Plainfield’s plan; Mr. Football race heats up
What we learned from Week 7 of the Indiana high school football season:
Plainfield’s plan works
Hiring a coach-in-waiting is an unusual move at the high school level, but it is difficult to argue with the results at Plainfield.
Tyler Bless was hired at Plainfield last year as the replacement for Brian Woodard, but with the stipulation Woodard would coach a 17th and final season before turning over the reins to Bless, who had worked the previous three years as the offensive coordinator for his uncle, Tim Bless, at Columbus North.
Woodard ended his tenure at Plainfield by leading the Quakers to the program’s first sectional championship in 22 years. Plainfield lost in the regional to eventual Class 5A state runner-up Whiteland, but the Quakers took the momentum of a 6-6 season and sectional title into the offseason.
“I think it was honestly the best thing that probably could happen to me and to our program,” Bless said. “I just really had the year to get to know our players and get to know our coaches and then just build those relationships. As soon as our opportunity ended last year, it was kind of like the keys were turned over to me and we just went full steam ahead. The kids got behind me and just have bought into everything we’ve asked them to do.”
Bless credited Woodard for having the coach-in-waiting idea and making it work. Plainfield returned a lot of talent from last year’s team, including senior quarterback Hunter Newell and senior receivers Isaiah Miller and Caden Vanderbush on offense and senior Landon Drennan, junior Alex Holsclaw and senior Seth Martin on defense, among others.
The eighth-ranked Quakers (6-1) look like a veteran team, coming back from a three-point loss to Decatur Central two weeks ago to roll 38-3 over Franklin at home Friday. Newell is completing 58.5% of his passes for 1,014 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions and sophomore Luke Starnes has emerged as the top rusher, going for 750 yards and 11 TDs through seven games.
“We won our first sectional in 22 years last year and it was a big deal for us,” Bless said. “I think it let our kids know that we’re capable of doing it. I think it gave us a lot of confidence that we probably all needed.”
That confidence is obvious. The Quakers have a big game this week at Whiteland and close the regular season the following week vs. Martinsville. Then they’ll have to get ready for a competitive four-team Sectional 13, where all four teams have a winning record, including Decatur Central (5-2) and Harrison (6-1). Plainfield beat Harrison 15-14 in Week 2.
Getting out of the sectional will be tough. But the winner there is likely the favorite to win the regional and potentially see either top-ranked Bloomington North (7-0) or No. 3 Bloomington South (6-1) in the semistate with a state finals spot on the line.
Indiana Mr. Football talk
Some of the players we have previously discussed as potential Mr. Football candidates had big performances Friday night:
Brownsburg running back Garrett
Sherrell ran for 340 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries in the 6A top-ranked Bulldogs’ 59-21 win over Zionsville. Sherrell now has 1,525 rushing yards and 13 rushing TDs through seven games.
Cathedral quarterback Danny O’Neil had a big game on the road in Cathedral’s 39-26 win at Cincinnati LaSalle as he was 22-for-30 passing for 150 yards and three TDs and ran for 166 yards and two TDs on 11 carries.
Ben Davis quarterback Thomas Gotkowski was 20-for-31 passing for 214 yards and three TDs and ran for 67 yards on 14 carries in the 6A third-ranked Giants’ 45-16 win over Carmel.
It was not much of a game but East Central’s Josh Ringer ran for five touchdowns in the 4A top-ranked Trojans’ 64-0 win over Connersville.
Center Grove quarterback Tyler Cherry was 13-for-16 passing for 211 yards and three touchdowns in essentially one half as the 6A second-ranked Trojans rolled to a 48-17 win over Pike.
Surprises of the week
How does this make sense?
Two weeks ago, Ben Davis needed a dropped pass and a missed field goal to avoid an upset bid by Warren Central in a 31-28 victory. Last week, Ben Davis scored 55 points in the first half and rolled to a running clock 62-14 victory over Lawrence North.
This week? Obviously, Lawrence North jumps all over Warren Central by 41 points at halftime and rolls to a stunning 48-7 victory.
The result should not be all that surprising. Lawrence North has now won four consecutive regular-season games against Warren Central (the Warriors won the rematch in the 2020 sectional), two of those coming by 21 points. But after watching the Warriors two weeks ago and seeing how many juniors are on the roster, I thought Warren Central was trending up.
Lawrence North (5-2) is a dangerous team. Pat Mallory’s Wildcats are averaging 32.1 points and can run two quarterbacks out there — junior Tanner Aspeslet and senior Montez Jones — who have different skill sets, a lot of speed at receiver and a freshman running back who is only about 100 yards away from 1,000 on the season. Cathedral (5-2) is still probably the favorite in Class 6A Sectional 6, but Lawrence North is right there.
A couple other results from the “surprise” category Friday night:
Terre Haute South knocked off Brebeuf Jesuit 32-25 as junior running back Zyeiar White ran for 191 yards and three TDs, including the game-winner with 2:14 left. Brebeuf (3-3) had defeated Terre Haute South five years in a row, including a 27-0 win last year. Terre Haute South, a 5A program, improved to 3-4.
Not necessarily a big stunner, but Southport ended its 28-game losing streak in a big way with a 43-7 home victory over Terre Haute North.