Ranking the five IHSAA football sectional championships in Southwestern Indiana

EVANSVILLE — Many high school football teams across Southwestern Indiana saw their seasons end in the first two weeks of IHSAA playoff football action.

There are five sectional championship games on deck this Friday featuring teams from the Courier & Press coverage area. Out of the eight area teams still standing, only a handful of them will be moving on to the regionals.

Let's take a look at the five matchups on deck and count down to the best showdown.

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5. No. 7 Heritage Hills (10-1) at Scottsburg (7-4), 3A Sectional 32

The Patriots have their sights set on their 14th overall sectional title and the first since 2019.

Heritage Hills lost three fumbles last week against Southridge, but the defense came up with four takeaways of their own in a 23-20 victory to keep their season going. That included an interception and a fumble recovery from junior Alex Smith. The Patriots' defense has consistently earned high praise all season long, and they will need to deliver once again going into Scottsburg.

The Warriors have won three of their last four games and their offense is balanced behind sophomores Nathan Byrd (1,730 total yards, 25 touchdowns) and Landon Shuck (987 rushing yards, eight touchdowns). But both players do have turnover problems; Byrd has thrown 12 interceptions while Shuck has lost three fumbles.

While playing clean football will be crucial for both teams, Scottsburg will need to be extra sharp if it wants to win its first-ever sectional title.

4. North (7-3) at No. 10 Castle (7-3), 5A Sectional 16

The postseason rematch between the Huskies and the Knights has arrived.

History hasn't been kind to North when facing Castle in the playoffs. Its last postseason win against the Knights came in 2003, and the Huskies have been outscored 244-82 in the seven meetings since. Still, North is extra motivated to avenge last year's 28-18 loss at Castle and feels like it has a good chance to win its first sectional since 2000.

The ground games should continue to take center stage for both teams. Castle senior Antonio Harris had a dominant showing in last week's 35-17 win against New Albany, rushing for 192 yards and four touchdowns. Harris has over 1,000 yards for the year and became the first Knight to achieve this feat since 2020.

North's three-year streak of having a 1,100-yard rusher will likely be snapped, but it still has one of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference's top backs in senior Cainen Northington. He reached his career highs in rushing yards and touchdowns, and the Huskies have also benefitted from the dual-threat ability of Sam McKinney and the versatility of one of Class 5A's top sackers, Kaleb Harris.

3. Paoli (10-1) at No. 4 North Posey (10-1), 2A Sectional 40

The Vikings will be home for the first time this postseason after notching one of their biggest wins in program history.

They knocked off defending state champion Mater Dei 35-34 as Liam Stone and Jed Galvin accounted for all of their touchdowns while the defense stopped the Wildcats on the potential game-winning two-point conversion. Although the win is massive, the job isn't finished. North Posey's biggest goal now is winning its first sectional title since 2005 against another top team in its class.

Paoli has rolled for most of this season, not losing a game since the opener against Boonville. It's reached 10 wins for the first time since 2018 behind senior Trey Rominger, one of the state's best rushers. He's totaled 73 touchdowns over the last three seasons and is one of the handful of players in Indiana with over 2,000 yards rushing.

The Rams seek their first sectional title in five years. And it's safe to say limiting Rominger will be in North Posey's game plan.

High school football in SW Indiana: Complete coverage from the 2023 season

2. Vincennes Lincoln (8-3) at No. 6 Gibson Southern (9-2), 3A Sectional 30

Xander Hunt has returned for the postseason after injuring his knee in Week 3 against Castle.

And the senior quarterback picked up from where he left off, throwing for four touchdowns against Owen Valley in the sectional opener. Then three of junior B.B. McCrary's four carries against Pike Central last week resulted in touchdowns as the Alices pitched shutouts in both games while totaling 117 points.

But this showdown should be different.

Gibson Southern has been one of the area's top football programs under coach Nick Hart. It has the pieces to clinch its second sectional title in the last three seasons. Tanner Boyd has the most passing yards (1,948) and total touchdowns (30) of any Pocket Athletic Conference quarterback while Sean DeLong's 1,077 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns are both career highs.

Vincennes gave Gibson Southern a contest in their last postseason meeting in Fort Branch despite the Titans winning 63-42. Hunt and Boyd combined for 10 total touchdowns — half of those scores were on the ground.

1. No. 2 Reitz (11-0) at Memorial (8-3), 4A Sectional 24

The last meeting between these two teams was one of the most-anticipated matchups in Southwestern Indiana.

It didn't, however, live up to the hype as the injury-riddled Tigers were shut out 34-0. Although Reitz is still winning and limiting opposing offenses, Memorial has taken steps forward in the playoffs after ending the regular season on a three-game slide.

In the Tigers' 17-14 victory over Jasper, Matthew Fisher saw his first game action since Week 4 against Mater Dei. The junior quarterback completed his first and only pass to Dylen Kendrick for 48 yards. But one of Memorial's biggest offensive threats of the postseason so far is fellow junior Luke Ellspermann, who has totaled 328 yards and five touchdowns under center.

One of the main question marks for the Tigers is how their offense will fare against Reitz's defense. Levi Oxley has six sacks this postseason and three other Panthers have at least one interception — Alex Sitzman leads the way with three. Reitz's passing game also improved from its opener against Boonville to the 42-6 win against Bedford North Lawrence. Ben Davies threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns.

This showdown at Enlow Field should be much different from five weeks ago. This is the first postseason meeting between the teams since 2020.

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Twashington490.

Evansville-area high school football sectional championships

All times are Central.

Paoli (10-1) at North Posey (10-1), 6 p.m.

Vincennes Lincoln (8-3) at Gibson Southern (9-2), 6:30 p.m.

Heritage Hills (10-1) at Scottsburg (7-4), 6:30 p.m.

North (7-3) at Castle (7-3), 7 p.m.

Reitz (11-0) at Memorial (8-3), 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA football: Ranking all five sectional championships in SW Indiana