Previewing the high school football ‘Game of the Week’: Ben Davis vs. Carmel
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Fall is here and so are cooler temperatures, but the action on the gridiron is red-hot.
Fifth-ranked Carmel High School will host No. 7 Ben Davis High School on Friday, and the matchup is WISH-TV’s high school football “Game of the Week.”
Greg Rakestraw, vice president of the ISC Sports Network, stopped by Daybreak on Thursday to preview the game.
“These two are such historical rivals and it is probably one of five or six different permutations of games we have in central Indiana that we can say, ‘Hey, this is a potential state championship preview,’” Rakestraw said. “Historically, this is a game with great significance and, frankly, as something predictive for the state tournament, this has a lot of importance to it.”
Rakestraw says there’s one big question going into Friday night’s game: Can Carmel slow down Ben Davis offensively?
“They have really had it going, and watching Ben Davis the last two weeks, they were able to win in a couple of different fashions. It really was the passing game with Thomas Gotkowski throwing for 383 yards and five touchdowns against Warren Central last week. Marcus Reese had another two-touchdown performance, but it was just as much the rushing game. So, Ben Davis can kind of do it all; Carmel is always solid defensively.”
There are also several other must-see matchups this week, according to Rakestraw.
“There are four teams at three-and-one in league play. Two of them play each other this week, in terms of Mooresville and Franklin, who both lost for the first time this season last week. So those two will take each other on. Scecina…they were beaten for the first time last week by Lutheran. They will take on Triton Central in a big game in the Indiana Crossroads Conference. The three major Catholic powerhouses in Indianapolis are all at home and they’re all home against out-of-state competition.”
You can see every play of the matchup between Ben Davis and Carmel live Friday starting at 7 p.m. on MyINDY-TV 23. Be sure to switch to WISH-TV after the game for complete highlights on The Zone with sports director Anthony Calhoun and his team!