It seems so hard to believe that what started in the third week of August has now come to the third Friday of November. While every team has hopes and dreams on opening night, only three are still living the dream.

Concord (5A), Saint Joseph (4A) and Knox (3A) are the Michiana representatives in Friday’s IHSAA football semistates.  While many had high expectations for the Minutemen and Redskins entering the season, few could have imagined that Saint Joseph would be in the final four of Class 4A.

CONCORD AT MERRIVILLE, 7:30 PM ET

After last Friday’s wild and miraculous regional win over Lafayette Jeff, Concord must refocus on another potent offense in Merrillville. Brad Seiss, a former star player at Warsaw, has his Pirates are playing in their sixth semistate in seven years, but still looking for their first trip to state since 1976

Offensively, Merrillville is led by Michael Hill, Jr. He has 3090 passing yards. He has run for nearly 700 yards. They have a 1000-yard rusher in Jacquarious Johnson. Mikel Smoot, Cameron Jordan and Rynell Lewis all have over 50 catches. 

Defensively, the Pirates only allow 15 points per game, and none of their tournament foes have reached that mark. They only create about one turnover per game but their tackling is pretty solid. Stanley Freeman can be a game-wrecker with 8.5 sacks and 17 QB Hurries. Linebackers Amarie Eller and Keith Edwards are the leading tacklers.

It’s not as though the Minutemen can’t score. Concord averages 40 points per game, a mark they have hit in six of their last seven games. Valpo commit Bo Brunner has 1900 passing yards to go with 785 rushing yards. Ball State commit Reese Breveard has 1764 yards of total offense, and Derek Gomez has emerged as a terrific two-way player with 1174 yards of offense and 105 tackles.

“There’s going to be some points scored in the game,” deadpans Concord coach Craig Koehler. “We have to be opportunistic  on defense. We have to get them off schedule.. If we could turn them over, that would be wonderful. We have not done a great job of that all year, but you never know. We’re on this run and maybe this is the week we can get fortunate and be optimistic in that department.”

SAINT JOSEPH AT BISHOP DWENGER, 7:30 PM ET

While Concord has basically been outscoring everyone, St. Joe’s path to the semistate has been paved by defense and special teams.  In the last three games, Ben Downey’s team hasn’t scored more than 14 points, and yet, they are still playing because they have put the defensive clamps on some very strong offenses in Mishawaka and Hobart.

“It’s not because we have crazy good athletes,” admits linebacker Jackson Troester. “We have good athletes, but it’s because everyone out there does their job and does it the hardest they can for the person next to them.”

The defense has so many moving parts to it. Charlie Grewe leads with 9 sacks, Mason Kazmierczak leads with 90 tackles. James Criniti has five of the 16 interceptions. The question with St. Joe is can they get enough from the offense. Their leading running back, Matt Champlin, has less than 400 rushing yards for the season

Saint joseph bears great similarity to Bishop Dwenger. The Saints’ scoring defense is 3rd in the state. St. Joe is 5th.  St. Joe actually averages more points per game and total yards per game than Dwenger does on offense.  A.J. Shefferly leads the Saints’ rushing attack with 686 yards and 10 TDs. They have a dangerous passing combo in Henry Jordan and Beckham Russell.

Dwenger has played a challenging schedule, including wins over semistate teams Carroll and Bishop Luers, but Saint Joseph is used to the underdog role. 

“Everybody out here on this field has confidence in our defense, special teams and offense that we are able to make the plays to win this game,” says Troester. “We just have to go out there and do it.”

KNOX AT BISHOP LUERS, 8 PM ET

The Class 3A matchup has the most successful program in state history facing a team that has never won a semistate. Bishop Luers has been to 23 semistates and won 18 of them. On the season, they may be 8-5, but don’t be deceived by that record. Of their five losses, three of them are to teams still playing.

The Knights’ offense is almost completely driven by sophomores, so it’s little wonder they started 0-3.  Terrance Epperson and Brandon Gaither are both 1000-yard rushers. Thomas Reichert has thrown for nearly 900 yards and Nate Javins is his leading receiver…all sophomores.

Defensively, they’ve only allowed one team in the last seven games to get over 12 points, and that’s 6A Carroll.  But it’s doubtful they have faced a team quite like 13-0 Knox.

“Just to think that you could find a way to go 13-0 is almost impossible,” says Knox coach Russ Radtke. “These seniors have been a part of four sectional championships. They’ve been part now of two regional championships. They’re at an intensity level right now where there are few questions…they’ll just get it done however we tell them to do it.”

Radtke is in his 49th year of coaching. He won state at Griffith in 1997. He is trying to take a fourth different program to the state finals. And he has the nation’s leading rusher.

Behind a powerful offensive line, Myles McLaughlin is only 364 yards away from breaking the high school career rushing record of Derrick Henry. Yes, the Derrick Henry who plays for the Baltimore Ravens.  But Radtke knows there’s another challenge awaiting his team Friday.

“This is really important that we give ourselves an opportunity to win this game without distractions,” says Radtke. “We’re gonna have to come up with ways to box them in and keep them in front of us. The games they’ve been very successful in, they’ve been able to make their offense work.”

All the games can be seen on pay-per-view through the IHSAA Champions Network. Cost is $12 for a single game and $20 gets you access to every semistate broadcast.