The IHSAA high school football season kicks off in just 10 days, and there are plenty of exciting games on the schedule in the Muncie area.
Practices officially began for high school football on Monday, Aug. 3, and the season is set to kick off on Friday, Aug. 21. Last season saw one team from the area win a sectional title, as Yorktown defeated Pendleton Heights to claim its first Class 4A sectional trophy.
Here’s a look at the top 12 best games on the schedule in East Central Indiana this fall:
Week 1: Jay County at Blackford
This rivalry dates back to 1975 and will serve as the season opener for the sixth year in a row following a two-year hiatus in 2019 and 2020. The Patriots haven’t lost to the Bruins since 2008 and have had a significant upper hand in the 2020s with wins of 27, 41, 40, 49, and 50 points in the last five matchups. Blackford is coached by Steve Boozier, a 1985 Jay County graduate who later spent three years as the Patriots’ coach (2010-12) and 11 more as their athletic director (2013-24), adding another layer to this deep-seated rivalry.
Week 1: Delta at Muncie Central
These Delaware County rivals will kick off the season against each other for the sixth year in a row, and last year’s matchup produced one of the best games in this rivalry’s recent history. The Bearcats rallied back from a 13-0 halftime deficit to knock off the Eagles, 16-13. It was Central’s first win over Delta since 2006 and was the beginning of the Bearcats’ first winning season since 2016. The Bearcats are out to prove that last year’s win was no fluke, but it won’t be easy against an Eagles team that is now out for revenge.
Week 2: Muncie Central at Yorktown
Delaware County’s big cat mascots have met early in the season for the last 12 years, and the rivalry will continue in the second week of the 2026 season. Yorktown has won 11 of those 12 matchups, with Central’s lone win coming in 2016, but the Bearcats made the Tigers sweat in a 15-12 nail-biter last year. Central’s defense forced three turnovers and kept the game within one possession the whole time, but it was Yorktown’s defense that made the clutch play to clinch the game and a 2-0 start. That game provided a crucial early-season test for two of the area’s best teams last year, and it has gained even more importance with the two teams now sharing a Class 4A sectional bracket.
Week 2: Wes-Del at Blackford
These two area schools haven’t played each other since 2020, but they produced an exciting 28-23 result the last time they did. The 2A vs. 1A nature of this matchup favors Blackford, but the Bruins are coming off a 0-10 season, while the Warriors have been on an upward trend recently, with five wins each in the last two years. This one profiles as a classic small-school, grind-it-out style of game between two ground-and-pound offenses.
Week 3: Muncie Central at New Castle
The Bearcats are opening the season with three straight East Central Indiana rivals, and the Trojans represent an intriguing road matchup with plenty of history between the two schools. Two of the 10 founding members of the North Central Conference, Central and New Castle, haven’t faced off on the gridiron since the Trojans left the NCC for the Hoosier Heritage Conference in 2013. The Trojans’ exit from the HHC and the subsequent formation of the Eastern Crossroads Conference opened up space on their schedule for them to revive the rivalry with the Bearcats.
Week 3: Winchester Community at Monroe Central
The Golden Bears and Golden Falcons have opened the season against each other for the last four years, but the matchup has moved to Week 3 this season. Separated by just a few miles down State Road 32, these Randolph County rivals only began playing each other in 2022 and have split the four-game series, so this year’s winner will take a 3-2 series lead. Head coaches John Hochstetler of Monroe Central and Mike Jones of Winchester are longtime close friends and always enjoy going head-to-head.
Week 4: Delta at Yorktown
Could you imagine this story without this game? The Delta-Yorktown rivalry is the best in the area and one of the best statewide. Dating back to 1967, the Eagles hold the all-time series lead at 39-24, but Yorktown has the upper hand in the 2020s with a 5-3 record over the last six years and an active two-game winning streak. Last year’s result was a historic beatdown by the Tigers — a 45-7 victory that represented Yorktown’s largest win in series history.
Week 6: Delta at New Castle
This has been an HHC matchup since 2014 and will be an Eastern Crossroads Conference matchup after this year, but for 2026, it’s simply a nonconference game. New Castle lost its first 12 games to Delta before turning the tide in recent years with two wins in the last four seasons. Last year’s matchup was one of the area’s best games of the season, as New Castle jumped out to a 20-6 first-half lead before Delta mounted a comeback to win 27-20.
Week 6: Monroe Central at Wes-Del
The Harvest Helmet Classic has become one of the most anticipated annual matchups of the area’s football season, pitting the area’s two smallest football-playing schools against each other in an old school, smashmouth matchup. The rivalry began with Monroe Central’s first football season in 2010 and will celebrate its 17th annual regular season contest this year. The Golden Bears have dominated this rivalry with 13 consecutive wins and a 17-2 overall record, but the Warriors put up a solid fight in last year’s 21-14 contest and should challenge Monroe Central’s win streak again this year.
Week 8: Yorktown at Pendleton Heights
These HHC rivals produced two great games last season. Pendleton eked out a 24-22 win in the regular season matchup that came down to a few missed plays by Yorktown at the end. The Tigers got their revenge in the sectional championship, though, dominating the Arabians with a 28-10 victory to claim their first-ever Class 4A sectional title. Pendleton moved up to 5A in the latest round of class realignment, so we won’t be treated to a postseason rematch this year, but this October game should give both teams a welcome challenge ahead of sectionals.
Week 9: New Castle at Shenandoah
These two schools sit just a few miles apart in Henry County but have never met on the gridiron. New Castle has historically played in larger conferences like the NCC and HHC and has never faced off against its much smaller county neighbors, but now that the two are Eastern Crossroads Conference rivals, the door has opened for a new local football rivalry in East Central Indiana. The Trojans and Raiders matchup will cap off the regular season with what should be an intense local battle.
Sectional Weeks: New-look Class 4A Sectional
It’s hard to include sectional games in a list like this, largely because we don’t know what they will be for a few months. However, we do know that the latest round of reclassification and sectional alignments set up a sectional that features four local schools. Class 4A Sectional 20 now includes Delta, Jay County, Muncie Central, and Yorktown, giving us the potential for one or multiple rematches of games mentioned already in this very story. Throw in some of the Bearcats’ longtime NCC rivals like Kokomo, Marion, and Logansport (now in the Hoosier Conference) plus a powerhouse program like Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (playing up two classes due to the success factor), and you’ve got a recipe for an eventful bracket.
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: Top 12 games on the 2026 East Central Indiana high school football schedule
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
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By Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press | USA TODAY Network
