Published: September 04, 2008 10:04 pm            

FOOTBALL: Week 3 previews

League play opens with No. 7 Western at Taylor; Anderson at Kokomo

The Northwestern football team took care of business during the non-conference portion of its schedule, whipping Frankton and North Miami for its first 2-0 start since 2004.

Now, the Purple Tigers are about to find out find out if they have closed the gap against their two biggest rivals.

Northwestern hosts Class 2A No. 10-ranked Cass tonight and visits Class 3A No. 7 Western next week in Mid-Indiana Conference games. The Tigers haven’t beaten either team since 1999, dropping eight straight to the Kings and nine straight to the Panthers.

“We’ve put ourselves in the position that we wanted to be in,” second-year Northwestern coach John Hendryx said of the 2-0 start. “Last year, we kind of misstepped in Week 2. We really wanted to go into the Cass and Western games at 2-0 and we didn’t and we came out of it in a mess.

“We’ve played better each week this season. We’ve told our kids that we have to do that because the schedule keeps getting better. So hopefully we’ll keep that process up. I hope we play better this Friday than we did last — we have to because [the Kings] are an awfully good team.”

Cass owns a 1-1 record following a 27-20 loss to Class 3A power West Lafayette last week.

“I was disappointed in the outcome, but I was really pleased with the way our kids hung in there,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “Hopefully that is going to be something that we continue to do all season — just battle for four quarters.”

When Northwestern played Cass last season, the Tigers were still settling into Hendryx’s system. They started to click around midseason and shook off a 1-3 start to finish 8-5.

Mannering noted Hendryx’s imprint on the Tigers is more noticeable this season.

“We were watching tape and thought it looked a lot like some of the Carroll teams he had back in the 1990s — offensively especially. They throw the ball well, they run a lot of misdirection and he uses the athletes he has very well,” Mannering said.

“It looks to me like their offensive and defensive lines are really solid,” he added. “They’re playing some younger guys in skill positions who are new this season; we’re doing the same thing. It looks like it has the makings of a good football game.”

Hendryx points to handling the Kings’ big defensive tackles and active inside linebackers as a key for his squad. He knows the Kings will play a physical brand of football.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” he said. “I’m excited about it. I think it will be a great atmosphere. We’re undefeated, they’re awfully good so I’m really hoping there are a lot of people who show up for it and hopefully we can compete and stay in the ballgame.”

Anderson (0-2) at Kokomo (1-1)

Before the season, Kokomo football coach Brett Colby gave shirts with bull’s-eyes printed on them to his varsity players.

“We beat everyone [in the North Central Conference] last year and that means we’ll be every team’s “get-even” game,” Colby said.

The first of those is tonight when Kokomo opens defense of its 7-0 NCC championship run last season when Anderson visits.

The Indians have lost to Anderson Highland and Southport by a combined score of 84-21, but Colby knows they have good athletes with speed and that can prove dangerous.

The speediest of last year’s Anderson squad, Pierre Carr, won’t be a concern. He moved to Pennsylvania following football season and won the 100-meter dash in the state track meet there with a sizzling :10.57 clocking.

Still, the Indians return quarterback Nolan Early after he hit on 18 of 31 passes for 258 yards and two TDs in a 28-12 loss to the Kats last season.

“Early is dangerous,” Colby said. “He’s a three-year starter and probably the best quarterback in the conference. He can throw and he has the speed to run. We’ll have to defend him well.” In his two starts, Early has made the most of the big play, running six times for 74 yards. He’s also hit on 9 of 13 passes for 94 yards and one TD.

Kokomo comes off a 41-7 loss at Coldwater, Ohio.

“It was a good experience,” Colby said, “but it still stings. What hurts most is that we didn’t play our best game and that’s something we really wanted to do.”

Colby said, however, his players have gotten past the loss and are eager to begin NCC play. Colby said he didn’t expect any major lineup changes, but said Casey Shipley will likely return to the backfield after sitting out last Friday’s game with a leg injury.

No. 7 Western (2-0) at Taylor (2-0)

Class 3A No. 7-ranked Western beat Frankfort two weeks ago, ending a pesky losing streak to a rival.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot.

Taylor is hungry to break a nine-game losing streak to Western. The Titans came close to snapping the skid last season, but the Panthers escaped with a 16-7 win.

“We look at this as a great opportunity for our program,” Taylor coach Josh Ousley said. “The way we’re perceived as a program is not going to change until we’re able to go out and not just compete with a team like Western, but beat a team like Western. We feel like we have an opportunity to do that, but we’re going to have to play pretty well because Western is a good football team.”

Western coach Alix Engle knows Taylor will come ready to play tonight.

“Taylor is a tough team. On top of having tough kids, they have some good athletes,” he said. “We look for nothing less than 100 percent from them [tonight] and look for another great ballgame.”

The Titans will need to cut down their penalties if they hope to pull the upset tonight. They committed a whopping 26 penalties totaling more 200 yards last week against Tri-Central.

Ousley noted the Titans need to eliminate silly mistakes, but he wants his players to remain aggressive.

“That’s who we are — we’re physical and we’re going to play physical,” he said. “We coach our kids to play physical, whistle to whistle, and to get after the guy who is across from you.”

The Panthers, meanwhile, are playing physical too. They outgained Frankfort and Eastbrook by a combined 465-248 in rushing yards.

Turnover differential is another key for the Panthers. They have five takeaways and only two giveaways.

“We really shot ourselves in the foot the last couple years with some turnovers. We told the kids during two-a-days that our turnover-to-takeaway ratio had to change, and when there was a chance [to take the ball away], we have to bring it in,” Engle said. “So far, we’ve been in a position three or four times to bring it in, and so far we have done that. I can only hope we continue it throughout the rest of the season.”

Eastern (0-2) at Peru (0-2)

Eastern is mired in a 23-game losing streak and Peru has endured seven straight losing seasons, but the Mid-Indiana Conference squads showed signs of life last week. Eastern scored 48 points in a loss to Madison-Grant while Peru chased North Central Conference school Logansport to the wire before falling by three points.

QB Jonathan Keith fueled the Comets’ offensive explosion last week. He tossed six touchdown passes — two each to Tyler Harnish, Cale Roark and Caleb Gibson.

Peru beat Eastern 27-19 last season for its fourth straight win in the series.

Around the area

In the other MIC game tonight, Hamilton Heights (0-2) visits Maconaquah (0-2). Heights has won all seven meetings between the teams since it joined the conference in 2000 — by a combined score of 394-50.

In the Hoosier Heartland Conference, Tri-Central (0-2) visits Carroll (2-0) and Clinton Central (1-1) hosts Class A No. 8 Lafayette Central Catholic (1-1). LCC is the defending league champ.

And in the Hoosier Conference, Class 2A No. 7 Tipton (2-0) visits Benton Central (1-1). BC had a lopsided loss to North Montgomery two weeks ago, but bounced back to shock LCC 14-13 last week.

Tipton has beaten BC four straight times.



Week 3 schedule:

7 p.m. kickoffs

• Anderson at Kokomo

• Western at Taylor

• Cass at Northwestern

• Eastern at Peru

• Ham. Heights at Maconaquah

• Lafayette Cath. at Clinton Central

7:30 p.m. kickoffs

• Tri-Central at Carroll

• Tipton at Benton Ct.

        

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