By james art It’s not uncommon for high school football coaches to have hoarse voices after Friday night, but on Sundays it’s a different matter.
As he does every weekend this NFL season, the case for North defensive coordinator Kenny Davis found himself at home last weekend watching the San Francisco 49ers through his Sunday Ticket Package. He has a special interest in the Niners that began three years ago when they drafted his younger brother Kalia, a 2022 defensive end from Central Florida.
Kalia, two years younger, and Kenny played together for one year at their high school in Pensacola, Fla. (Kenny at outside linebacker and Kalia in the middle) before Kenny went on to play at Alabama A&M. Kalia, once a wide receiver when he started high school, was converted to linebacker, then defensive end at UCF and finally DT, growing from 240 pounds to the 6-foot-2, 310-pounder he is today.
Kalia tore his ACL his senior year and finally found the field last year, the game against Philadelphia just happened to be the same night as the Cougars’ team banquet. Picture the Sunday Ticket/Bud Light wedding commercial as Davis oozed joy as Kalia picked up his first career sack, beating Jalen Hurts.
“He finally faced the Eagles, and I’m sitting there with my phone in my lap watching the whole time,” Kenny said. He has seen Kalya play in person three times. Last Christmas, in San Francisco against the Ravens, in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII and a preseason game in Nashville against the Titans.
Last Sunday, in the first quarter of their rematch with KC, No. 93 made his first career interception, reaching to deflect Patrick Mahomes’ pass and catch the ball as it fell.
“I was yelling at the TV so much I lost my voice,” said Kenny, who moved to the area in 2019 after taking a job at Crane, joining the Cougars’ staff four years ago. “I was very hoarse. It was very exciting.”
He will have to keep his voice as there is more (non-football) excitement on the way for Davis. His wife is expecting him in two weeks.
Injuries are piling up for Owen Valley
It’s been a long 0-9 season for Owen Valley, and the number of players unable to stay healthy continues to grow longer each week, leaving many freshmen to get more varsity experience than they ever expected.
The Patriots lost one of two rookie quarterbacks vying for the starting job in the preseason scrimmage when Parker Phillips broke his collarbone on the first play. Backup running back/linebacker went down. Two-way senior starter Eli Anderson was lost midway through the season and key receiver/secondary member Calvin Dean joined him on the sidelines. Senior TE/RB Dakota Heidrick had a good game against South Putnam then broke his collarbone.
“It’s been a whole year for shoulder injuries,” first-year OV head coach Eric Crouch said. “Injuries have been our biggest challenge. We’ve had a lot of young guys step up and we haven’t had many JV games.”
However, he sees that his young guys are holding back. But freshmen are freshmen, going up against players three and four years older and despite the lumps they take.
“They grind every practice and every game,” Crouch said. “When guys were hurt, they were willing to do whatever it took to get back on the field. So I’m really happy with the determination of a lot of our kids to get on the field and stay there.”
Despite the odds, several of the former backups, now starters, still stand out as Crouch has had to adjust his two-deep each week.
“Cam Kay did a really good job at all the positions he had to go to and work,” Crouch said. “(Junior) Jarrett Wise did a good job and impressed me and a lot of the coaches with his effort. And (sophomore) Ethan Wright stepped up at starting center. He is always there.”
In the eye of the storm was freshman QB Parker Green, who will lead the Patriots into Friday’s opener at home against Scottsburg (6-3) at 7 p.m.
“He was handling things pretty well,” Crouch said. “As a freshman, you’re going to make mistakes, but I was impressed with his toughness and his willingness to never stop working. He is looking to get better and always tries to be a leader.
“But it’s difficult in a season like this where you only have a few successes here and there. We have to focus on the positives and find a way to make it more than one in six games and get some momentum.”
Freel, the Cougars continue
Junior Luke Friel decided he wanted to make a splash in his first varsity snap as Bloomington North’s starting quarterback, and he did just that, hitting Jorian Brooks for a long gain.
Freel, who moved from free safety after Dash King’s season-ending injury, completed 4 of 6 passes for 87 yards and three touchdowns and ran eight times for 78 yards and two scores in a 48-14 rout of Southport. It included a 38-point second-quarter outburst fueled by four Cardinal turnovers.
“Luke did a great job running the offense,” North coach Anthony Lindsey said. “Everyone trusts him to make the right decisions. The offensive coordinator asked him what he wanted for his first play and he said he wanted to take a downfield hit and hit Yorian.
“He wanted to make a statement that we’re not changing what we’re doing.”
Up 45-0 at the break to start the clock running, the Cougars rested their starters in the second half for a quick exit to the postseason at 7-2 overall and second in the Indiana Conference at 4-1 with two weeks to prepare for the road trip to Terre Haute North.
Just as important as Friel’s performance was that of North’s defense, after a tough physical battle with Columbus North. Will Breedlove took some time off with Ross Ogden moving back to free safety and Jay Grimes, Kellen Bishop and Noah Hovious stepping in.
“Columbus North was tough for sure,” Davis said. “We definitely had a chance to end the game, but we didn’t step up. So before the Southport game we said to them: ‘This is our last chance to be the best version of ourselves before the play-offs, especially with the moving pieces.’
East Green Regrouping
Eastern Greene’s had a tough last two weeks, first facing 2A state-ranked Linton in a 67-9 loss and then coming up short against rival North Central, falling 43-28.
“Hats off to North Central, we were able to hit them when they got hot,” EG coach Travis Ray said. “They struggled early in the season, but coach (Nick) Wheeler has done a great job in his first year.
“We just struggled defensively. We were missing a few starters but I don’t want to take anything away from them. We had two turnovers, got the ball into the 10 on our first dunk and fumbles. They took the momentum and don’t look back at us.”
Peyton Lewis returned to quarterback duties after starting the game at running back and went 7-of-12 for 180 yards, passing for four touchdowns, all to Kasen Cullison, and ran for another 68 yards. The hard part was giving up 331 rushing yards and 196 more passing knowing what was coming.
“We have to find ourselves defensively,” said Wray, with the 3-6 T-Birds opening the playoffs Friday at 7 p.m. against powerhouse 7-2 Greenwood Christian. The game will be held at Beech Grove as GCA does not have its own field and will be playing in its first IHSAA game. QB Trey Dobson has thrown for 1,785 yards and run for another 940 in the GCA spread offense and is no better than a little improv to move the ball. The Cougars are averaging 39 points per game.
“That guy is electric, probably one of the top three players in 1A football,” Ray said. “He’s the real deal. It’s backyard soccer. I have never seen anything like it in my 17 years. As a fan, it’s fun to watch. As a defensive coordinator, it’s not fun to prepare.
“After playing wing-T and squiggly offense all season, we’ll have to readjust our defense in a week. But I think our defense has the maturity to do it.”