Published: September 05, 2008 01:16 am         

Expect a classic

Pioneer visits No. 7 South Newton; Logan hosts Richmond

Pioneer’s football team fell out of the top 10 in Class A this week despite a 31-7 win over rival Winamac this past weekend.

The Panthers (1-1, 1-0 in Midwest Conference) could likely return to the top 10 with a win at No. 7 South Newton (2-0, 1-0) tonight.

The two programs have been the class of the MWC in recent years. When the teams have met up the last two years, the games have been thrillers. Two years ago the Rebels ended Pioneer’s long winning streak in MWC play with a 44-40 win. Last year the Panthers were able to avenge that defeat with a 30-24 win in overtime en route to reclaiming the league title.

“They’ve been really tight, close ballgames, hotly contested, right down to the wire,” Pioneer coach Mike Johnson said. “It’s going to be very difficult.

“They have a very dynamic offense, and they run it very well. They have a lot of skilled guys who can catch the ball and a quarterback who can deliver it. We’ll definitely have our hands full with them.”

Although the Panthers were able to rack up 501 yards in total offense against Winamac, Johnson is looking for better execution from his squad.

“We know offensively we need to execute better and hang on to the ball, certainly eliminate turnovers,” he said. “Defensively we need to stay on their top receivers and not let them have quick scores. Of course we want to have the ability to have pressure on them. It’s always a tough place to play.”

Though the Rebels did lose their starting quarterback and top wide receiver to graduation from a year ago, they still return a lot of starters according to Johnson.

“They have a lot of linemen back,” he said. “Their quarterback is very capable. There’s not much of a dropoff that I can really tell. They’re not a start-of-the-season-to-end-of-the-season program. They work at it, and they’re very good at what they do.”

Last week the Rebels escaped Frontier with a 28-27 win. South Newton opened the season with a 34-0 win over North Newton.

Richmond (1-1) at Logan (2-0)

After surviving at Peru 26-23 this past weekend, the Berries open up their North Central Conference slate tonight against another team that runs a spread offense in Richmond.

“Richmond runs a spread offense, but they run it differently than Peru,” Logan coach Bucky Kramer said. “They have very athletic kids that will pose a challenge to us that we’ve not seen yet.”

The Berries have defeated the Red Devils five straight times, including a 42-0 shellacking last season on the road. Kramer said the Berries will see a different Richmond squad tonight than they did a year ago.

“Richmond is a very improved football program,” he said.

The Red Devils, led by second-year coach Eric Gillespie, defeated Broad Ripple 35-13 last week. Sophomore quarterback Stevie Jarrett threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns. J.J. Lemons had 79 yards receiving three catches, including a touchdown, while Ryan Jones had a pair of scores and 72 yards via the air. The Red Devils were also helped by two big punt returns, a 68-yarder by Richard Nelloms that went for a TD and a 72-yarder by Michael Ingram.

Richmond lost its season opener at East Central 41-7.

Kramer is looking for an improved performance from his squad.

“The main thing is to control ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to take care of the stupid penalties, and we have to work on ball control. Again on Friday night we had opportunities to score on every possession, but we shot ourselves in the foot several times. We let ourselves down.”

No. 10 Cass (1-1) at Northwestern (2-0)

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.”

Cass travels to Northwestern tonight for a Mid-Indiana Conference opener. The Kings have won the last eight meetings between the teams.

When Northwestern played Cass last season, the Tigers were still settling into new coach John 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.”

Caston (1-1, 1-0 in MWC) at Frontier (1-1, 0-1)

The Comets are coming off a 20-14 win in overtime against West Central.

“The kids are playing well and they’re playing together,” Caston coach Chris Ulerick said. “We’ve got to continue doing what we’re doing. We still need to clean up our mistakes — lack of execution in the red zone and stop making the crazy penalties we have the last couple games. If we do that we’ll be doing pretty well.”

Frontier nearly upset Class A No. 7 South Newton last week before falling 28-27. The week before, the Falcons won at Clinton Prairie 28-0.

“They’ve got some size, some speed,” Ulerick said of the Falcons, “they’re a pretty good team. They fell behind last Friday 20-0 before they came back and took the lead late. South Newton was fortunate to get a late score on them because Frontier’s playing well.”

Frontier has defeated Caston three years in a row, including a 33-9 win last season.

Winamac (0-2, 0-1 in MWC) at North White (2-0, 1-0)

The Warriors are looking to get their first win when they face undefeated North White, which has defeated Lake Station 39-0 and Tri-County 48-18 to start the season.

“Offensively they are one of a kind with that single wing,” Winamac coach Tim Roth said of the Vikings. “In one week’s time you can’t simulate that in practice.

“We’re hungry to get in the win column. We need to go down there and play well. If we do that, hopefully we get a win.”

Roth said the Warriors have been focusing this week on catching the football after last week’s loss at Pioneer.

“On Friday night we had seven drops, five that would have been first-down conversions,” he said. “That’s not like us. To have drops in those situations, not to say it lost the game for us, but it took us out of rhythm offensively and it took us off the field too many times. We have big-play capability, but we need to consistently move the chains when we don’t get big plays.”

The Warriors have defeated the Vikings three years in a row, including a 42-6 rout last season.

Sportswriter Bryan Gaskins contributed to this report.