Rake’s take on the high school football ‘Game of the Week’: Ben Davis at Pike
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — WISH-TV is your home for high school football and every week Greg Rakestraw from the ISC Broadcast Network joins Daybreak to break down the ‘Game of the Week.’
Ben Davis plays at Pike on Friday. Ben Davis is trying to defend its state title and Pike is looking for revenge for previous losses in the west side rival.
“Ben Davis is the team that has had the better of this over the years. But record-wise, things are inverted coming in. Pike is 2-0 for the first time in four years – since 2020. We’re looking for a first winning season since 2016,” Rakestraw said.
“On the flip side, Ben Davis after being somewhat surprised by Cathedral 24-6 week. Number one, they also had to do kind of the daily double and they got beat in a late two-point conversion try by Avon. So this is not a position Pike is used to being in. Not a position Ben Davis is used to being in. So we’ll see what plays out tomorrow night.”
Rakestraw’s take on Ben Davis:
“The thing that struck me about Ben Davis, they are nowhere near as experienced or deep as they were a year ago, but they’ve got some key pieces. Like for example, they certainly have a Mr. football candidate, Mark Zackery going to play football, maybe even basketball at Notre Dame. He has been explosive for them, but can they get him the football more consistently? He does play both ways. Isaiah Rogers is unique in the fact that he’s got experience. He has not been their starter the last two years at quarterback. He’s thrown four interceptions the first couple of weeks of the season. So can you avoid giving the ball away if you’re Ben Davis? And so trying to play a more mistake-free and relying on those experienced players, you’ve got like Rogers like Zackery, like Alijah Price (one of the leading returning running backs in the area) that’s going to be the key for Ben Davis.”
Rakestraw’s take on Pike:
“A couple of very impressive wins to start the season winning against Zionsville… Pike ended up beating Fishers 35- 34 in a game that took two days to complete.”
“I think it’s more of a potential revenge tour for Pike. Pike played Ben Davis twice last year. Pike got blitzed significantly in both games. 53 to nothing was the game at the end of the regular season of the sectional championship game. Can Pike make up that level of deficit in the game tomorrow night? It’s going to be a tough task, but I certainly think it’s possible and obviously they’re in a really good spot heading into it.”
Watch the full interview to hear his advice on what other games to keep an eye on this Friday.
You can catch every play of our ‘Game of the Week’ live on WISH-TV’s sister station MyIndy-TV 23 at 7 p.m. Friday. After the game, switch to WISH-TV for all the highlights on ‘The Zone.’
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