As the Woodmen football team heads into Week 2 of the season, they seek a hardy match-up against county rival Indian Creek at 7 p.m. tonight.
“Indian Creek week is always one that means a bit more than the others. There is such a rich history between Indian Creek and us, as it has been a huge county rivalry game for about 17 years. The tension is always high on the field, and the trash talk is more than any other game. Whoever won the year before always gets a bit more bragging rights on the field, however. We have won the last two years, both in last second situations, and we are looking for the win for a third year in a row,” junior Parker Chance, wide receiver, said.
The players have high expectations and specific goals as they head into this county rivalry game.
“We are expecting to win this game by quite a bit. That is our obvious goal. Some more specific goals we have are to hold Indian Creek to no touchdowns defensively. Offensively, our goal is to score with every possession and allow our defense to take long breaks from the field to make their jobs easier. However, at the very least, we want to add this game to the win column, no matter how that may be. This game has some pretty high stakes for us players and Coach Boser, who is looking to stay undefeated against Indian Creek,” senior Ayden Houseman, quarterback, said.
Going into this game puts a ton of pressure on Coach Justin Boser, who is undefeated against Indian Creek, entering his third year as the Woodmen’s head coach, and looks to remain that way.
“Some games do put a bit more pressure on me, as a coach, than others, simply knowing the history that we have with those teams. Games like Franklin, Whiteland and Indian Creek are the big ones. Being undefeated in my first two seasons against Indian Creek also adds a bit more pressure, simply because we have lost to Indian Creek once in the last 10 years, and it was the year before I became head coach. I am most definitely looking to keep my streak against Indian Creek. I really love the rivalry we have with them and can not wait to be in the same conference with them,” Coach Boser said.
The Woodmen’s main offensive focus for Indian Creek is their strong and effective run game with the star senior Gunner Ruppert, running back, and stopping Indian Creek’s senior Nate Nash, linebacker, who amassed a total of 82 tackles as a junior.
“Our main offensive has been on our run game while preparing for Indian Creek. We have a really strong run game with Ruppert. Last season he was honored with All Junior State and has been highly recognized for his accomplishments as a junior. He broke many school rushing records along the way. One of the key returners on Indian Creek’s defense, Nate Nash, is someone we have focused on quite heavily as an offense. We designated one of our players to play his position on scout defense. As long as our offensive lineman are able to do their assignments, they have no chance in stopping Ruppert,” Houseman said.
Indian Creek’s offense is returning their star quarterback, sophomore Evan Clark along with senior Jaxon Ramey, wide receiver, who produced top of the team stats for Indian Creek as a junior.
“Our defense has been focusing on Indian Creek’s quarterback and wide receiver duo in Evan Clark and Jaxon Ramey. Clark is a sophomore who started last year as a freshman and Ramey is a senior, he was second on the team in receiving yards and touchdowns with 516 yards and 8 touchdowns. Clark totaled 1,476 passing yards with 20 passing touchdowns and 190 rushing yards with 5 rushing touchdowns. Indian Creek’s running back graduated last year, so they had to replace that spot, so it is not much of a concern. As long as we stop Clark, we are very confident we will hold them to very few points,” senior Ethan Lobb, linebacker, said.
With GHS’s decision to leave the Mid-State Conference behind and join the newly founded Hoosier Legends Conference, the Woodmen will join Indian Creek, among others, making it the last year GHS and Indian Creek will play as non-conference rivals.
“This year is the last year we will play Indian Creek as a non-conference, county rival. We will be in the same conference next year, making them our new conference rival, instead of Franklin. With them still being our county rival as well, I hope we can add a bit more emphasis and add tradition to the game. I like the idea of a new trophy game against Indian Creek instead of Franklin since we will not be in the same conference as Franklin anymore. We could also keep the Battle of the Cannon, but I like the idea of a new trophy game for Indian Creek,” senior Anthony Scaramazzo, running back, said.
