High school football quick reads: Mishawaka buries Marian
Mishawaka 38, Marian 0
MISHAWAKA — For the second straight season, the Mishawaka Cavemen dominated their crosstown rival, Mishawaka Marian on opening night of the high school football season. The Cavemen scored on all but two offensive possessions, which ended the first half and the game, compiling 422 yards of offense
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Standout performer:
How about standout performers.
When a team runs for 391 yards as Mishawaka did Friday night, props need to go to the entire offensive line. The starters, Dawson Nowacki, Matthew Willis, Tanner Parmley, Rees Sellers and Chris Grontkowski set the tone up front for Mishawaka and the Cavemen pounded the ball behind their experienced line all night long.
Play of the game:
Mishawaka Junior quarterback Brady Fisher has a perfect passer rating to begin the season. He threw one pass and completed it for 31 yards when he dropped a ball in a bucket down the sideline to Trey Thomas, down to the Marian two-yard line. Chase Gooden scored on the next play to give the Cavemen a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Turning Point:
Following Gooden's touchdown, Marian's Leopino Sete returned the ensuing kickoff deep into Mishawaka territory. However, Marian quarterback Bryce LaSane was picked off in the endzone by Mishawaka's Jack Troyer on the next play, ending the Knights' scoring threat. The Cavemen marched their way down the field on the next drive and took a 17-0 lead on a four-yard touchdown run by Fisher.
Next Games:
After its opening loss, Marian travels to Culver Academy for a Week 2 matchup next Friday. Mishawaka 1-0 hosts South Bend Saint Joseph 1-0 next Friday.
Penn 35, Valparaiso 6
MISHAWAKA - The script had been the same for too long to start a high school football season for the Penn Kingsmen – play Valparaiso, lose to Valparaiso.
Heading into Friday’s matchup at Freed Field, the Vikings had won each of the last three meetings and four of five. The Kingsmen had enough of that.
Penn scored early and scored often and put this one away without much drama. The Kingsmen scored the first five times they had the ball in the first half to run away with a game that was played with a running clock in the second half.
Penn won its opener for the first time since 2018.
Penn and Valparaiso have opened against one another for 26 consecutive seasons dating back to 1997.
Standout performer
Who played well for Penn? Who didn’t? How about quarterback Nolan McCullough? He made his first career start look easy. He about an offensive line that established an early standard and kept winning the line of scrimmage?
But senior tailback Josiah Williams couldn’t be slowed any time he had the ball in his hands.
The Vikings had no answers all night, and especially none for No. 7 in black and gold. He rushed three times for 111 yards and two scores in the first half. That included a 98-yard scamper where he just ran away from the Valpo defense.
Penn racked up 22 rushing yards in the first quarter before the running clock kicked in. Williams was a big reason.
Play of the game
Ninety seconds into this one, Penn tailback Jake Balis looked for some running room, but fumbled on a second-and-two call. The ball bounced up the middle of the field, and right into the hands of McCullough, who was standing near midfield.
McCullough took the gift, turned to the south and rambled 47 yards for the game’s first score. It was a funny (and fun) way for the Kingsmen to open their first drive.
Turning point
How about the opening coin flip? Valparaiso won the toss, but elected to defer, thinking that an early defensive stand would give them some early momentum.
It did the opposite.
Penn scored on its first possession, then its second and its third and on it went. Best the Vikings could do was get back on the bus earlier than expected for the long ride back to the Central Time Zone.
Noting
Penn honored coaching legend Chris Geesman at halftime, naming the school’s athletic center (locker rooms, meeting rooms, concessions stand) that sits on the south end of Freed Field after the five-time state champion head coach. Geesman spent 30 seasons on the Penn sideline, and won his last state title in 2000. He retired in 2003 with 309 wins.
Penn won at least 10 games in each of Geesman’s final 12 seasons.
Geesman took over in 1973 for a program that finished 0-10 the previous season. That 1972 campaign is the last time that Penn staggered through a losing season. Geesman also coached Penn coach Cory Yeoman, who on Friday started his 20th season at his alma mater.
Next game
Penn’s run of early big-boy opponents continues with another game against another team from the Region, Class 6A colleague Portage. The Week Two game in Porter County marks the first time the teams have met since 2014, a 42-0 Penn win.
Northridge 50, SB Adams 12
MIDDLEBURY — McClain Miller rushed for 145 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carriesin the first half alone as Northridge built a 43-6 lead by the break and rolled to a 50-12 win overAdams in Friday’s season opener at Raider Stadium.
The outcome spoiled the head coaching debut of the Eagles’ Frank Karczewski.
Player of the game
Miller, clearly. The junior finished at 190 yards on just 11 carries, the final 45 yards coming on the first two plays of the third quarter. His performance became even more key with Nothridge’s other anticipated feature back, Ricky Lloyd, being injured late in the first quarter and missing the rest of the game.
Turning point
With Adams still within seeming striking distance anyway early in the second quarter at 14-6, an errant snap out of punt formation by the Eagles forced a hurried incompletion, giving the Raiders the ball at the visitors’ 16. Miller scored two plays later and Adams never got out of its double-digit hole.
Key stat
The Raiders played squeaky clean ball in the opening half, committing no penaltiesnor turnovers. The Eagles were whistled for seven first-half penalties, threw an interception andfumbled twice, though they recovered both of those.
Up next
Adams plays its home opener next Friday when Fairfield visits School Field, while Northridge heads to Elkhart for the first meeting between the two programs
Hammond Central 30, Washington 6
SOUTH BEND — The visitors from Hammond scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to take a season-opening win over Washington.
Standout performer
Senior Jordan Woods was everywhere for the Wolves. He had 149 yards receiving, 38 yards passing, 7 yards rushing, and scored 2 touchdowns.
Play of the game
It has to be Woods’s acrobatic touchdown catch, a 33-yarder that put the exclamation point on Hammond Central’s victory.
Turning point
The two teams battled evenly through much of the first half, but a 46-yard catch by Woods gave Hammond Central the ball on Washington’s 4 with 3 minutes left in the first half. The Wolves scored a touchdown, then added a field goal to take a 10-0 lead at halftime.
Next game
Washington travels to Bremen for its first road game and its first Northern Indiana Conference game Friday at 7 p.m.
Justin Frommer, Tom Noie, Adam Kroemer and Anthony Anderson contributed to this report
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA football: Area quick reads from South Bend
