As the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder, with each passing week of high school football — the stakes get higher.
And for local teams, the final third of the season is here.
LB (0-3, 0-1) at CHS (0-6, 0-4)
Both Crawfordsville and Lebanon will be looking for their first win of the season when they square off on Friday night at Crawfordsville
The Tigers own losses to Mooresville, Zionsville, and Tri-West after spending time in quarantine.
“Lebanon has played the toughest schedule in our conference to this point,” Crawfordsville football coach Kurt Schlicher said. “For them last week was a product of not having played in three weeks but we expect them to be sharper this Friday night.”
Trevor Winkles leads the Tigers with 310 rushing yards, while Andrew Martin has caught 23 passes for 222 yards to lead the Athenians.
Crawfordsville is looking for its first win over Lebanon since 2007. It will take a strong offensive performance to do so, and the Athenians have only scored two touchdowns in the second half all season.
“I think our team has really been impacted by how our offense starts the game,” Schlicher said. “Last week our poor start was a real negative but versus Southmont and West Vigo our fast start on offense helped us believe we could compete.”
Red’s Prediction: Lebanon 21,
Crawfordsville 20
NM (5-1, 2-1) at TW (4-2, 3-1)
While North Montgomery is 5-1 on the season and ranked No. 9 in Class 3A, the Chargers are still looking for a signature win in 2020. They will get that chance on Friday night at Tri-West.
“We will need to make sure we are aligned correctly, we are reading our keys, and we are pursuing to the football,” Chargers coach Josh Thompson said of the keys to a win.
Garrett Cora, who was one of the top returning skill players in the Sagamore Conference leads the Bruins with 620 yards rushing, but North Montgomery’s Zak Searle is second in the league through six games with 712 yards rushing and nine touchdowns.
Thompson knows it will have to be a good week of practice followed by good game plan on Friday night.
“We will continue to focus on continual improvement as we move along in the season,” he said. “We understand that we will need to have a good week of practice if we want to be successful on Friday. Last week was a good week for us and so far we have had a better week this week.”
North Montgomery is looking for its first win against Tri-West since 2011.
SM (2-3, 1-3) at WB (3-3, 3-1)
Southmont is entering its toughest stretch of the season with Western Boone, Lebanon, and Tri-West to finish the regular season after a home date with Danville last week that resulted in a 35-7 loss and dropped the Mounties to 2-3 on the season.
“Going into the season, we knew that this would be a tough stretch of games,” Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “We want to stay as healthy as what we can and continue to get better and improve as team throughout the rest of the regular season.”
Getting key will be the key for the Mounties, and in the meantime they’ll continue to look upon freshman quarterback Nolan Boyer and sophomore halfback Carson Chadd (333 rushing yards).
Robby Taylor leads the Stars with 620 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
Southmont last beat Western Boone in 2011.
Game Capsules
Lebanon (0-3) at Crawfordsville (0-6)
GAME TIME: 7 pm ET, Athenian Field.
COACHES: Jeff Smock, 17-17 in 4th year at Lebanon. Kurt Schlicher, 1-15 in 2nd year at Crawfordsville.
SAGARIN RATINGS: Lebanon, 48.09, 159th overall, 39th in 4A. Crawfordsville, 20.54, 256th overall, 54th in 3A.
LAST OUTING: Lebanon lost to Tri-West, 42-7. Crawfordsville lost to North Montgomery, 42-6.
OPPONENTS’ RECORDS: Lebanon 13-5. Crawfordsville 20-13.
SERIES LAST 35 YEARS: Lebanon, 27-8
LAST MEETING: Lebanon, 50-0, Oct. 4, 2019.
jh PREDICTION: Lebanon, 42-24..
North Montgomery (5-1) at Tri-West (4-2)
GAME TIME: 7 pm ET, Tri-West.
COACHES: Josh Thompson, 37-34 in 7th year at North Montgomery. Jason Ward, 11-5 in 2nd year at Tri-West.
SAGARIN RATINGS: Tri-West, 70.51, 58th overall, 9th in 3A. North Montgomery, 52.15, 142nd overall, 21st in 3A.
LAST OUTING: North Montgomery defeated Crawfordsville, 42-6. Tri-West defeated Lebanon, 42-7.
VS. COMMON FOES: North Montgomery 0-1; Tri-West 1-0.
OPPONENTS’ RECORDS: North Montgomery 13-22. Tri-West 16-15.
SERIES LAST 35 YEARS: Tri-West, 14-8
LAST MEETING: Tri-West, 39-36, Oct. 4, 2019.
jh PREDICTION: Tri-West, 35-21.
South Vermillion (5-1) at Fountain Central (0-4)
GAME TIME: 7 pm ET, Mustang Stadium.
COACHES: Greg Barrett, 22-16 in 4th year at South Vermillion, 79-50 in 12th year overall. Ryan Hall, 6-18 in 3rd year at Fountain Central, 41-48 in 9th year overall.
SAGARIN RATINGS: South Vermillion, 59.38, 105th overall, 13th in 2A. Fountain Central, 4.78, 301st overall, 53rd in 1A.
LAST OUTING: South Vermillion defeated Parke Heritage, 51-44. Fountain Central lost to Seeger, 52-6.
VS. COMMON FOES: South Vermillion 1-0; Fountain Central 0-1.
OPPONENTS’ RECORDS: South Vermillion 13-19. Fountain Central 14-7.
SERIES LAST 35 YEARS: Fountain Central, 11-7
LAST MEETING: South Vermillion, 50-0, Oct. 4, 2019.
jh PREDICTION: South Vermillion, 45-10.
Southmont (2-3) at Western Boone (3-3)
GAME TIME: 7 pm ET, Western Boone.
COACHES: Desson Hannum, 62-82 in 14th year at Southmont. Justin Pelley, 70-23 in 8th year at Western Boone.
SAGARIN RATINGS: Western Boone, 56.93, 117th overall, 17th in 2A. Southmont, 31.9, 215th overall, 36th in 2A.
LAST OUTING: Southmont lost to Danville, 35-7. Western Boone defeated Frankfort, 37-0.
VS. COMMON FOES: Southmont 1-2; Western Boone 3-0.
OPPONENTS’ RECORDS: Southmont 13-15. Western Boone 21-14.
SERIES LAST 35 YEARS: Western Boone, 30-11
LAST MEETING: Western Boone, 35-7, Oct. 25, 2019, sectional.
jh PREDICTION: Western Boone, 35-21.
Sagamore Conference Stat Leaders
PASSING PERCENTAGE
Name C A %
Kale Payne (DV) 49 63 78
Kai Ross (TW) 99 148 67
Donavan Haworth (NM) 53 92 58
Elliott Young (WB) 46 84 55
S. Michael (FF) 60 112 54
K. Underwood (CHS) 80 162 49
Garrett Harker (LB) 24 49 49
PASSING YARDS
Name G Yds P/G
Kai Ross (TW) 6 1159 193
Elliott Young (WB) 6 750 125
Donavan Haworth (NM 6 746 124
S. Michael (FF) 6 681 113
Kale Payne (DV) 4 626 156
K. Underwood (CHS) 6 613 122
Garrett Harker (LB) 3 281 94
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS
Name G TD
Kai Ross (TW) 6 14
Donavan Haworth (NM) 6 12
Kale Payne (DV) 4 9
Elliott Young (WB) 6 9
K. Underwood (CHS) 6 7
S. Michael (FF) 6 6
RUSHING YARDS
Name Att. Yds
R. Goodnight (FF) 122 847
Zak Searle (NM) 129 712
Robby Taylor (WB) 116 622
Garrett Cora (TW) 92 620
S. Michael (FF) 60 424
M. McGovern (DV) 49 352
Carson Chadd (SM) 29 333
Trevor Winkles (LB) 48 310
Luke Marsh (WB) 38 290
RECEIVING
Name C Y
C. Garrity (WB) 19 460
Logan Kelly (NM) 22 382
Jade Ayers (FF) 28 352
J. Mohr (TW) 18 309
Andrew Martin (CHS) 27 294
Garrett Cora (TW) 24 289
Bryce Hendershot (TW) 32 278
Luke Wooten (DV) 18 199
Total Touchdowns
Name Ru. Rec. T
R. Goodnight (FF) 11 2 13
Garrett Cora (TW) 9 4 13
Zak Searle (NM) 9 1 10
Robby Taylor (WB) 6 0 6
Connor Garrity (WB) 0 6 6
Logan Kelly (NM) 0 6 6
Luke Marsh (WB) 4 1 5
Carson Chadd (SM) 4 0 4
K. Ross (TW) 4 0 4
Elliott Young (WB) 4 0 4
Skyler Marlowe (TW) 0 4 4
J. Mohr (TW) 0 4 4
DEFENSE TACKLES
Name Solo As.Total
G. Chavez (FF) 59 47 106
V. Carreras (FF) 27 56 83
Luke Marsh (WB) 52 26 72
R. Mitchell (FF) 47 25 72
Trevor Weakley (WB) 33 30 63
Cannon Brunes (WB) 26 29 55
L. Todd (FF) 16 36 52
Brenton Wood (FF) 19 29 48
Ethan Depinet (TW) 30 18 48
Ramsey Mitchell (FF) 32 14 46
Bryce Mcdonald (FF) 22 23 45
Ethan Patton (CHS) 21 22 43
Austin Bowman (WB) 24 16 40
Stats compiled by those submitted by the coaching staffs.
