,” Compton said. “But it’s not all Jaden because our linemen, I can’t do it without them. Me and Jaden, we have a connection. He’s like my brother. I love that guy.”
Defensively, Winamac held Culver to under four yards per carry. Caleb Good had an interception, and Zayne Bell recovered two fumbles.
“I thought we were pretty physical for not playing,” Hendryx said. “If you’re not physical with them, you’re in big trouble. (Shane) Shuman is like tackling a bus. I thought we did a pretty good job. Played with some discipline. You try to look in the backfield against Culver, you’re just going to run around like a chicken. Everybody’s got their small window they’ve got to read, and I thought we did a pretty good job of doing it.”
West Central marks the second game of a three-game stretch for Winamac in which they will face a sectional rival every week.
It also happens to be against their county rivals. Winamac has won 11 consecutive meetings against the Trojans and have not lost to them since 2012.
Senior quarterback Blayden Huber is a key component to West Central’s attack. He’ll be looking to hand off to running back Gerardo Salazar.
“They’re completely different,” Hendryx said in comparing Culver’s offense to West Central’s. “They’re more of an option team, very quarterback-oriented. The quarterback runs the option pretty well for them, really athletic. Yeah, they’re hardly any similarities at all.”
