Week 9 football roundup: Valley slows down Bremen running game, clinches outright INSC title

Caston beats Winamac behind Woolever; Rine’s big game helps top-ranked Pioneer clinch Hoosier North; NM runs for over 400 yards in rout of Triton; Culver drubs winless S. Central

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Football

Tippecanoe Valley 25, Bremen 7 (Friday): Hunter Paxton ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns, and the Valley defense held Bremen to 158 yards rushing in wrapping up an undefeated Indiana Northern State Conference season Friday.

Hunter Randall added 55 yards rushing, and Owen Omondi ran for 45. Ty Kiser had 31 yards rushing on three carries.

Omondi also made two field goals and an extra point. 

Grant Paxton had a 64-yard punt return.

Logan Moser ran for a season-low 63 yards and a touchdown for Bremen. 

The seven points were a season low for the Lions, who came in averaging 41 points per game.

Valley attempted only one pass and did not complete it. Bremen had 23 yards passing.

Mason Miller had 10 tackles, and Charlie Moriarty and Ty Kiser had nine tackles each. Mason Ruger Benn had two sacks, and Moriarty had a sack.

Valley beat Bremen at Don Bunge Field for the first time since the 1993 sectional.

Valley wins a conference title for the first time since they shared the Three Rivers Conference title in 2022.

Valley 25, Bremen 7

Valley 6 3 13 3 – 25

Bremen 0 7 0 0 – 7

First quarter

TV – Hunter Randall 10 run (conversion failed)

Second quarter

BRE – Logan Moser 5 run (Axel Mendoza kick)

TV – Owen Omondi 24 FG

Third quarter

TV – Hunter Paxton 53 run (Omondi kick)

TV – Paxton 11 run (conversion failed)

Fourth quarter

TV – Omondi 36 FG

Caston 16, Winamac 8 (Friday): Tucker Woolever ran for 140 yards and a touchdown, and Ashton Bowyer ran 29 times for 91 yards for the Comets in a Hoosier North home win over Winamac Friday.

Logan Mollenkopf ran for 51 yards and a touchdown and also passed for 30 yards. Woolever and Bronson Howard each had a 12-yard reception, and Bowyer had a 6-yard catch.

Landen Rigney ran for 59 yards on 11 carries.

Bronson Howard had four tackles, a sack and a pass broken up. Braxton Enyart and Cameron McFatridge had three tackles each. Bowyer also had a pass broken up. Brayden Under recovered a fumble.

Mack Mappin kicked a 25-yard field goal and also made one of two extra points.

Louis Rugg III led Winamac with 69 yards rushing on seven carries and scored Winamac’s only touchdown in the fourth quarter. He followed his touchdown with a two-point conversion.

Tearson Wolford had 43 yards on eight carries, and Ivan Cardenas ran for 43 yards and added a 32-yard reception.

Parker Abbott completed 3 of 10 passes for 34 yards.

Wolford had 13 tackles, including one for loss. Kale Hickle had 11 tackles and an interception.

Michael Shidler had nine tackles, Jager Terry had seven, and Abbott and Cardenas had six each. Rugg broke up a pass in addition to his five tackles.

Caston had a 340-114 advantage in rushing yards. Each team had one turnover.

Caston led 10-0 at halftime.

Caston has beaten Winamac in consecutive years for the first time since 2011-12.

Caston 16, Winamac 8

Winamac 0 0 0 8 – 8

Caston 7 3 6 0 – 16

First quarter

CAS – Logan Mollenkopf 1 run (Mack Mappin kick)

Second quarter

CAS – Mappin 25 FG

Third quarter

CAS – Tucker Woolever 46 run (kick blocked)

Fourth quarter

WIN – Louis Rugg III 17 run (Rugg III run)

Pioneer 35, North Judson 9 (Friday): Shiloh Rine ran for 93 yards and added 83 yards receiving and scored three touchdowns – one rushing, two receiving – as the Class 1A, No. 1 Panthers beat Class 1A, No. 3 North Judson to clinch an undefeated regular season and the outright Hoosier North title Friday.

Phillip McFatridge ran for 107 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and added two catches for 20 yards. He also had eight tackles on defense and converted all five of his extra points.

Blu Rosen-Jacks ran six times for 18 yards. Carter Mize had two catches for 13 yards, and Adric Lee had an 8-yard reception.

Rine had 16 tackles, including three for loss. Mikaden Tolosa, Rosen-Jacks and Hunter Stover had 10 tackles each. Gage Lakes had nine tackles and broke up a pass. 

The Pioneer defense held North Judson to 2.9 yards a carry and 170 total yards. The nine points were a season low.

Rine also had a 72-yard kickoff return.

Pioneer led 21-3 at halftime.

Pioneer lost four straight games against North Judson from 2022-24 but has won two straight against them since.

The teams could meet again in a Class 1A semistate Nov. 20.

Pioneer 35, North Judson 9

North Judson 0 3 0 6 – 9

Pioneer 7 14 7 7 – 35

North Miami 41, Triton 12 (Friday): Alex Towles ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and three other North Miami backs topped the 70-yard mark in a Hoosier North home win over Triton in their regular season finale Friday.

Cooper Pattison ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns, Jension Carr ran for 96 yards, and Oliver Wildermuth ran for 74 yards. Alan Wildermuth ran for 26 yards and a touchdown.

North Miami had a 407-164 advantage in rushing yards.

Towles also had a 17-yard reception.

Logan Smith led the defense with seven tackles, and Towles had six. Carr and Alan Wildermuth had five tackles each.

North Miami finished the regular season 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the Hoosier North. Triton finished 1-8, 1-6.

Culver 53, South Central (Union Mills) 16 (Friday): The visiting Cavaliers rolled over host South Central to finish the regular season 3-6, 3-4 Hoosier North.

They will carry a two-game winning streak into the postseason. It is Culver’s first winning streak since 2022.

South Central lost their 20th consecutive game and completed their second straight winless regular season.

The teams could meet again in the sectional final.

Rankings update

• Valley stays at No. 12 in the final USA Today Class 3A media poll of the season. No. 13 West Noble is the only other team in Sectional to receive poll recognition.

• Eastside is the only team in Sectional 34 to receive recognition in the final USA Today Class 2A media poll. They remain at No. 4.

• Pioneer stays at No. 1 in the final USA Today Class 1A media poll. No. 11 Madison-Grant and No. 12 Caston also received poll recognition among Sectional 43 teams. Caston hosts Madison-Grant this Friday.

• North Judson drops from No. 3 to No. 4 following their loss to Pioneer in the final USA Today Class 1A media poll. No. 13 West Central enters the poll and is the other team from Sectional 41 to receive recognition.

Sectional game times (all times Eastern)

• Lakeland at Rochester, 7 p.m. (2A, 34)

• Valley at Jimtown, 7 p.m. (3A, 26)

• Madison-Grant at Caston, 7 p.m. (1A, 43)

• North Miami at Sheridan, 7 p.m. (1A, 43)

• Taylor at Pioneer, 7 p.m. (1A, 43)

• West Central at Culver, 7 p.m. (1A, 41)

• Winamac at South Central, 8 p.m. (1A, 41)