PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Concord readies for tough Mishawaka team

Sep. 23—The Concord football program is no stranger to playing in big games throughout its history. The Minutemen get to play in another one this Friday against Mishawaka.

No. 12 (Class 5A) Concord will put its four-game winning streak and undefeated Northern Lakes Conference record on the line Friday when it hosts the No. 5 (Class 5A) Cavemen at Jake Field. Concord is 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the NLC, while Mishawaka is also 4-1 but with a 2-1 NLC record after they lost to Warsaw on Sept. 10.

"I think everyone's excited," Concord coach Craig Koehler said. "I think we're excited as a program. If the weather holds with what they're saying it's supposed to be, I think there should be a good crowd. They always travel well, and I think our people will turn out. We have free student admission, so that's going to help I think. There's positive energy; it's a huge opportunity against a really good football team."

When playing a team like Mishawaka, talk of slowing down their triple-option rushing offense immediately comes up. Luckily for Concord, they've played numerous triple-option teams over the years, so that style of offense isn't something new to them.

One thing that stands out to Koehler about Mishawaka's offense, though, is the players running it.

"What makes it difficult is they have good players, that's first and foremost," Koehler said. "Scheme is a scheme, but it starts with their players. From there, their offensive line — it's just different. It's hard to explain. If you're a football guy and you watch the film, they're in four-point stances. ... It just presents a whole different challenge than from what your kids are used to, in terms of trying to get off blocks."

Defensively, Concord has been stout all season, allowing just 10.6 points per game. They've been led on that side of the ball by senior linebacker Zaven Koltookian, who leads the state of Indiana with 9.5 sacks through five games, including 5.5 in a 21-12 win over Goshen last week. Koltookian also leads the team with 40.5 total tackles.

While he may not get many sacks against the run-heavy offense of the Cavemen, Koltookian will be instrumental to the Minutemen's success Friday.

"First of all, he's really, really talented," said Koehler of why Koltookian has been successful this season. "His measurables are impressive: he's long, he's tall, he can run. He's put on weight since last year; so, all of the obvious things. But I think it's more important to him; I think he has a little bit more of a sense of urgency than he's had in the past. I think he realizes his opportunities on Friday nights are dwindling, so I think that all plays into it."

Offensively, Koehler said his team is still searching for a complete game on that side of the ball. The coach knows that they have to maximize each possession they have Friday, as they'll be limited because of Mishawaka's time-consuming offense.

"If we're going to have any opportunity to win the game Friday, we've got to vastly improve on (the offensive) side of the ball, just because your possessions are going to be limited; you're not going to have the ball near as much as you're accustomed to having," Koehler said. "I believe we had seven possessions in the first half last Friday against Goshen — we might not get seven possessions in the game this coming Friday. We don't have the luxury of having a bad series or two against them, or else you're going to be chasing."

GOSHEN SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Like Concord, Goshen also gets to play a triple-option offense Friday when the RedHawks (2-3, 0-3 NLC) welcome Warsaw (4-1, 3-0 NLC) to Foreman Field. This will be the third time Goshen has played a triple-option offense this year after beating Fairfield in week one and losing to Mishawaka in week three.

Goshen coach Kyle Park said the difference between Mishawaka and Warsaw's offenses is which players are the focal points.

"Warsaw, they are really big on (running the football) with the fullback," Park said. "That's one of their 'dudes,' as we would say, where Mishawaka really keyed their quarterback. ... So, with Warsaw, we've got to stop the fullback, and then they try and get the ball outside with two speedsters."

Offensively, Goshen has struggled at the start of games this season. They've been held scoreless in the first half of all three of their NLC games and didn't score until the fourth quarter against Concord last week. Park said being able to sustain early drives is a key to turning the offense around.

"It's just trying to figure out why we're making the mistakes that we're making in the first half and not necessarily in the second half," Park said. "...The problem is that we're not even giving ourselves a shot early in games to get into any kind of a rhythm to figure out what they're trying to do to stop us. You call plays and you keep going three-and-out, three-and-out and three-and-out, it's tough to get into a rhythm to call plays."

NORTHWOOD, NORTHRIDGE LOOK TO STAY IN NLC RACE

Two teams with only one loss in NLC play will look to stay in conference title contention Friday when NorthWood (3-2, 2-1 NLC) visits Northridge (4-1, 2-1 NLC) in Middlebury. The Panthers are coming off a 44-14 victory over Wawasee, one that gave Nate Andrews 100 for his career (59 at NorthWood). The Raiders lost their first game of the season last week, falling to Warsaw, 36-3, on the road.

Who plays at quarterback for Northridge will be a big question mark after senior Micah Hochstetler was sidelined for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury. Sophomore Conner Roth started at QB last week, but he was expected to contend with junior Qade Carrington for the starting job against NorthWood.

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FULL LIST OF AREA GAMES THIS WEEK — All kickoff at 7 p.m.

* = conference game

*Mishawaka (4-1, 2-1 NLC) at Concord (4-1, 3-0 NLC)

*Warsaw (4-1, 3-0 NLC) at Goshen (2-3, 0-3 NLC)

*NorthWood (3-2, 2-1 NLC) at Northridge (4-1, 2-1 NLC)

*Plymouth (0-5, 0-3 NLC) at Wawasee (0-5, 0-3 NLC)

*Angola (3-2, 1-1 NECC Big) at Fairfield (1-4, 0-1 NECC Big)

*West Noble (2-3, 1-1 NECC Big) at Garrett (3-2, 1-0 NECC Big)

Central Noble (5-0) at Lakeland (2-3)

*South Bend St. Joseph (2-3, 0-2 NIC East-West) at Elkhart (2-3, 0-1 NIC East-West)

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.