Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher looks to use the bye week to get his team healthier for next week’s Class 5A sectional opener.
Nine weekends worth of collisions have a way of altering priorities.
The will to compete doesn’t fade, but the time off between Week 9 of the regular season and sectional openers is appreciated by coaches and players alike within the state’s larger schools.
Now is about rest, healing and refocusing for the Class 5A and 6A programs, which are idle this week and don’t begin sectional games until Oct. 27.
Greenwood (Class 4A) and Indian Creek (3A) both take the field this evening; Edinburgh was fortunate enough to draw a first-round bye in its Class A sectional, but ordinarily they’d be in action tonight as well. Greenwood Christian, which just concluded its second season, becomes eligible for the Class A postseason in 2024.
Perhaps no coach embraces the bye week more, at least this season, than Darrin Fisher at Whiteland. The Warriors have had starters and reserve players alike sustain injuries from the outset, but are slowly on the mend at just the right time.
“One, it’s the possibility of getting some kids back, and in our case, that’s a lot of guys,” Fisher said. “The goal for them when they’re rehabbing is to play at the end of the season.
“And football is a long grind, so you have to give coaches and players some time off. The third thing is working on fundamentals, and that’s good for everybody.”
Three-time defending 6A state champion Center Grove opens at home next week against Franklin Central. The county’s 5A teams, Franklin and 2022 5A state runner-up Whiteland, both make the drive to Terre Haute to open tourney play at South and North, respectively.
The two-week bridge between regular-season finales and the stress of a one-and-done postseason exists only for Indiana’s larger high schools.
There are 32 teams in 6A, and another 32 in 5A, each class boasting a total of eight four-team sectionals.
Meanwhile, Classes 4A and 3A are each comprised of all eight-team sectionals; Class 2A includes two sectionals where a school drew a bye; including Edinburgh, there are six Class A squads that have tonight off.
Adds Fisher: “I would not be a fan of the bye week if I had a bye week, and my (next) opponent did not. Mentally, your opponent has never taken its foot off the gas at all.”
Center Grove coach Eric Moore doesn’t need to be sold on the importance of the bye week.
In 2015, Class 6A semistates were played on Nov. 13, one week prior to the other five classes. The majority of 5A teams had the first week of the postseason off that season, though some did play due to the number of teams in their sectional. The extra week off proved to be the unsung hero in Center Grove’s second state championship, a 28-16 victory over Penn that took place 15 days after one of the most memorable games in program history, a 35-34 double-overtime semistate win over Avon.
So physical was the nail-biter against the Orioles that eight years later, Moore isn’t convinced his team would have been able to apply the finishing touches to a 14-0 season inside Lucas Oil Stadium had the 6A title contest been the following week.
Very simply, the Trojans were beat up.
“Obviously, if you have any small injuries you can recover from, that’s the big thing,” Moore said of the bye week. “Our schedule is so physical, and you end the regular season with Cathedral, so you need to heal a little bit.
“The coaches have done something 75 straight days, so we can take a day off. For a coaching staff, that’s tough.”
The Trojans, Warriors and Grizzly Cubs are making it a point to enjoy the time off, knowing that come Monday, it’s business as usual.
TONIGHT’S SECTIONAL GAMES
Class 4A
Greenwood at Connersville, 7 p.m.
Shortridge at Roncalli, 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Greensburg at Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
