At 8:18 p.m. on Friday night, as Darian Prather looked left, turned right and fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to Amari Moore, Lawrence North took the lead on Class 6A top-ranked Brownsburg and appeared to have the two-time defending champions on the ropes and the fans in the packed home bleachers feeling optimistic.
That feeling lasted only through halftime and the opening moments of the third quarter. Visiting Brownsburg took the lead on its opening drive the second half, scored the game’s next 28 points, and never looked back on the way to a workmanlike 48-25 win over the 6A fourth-ranked Wildcats.
Obviously, all is not lost for Lawrence North. The Wildcats have three games – vs. Fishers, at Lawrence Central and vs. North Central – before a big Week 5 showdown vs. Class 6A third-ranked Carmel. Friday’s opener was a litmus test to see where Lawrence North stacked up against the current top team in 6A.
“You really want to play the best teams, right?” Lawrence North coach Pat Mallory said. “You want to try to schedule the best teams. Win or lose, you still have to judge. If you get where you want to be, you are going to play them anyway so you’ve got to be able to see where you are now with a good team rather than play somebody lesser and maybe get a false positive. At least we get to see where we are now and what we gotta do.”
Lawrence North held up reasonably well against Brownsburg’s passing game, allowing just 46 passing yards in the first half. Indiana commit Branden Sharpe had just one catch in the first half, though it was a 6-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats were able to pressure Brownsburg quarterback Oscar Frye at times, including two sacks.
But the inability to stop the run was a problem all night. Brady Lewis ran for 223 yards on 35 carries, a big part of the Bulldogs’ 323-yard rushing night. Frye ended up with three TD passes and 164 yards passing on the night. Sharpe finished with four catches for 88 yards and two TDs.
“I don’t know if I can judge (how we did guarding Sharpe) watching the game live,” Mallory said. “When they can run the ball, they don’t have to throw it to him.”
Brownsburg’s 487 yards of total offense was probably not entirely unexpected considering the losses Lawrence North incurred to graduation on that side of the ball. The Wildcats also had players going both ways, which seemed to wear down the defense. The Lawrence North offense needed to keep pace – and could not.
“Shaky,” Mallory said when asked about the offensive performance. “I don’t feel like we jelled much. We’d get a drive going and something would happen. We just have to find a way to sustain small victories and move the ball down the field.”
Brownsburg keyed on Izayveon Moore, and while the Purdue recruit did return a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, he was held to 67 rushing yards on 14 carries. He only broke off one long run, which went for a 27-yard TD. Prather was able to take advantage and run for 107 yards on 13 carries.
The passing game was hit and miss. Prather was intercepted three times and finished with 89 yards. Indiana recruit Monshun Sales was limited to two catches for 13 yards. He appeared to be suffering from cramps at different points in the game.
“Everybody was kind of cramping there for a while,” Mallory said. “We try to do as good a job as we can of feeding these kids and hydrating the kids, but we play our players in all three phases of the game. We either have to get in better condition, or we can’t play in all three phases.”
More of what we learned from Week 1 of the season:
On Sales’ night and expectations
Trying not to add any fuel to some of the online hot takes after the Lawrence North-Brownsburg game, but I think it is worth pointing out a few things regarding Sales’ night.
Obviously two catches for 13 yards is not what anybody had in mind for the opening game of his senior year – including himself. But there were a few big plays out there in the passing game that just did not materialize. Give credit to Brownsburg up front for putting pressure on Prather. It also did not help with Sales coming in and out with cramps.
I think it is also worth pointing out how expectations can get out of control for high school athletes. There are a lot of people who have probably never seen Monshun Sales play who expected a fully-formed Randy Moss out there on Friday night. It is part of the nature of prospect rankings and recruiting chase where the excitement and anticipation over the name Monshun Sales (or fill in the name with any five-star prospect) becomes something beyond reality.
I have no doubt Sales will come back and have a great season. I think he’ll be great at IU. But it is worth keeping in mind he is a 17-year-old kid who is just getting started on his journey.
Big winners of Week 1
>>>Have we given Adams Central enough credit for what they are doing every year under Michael Mosser? The Flying Jets started the season with a 35-20 win over Fort Wayne Luers, last year’s Class 3A runner-up. This is from a school with an enrollment of 414 students, which would put Adams Central in the bottom half of 2A had it not moved up via the tournament success factor. Mosser’s team lost to Lutheran in the 1A state finals every year from 2021 to ’23, then won a 2A state title in 2024 before losing to Andrean last year in the 2A semistate. A win over Luers is just another impressive notch in Adams Central’s belt.
>>>I wrote about this in Sunday’s “Snap Judgments” column, but that has to be a great feeling for Ben Davis to get off to a good start with a 33-27 win over Cathedral.
>>>Cascade picked up where it left off in Nick Brickens’ first game as coach. The Cadets, ranked No. 4 in 2A after winning the 3A title last year, rolled to a 41-7 win over Monrovia. T.J. Turner ran for 151 yards and two TDs on 19 carries and Lucas Farmer added seven carries for 71 yards and two TDs.
>>>How about Fort Wayne football? Carroll steamrolled Hamilton Southeastern 54-23, Fort Wayne Dwenger defeated Roncalli 15-14 in triple overtime in a Class 4A state finals rematch and Concordia defeated Scecina 35-26. Keep an eye on Carroll. That high-flying passing attack visits Center Grove on Friday.
>>>Impressive 35-7 win for 4A third-ranked Bishop Chatard over 5A No. 4 Lafayette Jeff. The Trojans intercepted three passes – two by Jax Guidry – and held the high-powered Bronchos to 233 yards of total offense. Harrison Odom was 20-for-29 passing for 235 yards and three TDs.
Odds and ends …
>>>Three top 10 teams in 6A lost (No. 4 Lawrence North, No. 6 Center Grove and No. 10 Hamilton Southeastern), but those were all to other ranked teams.
>>>Maconaquah’s Nolan Tarrh set single-game school records with 13 catches for 307 yards in a 42-27 win over Sheridan.
>>>Westfield junior quarterback Cooper Melvin was 17-for-28 passing for 281 yards and three touchdowns in the 6A second-ranked Shamrocks’ 49-21 win over Homestead.
Looking ahead
There’s plenty to get excited about for Week 2. How about these five matchups to start with:
>>>Ben Davis at Avon: Avon was impressive in a 31-6 win over Decatur Central. Can Ben Davis end a three-game losing streak to the Orioles?
>>>Carmel at Westfield: This one ought to be good. No. 2 vs. No. 3 in the 6A poll and a rematch of last year’s 23-20 overtime win for Westfield in the sectional championship.
>>>Fort Wayne Carroll at Center Grove: Is Carroll for real? A trip to Center Grove should tell us more about the Chargers.
>>>East Central at New Palestine: No. 2 in 4A at No. 1 in 5A. New Palestine beat East Central 20-6 in last year’s 5A regional.
>>>Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (Ga.) at Brownsburg: Rabun-Gap lost 42-40 to Venice (Fla.) in its opener. Carson Bryant passed for 331 yards and three TDs. This will be a significant challenge for Brownsburg, which is ranked No. 17 High School Football America. Rabun Gap is ranked No. 97.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What we learned from Week 1: On Lawrence North, Sales’ night, big winners from weekend
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
