Week 7 lookahead

We're in the homestretch of the HHC race, and four teams are still in the mix. Two are perfect in conference play (Delta & Shelbyville), while Mt. Vernon and New Palestine lurk at 3-1.

Those are the games we'll be watching next week -- one, the intra-county rivalry between Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central; another, the game between New Palestine and Shelbyville. We'll have the broadcast of MV and G-C, with NP-Shelby being carried by our friends at WSVX-Shelbyville.

Let's preview the HHC this week, starting with our Game of the Week broadcast.

CCSN GID Game of the Week
Mt. Vernon (4-2/3-1) at Greenfield-Central (1-5/0-5)
7 p.m. broadcast. Listen live here

The coaches
Mt. Vernon: Doug Peacock (16th year at MV, 100-71; 20th year overall, 120-91).
Greenfield-Central: Roger Dodson (4th year at G-C, 10-27; 16th year overall, 74-86).

The series: G-C has won two in a row, including last year's 7-3 win, but the Marauders lead the series since 1994 12-4.

Scouting the Marauders: The Marauders are coming off their first HHC loss, a 23-7 loss to a very good Shelbyville team. MV led 7-3 after Corey White opened the second half with a KOR for a TD, but Shelbyville managed to score three times after that. Being outscored in the second half is a rarity for the Marauders, as 120 of their 195 points this season came after halftime. That snapped a 4-game winning streak in which MV had averaged 45 points per game. MV's leading rusher is FB Trey Ross, who is running for an average of 93 yards per game and has scored 10 TDs. He had 78 yards last week -- MV was held to 73 of total offense last year. HBs Zach McKinney and Evan Whalen have combined for 105 yards per game. MV's defense held Shelbyville to its second-lowest point total of the year last week, and has been solid this season. The Marauders shut out Yorktown in Week 2, and held Pendleton Heights without a first down for much of the first three quarters two weeks ago.

Scouting the Cougars: The Cougars are trying to snap a 5-game losing streak -- all against conference foes -- but they're facing a team they've beaten in back-to-back years. Within that streak, G-C has been strong defensively. Last week, the Cougars held Rushville to 19 points, but fell 19-15 after scoring the first two TDs of the game. Two weeks ago, they held Shelbyville to 3 points in the first half and their lowest point total of the year in a 19-0 loss. In Week 4, Yorktown was held scoreless in the first half, but rallied to win 28-14. G-C forced four turnovers in the first half of that game. In those 3 games, G-C has outscored its foes 22-10 in the first half, but has been outscored 56-7 after halftime. The Cougars' leading offensive gainer is WR Matt Dickerson, who has 10 catches for 162 yards, and also has run for 196 yards. Brady Conger had 123 yards rushing last week and has 255 overall this season. QB Tyler Colclazier started last week and completed 4-of-14 passes, including a TD to Ethan Irbe. He has a lot of weapons -- Kevin Bordenkircher, Irbe, Dickerson and John White, who had a 56-yard TD reception in Week 4 against Yorktown.

These rivalry games are always fun, and always hard-hitting. We're looking forward to bringing this one to you. Join us at 7 p.m. Friday.

Other HHC/area games
Shelbyville (6-0/4-0) at New Palestine (4-2/3-1), 7 p.m.: Another great matchup. Shelbyville has been an offensive juggernaut this season, although the Bears have been held to 19 and 23 points the last two weeks. In those games, Shelby was held to a field goal in the first half, and then scored a total of 36 points in the second half. However, Shelbyville's defense hasn't allowed a touchdown since the late stages of a 52-29 win over Pendleton Heights in Week 4. The Bears are led by a multi-headed monster of QB Kevin Prosch and RB Patrick Ellis. The latter ran for 102 yarsd and a TD last week, while Prosch ran for 58 yards. NP is also coming off an impressive 35-12 win over Yorktown. The Dragons have one of the most dynamic performers in the HHC in Pat Feeney, but he only had one offensive touch last week -- a 7-yard run -- as he played almost exclusively on defense while nursing an injury to his leg. He also had a punt return for a TD that was called back by a roughing-the-punter penalty. On the year, Feeney has run for 491 yards and caught 19 passes for 415 yards. Combined, he has nine TDs. NP's running tandem of Michael Phelps and Bryce Pierson picked up the slack. Phelps had a TD catch of 44 yards and a TD run of 45. Pierson also had a 44-yard TD run, to go along with two 6-yard TDs. They combined for 227 yards rushing last week. Brett Jackson is also a threat on offense. NP has scored 34 and 35 points the last two weeks, but needs to win to stay in contention for the HHC title. The Dragons' next win will be the 100th for coach Tim Able.
Rushville (2-4/1-3) at Delta (6-0/4-0), 7 p.m.: The Eagles continue to impress, as they did in a 44-20 victory over Pendleton Heights last Saturday. Delta's "triplets" of QB Ozzie Mann, WR Logan Young and RB Teddy Dawson combined for more than 300 yards last week -- Young had 208 receiving yards and a TD, while Dawson had 130 rushing yards and three TDs. Delta's special teams also produced two touchdowns. Delta has won 27 of its last 28 regular-season games, and has never lost to Rushville. Meanwhile, the Lions are coming off their first HHC win of the year, rallying from a 15-0 deficit to beat Greenfield-Central 19-15. QB Spencer Comer ran for 3 TDs of 56, 1 and 3 yard, and totaled 169 rushing yards against the Cougars last week. In total, the Lions ran it for 305 yards.
Anderson Highland (5-1 on the field) at Yorktown (3-3), 7:30 p.m.: The Scots have been pretty impressive this season. The signature win was a 49-41 victory over Heritage Christian. The lone loss on the field was to defending 3A champ Chatard. Highland is actually 4-2, as it had to forfeit a season-opening win against Anderson due to use of an ineligible player. Meanwhile, Yorktown discovered a strong passing game last week, as QB Kyle Weiss was 20-of-34 and threw for TDs to Brendon Barnes and Austin Anderson. Barnes had 117 yard receiving last week, and also ran for 32. RB Derek Kundenreich ran for 98 yards last week, playing fullback for a large part of the night.
Jay County (2-4) at Pendleton Heights (1-5), 7:30 p.m.: The Arabians finally step out of conference play to meet Jay County. PH had a good first half against Delta last week, but the Eagles pulled away in the second half. Jay County looks like a good matchup, as both teams are hungry for a victory. JC beat Blackford and a winless Franklin County team for its two wins.

Also in the area: Wes-Del (2-4) at Eastern Hancock (0-6), 7 p.m.: These two longtime WRAC foes now play a non-conference game. Wes-Del is coming off a 2-game winning streak, having beaten the Deaf School and Edinburgh the last two weeks. Meanwhile, EH is coming off a tough 33-18 loss to North Decatur. The Royals have had two of their better offensive games back-to-back. This is the first of two games against ex-WRAC foes. Next week, the Royals travel to Shenandoah.

HHC standings
Delta 4-0/6-0 (W7 v. Rushville; W8 v. MV; W9 v. Shelbyville)
Shelbyville 4-0/6-0 (W7 @NP; W8 v. Yorktown; W9 @Delta)
Mt. Vernon 3-1/4-2 (W7 @GC; W8 v. Delta; W9 v. NP)
New Palestine 3-1/4-2 (W7 v. Shelbyville; W8 v. GC; W9 @MV)
Yorktown 2-3/3-3 (W8 v. Shelbyville; W9 @Rushville)
Rushville 1-3/2-4 (W7 @Delta; W8 v. PH; W9 v. Yorktown)
Pendleton Heights 1-5/1-5 (W8 v. Rushville)
Greenfield-Central 0-5/1-5 (W7 v. MV; W8 v. NP)