East Noble’s game versus Leo last Friday was a physical, defensive game throughout all four quarters. The run game was aggressive and pounded down the field, until it found success with Brandon Mable leading the way. As East Noble prepares for Bishop Dwenger tonight, we look back on Friday night’s game versus Leo, and look ahead to tonight’s game versus Dwenger.
The Roughneck Defense was quick and explosive last Friday, allowing no points through the first half, and just seven through the entire night. They forced three turnovers, and, in the second quarter, Brandon Mable blocked a punt to set up his eight-yard rush into the endzone. After discovering that the Knights were not letting anybody run through them, the Lions began to throw the ball, where they still found little success, scoring just seven points on a controversial call in the endzone. Tacking on a Jared Teders field goal, East Noble won the sectional semifinal, 10-7, over a 10-0 Leo team.
The game was dark and mean. Beginning under the lights, the sky seemed to get darker and darker, until it felt like the game was the only life in a pitch-black pit. There was talking between the two teams on the fields, huge hits, and fired up hearts, as the defenses continued to put on a show. Allowing just six points per game, Leo had a tough defense, ranked third in Indiana Class 4A, but the Knights have thrown out all rankings this season, and posted ten points on the board. It was obvious that East Noble needed to stop the run, since Leo’s quarterback had attempted just 17 throws going into the game, and, to no surprise, the Knights succeeded, holding Leo’s leading rusher, Logan Leiter, to 30 yards on 17 carries. After forcing a turnover early in the game, Walker Boyles, linebacker for the Roughneck Defense, fired up the Knights by cheering, “They’re tired now, let’s bring the pain, boys!” In that moment, the entire team knew that they could win the game, and no stat sheet can defeat that kind of heart.
In this pure defensive game, Mable ran for just 76 yards on 29 carries, but all of his yards were hard-earned, as he took hits from all sides going down the field. Mable has been the fuel to the offense’s fire all season, and, in sectional play, he has rushed for six of East Noble’s eight touchdowns. He ranks 14th in Indiana Class 4A with 1174 yards rushing.
What caught most people by surprise though, was the East Noble crowd at the away game. Hundreds of students and parents, and even the band, traveled to Leo to cheer on East Noble, and they outnumbered the home crowd! When Leo’s stands would cheer, East Noble’s stands would cheer over them. Despite the cold, East Noble’s band played on to get the team fired up, and the student section was as loud as ever, constantly cheering.
The Roughneck Defense is what makes East Noble so tough to beat. The speed and intelligence seems to be unmatched every game. Leading the team with five interceptions is junior safety Dylan Jordan, while defensive linemen, junior Keaton Osborn and senior Dustin Wells, 12, are tied for the lead in sacks, with five. Leading the team in tackles, 62, is sophomore linebacker David Salazar, and leading the team with 18 tackles for loss are Keaton Osborn, and senior linebacker Jake Peterson. As a team, East Noble leads Indiana Class 4A in tackles (470), forced fumbles (17), interceptions (18), and touchdowns (5).
Tonight East Noble plays a tough, yet beatable, Bishop Dwenger team. Dwenger won five games to begin the season, highlighted by defeats of Concodia, Northside, and Bishop Luers, and they lost three straight to three highly-ranked teams, Wayne, Indianapolis Cathedral, and Snider. During sectionals though, they played fairly easy teams, Northridge and Angola, defeating them 28-3 and 45-7, respectively. East Noble looks to stop the passing game with their secondary of Nathan Wible, Dustin Mapes, Landan Tackett, and Dylan Jordan, on top of preventing a good rushing attack. The defense has its work cut out for them tonight, but with the resume they have put together, Bishop Dwenger’s offense also has its work cut out for them, as the defense will be flying around the field.
The game will take place at the University of Saint Francis. The gates will open at 6 PM, and the game will begin at 7 PM. Come out and cheer on the Knights to a sectionals championship!