INDIANAPOLIS – Marian University football coach Mark Henninger has received a national honor. Henninger was named the American Football Coaches’ Assoction NAIA National Coach of the Year. Henninger, in his second season at Marian, guided his team to an 11-3 record and a national runner-up finish during the 2014 season. Tristan McClone, a WCHS graduate, …read more.

[weaver_youtube ClAXX9xlkaI rel=0]   NASHVILLE, TN – Anything can happen in the postseason, there are no guarantees and always plenty of surprises. That was the case Tuesday at the Franklin American Music City Bowl when the No. 23 ranked Louisiana State Tigers met on the gridiron with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In the end …read more.

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana junior running back Tevin Coleman earned first team All-America honors from the Associated Press. The Tinley Park, Ill., native finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting Saturday, the best by a Hoosier since Antwaan Randle El’s sixth-place showing in 2001. One of three finalists for the Doak Walker Award, Coleman became the …read more.

INDIANAPOLIS – Warsaw senior standout quarterback Jake Mangas will be one of 28 outstanding student-athletes statewide honored by the Indianapolis Colts, the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and the Indiana Football Coaches Association (IFCA) with the 2014 Indiana Academic All-Stars Award presented by American Family Insurance. The student-athletes will be honored during an awards …read more.

Six area high school football players have been honored by the Associated Press. The half dozen outstanding prep performers all earned honorable mention accolades on the annual AP All-State team. Chosen as honorable mention All-State picks for Class 6-A were the Warsaw trio of Riley Rhoades (receiver), Caleb Woolridge (defensive line) and Dylan Childers (linebacker). …read more.

BLOOMINGTON – It came down to the final second, just like any rivalry should. In the 90th edition of The Old Oaken Bucket Game, Indiana defeated Purdue, 23-16. The Hoosiers, led by two big runs from senior D’Angelo Roberts, drove down the field for a Zander Diamont rushing score with 27 seconds remaining. Junior Tevin …read more.

GOSHEN – The loss by Northridge in the IHSAA Class 4-A semi-state to New Prairie Friday night ushered the Northern Lakes Conference officials Monday to release the All-NLC nods in football. Plymouth, the league champion with a 7-0 round robin record, had 11 named to the list along with conference Coach of the Year, John …read more.

SOUTH BEND – Louisville didn’t panic when Notre Dame, aided by a 61-yard punt return, scored two quick touchdowns early in the third quarter to take the lead. The Cardinals answered with a pair of touchdowns of their own, stopped Notre Dame at the 9-yard line and avoided overtime when Notre Dame’s Kyle Brindza missed …read more.

MIDDLEBURY – It was fun while it lasted. The last remaining Northern Lakes Conference team still alive in the IHSAA State Football Playoffs was eliminated Friday night. The Northridge Raiders have had a magical season, and that’s probably an understatement. The program picked up its first sectional and regional titles in school history but a …read more.

5A LaPorte 35, Fort Wayne Snider 7 Indianapolis Cathedral 27, Bloomington South 24 (OT) 4A New Prairie 28, Northridge 10 New Palestine 30, Columbus East 28 2A Rensselaer Central 17, Lafayette Central Catholic 14 1A Pioneer 62, South Adams 7 North Vermillion 37, Indianapolis Lutheran 19 Saturday Schedule: 3A Andrean at Fort Wayne Luers Evansville …read more.

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame made way too many mistakes to beat even a team struggling as much as Northwestern. It started with a blocked extra point that was returned for a two-point conversion by the Wildcats. Twice Notre Dame turned the ball over in the second half on plays that started at the 5-yard line. …read more.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – So much for the postseason. Junior running back Tevin Coleman rushed for a career-high 307 yards, the second-most in Indiana history, but Rutgers used a 35-point second half to send Indiana home with a 45-23 loss, the Hoosiers seventh of the season, Saturday at High Point Solutions Stadium. The fourth 200-yard rushing …read more.

OSSIAN – Add a regional championship to the banner for the Northridge football team. After winning the first sectional title in program history last week, Northridge kept the season going with a 17-10 win at Norwell Friday night. The victory came down to the final quarter, and ultimately the final offensive possession of the game. …read more.

Area football scores in the IHSAA state tournament: 6-A Carmel 14, Penn 13 5-A LaPorte 55, Elkhart Central 21 4-A New Prairie 27, Lowell 27 Northridge 17, Norwell 10 3-A Andrean 38, Jimtown 7 2-A Rensselaer Central 48, Bremen 13 1-A Pioneer 28, Winamac 6

SYRACUSE – Wawasee High School held its 2014 fall sports awards banquet Monday evening and issued its award winners for the fall season. BOYS CROSS COUNTRY MVP – Zach Cockrill Most Improved – Erik Diaz Mental Attitude – Jaxon Bame Coach’s Award – Logan Brugh Warrior Award – Tristin Ponsler GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY MVP – …read more.

SOUTH WHITLEY – The Whitko High School football team will hold its award program on Nov. 12. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the high school. Coach Josh Mohr’s squad went 6-4 this fall, including a second-place finish in the Three Rivers Conference with a 6-1 mark.  

WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue junior kicker Paul Griggs has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. The weekly honor is the first of Griggs’ career and the first for any Purdue football player this season. The third-year kicker booted field goals of 53, 52 and 40 yards in the Boilermakers’ tilt …read more.

WEST LAFAYETTE – Joel Stave threw two touchdown passes and Melvin Gordon ran for 205 yards Saturday as No. 25 Wisconsin defeated Purdue 34-16. The Badgers (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) have won four straight overall and remained in a three-way tie atop the West Division with Nebraska and Minnesota. Wisconsin has won nine straight in …read more.

TEMPE, Ariz. – Any slim chance that still remained of making it into the college playoff at the end of the season for the Notre Dame football team wilted in the desert Saturday. The Irish, done in by their own mistakes, were manhandled 55-31 at Arizona State. The No. 11 ranked Sun Devils turned five …read more.

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana, a football team known for its explosive offense, answered the bell on defense when Penn State rolled into town for a Big Ten contest. 13 points allowed, five sacks, a blocked field goal, two interceptions and a touchdown scored. Those stats highlighted the spectacular defensive performance by the Hoosiers Saturday afternoon but …read more.

A total of 10 players from the Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley football teams have earned all-conference honors for the 2014 season. The Wildcats, who finished as Three Rivers Conference runner-up this fall, had six players named to the all-conference team by the league’s coaches. Whitko players honored from coach Josh Mohr’s squad were seniors Zach …read more.

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame middle linebacker Joe Schmidt is out for the season because of a fractured ankle that will require surgery, Irish Coach Brian Kelly announced Sunday. Schmidt was injured during Notre Dame’s 49-39 win over Navy Saturday night in Landover, Maryland. A former walk-on, Schmidt earned a scholarship at Notre Dame and …read more.

LINCOLN, Neb. – A Purdue offense that had been surging found the going tough during the Boilermakers’ first visit to Memorial Stadium. For a change, the defense just might have played well enough to win. That’s what made a 35-14 loss to No. 17 Nebraska so frustrating to the Boilers, who lost their third straight. …read more.

[weaver_youtube 4Gs79M7xH-s rel=0] BOURBON – The only person who was happy to see a sideways snow and 30 mile-per-hour winds minutes before kickoff of the sectional football game between Triton and LaVille was LaVille head coach Will Hostrawser. With an offense perfect for bad conditions, the Lancers did exactly what Hostrawser wanted in a grinding …read more.

The good news is that I hit on every pick last week, a perfect 7-0. The bad news is that many of my picks went against local teams. So, it was a relatively bad week for the local athletes. The best news, however, is that I was successful in beating Ink Free’s very own Mike …read more.

BOURBON – It was a time of celebration last Friday for the Triton football program. To continue the celebration, Triton will need to come up with one of the bigger wins in recent program history. Triton (3-7) will host LaVille (7-3) in the IHSAA Class 1-A sectional 41 semi-finals, a 7 p.m. kick-off, for two …read more.

GRAPEVINE, TX – It’s brand new, and plenty of people are already talking and complaining. The NCAA unveiled its first of seven Top 25 rankings Tuesday night, which will ultimately have the top four teams placed into a much-desired playoff to determine its national champion. The selection committee will ultimately pick the four teams to …read more.

BOURBON – It was a big weekend for fall sports athletes at Triton High School. The football team started the winning ways Friday night with a 34-20 win at South Central in a Class 1-A sectional playoff opener. Jeremy Jones busted loose for three touchdown runs in the second half to spark the Trojans to …read more.

[weaver_youtube LJtP-NqqN6A rel=0] SYRACUSE – Less than a yard. All the Wawasee football team was needed was less than a yard and maybe things would have been different. The Warriors outplayed a ranked Leo squad in the opening round of sectionals Friday night but it is that Lions survived to fight another day. The Leo …read more.

CULVER – The Tippecanoe Valley football team came up just short Friday night. The Vikings dropped a heartbreaking 27-26 final at Culver Academies in a Class 3-A sectional opener. Valley trailed 27-20 before Jarred Littlejohn caught a 20-yard touchdown toss from Alec Craig to make it 27-26 with just 29 seconds left to play in …read more.

WARSAW – The Warsaw football team had the heart to compete with undefeated Carroll Friday night. The Tigers just didn’t have the manpower to stay with the fifth ranked team in Class 6-A in the Hoosier State. A well-oiled Charger squad from Allen County sent Warsaw to the sidelines in sectional play for the second …read more.

A new season. That’s what awaits area high school football teams Friday night as sectional playoff action kicks-off. The trio of Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko will all face familiar foes in teams that defeated them in sectional play a year ago. The Tigers host Carroll (Allen) in Class 6-A, the Warriors entertain Leo in Class …read more.

WARSAW – The WCHS Athletic Department has announced that all-sport tickets will not be accepted Friday night for the sectional football game. The Tigers (5-4) will host undefeated Carroll (Allen) at 7 p.m. at Fisher Field in a Class 6-A sectional opener. Carroll is 9-0 on the season and ranked No. 5 in Class 6-A. …read more.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — For a few seconds, it looked as if Everett Golson and Notre Dame had another streak-busting victory, this time against the defending national champions from Florida State. As the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish celebrated an apparent go-ahead touchdown with 13 seconds left, flags flew. The call: offensive pass interference. The touchdown was gone. Golson’s last …read more.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Purdue Boilermakers rushed for nearly 300 yards, but Purdue dropped a nail-biter to Minnesota, 39-38. Austin Appleby threw three first-half touchdown passes for the Boilermakers (3-5, 1-3), but he was only 4 for 10 for 18 yards in the second half. Raheem Mostert rushed for 115 yards on five carries and Akeem …read more.

Lower speaker volume before watching video. [weaver_youtube 3lKVHAmgli4 rel=0] SYRACUSE – It may not be the most well-known trophy game in the area but when Goshen and Wawasee met Friday night in the annual Wooden Indian game it certainly felt like a big rivalry was taking place at Warrior Field. The Redskins entered as underdogs but …read more.

WARSAW – It was only fitting that the Warsaw football team donned camouflage National Guard jerseys for their regular-season home finale Friday night. It was even more fitting that the Tigers lived up to the billing with the special look in honor of National Guard Celebration Week by defending their home turf with a thrilling …read more.

[weaver_youtube EXy1MJfnl2U rel=0] AKRON – For two teams coming into Friday night’s football contest with something to prove, Whitko spent more time proving its point in a 34-16 win at Tippecanoe Valley. Both teams came into the night’s contest limping after lopsided losses last week in statement games. Valley started off red hot but cooled …read more.

High School Football Scores Warsaw 24, Concord 21, 2OT Wawasee 17, Goshen 7 Whitko 34, Tippecanoe Valley 16 Jimtown 47, Triton 0 Glenn 21, Bremen 20 Marian 28, Elkhart Central 27 Northridge 31, Elkhart Memorial 0 Churubusco 35, Fairfield 20 Winamac 67, Frontier 0 Guerin Catholic 27, Culver Academy 0 LaVille 21, Culver 6 Penn …read more.

ELKHART – Jimtown ran past Triton from the opening snap Friday night. Nik Olson raced for a school-record 96-yard touchdown run on the Jimmies’ first play from scrimmage as Jimtown blanked the Trojans 47-0 in the Northern State Conference and regular season finale. Olson ran for 213 yards on 13 carries with 201 of those …read more.

Ink? We don’t need no stinking ink! Okay, so technically all of my picks articles have been “ink free” but this one is extra ink free since it’s the first picking action to be on our new site. It’s also not called the Ink Free News edition because, well, none of what I’m doing here …read more.

The prep football regular season comes to a close Friday night. That means one more chance for area teams to move up or down in the final conference standings and prepare for postseason play next week. First-round sectional games take place Oct. 24. Warsaw will host Carroll, Wawasee will entertain Leo, Whitko plays at Bellmont, …read more.

BOURBON – The Triton High School Athletic Department has announced that its junior varsity football game versus Northfield has been cancelled. The JV contest was scheduled for Oct. 20.

WARSAW – The Young Tiger football program saw one of its team complete an amazing season on Saturday. The lower division team in the program notched a perfect season by defeating LaVille 20-0 at Fribley Field. The team not only went 7-0 on the season, but did not allow a single point.  

The good news for the Warsaw football team is that it will get to open postseason play at home. The other part of that equation is not quite so good. The Tigers will entertain undefeated and No. 4 ranked Carroll in a Class 6-A sectional opener Oct. 24. The IHSAA conducted pairings for the football …read more.

IOWA CITY – Junior running back Tevin Coleman continued his standout season, rushing for a game-high 219 yards – his most in a Big Ten game and the second-highest total of his career – and three touchdowns on 15 carries, but Indiana fell to 3-3 with a 45-29 setback at Iowa (5-1) on Saturday afternoon. …read more.

WEST LAFAYETTE – Connor Cook threw three touchdown passes, Nick Hill ran for two scores and No. 8 Michigan State got a late interception return for a touchdown to hold off Purdue 45-31 Saturday. Purdue’s defense just couldn’t stop Michigan State, which amassed 532 total yards. It looked like the Spartans had taken control with …read more.

SOUTH BEND – Everett Golson threw three touchdown passes and No. 6 Notre Dame remained unbeaten with a 50-43 victory Saturday over North Carolina. The 50-43 victory Saturday, the highest-scoring game in the 84-year-history of Notre Dame Stadium, wasn’t secure for the sixth-ranked Irish until Ben Koyack recovered the Tar Heels’ onside kick with 47 …read more.

DENVER – Some late maneuvering was the medicine North Miami needed to separate from Tippecanoe Valley in a 41-22 final score Friday night in high school football. The Warriors scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to break open what was a four-point ballgame heading into the final quarter of play. Tippecanoe Valley managed just …read more.

BOURBON – Oh what a night it was for the boys from Bourbon. Triton High School honored the senior members of its football program Friday night and that class of 2015 made the most of its final home game. Triton played spectacular on both sides of the ball all night to capture a 35-15 win …read more.

ELKHART – Not mincing words, Wawasee football head coach Josh Ekovich wasn’t bashful in stating his team’s 20-7 win at Elkhart Memorial Friday night was rather bland. “We were just average in a lot of ways, just vanilla,” Ekovich said of the performance which put his club at 5-3 this season and 3-3 in the …read more.

[weaver_youtube 9GO2Z5A3msI rel=0] NAPPANEE – Sometimes the dominoes just fall in your favor. Scoring just one touchdown in its last nine quarters of football, NorthWood made up for the drought with a 42-28 Northern Lakes Conference football thriller win against visiting Warsaw. Warsaw trailed 28-21 after Dominic Miranda ran the ball in from nine yards …read more.

[weaver_youtube praAAl2WuTc rel=0] ROCHESTER – There was hype surrounding the matchup between Whitko and Rochester all week leading up to Friday night. There was plenty at stake as both team’s stepped on to Barnhart Field with 5-0 marks in the Three Rivers Conference but only one team could leave with bragging rights and sole control …read more.

High School Football Scores NorthWood 42, Warsaw 28 Wawasee 20, Elkhart Memorial 7 Northridge 35, Concord 0 Plymouth 43, Goshen 13 Jimtown 33, Bremen 6 John Glenn 50, Culver 26 New Prairie 35, LaVille 0 Triton 35, Knox 15 Manchester 29, Wabash 23 North Miami 41, Tippecanoe Valley 22 Northfield 34, Southwood 28 Rochester 56, …read more.

Skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight. I didn’t forget about you, Kosciusko! This week has been very busy and finding time to write out my picks became difficult. But, here they are. All five of our coverage teams have a chance to win this weekend, but am I risky enough to actually pick all five? We’ll …read more.

High school football teams will definitely be looking to gain some much needed momentum for postseason play down the stretch. The regular season has just two weeks left and much is still to be decided for Whitko. The Wildcats can earn at least a share of the Three Rivers Conference championship Friday night with a …read more.

Young Tigers Football and Cheerleading of Warsaw will be hosting the Notre Dame and Florida State football game on a jumbo-tron Sat., Oct. 18. This event is free to the public and will offer concessions. No alcohol will be permitted on the premises. The game viewing will be held at Fribley Field, located at 700 …read more.

CHAMPAGNE, Ill. – Purdue gashed Illinois for 349 yards rushing and first-time starting quarterback Austin Appleby threw for a touchdown and ran for two more to lead Purdue to a 38-27 upset Saturday at Illinois. Appleby was 15 of 20 for 202 yards. He ran for another 76 yards on seven carries. Akeem Hunt had …read more.

SOUTH BEND – Everett Golson saved his best for last Saturday. That was just enough too to give his Notre Dame football team a hard-fought 17-14 win over Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium. Golson connected on a 23-yard touchdown toss to tight end Ben Koyack with just 1:01 to play for the win. The game …read more.

Plymouth Finishes Job Storms knocked out the scheduled date between Wawasee and Plymouth on the soccer pitch Thursday, but the host Pilgrims came back with a vengeance Saturday. Playing to a 0-0 standstill until the 2:34 mark remaining in the first half Thursday evening, Plymouth erupted for four goals once play resumed Saturday to defeat …read more.

SYRACUSE – Gage Reinhard was a true Warrior in every sense of the word Friday night. The Wawasee standout, best known for his exploits at quarterback, came up with two huge plays on defense to seal a 21-10 win over rival Warsaw. Reinhard pilfered a pair of Tiger passes from his safety spot in the …read more.

SOUTH WHITLEY – Tanner Hughes was huge Friday night for the Whitko football team when it took on North Miami. Whitko’s senior tailback hardly had the best game of his career statistically speaking, but Hughes did hit a milestone that he will remember for the rest of his life during the Wildcats 28-0 victory over …read more.

High School Football Scores Wawasee 21, Warsaw 10 Whitko 28, North Miami 0 LaVille 31, Triton 0 Rochester 35, Tippecanoe Valley 8 Crown Point 20, LaPorte 14 Fort Wayne Snyder 41, Elkhart Central 13 NorthWood 2, Elkhart Memorial 0 West Central 36, Frontier 30 Garrett 31, Fairfield 25 Jimtown 61, Culver 0 New Prairie 34, …read more.

LAKEVILLE – The LaVille defense put the clamps on Triton Friday night. The host Lancers allowed the Trojans just 88 total yards of offense in pitching a 31-0 shutout in Northern State Conference play. Mason Leed scored on runs of one and 12 yards and also kicked a field goal to lead LaVille to the …read more.

The fall sports season is nearing its end. IHSAA State Finals for girls golf start this weekend, soccer and cross country sectionals start next week, tennis regionals take place next week and football conference races are finally starting to shape up. I usually ramble on for way too long with my article as a whole, …read more.

Ladies Left Scratching Heads Wawasee hung around for a while with Northern Lakes Conference soccer rival NorthWood Thursday evening, but fell apart in a 7-1 loss. The regular season finale and as well as final home game for the Lady Warriors had NorthWood jump out to a 3-0 lead before Sarah Lancaster scored her fifth …read more.

AKRON- The Tippecanoe Valley Middle School football teams picked up a pair of big wins over Wabash Tuesday. Jaydin Conley had five touchdowns as the 7th grade posted a 36-19 victory. Conley accounted for 246 yards of total offense for the winners. Jace Potter had 91 yards of offense for Valley in the win. Wes …read more.

BLOOMINGTON – Quarterback C.J. Brown tried to ensure Maryland’s introduction to Big Ten football came with a fitting celebration. Backup quarterback Caleb Rowe and the Terrapins surprisingly stout defense made sure of it. Brown ran for one touchdown and threw for another before leaving with an injury, and Rowe threw two more TD passes in …read more.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Everett Golson shook off a slow start to have a record-setting performance Saturday night. The Notre Dame quarterback passed the No. 8 Irish past Syracuse 31-15 at MetLife Stadium. Golson hit on 32-39 passes for 362 yards and four touchdowns. Golson set a school record by completing  25 straight passes as …read more.

WEST LAFAYETTE – Iowa spotted Purdue a 10-0 lead, then dominated the final 49 minutes, rallying for a 24-10 Big Ten opening victory Saturday. The Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) took a 17-10 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Beathard to Kevonte Martin-Manley, capping a …read more.

Ladies Look Lovely At Crown Point After a tough stretch of conference games, Wawasee showed it still had some fight with a runner-up finish at the Crown Point Invite Saturday afternoon. Wawasee swept its pool games, including a rare win over South Bend St. Joseph’s. Wawasee downed the Indians 25-23, 26-24 and also took games …read more.

[weaver_youtube 8oDwdB_3-AM rel=0] PLYMOUTH – It was like Christmas in September Thursday night at “The Rock Pile.” Plymouth was playing the role of Santa Claus dressed in red and handing out gifts to the Wawasee football team. But the story of the game was what the Warriors did with those gifts that made all the …read more.

WARSAW – It was the same old story for the Warsaw football team Friday night. The Tigers got excellent efforts in all three phases of the game to pick up another conference win. The tried and true formula proved to work again as Warsaw blanked overmatched Goshen 24-0 in Northern Lakes Conference action at Fisher …read more.

WABASH – It had to be one happy bus ride home Friday night for the Tippecanoe Valley football team. The Vikings were able to finally celebrate a victory. Valley broke into the win column Friday night with a 31-20 Three Rivers Conference win at Wabash. The Vikings had started the season 0-5 for the first …read more.

BOURBON – It took New Prairie a little while to get going Friday night. But once the 4A No. 11 Cougars got going, there was no stopping them in a 48-6 Northern State Conference final at Triton. New Prairie (5-1, 4-0) were up against it early on, even staring at a near-deficit as Triton used …read more.

[weaver_youtube ZghJ2IsHoOA rel=0] WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue had to sweat it out, but opened the 2014 football season with a win. Akeem Hunt’s 38-yard rushing touchdown with 3:42 to go was the break Purdue needed to help the Boilermakers to a 43-34 victory against Western Michigan. The Hunt touchdown came just one play after Western …read more.