My View/Your View: State football playoffs starting to get interesting

Some thoughts and notes as we look ahead to Friday’s sectional semifinal round of the 37th Indiana High School Athletic Association football tournament:

I’m sure a lot of folks can’t help but wonder what will happen in Sectional 4 at Fishers High School this weekend, where Class 5A No. 1 Carmel (9-1) and the Tigers (9-1) will battle for the first time.

Will the tradition-rich Carmel program, which has reached the state championship game three straight years (winning in 2007) roll on as most probably expect, or will Fishers’ dream season – somewhat of a fairytale story when you consider that the school is only in its fourth season of varsity football – continue?

But it could be one wild party should the unexpected happen.

And what about at Noblesville (4-6) where Hamilton Southeastern (9-1) must remain focused if it hopes for a possible rematch with Fishers (9-1), which beat the Royals 10-6 in the second game of the season, or a shot at Carmel (9-1) – winner of nine straight games since that 7-3 loss to 4A No. 1 Cathedral.

The Royals won at Noblesville’s Hare Field 28-7 on Oct. 2, yet the Millers are coming off their biggest offensive output of the season, scoring 58 points in a 28-point victory over Lafayette Jeff. And keep in mind that HSE, which shared the Hoosier Crossroads Conference title with Fishers, has not met Carmel in the sectional since 2005, the year the Royals beat the Greyhounds and reached the state championship game?

Man, talk about some interesting possibilities.

The tournament draw certainly seems to favor HSE reaching the Nov. 6 sectional championship game. And no matter the opponent, the Royals’ tough and proud defense, which allows only 7 points per game, appears solid and ready for the challenge.

To illustrate how good HSE has been defensively in one of the state’s more high-profile conferences, here are some interesting comparisons among other Sectional 4 teams: In-town rival Fishers allows 19.1 points per game; Noblesville, another HCC member, gives up 24.9 points; and Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference champion Carmel, which didn’t have an easy time before finally topping HCC member Westfield by 14 points in the sectional opener, allows 9.2 points.

Still, what lies ahead are all very big, very real hurdles in Sectional 4, which is arguably the toughest sectional in the state.

The same could be said for Brebeuf Jesuit’s path in Class 3A, and I can’t help but wonder what’s running through the minds of the Braves, who certainly look like genuine contenders. The Braves are 9-1 and only one win away from facing likely opponent No. 1 Bishop Chatard for the Sectional 21 championship.

Chatard, a storied program that knows how to win big games, has won two of the past three state titles and five in an eight-year period. Brebeuf has not savored such success. Coming off an impressive 49-7 victory over Danville, Brebeuf must first take care of business at North Montgomery (7-3) in order to get a chance to make a statewide statement. The Braves have reached a sectional championship title game only once since 1994. That was a 40-20 loss to Danville in 2007, coach Ryan Gallogly’s first year at Brebeuf.

Keep in mind that keeping a team focused on the next opponent can oftentimes be more difficult for coaches than drawing up X’s and O’s for a particular opponent. With that in mind, anyone looking ahead? I mean, kids are kids … and we’re talking about kids who know what they want and what could lie ahead down the road for them in terms of even bigger and better things.

• Some interesting Sectional 4 statistics: Noblesville sophomore Jake Bates has completed 143-of-255 passes (.561 percent) for 1,666 yards and 13 TDs; veteran Fishers quarterback Alex Hines has completed 101-of-186 passes (.543) for 1,430 yards and 16 TDs; and Carmel senior Adam Shaffer is 94-of-134 (.701) for 1,169 yards and 12 TDs … Hard-running Fishers senior tailback Tommy Huser has rushed for 1,156 yards, a 115.6 per-game average, which is tops in the Sectional 4 field; Hamilton Southeastern’s Matt Ripp has rushed for 1,126 yards; Carmel junior Devin Brinson follows with 1,078 yards; and Noblesville underclassmen Joey Pasquale and Tyler Reeves provide a balanced running attack, combining for 918 yards.

• How’s this for a rematch? Class 2A No. 1 Cardinal Ritter, the defending Class A champion, will try to get past reigning 2A champion Heritage Christian for the second time in three weeks. Throw that 55-31 Ritter victory out the window. This is a new season. The only thing that figures to be the same for sure is probably the dueling high-octane offenses. Heritage Christian’s Jackson Kirtley has completed 186-of-293 passes for 2,273 yards and 31 touchdowns, while his top receiver, James Houck, has 74 catches for 1,201 yards and 14 TDs. Ritter’s Ross Hendrickson, who directed the Class A title run, has completed 115-of-169 passes (.680 percent) for 1,731 yards and 12 TDs. He’s also an excellent runner, as is senior Mike Timko, who has scored 138 of the Raiders’ 447 points.

• Some of the best: Warren Central’s Shakir Bell (1,981 yards) finished second in the state in regular-season rushing to Milan’s Travis Pennington (2,147 yards). Bell now has 2,097 yards after 10 games . . . Chatard’s Ari Pappas ranked among the state’s top four players in regular-season scoring (158 points). He added 24 points to that total, scoring four TDs in the Trojans’ 38-21 sectional-opening win over Crawfordsville.

• Flying high: First-year Guerin Catholic coach Andrew Kremer finally has the Golden Eagles on the right track. After a 0-6 start in Class A, they have won four straight, including a 30-13 sectional matchup against rebuilding Sheridan, which had played in four straight state championship games.

• Player to watch: Franklin Central junior C.J. Williams, who rushed for 1,266 yards and 14TDs in 2009, looks like the area’s premier senior running back in 2010. A workhorse, Williams carried 27 times and scored on two long, breakaway runs in a 14-13 Sectional 5 loss to 5A No. 3 Warren Central. Incidentally, Williams transferred in from Arizona this season, though he was actually born in Indy. His family relocated to Phoenix when he was a youth, and the 5-10, 190-pounder earned all-state honors in Phoenix as a sophomore.

Mark Morrow is an online columnist for VYPE High School Sports Magazine, Central Indiana. He can be reached at mediamarko@sbcglobal.net or by leaving a comment.