Friday Night Football

There's nothing quite like high school football on a Friday night. Tonight in Indiana it's round 2 of the sectional playoffs for the 5 classes. Too bad I won't be able to catch a game in person, but hopefully I'll be able to pull in a game on the radio as I drive this evening.

Of particular interest for me is the hometown Columbus North team visiting Center Grove. Center Grove is ranked third in the state, and North 6th. Each has one loss, each to a different top-10 team. North's loss was at the state's #1 team, Pike, and Center Grove's loss was by a touchdown to the defending state champions, the dominant Warren Central.

It's difficult to handicap this game, because the two teams play in different conferences and have few common opponents. Center Grove would appear to have an edge in tonight's game, if only because the game's being played on their home field.

Columbus North has a big, strong, and dominant offensive line. Their main running back, Alex Turner, has over 1200 yards rushing for the year. Turner has had some injury issues, but his replacement, sophomore running back Austin Streeval, has been nearly as effective for almost 450 yards this season.

Mike Hladik is a tall 6'4 quarterback with a good arm, throwing for a bit under 1,700 yards for 17 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions for the season. He spreads the ball among several receivers, the most productive of which is Brayden Barthlow, with over 600 yards and 7 touchdowns on 34 catches.

The defense is solid, especially against the run. They've shut down the running game of almost every team the Bulldogs have faced all year. The defensive front are big, strong, and quick, and very good at pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

Overall, Columbus North has something like 19 senior starters, all of whom bring experience from last season's final four team. This may be the best team to ever play at Columbus North High School, regardless of whether they can win tonight and advance to the Sectional Final.

The weaknesses of North's team are few but important. Pike was able to win largely by stacking 9 players at the line of scrimmage to stop the run, daring North to use the passing game. It worked for Pike, but did not work for subsequent teams that tried the same strategy. Either the Bulldogs did a good job learning from the Pike loss, or the other teams just didn't have the athletes Pike brought to the strategy. I think perhaps a little of both is true.

Mike Hladik can be impressive with both his accuracy in shorter passes and his strength in long completions down the field. However, he has been known to have trouble with his accuracy in big games. When playing against a strong opponent, Hladik has a tendency to let the adrenaline take over, which results in overthrows of open receivers.

The weakness in the passing game isn't limited to Hladik's nerves, though. An equal or possibly higher percentage of blame can reasonably be assessed his receivers. Hladik's passes are often dropped by the receiving corps, especially in the big games. At the high school level, one of the hardest things to teach receivers is to focus on making the catch first and foremost. The tendency to think about the move to be made on the defender or running in for the touchdown causes a drop in concentration on the catch, thus the frequent drops by North receivers.

The weakness in North's defense has been against the pass. Most teams have not been effective in the passing game against North because of the pressure the front line can put on the quarterback. Sacks are common, as are rushed and deflected passing attempts. But against Pike, North's defensive line were well blocked by the opponent's offensive line and were unable to put their customary pressure on the quarterback. Pike won the game with the pass, and did very little rushing.

North's defensive backfield are tough tacklers and big hitters, but struggle in pass coverage. Whether Center Grove can exploit this or not remains to be seen. Center Grove, from reports I've seen, is mostly a run-oriented offense.

On a rainy friday night near Indianapolis, I think the game will be decided by the big guys up front. If North's run defense remains stout against what's sure to be a strong Center Grove running game, then maybe North's passing game can be the difference.

I'll have to be satisfied with the local newspaper's description of the game, since I won't be able to see it or hear it on the radio. I hope for a Columbus North win, so I can catch their next playoff game (if I can be in town for a change).