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 large school teams that will compete in Class 4A and 3A:
Class 4A
Delta Eagles
Delta is entering year two under head coach Billy Lynch and will look to rebound from just its second season under five wins since 2000. That won’t be easy in a typically tough HHC, but the good news for the Eagles is that this is their last season in the conference. They will join the likes of Centerville, Eastern Hancock, Lapel, New Castle, Northeastern, and Shenandoah in the Eastern Crossroads Conference effective in 2027-28. However, Delta was also reclassified into Class 4A, making a potential postseason run that much tougher.
Delta returns last year’s top offensive star, senior running back Aven Thomas, who racked up 892 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last year. He went over 1,000 all-purpose yards thanks to his work as a returner, but Thomas is aspiring for a pure 1K rushing season in his senior year. The Eagles also return receiver Carter Jackson (247 yards and two touchdowns last year) as well as senior starting quarterback Deacon Blevins. Junior Ryan Lynch split some QB snaps last year but will now play a gadget RB/WR role, while senior center Wyatt Berry and sophomore tackle Walker Johnson will lead the way up front.
The Eagles have a big leadership void to fill in the middle of their defense with the graduations of Cole Mynett, Everrett Linn, and Ryan Neal. Senior linebacker Maverick Holbrook will be looked upon to fill that void as the team’s top returning tackler (54 tackles last year), while seniors Cade Utsler and Isaiah Wine bring some formidable size and athleticism to the defensive line. Ryan Lynch is also expected to make an impact at linebacker, while Jackson will lead the defensive backfield at free safety.
Jay County Patriots
Like Delta, Jay County is entering its second season with its current head coach, plays in a tough conference in the ACAC, and was reclassified from Class 3A to Class 4A. Eddie Fields is back on the sideline after leading the Patriots to a 4-7 season in his debut and looks forward to the continued growth of his team and the program as a whole. The Patriots have adopted the motto “Suspend Disbelief” for this season, as they look to silence any doubters who may expect another mediocre season.
Jay County returns its offensive engine in senior running back Leighton Brown, who led the team in rushing last year en route to a second-team All-ACAC selection. He will be running behind a formidable offensive line featuring senior Garrett Dillon, fellow All-ACAC second-teamer junior Freddie Lingo, junior Parker Moore, and junior twins Cohen and Cooper Shimp. The Patriots will also feature junior Tyler Wasson at wide receiver alongside freshman Abram Lee, a 6-foot-4 target who is expected to make an impact right away.
On defense, the Patriots have some holes to fill after graduating a trio of all-conference players. Senior Blake Bonifas will step up on the defensive line, looking to replace Aiden Phillips, the team’s only All-ACAC first-team selection last year, while senior linebacker Bryan Fields will look to build on a solid junior campaign, manning the middle of the defense. He will be flanked by junior outside linebacker Caleb Sibray, while senior Wyatt Foster will serve as the team’s top cornerback.
Muncie Central Bearcats
Muncie Central is coming off its best season in nearly a decade after posting its first winning record since 2016. Head coach Kyle Buresh kickstarted the program’s turnaround in year one, and he will look to keep the Bearcats trending up in year two. Central graduated a very talented and productive senior class but returns plenty of talent, including two junior All-State players from a year ago.
Central leaned heavily on its ground game last year with senior running backs Landan Johnson and Dae’Cion Echols splitting a heavy workload. With both of them now playing college football (Johnson at Bluffton and Echols at UIndy), the Bearcats will need new playmakers to step up. Junior quarterback Mason Ferguson is back under center after some impressive flashes in his sophomore campaign, and he will have a great trio of receivers to support him with seniors Kye Hiatt and Doiron Montgomery plus speedy junior Carlos Echols Jr.
The defense is where the Bearcats produced two junior All-State players. Hiatt was an All-State defensive back after bringing down six interceptions, while junior defensive lineman Demarshuwn Clemens also earned a nod after racking up 10 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. The 6-4, 262-pound Clemens forms a dynamic duo with 6-4, 245-pound senior Isaiah Amerson on the defensive front, and both have drawn interest from Division I college football programs. The Bearcats also boast a talented linebacker duo in seniors Rex Vargas and Jackson Foster, while senior Justus Allen and Echols Jr. are both lockdown corners. It’s tough to find a real weakness on this Bearcat defense.
Yorktown Tigers
The only reigning sectional champion in East Central Indiana, Yorktown is coming off its sixth sectional title overall and its first at the Class 4A level. Last year’s success has garnered some early attention this year for coach Mike Wilhelm’s squad, including a No. 7 ranking in the IFCA Class 4A preseason coaches poll and the No. 25 spot in the IndyStar’s Super 25 rankings, but preseason polls don’t win championships.
Yorktown returns a talented offense highlighted by all-HHC quarterback Sam Tokar, an IU baseball commit who tossed for nearly 2,000 yards last year and had an impressive TD-INT ratio of 21-5. Tokar will have two of his favorite weapons back as well, with seniors Kaden Crumes and Ben Steele at wide receiver, both of whom averaged over 15 yards per catch last year. All-HHC running back Nate Luzadder (1,303 rushing yards in 2025) will be tough to replace, but junior Nate Spangler showed some flashes as a backup last year and will look to handle a much heavier load this year running behind fellow juniors Huck Perdue, Luke Staton, and Jaxon Burkhead on the interior offensive line.
The Tigers’ defense is highlighted by edge rusher Chris Wilson, Delaware County’s first-ever 4-star recruit who committed to West Virginia in June. The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Wilson recorded 25 total tackles, 11 QB hurries, seven tackles for loss, four sacks, four passes defended, and one interception during his junior campaign and will look to become even more of a force on a defensive line that graduated all-HHC players Henry Tokar and Jabin Barnes. Yorktown’s defense also features four experienced senior linebackers — Diezel Walker, Aiden Witt, Riley Kumler, and Brayden Kumler — who will look to fill the shoes of Nate Luzadder and Cole Perdue. At defensive back, junior Cooper Luzadder will combine with Spangler as the cornerback duo, while Crumes will continue playing free safety, where he also received All-HHC honors last year.
Class 3A
New Castle Trojans
While Delta and Jay County were moved up to Class 4A, New Castle moved down from 4A to 3A and is now East Central Indiana’s lone 3A football team. This will also mark the Trojans’ first season in the new Eastern Crossroads Conference, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up against a new-look schedule. Coach Kyle York’s team was ravaged by injuries a year ago during a brutal HHC schedule, but many of the players who stepped up for those who got hurt are back with legitimate experience under their belts.
New Castle returns experienced starters at quarterback and running back with senior team captains Carson Bell and Luke Sherrell, respectively. Bell has started each of the last two years and thrown 26 touchdowns in that span, while Sherrell led the team in rushing with 588 yards last year. Senior Braylen Bennett will get snaps at both running back and receiver, while fellow senior Carson Bane and junior Christian St. John give Bell two more solid targets.
Defensively, the Trojans return an All-HHC defensive lineman in Logan Mendoza, who led the team with eight tackles for loss last season and is also expected to play a crucial role on the offensive line. Junior defensive tackle Dennis Cobb is also back after emerging late last season and should help Mendoza in the trenches, while versatile junior Jett Neal is returning from injury and should make an impact off the edge. Sherrell is the team’s top returning tackler at linebacker and will be joined by sophomore Preston West, who showed flashes as a freshman and has high breakout expectations entering year two. Look for St. John and Bane to lead the defensive backs as the Trojans’ corner duo.
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 4A and 3A 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
