Published: August 29, 2008 12:26 am         

Time for Week 2

Pioneer hosts Winamac; Logan takes on Peru

Last week Pioneer was held to an un-Pioneer-like three first downs and 93 total yards from scrimmage while turning the ball over four times in its 24-7 season-opening loss at Lewis Cass.

Coach Mike Johnson knows if his offense doesn’t turn things around the end result could be similar when the Class A No. 10 Panthers (0-1) host Winamac (0-1) at 7 p.m. today for their home opener and the Midwest Conference opener for both teams.

“We’re gonna have to play a lot better than we did last week to have a chance, and that’s with any opponent,” he said. “We have to execute better on offense and we have to execute better in the kicking game.

“It was certainly disappointing to the coaches; it was certainly disappointing to the players. We have to put that behind us now. We know we’re capable of playing better and we’re certainly going to have to.”

Winamac coach Tim Roth said he’d prefer Pioneer coming off a more customary lopsided win than a lopsided loss.

“I’m sure the Panthers are very upset with the way they played against their southern county rivals. I’m sure coach Johnson doesn’t want his team to play like that in their home opener,” he said. “But that’s the hand we’re dealt and we’ll try to make the most of it.

“Good football teams make major improvements from the first week. Hopefully we can catch them having the same offensive execution down there, but I know that’s not going to happen.”

The Warriors are looking to fare better against the Panthers than they have in recent years. The last time they beat the Panthers was in 2001 and the last time they won at Pioneer was in 2000. And the closest game since those wins was a 30-point loss in 2002.

But the Warriors were able to vastly improve on their recent performances against Knox in their season opener last week. The previous two years against Knox the Warriors were handed 34-0 and 40-0 defeats. Last week they were within a touchdown but had a couple possessions come up short in the fourth quarter in a 27-20 loss.

Roth said if his squad can clean up its play against Pioneer from year’s past, it can compete.

“It’s not like their invincible,” he said of the Panthers. “It’ll be a challenge though.”

Logansport (1-0) at Peru (0-1)

The Berries got off to a successful start to the season with a 34-20 win over their neighbors to the west, Twin Lakes. This week they’ll face their neighbors to the east in Peru, who is coming off a 42-20 season-opening loss at Rochester.

Logan has had a lot of success against Peru in recent seasons, winning the last five contests by an average of over 35 points per game. The last time the Tigers beat the Berries was in 2002.

Peru has a new coach this season in Bill Skelton.

“They have a new-look offense with a spread offense,” Logan coach Bucky Kramer said. “They have a strong quarterback and a couple good receivers. It’ll be a different Peru team than we’ve seen in the past. It’s definitely gonna be a challenge to us.

“I’ve seen improvement from them every year. Those guys on film look tremendously better than they were last year. Coach Skelton and his coaching staff have done a good job and deserve credit for getting their kids to buy in to what they’re doing.”

Kramer is looking for his squad to clean up the three turnovers and 11 penalties that were committed in the opener.

“Our goal is to improve in every facet every week,” Kramer said. “We want to see improvement and be in tournament form by the time the tournament rolls around.”

No. 4 West Lafayette (1-0) at No. 9 Cass (1-0)

Cass coach Scott Mannering pointed to his new-look defensive secondary as an area of uncertainly in the preseason. Cass rolled past Pioneer 24-7 last week, but the Panthers attempted only three passes which left the Kings’ secondary untested.

That will all change tonight when Class 3A No. 4 West Lafayette visits Class 2A No. 9 Cass.

West Lafayette QB Matt Lancaster passed for a school-record 340 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-31 rout of Crawfordsville last week. For good measure, he ran for two more scores.

“He may be the best quarterback we’ve seen in several years,” Mannering said. “He throws the ball very well, he can throw the deep ball very well, and he’s a tremendous athlete. He is not just going to stand back there [in the pocket] every time, he can move. They have a lot of plays that are designed for him to just run the ball.”

Mannering noted Lancaster has several reliable targets, including Daniel Wodicka. He had eight receptions for 234 yards and three touchdowns last week.

“It will be a real test for our defense. It’s a game we’re really looking forward to just from that standpoint,” Mannering said. “This could be one of the best teams we play, including the tournament. I think they return 18 starters off last season’s team that was undefeated before [a blood clot ended Lancaster’s season]. They’re very excited. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

West Lafayette beat Cass 20-6 last season. The Red Devils held the Kings to just 167 yards of offense.

“They completely owned the line of scrimmage. If that happens to us again, it’s going to be a long night,” Mannering said. “Hopefully we’re going to be able to pick up blitzes and slanting linemen. It’s just too early in the season for us to try to rework everything we do to game-plan for a team like this. We have to hopefully build on what we did last week.”

West Central (1-0) at Caston (0-1)

The Comets are looking for a better result than they had a year ago against the Trojans in their Midwest Conference opener.

Like last year, Caston is coming off a close season-opening loss against Triton in a game that could have gone either way. Following that game a year ago, the Comets lost at West Central 40-6. The challenge this year will be to avoid another letdown after another close loss.

Caston coach Chris Ulerick said the Trojans, who defeated Culver 24-19 last week, looked good in their season opener.

“They’re a young, quick team,” he said. “Obviously they’re playing with confidence after playing good football to knock off Culver.”

Ulerick is looking for his squad to eliminate the costly mistakes it made in the season opener.

“We have to clean up our execution, but it’s early in the season and our kids played hard,” he said. “We’ve just got to fix a few mental errors that we had.

“Effort-wise I was happy.”

Sportswriter Bryan Gaskins contributed to this report.