IHSAA football What we learned Week 5: On Warren Central's progress, more surprises

What we learned from Week 5 of the high school football season:

Checking in on Warren Central

Part of the reason I wanted to cover the Ben Davis-Warren Central game Friday night was to see Class 6A second-ranked Ben Davis for the first time in person this season (more on that below). Another was to see where Warren Central was right now as a program.

While Warren Central is not the type of program to celebrate moral victories, you had to be impressed with the Warriors after the 31-28 loss to Ben Davis. After losses to Class 5A top-ranked Fort Wayne Snider and 6A No. 9 Carroll to start the season, Warren Central knocked off North Central and Lawrence Central the past two weeks.

“Small growth,” Warren Central coach Mike Kirschner said when asked if he sees progress midway through the season. “Until it becomes important that you are willing to turn over every stone to be great, it’ll just be a game on a Friday night. They’ve got to figure that out. It’s on them and I have to do a better job of helping them figure it out.”

What Warren Central has is a defense that figures to make it really difficult on its next three opponents — Pike, at Lawrence North and at Carmel. Junior defensive ends Damien Shanklin and Tyrone Burrus are the type of playmaking athletes Warren Central has produced on its way to nine state championships. The 6-4, 205-pound Shanklin had 10 tackles, including three in the backfield, while also handling the punt and kickoff duties.

“They studied tape and they were ready for us,” Ben Davis coach Russ Mann said of the Warren Central defense.

Warren Central’s defensive line is a clear strength, but the back seven also played well. Ben Davis scored only a field goal in the second half. Senior safety Sean Pennington was a standout, making 10 tackles and locking up in pass coverage. It is notable that many of Warren Central’s top players, especially on defense, will be back next season. Kirschner said 18 underclassmen are starting.

One of the major storylines, though, was an arm injury to starting junior quarterback Keith Jackson in the first quarter that appeared to be serious. Freshman Anthony Dennison did a nice job in relief, but losing the speed and leadership of Jackson will be a major loss.

“It’s going to change a lot,” Kirschner said of losing Jackson. “He’s been a starter for two years. He’s done. I don’t know what the prognosis is but he either broke it or dislocated it. He’s going to be out. That’s the way it goes. Now we have to play a freshman. (Dennison) calmed down, but he had only taken two snaps before (Friday) at the varsity level. Going against a team like (Ben Davis) that’s tough to do. But he got it done.”

Warren Central found some things with the running game, led by juniors James Clark and Jaylan McMoore, and should find ways to get the ball in the hands of Cyron Williams, a junior speedster who returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

The key for Warren Central is to keep building momentum for a Sectional 7 that again looks extremely winnable (Perry Meridian, at 2-3, is probably the toughest competition) and then potentially a meeting with three-time defending state champion Center Grove (4-1) in the regional.

Surprises of the week

Three surprises from Friday night:

>> How about those Falcons? Perry Meridian might only be 2-3, but coach Brett Cooper is clearly getting things turned around in his fourth season. The Falcons stunned Whiteland 28-13 Friday night, which came after close losses to Franklin (26-20 in overtime) and Plainfield (21-20) the previous two weeks. Perry Meridian led 14-13 going into the fourth quarter, then tacked on a 15-yard touchdown run by Zachary Huckaby and 1-yard TD run by Andy Warren to put the game away. Warren had 19 tackles to lead the defense, which forced four turnovers.

Last year’s 4-7 season marked the Falcons’ best record since going 5-5 in 2015. The schedule is tough, but this team might be able to get to .500.

>> Heritage Christian 35-21 win over Class 2A top-ranked Scecina was a score I was surprised to see. The Crusaders have struggled some on defense this season, but were held to a season-low in points against the Eagles, who got a huge game from Elijah Pimental (30 carries for 218 yards and two TDs; four receptions for 70 yards and a TD).

>> Any time Roncalli wins it can hardly be considered a surprise, but its 35-21 win over 3A second-ranked Guerin Catholic shows the 4A eighth-ranked Royals are making progress. Roncalli led the whole way after going on top early on Zach Dozier’s 12-yard run and put up 365 yards rushing total, including 152 yards and two TDs on 25 carries from Ben Brandenburg. Dozier, a sophomore, had 95 yards and two TDs.

Roncalli hosts Brebeuf Jesuit this week and Guerin is home against 3A top-ranked Bishop Chatard.

On Ben Davis and the muddled top of 6A

I wrote this in the game story from Friday night, but it was sort of unusual that there wasn’t more celebrating on the winning side after Ben Davis’ win over Warren Central, a rivalry that normally elicits a lot of emotion both sides.

But it did seem to strike the right mood. Ben Davis (4-1) expects more out of itself than three points in the second half. Leading 28-20 at the start of the third quarter, the Giants had a chance to make it a 15-point lead after a sensational 72-yard touchdown catch and run by Mark Zackery, but hurt itself with a penalty behind the play. After a missed field goal, Warren Central’s defense seemed to gain confidence that carried through the rest of the night.

Ben Davis found a way to win, though Mann admitted it was “lucky” after Warren Central’s incomplete pass on the goal line in the final seconds to potentially win the game and a missed field goal to send it to overtime.

The Giants, twice burned for special teams touchdowns, were coming off a 34-14 loss last week to IMG Academy, a game against a nationally-ranked opponent that got a lot of attention.

“We talked at Monday’s practice that we had to put that game away,” Mann said. “There were a lot of people who were very supportive and reached out about that game, but we said we have to put it away because we have a team that’s coming over here right now that we have to prepare for. Hopefully (Jackson) is alright because they are a good team.”

Ben Davis has another tough game this week at Lawrence North (4-1), which is coming off a 17-14 loss to Carmel.

Brownsburg, which was ranked No. 1 this week, will likely hold on to that spot after improving to 5-0 with a 42-28 win over sixth-ranked Fishers as Garrett Sherrell ran for 275 yards and three TDs on 24 carries. I will probably continue to put Center Grove at No. 1 after the Trojans knocked off Harvest Prep (Ohio) 36-18 in its fifth and final game against out-of-state opponents. Tyler Cherry (16-for-21 passing for 198 yards and two TDs) and Noah Coy (nine catches for 134 yards and two TDs) had another big game for the Trojans.

You could probably make an argument for Brownsburg, Ben Davis, Center Grove and Westfield, which improved to 5-0 with a 30-28 win at Hamilton Southeastern. Speaking of which …

Was it a touchdown?

The end of the Westfield-Hamilton Southeastern game got crazy and the debate over the game-winning touchdown pass from Westfield’s Jackson Gilbert to Kendall Garnett has been debated back and forth since Friday night.

If you missed, our Clark Wade had video of the play (as well as other highlights from the game). Gilbert rolled to his right, then threw back to his left. Garnett and HSE defensive back Donovan Rhodes both dove for the ball at the goal line and Garnett hauled it in. The side judge immediately signaled touchdown, ending the game in the wildest of ways after Jalen Alexander’s touchdown with 39.4 seconds gave HSE a 28-24 lead.

But Gilbert quickly moved the Shamrocks down the field, setting up the game-winning play from the 2-yard-line as the seconds ticked down. Garnett clearly caught the ball, though at least some HSE supporters believed Garnett’s momentum carried him out of the end zone as he secured the ball.

It was close. But all that matters is what the official signaled: touchdown. Westfield is 5-0 going into a showdown Friday against 5-0 Brownsburg. The Shamrocks are finding ways to win, taking four in a row – Lawrence Central, Zionsville, Noblesville and HSE – by a combined 11 points.

“That’s probably the most emotions I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Jackson Gilbert told our freelancer, Tom Moor. “I was sprinting across the field nonstop for two minutes; it was surreal. We’ve won four straight games like this. I think our team is always going to find a way to win.”

Final thought

One thing I hope is consistent in covering high school sports at the Star for 16 years is that covering high school sports is about the people I cover, not about me. Obviously there has to be some personal insights and input, but the people I write about are much more interesting.

But we also have a job to do. On Friday nights, for me, that is to cover high school football. That job includes taking video, reporting games real time. Friday night at Ben Davis, early in the fourth quarter, there was a series of three or four “pop” sounds that police later determined to be fireworks. I was in the east press box, heard the sounds and assumed at the time they were fireworks. But as I looked up a moment or two later, fans and players were running for cover. I saw Kirschner running to tell his family to find shelter.

“I was just trying to get the players, the cheerleaders, my wife and friends off (the field),” Kirschner said after the game. “That’s all I was concerned with. I didn’t care if it was fireworks or whatever. It was all about getting the people off and I’ll take care of myself later.”

As it happened, I tweeted out the video of the players, cheerleaders and others running for the fieldhouses on both ends of the stadium. When it was quickly announced that the cause of the noise was fireworks and the game would resume, I followed up as quickly as possible with that information as well.

Of course, the world we live in with social media and political polarization, some people took what they wanted from that incident and used it for whatever reason they saw fit. It put me unwantedly in the middle of something. I thought about deleting the video, even told my boss I was as I was leaving the stadium. But none of what I sent out was incorrect and deleting it only would have given that impression. It happened. I’m there to report what happens and provide context.

Anyway, thanks for reading as always.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school football: What we learned from Week 5