New Palestine (1-0) at Center Grove (0-1)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Kyle Ralph, 75-4 in 7th year at New Palestine. Eric Moore, 188-67 in 21st year at Center Grove, 236-72 in 25th year overall.
Recent history: New Palestine won the only meeting between the two teams, a 31-9 win a year ago.
Sagarin ratings: Center Grove, 109.07, 2nd overall, 2nd in 6A. New Palestine, 106.96, 3rd overall, 1st in 5A.
Players to watch: New Palestine — QB Lincoln Roth, RB Charlie Spegal, DL Kyle King, LB Aven Jones, DB Maxen Hook, DB Brody Luker; Center Grove — QB Tayven Jackson, RB Connor Delp, RB Mitchell Evans, DE/DT Caden Curry, LB Gabe Boyd
What to look for: Much like last year, the expectation should be a close game between Jeff Sagarin’s No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the state of Indiana. A year ago, New Palestine forced an early turnover and rode that momentum to a lopsided win, subverting expectations and topping the Trojans by 22 points. The Trojans have not forgotten and will be looking for payback on their home field tonight. This game looked to feature two of the state’s premiere running backs, with New Palestine’s Charlie Spegal squaring off with Center Grove’s Carson Steele. Steele missed the opener against Warren Central and isn’t expected to play tonight, but that doesn’t mean the Trojans won’t run the ball – they still ran for nearly 300 yards against Warren without Steele. Center Grove was the only team to contain Spegal a year ago, holding him under 100 yards. Can they do it again? They’ll certainly focus on it. This game hinges on two things: which quarterback, in just their second start, handles the pressure better; and which team wins the turnover battle. Anything other than a single-digit margin of victory for either team would be a shock.
Mt. Vernon (1-0) vs. Richmond (1-0)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Tony Sonsini, 1-0 in 1st year at Richmond. Mike Kirschner, 8-4 in 2nd year at Mt. Vernon, 117-66 in 17th year overall.
Recent history: Mt. Vernon won the only previous matchup between the teams, a 46-14 win in the 2016 sectional round.
Sagarin ratings: Mt. Vernon, 54.65, 111th overall, 27th in 4A. Richmond, 36.69, 202nd overall, 48th in 4A.
Players to watch: Mt. Vernon — QB Shaun Shipley, QB Gehrig Slunaker, RB/FS Rylan Cole, OL/LB Charlie Moore, DL Matt Foor, WR Dawan Langston; Richmond — QB Drew Vanvleet, RB/LB Wyatt Byrd, WR/DB Marquis Johnson, RB/LB Jake Haynes
What to look for: The Marauders have likely spent an entire week of practice focusing on fixing the sloppiness and the mistakes from Week 1’s win against Hamilton Heights. Expect them to have a much cleaner game tonight against Richmond. Gehrig Slunaker had the much better outing at QB against the Huskies, but expect to see both him and Shaun Shipley splitting time against Richmond and moving forward. Rylan Cole will get a good number of carries and be in line for another 100-yard game on the ground. Mt. Vernon should pick up a comfortable second win of the season and build some more momentum heading into Week 3’s HHC opener.
Eastern Hancock (1-0) at Wes-Del (0-1)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Coaches: Doug Armstrong, 4-7 in 2nd year at Eastern Hancock, 101-86 in 18th year overall. Brad Hess, 26-36 in 7th year at Wes-Del.
Recent history: The Royals hold a 19-3 series edge in the last 30 years, with the most recent game a 14-8 Eastern Hancock win in 2018.
Sagarin ratings: Eastern Hancock, 31.97, 224th overall, 41st in 2A. Wes-Del, 23.44, 253rd overall, 36th in 1A.
Players to watch: Eastern Hancock — QB Houston Swan, RB/DB Victor Olivo, WR/FS Cole Rainbolt, RB/LB Garrett Friesen, DL Tyler Vandervliet, WR/DB Zach Arnold, WR/DB Cayden Sotelo; Wes-Del — QB Eric Harlan, RB/LB Will Kely, WR/OLB Caeden McClaughry, WR/LB Karson Lutton, WR/DL Bill Pittsford
What to look for: Word around Charlottesville heading into the season was that the Royals would be really good on offense. A Week 1 blowout win confirmed that. The Royals, who had a strong rushing attack a year ago, unleashed sophomore quarterback Houston Swan in the opener. It paid off big, as Swan broke the school record for TDs in a game in just one half of play. Eastern Hancock has a bevy of talented receivers, and they should have no issue putting up a lot of points against Wes-Del tonight. Expect to see more big numbers offensively and a second straight win to open the season for the visitors.
Greenfield-Central (0-1) vs. Whiteland (0-1)
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Coaches: Darrin Fisher, 97-62 in 15th year at Whiteland, 158-134 in 29th year overall. Travis Nolting, 0-1 in 1st year at Greenfield, 60-29 in 9th year overall.
Recent history: Whiteland won the only previous matchup between the teams, a 35-7 win last August.
Sagarin ratings: Whiteland, 68.21, 63rd overall, 12th in 5A. Greenfield, 30.61, 231st overall, 51st in 4A.
Players to watch: Greenfield-Central — QB/DB/P Lance McKee, FB/LB Bradon Nelson, TE/LB Tyler Antic, DB Chris O’Connor, RB/LB Brayden Herrell; Whiteland — RB Melvin Taylor, RB Gavin Lutz, DL A.J. Beil, LB Jacob Schultz, DB Jacob Brown
What to look for: Greenfield-Central showed reason for optimism in Week 1, despite the lopsided final score. The Cougars ran the ball effectively in the new wishbone offense and sustained long drives. Now they just need to figure out how to finish those drives off. That will be a tough task tonight, though. This is another difficult matchup for the Cougars, as Whiteland comes in as heavy favorites and should get past the hosts by several scores. For Greenfield-Central, this game is about continued progress as they prepare for HHC play next week against county rival Mt. Vernon.
