It’s a great time to be a fan of many area schools in Northeast Indiana, but for the fans in Butler and Kendallville, this means so much more for them. I remember how the city of Angola reacted after winning their first sectional in 25 years back in 2017 and that was something not even Hollywood could have re-enacted. But, even with them being back to back sectional champs, they were never able to get over the mountain that was Bishop Dwenger. Now that Dwenger is no longer in 4A, East Noble has a chance to do something that hasn’t happened since, well, the last time they won sectionals in 2003. For the Blazers, this is all new, and that’s what makes their upcoming matchup so interesting because neither of these two teams really know each other. So, can either of these two get to semi-state? Let’s find out!
2A
Eastside (10-2) @ #8 Eastbrook (10-2)
Location: Marion, IN Grant County
First Ever Meeting
Statistical matchup
10 wins is an Eastside record for wins in a season
Eastbrook now has their 5th straight season with 10 or more wins
Regional Record Eastside: N/A Eastbrook: 6-9 (have won 3 straight regional games)
Offense Eastside: 28.9 Eastbrook: 39.8
Defense Eastside: 10.5 Eastbrook: 14.2
Both have won 10 straight games after 0-2 starts and both won conference titles
Strength of schedule Eastside: 201st Eastbrook: 181st
Best win Eastside: 13-6 Bishop Luers 11/1 Eastbrook: 21-14 Mississinewa 9/13
Passing Eastside: 1,433 Eastbrook: 506
Rushing Eastside: 2,281 Eastbrook: 3,773
Passing leader
Eastside: Laban Davis (1,433) Jr
Eastbrook: Dylan Bragg (506) Sr
Receiving Leader
Eastside: Wade Miller (495) Jr
Eastbrook: Zeke Binkerd (146) Sr
Rushing Leader
Eastside: Mike Firestine (647) Jr
Eastbrook: Wyatt Stephenson (1,155) Sr
TD-INT Ratio Eastside: 18:9 Eastbrook: 8:0
QBR Eastside: 103.9 Eastbrook: 127.2
Total TD-INT Eastside: 50:15 Eastbrook: 67:15
Sacks Eastside: 22 Eastbrook: 20.5
Analysis: History is being made as we speak for the Eastside Blazers program and after spending the first 55 seasons without a playoff championship, the 2019 Blazers were finally able to win one. They had plenty of teams like the 2014 squad that were quite more talented than this group and didn’t get the job done. That doesn’t matter now because Eastside is a win away from giving the school one of those rare Semistate appearances and they’re a step closer to completing their ultimate goal of reaching state. But, from here on out, the obstacles are even greater.
The team they’re about to face is one of the most successful football programs in IHSAA history: the Eastbrook Panthers led by the 31-year head coach, Jeff Adamson. This is his program record 4th straight regional appearance and 2 of those previous 3 appearances were eventual berths in the 2A state championship, but they’ve never gotten over that state title hump yet. Eastbrook has went an insane 32-1 at home since the start of the 2015 season, and their all time playoff record at home is 32-15. But, their lone home playoff loss since 2015 came off a last second kick that sent Woodlan to the state finals back in 2017.
The Panthers don’t lose a lot, especially at home. It’s a daunting task for Eastside as they’ll have to make sure that they silence the home crowd and not let their lethal running game take control. Now, Eastside has stepped up to the task when they’ve played teams that had been run-heavy offenses. Honestly, they’ve stepped up lately period. Here’s the problem..this rushing attack is unlike any other offense Eastside has ever experienced. Hardly anyone does it better than the Eastbrook Panthers on a yearly basis.
The only way the Blazers can possibly contain this rushing attack is to be physical and force a lot of pressure on the QB and the playmakers to make tough plays. Eastbrook however is likely going to have a size and physicality advantage on paper, so Eastside can not afford to make mistakes on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they’re going to have to make tough plays on the ground because Eastbrook does an exceptional job at stopping the run. But, once again, the Blazers will have to be able to be effective in the air because that’s where there’s an advantage for Eastside on offense, but again Eastbrook does a great job on their pass rush and getting after the QB.
Eastbrook rarely makes mistakes and their QB does not throw any picks. Their worst rushing game of the season came in their week 1 loss to Marion with 167. They’ve only had 1 other game with less than 200 rushing yards this season. The most yards they allowed was 490 in the week 2 loss to Delta.
Here’s a look at Eastside’s defense against more run-heavy offenses
Heritage: 74
Adams Central: 180
West Noble: 261
Busco: 116
Prairie Heights: 69
Central Noble: 23
Angola: 165
Fairfield: 59
Notice that they only had 1 game where the rushing attack dominated Eastside’s defense and that was WN’s. Eastbrook’s run attack is going to be a challenge in ways that’s similar to West Noble’s except it’s deeper and the system they play isn’t the same. This is where Eastbrook wins or loses games. If they run the ball for 300-400 yards, they’ll win easily. If not, it could get interesting. I think whoever scores first has a great chance on putting pressure on the other team.
4A
#2 East Noble (12-0) @ #5 Mississinewa (11-1)
Location: Gas City, IN Grant County
First Ever Meeting
Statistical matchup
East Noble is 12-0 for the first time since their state finals run in 2003
Mississinewa’s 11 wins in 2019 is a program record
Regional record East Noble: 2-1 Mississinewa: 1-5 (only regional title came in 1985)
Offense East Noble: 37.3 Mississinewa: 39.4
Defense East Noble: 13.2 Mississinewa: 10.3
EN is undefeated while Ole Miss has won 8 straight. EN won their conference while Ole Miss finished 2nd behind Eastbrook
Strength of schedule East Noble: 67th Mississinewa: 141st
Passing Leader
East Noble: Bailey Parker (2,489) Sr
Mississinewa: Ethan Bennett (464) Sr
Receiving Leader
East Noble: Hayden Jones (957) Sr
Mississinewa: Carson Campbell (152) So
Rushing Leader
East Noble: Bailey Parker (1,082) Sr
Mississinewa: Cade Campbell (1,546) Sr
Passing East Noble: 2,550 Mississinewa: 699
Rushing East Noble: 2,290 Mississinewa: 3,520
TD-INT East Noble: 37:7 Mississinewa: 4:2
QBR East Noble: 120.1 Mississinewa: 93.7
Total TD-INT East Noble: 64:17 Mississinewa: 64:12
Strength of schedule East Noble: 74th Mississinewa: 141st
Best win East Noble: 34-31 @ Plymouth 8/23 Mississinewa: 31-28 @ Marion 11/08
Sacks East Noble: 18 Mississinewa: 17
Analysis: It’s a special time for the East Noble Knights football program as they finally got that monkey off their back, and are finally putting themselves in a decent position to make a deep playoff run. Now, what I will say is, much like with Eastside, this isn’t necessarily the best team I’ve ever seen from EN based on just the talent and pieces alone. They’ve had some amazingly great teams that had an embarrassment of riches such as the 2016 East Noble team, but had a very difficult time of getting to that promise land because they were either eliminated by an underdog team in an upset or they faced the Northwood’s and Bishop Dwenger’s that were just too difficult.
While EN has had more playoff success in previous seasons than Eastside such as winning state in 2000 and getting back to the finals again in 2003, the Knights had spent nearly 20 years being a great regular season team that just wasn’t able to translate that success in the playoffs. But, what makes the 2019 East Noble Knights so unique is their character and poise to stick to the gameplan, and their willingness to make sacrifices for the good of the team. They have some similar traits to that of Angola, and those are things that should never be left unnoticed.
Now, the challenge isn’t really the opponent itself because the Knights should come in as the favorites, but I honestly believe the challenge is more of the mental aspects of things, doing well on the little things, and not looking ahead. At this point, they’re the best team left in the 4A bracket from the northern part of the state. But, it’s going to be very interesting to see how their approach to this game in particular after winning that sectional over NE8 rival Leo 14-7.
Now, they’ll have to make the travel to Grant County in a smaller town known as Gas City near the Mississinewa River, and yes there are quite a few gas stations over there for your info. The Mississinewa Indians don’t quite have the longstanding tradition that their county 2A rivals have, but Ole Miss as they’re called down there have built quite a formidable program that should not be overlooked. While Grant County has some of the most historic basketball tradition in the country, the Mississinewa community has been extremely loyal to their football teams. Since 2011, they’ve had a winning season every year including 4 straight 10+ win seasons.
Similar to Eastbrook, Ole Miss loves to run the ball averaging over 3,000 rushing yards in each of the last 4 seasons. Message is clear with them as well: if they run for less than 200 yards they’ll lose, if they run for 300-400 yards they’ll definitely win. The lone loss came against Eastbrook and they were only able to run for 132 yards. After that their 2nd worst rushing performance was 208 against Blackford. But, Ole Miss May not be getting quite the credit they deserve on the defensive side of the ball as they’ve limited their opponents to just over 10 points a game.
For the Knights, this is critical that they get off to a fast start in this one. Now, with them getting that sectional crown, I don’t think they will feel as much pressure to get it done, but from this point forward no team can afford any margin of error. Bailey Parker will obviously do whatever he can to help his team, and I know they’ll be well prepared to embrace this moment of playing in regionals. This is a game that will be won in the trenches and through discipline. Ole Miss will have to limit EN’s possessions much like what Leo did for them to have a chance. In my eyes, this is the most intriguing game out there because even though Ole Miss is a downgrade to Dwenger, they’re no joke. Should be a great game with a lot of fans that’ll be there.
So, how do I see things here? I think one of them will get to Semistate next Friday.
Around the NorthEast Corner 