By RYAN WALKER
Last Friday, Wells County went 2-1 in football, with Bluffton and Southern Wells picking up victories over Northfield and Elwood and Norwell falling to Mississinewa.
The Tigers handled their business with ease at Northfield, Southern Wells got its first football win in three years, and Norwell’s comeback fell just short by two points at home against Mississinewa.
What can we expect this week? Here is a preview for all three schools in week two.
Bluffton
The Tigers are set to host their first game since winning the sectional 42-35 over Eastbrook. Even after a year has passed, the team looks relatively the same, returning all but two starters.
In the win over Northfield, head coach Brent Kunkel pulled all of his rabbits out of the hat, even some we didn’t expect.
With the loss of Khamel Moore for now, we saw Ben Ramseyer and Tucker Jenkins split carries in the scrimmage with Norwell, but freshman Cooper Craig stood out the most with his stellar 7-139 on the ground and three scores.
Ramseyer still got over 100 yards, and Jenkins was productive on the ground, through the air, and on defense.
With veteran quarterback Braxton Betancourt’s arm and legs, too, teams are in for a ride with this offense.
In week two, Bluffton will face Manchester, who is 1-0 after a 10-point victory over North Miami last week. The Squires had a 2-9 record last year that included a home loss to the Tigers in a rout 42-14.
Manchester breaks in a new head coach and quarterback this season, hiring Eddie Fields, who has had stops in the Fort Wayne area, including at Manchester University.
Though Manchester is more of a ground-and-pound team, new quarterback Logan Eastgate, a junior, completed 8-10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, four rushers had at least seven attempts. The best of the bunch was Reiss Gaerte, with 14 carries, 134 yards (9.6 average), and a score.
It will likely be more of the same from the Squires this Friday, but if Bluffton gets an early lead; I expect Fields to call for plays in the air more often. The Tigers could take that opportunity to pounce, as Eastgate hasn’t needed to throw consistently yet in his career.
Southern Wells
I’ll keep saying it like a broken record without hesitation: the Raiders won a football game last week.
That was week one, and there are still nine more games to go. So here we are with a tough road game against Madison-Grant (8-3 last year).
The Argyll pounded the Raiders 46-8 in 2022 but graduated their leading rusher.
The game plan is simple: stop the run. According to the only five games documented on MaxPreps, Madison-Grant threw the ball 0 times last year.
The game last week has no stats that I could find, but Madison-Grant got a 58-27 win over Tri-Central.
The Argylls are led by Maverick Miller, who was their top returning back with 11.7 per carry last year (in the five games documented).
Southern Wells also did not throw the ball with just one attempt last week in the 29-26 win at Elwood.
Head coach Jeff Sprunger’s plan was to run with multiple players in the Wing-T offense, but Bryar Gearheart was the main hero. The senior led with over 100 yards on the ground, and one of his three touchdowns came late with 5:55 remaining to seal the victory.
Case Boxell contributed 87 yards rushing, and the combination of Tucker Worster, Trey Slusher, and Owen King got time, too.
It’ll be a tall task, but with the win last week, these boys are playing some inspired football.
Norwell
If you told me that the county went 2-1 last week, Norwell would have been my last pick for the one loss.
I was at the home opener for the Knights, and I still can’t believe how quickly the game turned after a 64-yard pick-six by Mississinewa.
Norwell played bully ball early, as newly named starting quarterback Drew Graft crafted a great first drive with a little bit of everything for a touchdown.
Still with a marginal 14-7 lead at the half, I was convinced of a win, but the Indians played spoiler and converted just about every single situational third and fourth down on offense.
Unfortunately for Norwell, it doesn’t get much easier as the Knights will meet with Delta on its home turf in week two. The Eagles got some receiving votes in the first AP Poll on Tuesday, while Norwell did not.
The Eagles defeated Muncie Central 35-14 last week behind a four-touchdown game from running back Nolan Carpenter.
The Eagles can sling it, too, with Bronson Edwards, who tossed 185 yards and a score.
In Graft’s debut behind center, he was able to make plays as a true dual-threat quarterback. He didn’t overdo it running the ball, had a nice balance through the air, and utilized his skills well with 157 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Trey Bodenheimer was the beneficiary of that, catching four passes and gaining 107 yards.
What I’m looking for in the Knights in week two is a bounce-back in all phases on both sides of the ball.
Can the young offensive line help Norwell run the ball more effectively? Timothy Bonjour went for 23-80 last week, but with more lanes to run through his breakout speed.
To me, this is a perfect game for Norwell to get right with and gain some confidence opening conference play with a title contender, Leo, coming into Ossian.
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