Austin Hough: Optimism abound as high school football returns

Austin Hough, Goshen News, Ind.
·5 min read

Aug. 18—There's not much better than the opening week of the high school football season.

The anticipation. The excitement. The optimism.

It's all there in week one.

And this year, there's a lot of room for optimism for our area programs.

Optimism can be sparked by a coaching change, and we have two of those this year in Elkhart and Goshen. Its two familiar faces to those schools as well, as Romison Saint-Louis takes over for the Lions and Tom Wogomon the RedHawks. Saint-Louis was an assistant coach at Elkhart Memorial from 2015-17, while Wogomon in a 1986 Goshen High graduate.

Both coaches get interesting week one tests, as Elkhart travels to Concord and Goshen hosts Fairfield. For Elkhart this year, their success feels like it'll come down to one thing: health. The Lions were decimated with injuries throughout the 2021 season, leading to just a 5-5 record. If everyone can stay healthy and produce at the level they're capable of, Elkhart could be a dangerous team both in the Northern Indiana Conference and Class 6A postseason.

For Wogomon, he's tasked with rebuilding a Goshen program that has fallen on hard times for the better part of two decades. The RedHawks haven't won a sectional title since 2000, and since Brad Park stepped down as coach following the 2002 campaign, Goshen has had just two above .500 seasons (2007, 2016).

If there's anyone with a track record of rebuilding programs, though, it's Wogomon. When he took over Wawasee in 2007, the program experienced growing pains in his first three years. From 2010-12, though, he led the Warriors to three winning seasons and a sectional final appearance in 2012.

He then did a similar job at Northridge, leading the Raiders to a Class 4A semistate appearance in just his second season, 2014. They then had an undefeated regular season in 2017, winning its first NLC title in the process.

If Wogomon is given the proper time and resources, there's a good chance Goshen could be back to its winning ways sooner rather than later.

Optimism can be sparked by recent accomplishments. In Chad Eppley's first season as head coach at Northridge, he guided the Raiders to the Class 4A state championship game, falling to a very talented Mount Vernon (Fortville) team in the final. Although there is a lot of roster turnover from a season ago, the excitement level to play for Northridge football is at an all-time high. Can the Raiders capture lightning in a bottle again this year and go on another magical postseason ride? That journey starts Friday at home against South Bend Adams.

Optimism can be sparked by having a veteran roster like the one NorthWood has this season. Virtually all of the Panthers' skill players are back from 2021, including both quarterbacks in senior Kaden Lone and junior Owen Roeder. Three wide receivers in seniors Parker Filley, JJ Payne and junior NiTareon Tuggle return, as well as senior running back Ethan Evers. It feels like NorthWood is poised for a big season following two-straight .500 campaigns, which I'm sure makes the people of Nappanee and Wakarusa happy.

Optimism can even be sparked by the unknown. There are five teams from our coverage area that I can't get a read on as we head into the season: Concord, Fairfield, Jimtown, Wawasee and West Noble. For Concord and Jimtown, it's because of the number of key players from last year that have graduated. You can probably add Northridge and Goshen to that list, too, because of their respective personnel changes.

For Fairfield, Wawasee and West Noble, it's because of what their younger talent will be able to do after getting varsity time last season. Will any of those teams surprise us? That's the beauty of the unknown.

I love the opening night of the high school football season. Especially in this area, as you get to see county matchups everywhere: Elkhart at Concord, NorthWood at Jimtown and Fairfield at Goshen in Elkhart County, Central Noble at West Noble in Noble County and Wawasee at Tippecanoe Valley in Kosciusko County.

It just makes the games feel that much bigger when you can open up with a non-conference county rival. All of these communities are fairly close, too, as Fairfield-Goshen, Elkhart-Concord and West Noble-Central Noble are all separated by less than 10 miles. NorthWood-Jimtown is only 15 miles apart, while Wawasee-Tippecanoe Valley has the largest distance between them at 38 miles.

I almost feel bad for Northridge being the "odd man out" in this scenario from Elkhart County, but they'll get their chance to take on a non-conference county foe in week two against Elkhart.

There's a different feel in the air on the first football Friday night. I can't wait to see what the 2022 season has in store for us.

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AREA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE — WEEK 1

Fairfield at Goshen, 7 p.m.

Elkhart at Concord, 7 p.m.

NorthWood at Jimtown, 7 p.m.

South Bend Adams at Northridge, 7 p.m.

Central Noble at West Noble, 7 p.m.

Wawasee at Tippecanoe Valley, 7 p.m.

Other top games in northern Indiana: Valparaiso at Penn, 8 p.m.; Michigan City at Warsaw, 7:30 p.m.; Mishawaka at Mishawaka Marian, 7 p.m.

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.