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IHSAA football sectionals What We Learned: Biggest winners, close calls, best teams out

kyle neddenriep, indianapolis star
·5 min read

What we learned from the first round of high school football sectional games:

Big winners

These three teams not only advanced through the first round of the sectional, but also made things a lot easier on themselves by getting the most difficult work done early:

Tri-West Hendricks High School juniors Jack Catt (34) and Malachi Walden (7) look to the sideline for a play from the coaching staff uring the first half of an IHSAA varsity football game against Danville Community High School, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at Tri-West Hendricks High School.
Tri-West Hendricks High School juniors Jack Catt (34) and Malachi Walden (7) look to the sideline for a play from the coaching staff uring the first half of an IHSAA varsity football game against Danville Community High School, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at Tri-West Hendricks High School.

∎ Tri-West: The Bruins broke the unusual “curse” against rival Danville of the regular season winner losing in the sectional rematch with a 42-7 drubbing of the Warriors in Class 3A Sectional 29. Eighth-ranked Tri-West (9-1) was the favorite coming into the sectional and certainly is now with Danville out of the way.

It is far from decided in Sectional 29, however. This is one of the state’s most competitive sectional fields and the Bruins have a tough game next at North Montgomery (6-4) and potentially defending sectional champion Monrovia (8-2) in the championship.

IHSAA football: Sectional semifinals pairings, schedule for Oct. 27

IHSAA football sectionals roundup: Scores, highlights as playoffs begin

∎ Eastern Hancock: The Royals (6-4) won one of the wildest games of the week, featuring nine lead changes, for a 45-43 win over Lapel in Class 2A Sectional 38. That avenged a 36-31 loss to Lapel the previous week in the final game of the regular season.

Lapel was probably a slight favorite in the sectional going into the week. Eastern Hancock now plays Cardinal Ritter (4-6) and could see Heritage Christian (7-3) the following week for the sectional championship.

∎ LaVille: This one is out of our area but worth noting. LaVille (9-1), ranked fifth in Class 2A, knocked out Andrean 25-23 to advance in Sectional 33. The Lancers lost to Andrean two years ago in the regional and last year in a sectional semifinal. Andrean, a state finalist each of the past two seasons (winning the 2A title two years ago) with Mr. Football Drayk Bowen, ends it season at 3-7.

Whew ...

These three teams, all teams that could potentially make a deep tournament run, survived difficult, competitive games to advance through the first round:

∎ Brebeuf Jesuit: The wildest game of the night was not Eastern Hancock’s 45-43 win over Lapel, it was Brebeuf defeating Northview 55-50 to advance in Class 4A Sectional 21. Check out these wild stats:

>> Brebeuf quarterback Maverick Geske passed for 274 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns, including one to Taylor Clark with 3 minutes remaining for the go-ahead score.

>> Clark had four touchdown receptions and 129 yards receiving; teammate LeRoy Lewis caught two TD passes.

>> Brebeuf running back C.J. Harris ran for 156 yards and was just the third-leading rusher in the game. Because …

>> Northview rushed for 600 yards (!) as a team with quarterback Kyle Cottee going for 302 yards and three TDs and running back Tyler Lee rushing for 277 yards and four TDs.

>> Brebeuf linebacker Parker Maiers made 18 solo tackles and 23 total.

Brebeuf (5-4) now hosts Lebanon (5-5) in a balanced four-team semifinal group that also includes Roncalli (4-6) at Mooresville (5-5). The Braves made need the full week to rest up after surviving that crazy game vs. Northview.

∎ Greenfield-Central: The fourth-ranked Cougars (9-1) did not get any help from the sectional draw gods in 4A Sectional 22. But Greenfield-Central ran for 358 yards to knock off rival Pendleton Heights 27-17 in the sectional opener. That sets up a showdown at No. 3 New Palestine (8-2) this week.

∎ Guerin Catholic: The third-ranked Golden Eagles (8-2) knocked off No. 9 Peru 27-19 on the road to win in Class 3A Sectional 28 and set up a battle with No. 1 Bishop Chatard. Ryan Zimmerman passed for 193 yards and two TDs and Peter Rooney ran for 116 yards and two scores.

Best teams out early …

There were seven top-10 teams knocked out of sectional play across the four classes:

∎ Class 4A seventh-ranked New Haven (8-2) lost 43-0 to No. 6 East Noble in Sectional 19. It marked the final game for five-star wide receiver and Ohio State commit Mylan Graham, who caught five passes for 71 yards for New Haven.

∎ Class 3A No. 3 Tippecanoe Valley lost 40-7 to No. 1 Bishop Chatard in Sectional 28.

∎ Class 3A No. 9 Peru lost 27-19 to Guerin Catholic in Sectional 28.

∎ Alexandria, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, lost 26-14 to No. 8 Bluffton in Sectional 36. It was Alexandria’s best season since 2014.

∎ No. 9 South Vermillion lost 41-20 to Cascade in 2A Sectional 37 as Toby Savini ran for 125 yards and caught a TD pass.

∎ No. 7 North White lost 34-28 to Caston in Class A Sectional 43. The Vikings (9-1) defeated Caston 14-6 during the regular season. The Comets are 2-8.

∎ No. 10 South Adams lost 42-6 to No. 2 Adams Central in Class A Sectional 44.

Props to IPS teams

It is often a struggle against numbers, facilities, stability and other factors for Indianapolis Public School football programs in a sport where all of those things matter.

Crispus Attucks Darrell Taylor (28) runs the ball during the game between Lebanon Tigers and Crispus Attucks Tigers on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at Lebanon High School in Lebanon. Lebanon defeated Crispus Attucks 35-32 in this first round of class 4A sectionals.
Crispus Attucks Darrell Taylor (28) runs the ball during the game between Lebanon Tigers and Crispus Attucks Tigers on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at Lebanon High School in Lebanon. Lebanon defeated Crispus Attucks 35-32 in this first round of class 4A sectionals.

That said, this was a good year for IPS football, in particular Crispus Attucks. The Tigers (8-2) battled Lebanon deep into the fourth quarter before falling, 35-32, in Class 4A Sectional 21. The Tigers finished 8-2 with interim coach Isiah Bryant, who took over late in the summer when Ramon Stallings took an administrative position at Washington. Attucks has a lot of good things to build on with its top skill position players, quarterback Corshawn Sartin and running back Darrell Taylor, just sophomores.

Shortridge finished 3-6, but is much more competitive under fifth-year coach Jovan McCray. The Blue Devils lost 42-0 to Roncalli in the first round of 4A Sectional 21, but it was just 14-0 at halftime. Washington also was improved in Tracey Pendleton’s second season, finishing 5-5 after a 55-0 loss to Mooresville in 4A Sectional 21.

Based on participation numbers, these IPS teams are fighting an uphill battle in sectional games. But it was a good year for progress in IPS football.

Just an appetizer

We’ll have much more coming on the big sectional semifinal games coming this week, but how about Brownsburg-Ben Davis, Lawrence Central-Lawrence North, Franklin Central-Center Grove, Greenfield-Central-New Palestine and Bishop Chatard-Guerin Catholic for starters? It’s going to be a fun week of football.

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

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school football: What we learned Week 1 sectionals