Week 1: Is The Zone coming to your school on Friday night?
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Friday night marks the season opener of high school football across the state of Indiana.
It also marks the return of The Zone, where Sports Director Anthony Calhoun and the WISH-TV Sports Team will have wall-to-wall coverage on everything high school football, with highlights of 22 games across central Indiana.
Is the WISH-TV’s Sports Team heading your way in just two days? Find out below!
Game 1: New Palestine @ Westfield
Both squads enter this season with sectional trophies in their vaults as Westfield took home Sectional 4 and New Palestine secured 4A Sectional 22 last year. Keep an eye out for a potential AC appearance here.
Game 2: Ft. Wayne Snider @ Warren Central: MyINDY-TV Game of the Week.
Reigning Sectional 7 champions, Warren Central, will Fort Wayne Snider as the MyINDY-TV Game of the Week, available on our sister station, Channel 23. Meanwhile, Snider made it to semistate in 5A before losing by a point to the eventual state champions, Valparaiso.
Game 3: Carroll @ Hamilton Southeastern
Maybe the best game of the weekend represents a rematch of the 6A semistate battle that ended with Carroll moving on after a 6-point victory. Carroll would go on to lose in the finals against Center Grove. Keep an eye out for AC at this one!
Game 4: Brebeuf @ Bishop Chatard
Brebeuf heads to Bishop Chatard after a sectional championship appearance last season. Meanwhile, Chatard begins its 3A title defense after a 20-point blowout win over Lawrenceburg at Lucas Oil Stadium last year.
Game 5: Pike @ Zionsville
Zionsville looks to enter this matchup against Pike with a short memory after dropping its first-round game last year. Pike tries to do the same after falling to Avon on the same night.
Game 6: Lafayette Jefferson vs. Cathedral 6 p.m. (Lucas Oil Stadium)
The first of two games at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday, Lafayette Jefferson comes off a sectional title, falling 21-20 to Carroll in the regionals. Meanwhile, Cathedral went one round further before meeting the eventual champion, Center Grove.
Game 7: Noblesville vs. Mount Vernon 8:30 p.m. (Lucas Oil Stadium)
Game 2 at the home of the Colts, Mount Vernon looks to forget about its early exit from last year’s tournament while Noblesville does the same with a sectional title game loss.
Game 8: Franklin Central @ Perry Meridian
Franklin Central heads to the southside after failing to advance past the opening round of the tournament last year, while Perry Meridian saw their season end in the sectional championship against Warren.
Game 9: Lawrence Central vs. Arsenal Tech
This game will be played at UIndy. Lawrence Central is coming off a sectional finals appearance a year ago while Arsenal Tech was blown out by Perry Meridian a round earlier.
Game 10: Southport @ Roncalli
Roncalli hosts Southport after a semistate run that was halted by the eventual 4A champions in East Central. Meanwhile, Southport looks to bounce back after a 58-0 finish in the opening round of the tourney.
Game 11: Beech Grove @ Lutheran
Lutheran has won 30 straight games and defends back-to-back Single A titles this season as it hosts a Beech Grove team that failed to advance in last year’s state tournament.
Game 12: Fort Wayne Concordia @ Scecina
This game will be played at Beech Grove. Fort Wayne Concordia won one game in the tournament last year but got blanked in the sectional semifinals by Norwell. They open against a Scecina team that comes off a heartbreaking 10-7 loss at Triton Central in the sectional finals.
Game 13: Lawrence North @ Avon
Avon struggled last year, winning just two games (and only one the year before), but it is coming off an 11-point victory over Pike in the opening round of sectionals. The Orioles host a Lawrence North squad that played Cathedral tough but fell 44-35 in the sectional opener a year ago.
Game 14: North Central @ Fishers
Both squads look to enter this game with a short memory after Fishers was trounced by rival Hamilton Southeastern in the sectional championship last season and North Central failed to score a single point against Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference rival Lawrence North the round before.
Game 15: Greenwood Christian @ Park Tudor
Park Tudor is coming off a sectional title as it plays host to a Greenwood Christian squad that just played its first-ever football season.
Game 16: New Albany @ Franklin
Anthony Calhoun spends pregame tailgating with fans at Franklin after the student section won The Zone Banner last year. The Grizzly Cubs are coming off a sectional championship appearance in 5A while New Albany dropped its first game of the tournament last year.
Game 17: Cardinal Ritter @ Monrovia
Monrovia made a run to semistate a year ago while its Week 1 opponent in Cardinal Ritter failed to score a single point in the opening round of sectionals.
Game 18: Covenant Christian @ Speedway
Speedway plays host to Covenant Christian after a 1-point loss in the sectional semifinals. Meanwhile, the Warriors look to bounce back from a 56-0 sectional championship defeat at the hands of the eventual 1A champion in Lutheran.
Game 19: Crispus Attucks @ Fort Wayne Wayne
A 69-0 embarrassment in the sectional semifinal game against Roncalli will be on the mind of Crispus Attucks this week as they open their season against a Fort Wayne Wayne squad that failed to advance past the first round.
Game 20: Brownsburg @ Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger
Brownsburg makes the trek to Fort Wayne after winning Sectional 5 last year. Dwenger dropped its first game of the tournament last year.
Game 21: Carmel @ Homestead
As was the case with many schools last year, Hamilton Southeastern gave Homestead a night to forget with a 35-0 shutout in the first round. Homestead will host a Carmel team that felt a similar blow in a 28-9 loss against Westfield on the same night last year.
Game 22: Shortridge @ Purdue Polytechnic
This game will take place at Howe High School. Shortridge attempts to forget their 57-0 loss in the sectional opener against Roncalli last year. Purdue Polytechnic faced a similar fate as they were blown out against Monrovia on the same night.
“The Zone,” featuring high school sports highlights, airs at 11:08 p.m. Fridays on WISH-TV during News 8 at 11 p.m.
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