Playoff Primer: IN Regional Finals

It is a historical weekend for Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference who has two members playing for Regional titles for a second consecutive season. It also marks the fifth time since 1980 that East Central and Lawrenceburg will be vying for Regional crowns in their respected Classes in the same season. Excitement fills the air as the road to Indianapolis get more narrow and treacherous with just three weeks left to survive the obstacles that line the way.

Lawrenceburg head coach Ryan Knigga (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

LAWRENCEBURG TIGERS (11-1) at DANVILLE WARRIORS (10-2) – It has been an incredible turnaround for Danville un first year head coach K.C. Woods. The Warriors went 2-8 in 2015. The program only had one winning season in the last eight before his arrival.

Danville is aiming to bring home a fourth Regional title and its first since 2000 The Warriors have never won a state title.

Senior quarterback Christian Schabel is the centerpiece of the Danville offense. He has thrown for 2,476 yards and accounted for 37 touchdowns (30 passing, seven rushing). His top target is Ben Stephens. The junior has 62 receptions for 1,220 yards and 22 touchdowns (18 receiving). Stephens’ classmates Toby Hiland, Zach Luken and Alec Burton have combined to catch 76 balls for 1,139 yards and 11 touchdowns.

A quartet of juniors cause plenty of havoc for the Warriors defense. Dylan Plant (17.5), Tarron Lawson (11), Jackson Wynn (9.5), Tanner Knotts (9) have combined for 47 tackles for losses. Plant has a team high seven and-a-half sacks. The sensational Stephens (four interceptions) has come up with six of Danville’s 21 takeaways.

It has been 31 years since Lawrenceburg won a Regional championship. The program’s last crown in ’85 ended a decade long run in which the Tigers won all four of their Regional titles. They have won two state title the last came in 1978.

Lawrenceburg is averaging 48.6 points per game. The Tigers have won seven in a row and scored 44 or more points in each of the last six of those victories including three tilts of 60 points-plus.

Seniors put the charge into an electrifying Lawrenceburg offense. Austin Bowling is making his case for the Class 3A player of the year. The senior has 2,570 yards and 45 touchdowns rushing. Bowling house found the end zone at least four times in each of Lawrenceburg’s last six games. Quarterback Reid Strobl has thrown for 1,926 yards with 26 touchdowns tosses and just five interceptions. Jordan Houze 11 of his 29 receptions have gone for touchdowns. He is averaging 26.0 per catch. Classmate Ben Murphy has hit paydirt 10 times while amassing 1,178 all-purpose yards.

On defense, junior Mason Parris is a real beast. He has 141 total tackles (80 solo), 15 tackles for losses, six sacks, three interceptions of which two have been returned for touchdowns, three fumble recoveries and five forced fumbles. Parris is the only player in the EIAC with a Division I scholarship offer (from Cincinnati). Parris leads the team in sacks but Noah Boyd, Elijah Gannaway, Darrin Ricketts and Jonah Rolfes all have at least four quarterback takedowns.

Prediction: Lawrenceburg 44, Danville 27

Class 4A Regional final
(Saturday, November 12th, 5:00 p.m.

EAST CENTRAL TROJANS (10-2) at REITZ PANTHERS (11-1) – Despite being on opposite ends of the southern half of the Hoosier state East Central and Reitz are no strangers to each other. This will be the third time the two teams have meet for the Regional title since ’09. Reitz went on to win the Class 4A state title that year and beat the Trojans in the rematch in ’10.
Reitz has four regional crowns since 2001 and six overall. The Panthers won state championships in in ’07 and ’09. Like those squads this is Reitz group knows how to get a team down and keep them there. The Panthers have won nine games in a row. The last seven have all been by 26 points ore more.

Pick your poison against the Reitz offense. The Panthers love to spread the wealth on this side of the ball. Da’ziaun Sargent paces the team with 947 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. Carter Schnarr has crossed the goal line 14 times with 384 yards rushing. Noah Jones is second on the team with 475 yards and has six touchdowns rushing.

Quarterback Reid Mahan has hit six different receivers 10 times or more on the season. The senior has thrown for 2,273 yards and 22 touchdowns. Isaiah Dunham is the home run hitter at receiver with nine touchdowns on his 26 receptions.

Joey Diekmann is a terror on the Panthers defense. He has 135 tackles including 18.0 tackles for losses. Jarrett Naas has a team high eight sacks. Calvin Britton stars on both sides of the ball. He has eight interceptions, 50 receptions and 682 yards receiving.

East Central is shooting for back-to-back Regional titles. It is a feat that the program has only accomplished one other time, back in ’93 and ’94. Like their opponent the Trojans are in a quest for their seventh Regional championship. The only state title for East Central was in ’94.

East Central DB Nick Tillman

The Trojans defense has been very good. They have only given up more than 30 points once this season. It is an opportunistic group that has come up with 33 takeaways (22 interceptions). Dillon Watkins leads the Trojans with eight interceptions. Nick Tillman and Zach Theobald each have four picks. Watkins had his second interception return for a score in last week’s win over Seymour. He has 18 career takeaways (13 interceptions, five fumble recoveries).

Last week marked the third time that East Central has scored 50 points or more in the past seven contests. Sophomore quarterback Alex Maxwell has amassed 1,731 yards of total offense (942 rushing, 789 passing) and accounted for 20 touchdowns (11 rushing, nine passing). Junior running back Logan Storie has run for 1,679 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also has two scores on six receptions for 154 yards. Senior Garren Messmore has played just seven games but has 443 yards rushing, 239 yards receiving, leads the team with 10 receptions and touchdown receptions to go along with his nine trips to the end zone (five rushing, four receiving).

Prediction: East Central 34, Reitz 27

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