The second week of the 2022 high school football season has come to an end. This week’s lineup was dominated by dominant offensive performances, kickoff returns for touchdowns and multiple teams that maintained their undefeated records.
As we head into Week 3, here are six things we learned from last week’s early season football games.
Mishawaka’s defense could be a strength
Mishawaka’s defense was three minutes away from securing its second straight shutout to start the season before South Bend Saint Joseph spoiled the party with a late game touchdown in its 30-8 loss to the Cavemen. However, starting the year with seven scoreless quarters was impressive enough.
A week after holding Marian’s offense to less than 100 yards from scrimmage, the Cavaliers held the Indians to 191 total yards, most of which came on Saint Joe’s lone score.
Can Mishawaka keep that going in its Week 3 Northern Lakes Conference opener at home against Northridge?
Penn’s offense continues to roar
High School Football Summary:Penn moves to 2-0, Cathedral No. 2 afterwards
Two weeks, two opening games. Penn quarterback Nolan McCullough broke away to make big plays quickly, scoring on a 59-yard touchdown run on the Kingsmen’s first offensive play in their 31-6 win over Portage.
Penn’s offense was at it again Friday night, recording 258 rushing yards and 58 passing yards. Remember the name Josiah Williams, who scored two more goals this week, taking his season total to four, heading into next week’s big home test against Indianapolis Cathedral.
Is Elkhart legit?
More:2022 high school football schedules
What Romison Saint-Louis has done with Elkhart in the first two games of the season has been impressive. A week after shutting out Concord to open the 2022 season, the Lions scored 28 straight points to beat Northridge, 28-7, in Week 2 action to improve to 2-0.
Concord and Northridge aren’t the world beaters on Elkhart’s schedule. The big test will be Sept. 16 at home against Penn. Until then, the Lions can only play who’s on their schedule, starting with this week’s game against Hammond Morton, but nothing they’ve shown so far suggests the Lions can’t be undefeated going into that game against the Kingsmen .
What about Glenn?
Glenn has quietly put together two solid weeks of football under first-year coach John Barron. The Falcons beat Boone Grove 28-14 in Week 1, then beat 4A South Bend Riley 38-24 in a Week 2 shootout.
The Falcons’ offense totaled 343 yards in Friday night’s win against the Wildcats, 239 on the ground and 104 through the air.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier with next week’s NIC home opener against South Bend Saint Joe, another 4A school (Glenn is 3A). So we’ll see if the Falcons can continue to punch above their weight class and their strong start to the season.
Don’t sleep on Riley’s Robert Nabieu
Nabieu was a track star for South Bend Riley last season, advancing to the IHSAA state meet. Nabieu’s speed is now being recognized on the football field this fall.
A native of Sierra Leone in Africa, Nabieu returned the opening kickoff of Friday’s game against Glenn for a 78-yard touchdown and also scored on a 72-yarder later in the game.
Nabieu, just a junior, is quickly making a name for himself as one of the fastest players in the South Bend area.
These teams remained undefeated
Seven teams in the South Bend area kept their perfect records going into Week 3 games. They are:
Mishawaka, which hosts Northridge (1-1) next week. Penn, which hosts perennial Indianapolis Cathedral (1-1) next week. New Prairie, which struggled a bit in Goshen, and heads to Lowel (1-1) next week. LaVille, and his wealth of experience, travels to Pioneer (1-1) in Week 3. Elkhart, which travels to Hammond Morton (0-2) next week. NorthWood, which hosts Concord (1-1) on Friday night. Glenn, which hosts South Bend Saint Joseph (1-1) in Friday’s NIC opener.
Which of these teams will remain unbeaten by the end of the week?