IHSAA football: 10 sleeper teams to watch in Central Indiana for 2024 season

The high school football season begins in (checks calendar) … eight weeks from Friday. To help you get prepared for the season, we take a look at 10 potential “sleeper” teams in Central Indiana. For the sake of consistency, we considered only teams that finished last season with a .500 record or below.

We did well in this category last year as Danville (7-3), Decatur Central (11-3 and Class 5A state finals appearance ), Eastern Hancock (8-5 and sectional title), Lawrence North (7-4), Monrovia (9-3) and Pendleton Heights (7-3) were among the teams to make a big jump. Here are 10 for the 2024 season:

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Avon

Avon was just 2-8 last season in Rob Gibson’s first year as coach, but the Orioles were competitive in several of those losses, including four (Lawrence North, Franklin Central, Fishers and Pike) by a touchdown or less. The Pike game, a 42-41 overtime loss in the first round of the sectional, was especially crushing.

There are some talented players gone to graduation, including quarterback Mason Reynolds and leading tackler Carson Foxen. But junior Jace Cameron is a talented junior quarterback and junior receivers Shawn Curry Jr. (26 catches, 477 yards, five TDs) and T.J. Stewart (25 catches, 357 yards) return as top producers. On defense, there are Division I recruits in senior defensive ends Enoch Atewogbola (Minnesota) and Fawzy Omotoso (Northern Illinois) and linebacker Makyi Hines was one of the team’s top tacklers as a freshman.

This is a program that has won just five games total over the past three seasons but seems poised for a bounce back, though the schedule is unrelenting.

Cardinal Ritter

It might have seemed crazy a few years ago to even have Ritter anywhere near this list. This is a program, after all, that won four state championships from 2003 to 2016 and had just one losing season from 2003 to 2020. Coach Levar Johnson took over last season and led the Raiders to a three-win improvement in a 4-7 season.

Could Ritter continue on that trajectory in 2024? The Raiders return junior quarterback Santana Allen (1,851 passing yards, 13 TDs; 317 rushing yards, 11 TDs) and leading rusher Marshawn Henderson (528 yards, five TDs; 25 catches, 235 yards). Much of the defense returns, too, including senior lineman Kasien Stevenson and junior lineman Terry Robinson.

The schedule is tough with nonconference games against Tech and Lafayette Central Catholic before a full Indiana Crossroads Conference slate.

Carmel

The Greyhounds were right at .500 last year at 5-5 with only one of those losses particularly close (Lawrence Central in the regular season finale). It was the first year Carmel did not finish with a winning record since a 6-6 record in 2002.

Why are the Greyhounds a candidate for a bounce back in 2024? It is normally instructive to look to the quarterback position, where coach John Hebert has an experienced and talented junior in Anthony Coellner (937 passing yards, eight TDs; 298 rushing yards, two TDs). The receivers should be better, too, led by seniors Liam Mann and Nathan Williams and junior Jacob Bellin. Jimmie Winbush Jr. and Troy recruit Uchenyo Ojata are among the top returners on defense.

A Week 2 game at Westfield should provide an early litmus test for Carmel’s improvement. The Shamrocks have knocked out Carmel decisively the past two years in the first round of the sectional.

Lapel

This one seems too easy. Lapel was a 5-5 team last year, playing a pair of wild games against Eastern Hancock in the final game of the regular season and sectional first round. The latter was a 45-43 loss in the 2A sectional that ended the Bulldogs’ season.

But Lapel had no trouble putting up numbers in 2023 (the Bulldogs averaged 29.2 points) and that should be the case again with junior quarterback Devin Craig (2,777 passing yards, 31 TDs) returning with seniors Rylie Hudson (55 catches, 666 yards, 10 TDs) and Brice Burress (34 catches, 395 yards, six TDs) and top rusher Jack Miller (697 yards, five TDs as a freshman). Three of the top five tacklers are also back, including sophomore Isaiah Young (78 tackles).

Coach Tim Miller had seven consecutive winning seasons before last year so Lapel seems like a good candidate to make a jump.

Lawrence Central

There is no sugar coating it: last year was disappointing for coach Will Patterson. After a 5-6 season in 2022, the Bears seemed poised to take the next step, but lost a wild 59-58 overtime game to Westfield in Week 2 and started 1-3. Even after a promising finish with a three-point loss to state champion Ben Davis and a win over Carmel, Lawrence Central ended with a 22-point loss to rival Lawrence North in the first round of the sectional.

Maybe this is the breakthrough season for a program that has not enjoyed a winning season since 2017. Junior quarterback Terry Walker III (749 passing yards, five TDs in five games) is one of the most-talented players in the state and junior Albert Gooden III (691 rushing yards, seven TDs) is back as the team’s leading rusher. Wisconsin commit Nizyi Davis (29 catches, 410 yards) is healthy, too. The defense does take on significant losses to graduation but senior Bryan Robertson (11 tackles for loss) is back on the line.

The Bears jump into the fire with a home game against Lawrence North to start the season, followed by at Zionsville, at Edwardsville (Ill.) and at Warren Central. The nonconference also includes games at Center Grove and at Carmel.

Lebanon

The Tigers are coming off a 5-6 season but three of those losses came by a touchdown or less, including an overtime loss to Western Boone in the final game of the regular season.

Coach Jeff Smock goes into his eighth season with a team that returns its top passer in quarterback Jackson Folden (1,692 passing yards, 17 TDs), top rusher in Brendan Shockley (1,105 yards, 12 TDs) and top receiver in Kaden Lark (20 catches, 302 yards, four TDs). If that’s not enough reason for optimism, the defense returns eight of its top nine tacklers, including senior Levi Poland (91 tackles, five sacks).

Lebanon starts with tough slate of Pendleton Heights, Guerin Catholic and Danville but I would not be shocked to see the Tigers at least 2-1 going into Week 4 and a more favorable back half of the schedule.

Roncalli

New coach Sam Otley takes over a program that dropped to 4-7 last year. It was just the Royals’ second losing season since 2011. Roncalli has not had back-to-back losing seasons since 1973 and ’74 (3-7 and 4-6).

There is plenty of reasons for optimism with junior quarterback Collin Ash returning (870 passing yards, eight TDs; 126 rushing yards, three TDs) and experience elsewhere, including running back and in the secondary.

Some of the games Roncalli has won in past seasons (Franklin Central, Bishop Chatard, Brebeuf Jesuit) flipped in 2023. The schedule is about the same level of difficultly, though Cincinnati LaSalle has replaced Louisville Male. But games against Brebeuf, Cathedral and East Central in the last four weeks certainly won’t be easy. Roncalli is in Class 4A Sectional 22 with Brebeuf, Chatard, Danville, Mooresville and others.

Speedway

After going 9-3 in 2021 and 6-5 in 2022, coach Shane Clampitt’s program dropped to 3-8 last season. But five of those losses were by 14 points or less.

Junior quarterback Connor Moreland (1,884 passing yards, 15 TDs) is one of the top returners in Central Indiana and junior Jazz Coleman (888 yards, eight TDs) led the Sparkplugs in rushing last season. Coleman (29 catches, 253 yards, two TDs) is also a receiving threat out of the backfield and one of the team’s top defensive players (122 tackles).

The schedule in the Indiana Crossroads Conference is always competitive and the season opener at South Putnam will be tough, but Speedway should be a team with a chance to finish on the right side of .500 in 2024.

Warren Central

I had Warren Central on this list last year after the Warriors finished 6-6 in 2022. Warren Central showed promise at times, including taking Class 6A state champion Ben Davis to the wire in a 31-28 loss in Week 5 and battling Center Grove to a 14-0 loss in the regional.

Is this the year? The Warriors are probably more of a state title contender than a sleeper. Coach Mike Kirschner’s team has a loaded defense led by seniors Damien Shanklin (17 tackles for loss) and Tyrone Burrus (15 tackles for loss) on the line with junior Jerimy Finch Jr. (14 tackles for loss). The offense should get a boost from quarterback Jaydin Rivers, a transfer from Hammond Bishop Noll. There are playmakers on that side of the ball in seniors Keith Jackson and Chazz Corley (23 catches, 405 yards), among others. Senior Jaylan McMoore rushed for 926 yards and eight TDs last season.

Warren Central opens at defending Class 5A state champion Fort Wayne Snider and finishes with Carmel and Cathedral. It could all come down to that potential regional matchup against Center Grove again. Warren Central is 0-4 in the regional against the Trojans since 2019.

Zionsville

The Eagles were 3-1 last season, then did not win again to finish 3-7. Four of Zionsville’s seven losses came by 10 points or less as the defense struggled to stop some of the powerful offenses in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.

Coach Scott Turnquist, going into his sixth season, has experience at quarterback in junior Eli Showalter (960 passing yards, 10 TDs) and his top receiver returning in Wisconsin commit Eugene Hilton (46 catches, 836 yards, 10 TDs). Junior Sam Manna was the team’s leading rusher last year (392 yards). Among the talent returning on defense is senior strong safety Max Phenicie (58 tackles), who took an official visit to Army last weekend.

As noted with Avon, it is tough to make a huge turnaround against the HCC schedule. But there is a chance here to get off to a fast start and build momentum.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football: 10 sleeper teams to watch in Central Indiana for 2024 season