The IHSAA high school football season is just around the corner, and East Central Indiana’s small schools are ready to make some noise on the gridiron this year.
Practices officially began for high school football on Monday, Aug. 3, and the season is set to kick off on Friday, Aug. 21. The Star Press has shown you the top offensive players, defensive players and best games for the 2026 season, and now it’s time to dive into individual team breakdowns.
Here’s a look at East Central Indiana’s five small school teams who will compete in Class 2A and 1A.
Class 2A
Blackford Bruins
Blackford is looking to rebound after a winless 2025 season, but a brutal schedule in the CIC could mean another tough season for the Bruins. Head coach Steve Boozier is in his second season back with the program after previously coaching the Bruins from 2000-07, which included their most recent sectional title in 2003. Blackford only graduates six seniors from last year’s team and returns some of its more productive players who will certainly have a bad taste in their mouths from a year ago.
The most productive returner is senior RB/LB Brady Bannister, who led the team in rushing and was second on the team in tackles last year. The X-factor in the backfield, however, will be junior RB Kamari Taylor, who broke out with 586 yards on 5.1 yards per carry as a freshman but missed the entirety of last season with a torn ACL. The dynamic Taylor combined with the one-two power punch of Bannister and junior Corbin Batten will help the Bruins wear opponents down on the ground. Senior offensive linemen Clayton Heflin and Drake Losh will pave the way for those backs, while sophomore quarterback Stratahn Sargent returns after starting every game last year under center.
Defense is where Blackford struggled most last year, surrendering 57 points per game. Bannister and Batten will be the key cogs at linebacker in the middle of the defense, while Heflin, Losh and junior Bryce Maddox are in line for plenty of snaps on the defensive front. Senior Hunter Cale returns at defensive back, as does sophomore Peyton Quick after making a strong impression as a freshman a year ago. With strong CIC opponents like Mississinewa, Alexandria-Monroe and Oak Hill on the schedule, the Bruins defense will definitely be tested.
Shenandoah Raiders
After last offseason saw four different East Central Indiana schools change head coaches, Shenandoah was the only one to do so in 2026. Like Blackford in 2025, the Raiders brought back a familiar face by hiring Scott Widner, who led the program from 2008-16 and won a pair of sectional titles (2012 and 2014). This season will also mark Shenandoah’s first in the newly-formed Eastern Crossroads Conference, which also features Centerville, Eastern Hancock, Lapel, New Castle and Northeastern and will add Delta in 2027.
The Raiders graduated perhaps the most offensive production out of any team in the area, most notably quarterback Jarrett Helman, who threw for 1,673 yards, ran for 710 more and scored 30 total touchdowns. Shenandoah also graduated their top three receivers in Garrett May, Karter Gray and Blayne Stevens, who combined for the bulk of Helman’s aerial production. They do return a 1,000-yard rusher in Cash Cowley and some experienced trench players like Kai Peavler and Ethan Taylor at tackles and Braxton Farmer at guard, but it will be tough for this offense to replicate last year’s success, especially with a tougher schedule in the new ECC.
Defensively, the Raiders will also be missing Helman and his 99 tackles and four interceptions. Cowley is a monster at defensive end with 23.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks over the last two years, and opposing offenses will also have to worry about junior outside linebacker Kaden Gray off the edge. Senior Brendan Pruett racked up 55 tackles last year at linebacker, while fellow senior Jackson Ryder is expected to make an impact as he steps in for Helman at strong safety. On the defensive line, Peavler will play a big role alongside junior defensive tackle Brayden French.
Winchester Community Golden Falcons
The Golden Falcons posted an impressive 8-1 regular season before falling to eventual 2A regional champion Lapel in their first sectional game. Head coach Mike Jones’ squad finished second in the TEC, which will look quite different this year after Centerville and Northeastern accelerated their exits from the conference to join the ECC a year ahead of schedule. Northeastern won the TEC last year, so perhaps Winchester will be the team to take their spot atop the league.
If that is to be the case, the Golden Falcons will need some less experienced players to step up after graduating 14 seniors who made up the bulk of last year’s starters on both sides of the ball. Those losses include leading rusher Aidan Weatherhead, starting quarterback and second-leading rusher Caleb Hummel, leading receiver and third-leading rusher Carter Campbell, as well as every player who caught a pass last year. Winchester will lean heavily on senior Braylon Black and junior Joey Vasquez out of the backfield, but this offensive unit will look almost entirely different in 2026.
Defense is a similar story, as 10 of the Falcons’ top 12 tacklers from last year have graduated. Vasquez (30 tackles, seven tackles for loss) is their most productive returning defender, while Brennan Lanter saw some reps at defensive back. Fellow seniors Garrett Horner and Wyatt Hylton will play alongside Vasquez at linebacker, while juniors Hayden Hughes and Jayven Byrd will add some more juice to the front seven. All in all, Winchester may be the area’s most mysterious team entering 2026 due to the sheer number of new starters on the field.
Class 1A
Monroe Central Golden Bears
The Golden Bears have hovered at five or six wins for each of the last four seasons, but this season’s schedule looks a bit different from years past with former Mid-Eastern Conference opponents Eastern Hancock and Shenandoah now in the ECC and off the schedule. Monroe Central will still play both its Randolph County rivals of Winchester and Union City and will face some other nearby teams like Union County and Knightstown that they have not seen in a few years. While the schedule changes, coach John Hochstetler’s team motto of “High Standards, No Excuses” remains the exact same.
On offense, last year’s starting quarterback Carson Siekmann is back for his senior year, but he is expected to move to wide receiver while Yorktown transfer Elias Hart is expected to take over under center. With Siekmann and senior Caden Dance as his top targets, plus seniors Luke Anderson and Caleb Sullivan running out of the backfield, Hart should have plenty of help from his supporting cast. The Golden Bears are experienced up front with seniors Dylan Painter, Henry Hochstetler and Peyton Cummins manning the trenches.
Defensively, Anderson is the key returning piece after racking up 58 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks at linebacker last season, while sophomore Nic Cope impressed in his four games as a freshman and will form a dynamic duo with Anderson. Dance and Siekmann make up a solid defensive back duo, while seniors Cummins and Carson Cruse will clog up the line of scrimmage on the defensive front.
Wes-Del Warriors
Wes-Del football has been trending upwards every year under coach Matt Nuckols. After a 1-9 debut season in 2022, the Warriors won four games a year later and five in each of the last two years. The marron and white will look to keep that upward trend going in 2026, but they’ll have to do so without Brock Nauman, the program’s all-time leading rusher who graduated in 2025.
Replacing Nauman in the backfield will be a senior duo of Eli Wright and Rhyker Mauck. Both were productive with limited touches last season — Wright averaged 8.2 yards per carry and Mauck averaged 6.6 — and will command the lion’s share of carries in the Warriors’ wing-T offense. Junior Zach Gillam also posted solid rushing numbers (7.8 yards per carry), and freshman Luke Fields is another runner to keep an eye on. Junior quarterback Noah Perdue returns under center with an offensive line anchored by senior tackle Easton Stewart.
Wright and Mauck will also look to fill the Nauman-sized void in the linebacker room, where the departed senior was also the team’s top tackler a year ago. Another linebacker to know for the Warriors is senior Ranen DuBois, who made 35 tackles last year and is also a standout wrestler in the winter. Sophomore Connor Johnson could be in for some front-seven production as well after logging two sacks in four games last season. In the defensive backfield, Gillam is the team’s top returning tackler after racking up 57 stops at safety last year.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@usatodayco.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: East Central Indiana high school football Class 2A/1A season previews
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press | USA TODAY Network
