Pioneer aims again for Indiana state high school title

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - When Mike Johnson took a head coaching job at Logansport a year ago, the football program he built at Pioneer was still in good hands.

Who could have been better than Adam Berry to take over as the Panthers new coach? Berry spent the two years prior as a Pioneer assistant and the four years before that with the junior high program. After a four-year high school career of his own at Pioneer, where he graduated in 2006, Berry knows all about Panthers football.

"Since last spring when we started weights we kept talking about that end goal," Berry said. "The end goal is a state championship."

Pioneer has another shot at winning a title. The Class A No. 3 Panthers are back in the finals for the second time in three years and will play No. 2 Linton-Stockton for the championship at noon Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The IHSAA state finals kickoff on Friday with Eastbrook and Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter in the Class 2A finals.

Making it to Indy isn't easy. In Class A, Pioneer can attest to that. Someone always seems to be in the way.

Between 2009 and 2015, Pioneer's season usually ended with a loss to the Lafayette Central Catholic, with the exceptions of 2013 and 2014 when the Knights were in Class 2A.

Even Berry's senior year, when he was Pioneer's quarterback, the Knights beat the Panthers in overtime in the sectional championship.

But things were different when the two teams met in the regional two weeks ago. Pioneer scored with under a minute to play to win 28-27 to advance.

"Finally beating them after such a long span, it was such a great feeling," Berry said. "You could see it in everybody's faces."

In 2014, when the Knights were in Class 2A, Pioneer made it to the finals, but lost to North Vermillion, 27-26.

Now, with Central Catholic out of the way, Pioneer has another shot.

Linton-Stockton gets another shot, too. It lost to Central Catholic in the finals last year after Pioneer was eliminated.

Here are some things to watch from the other state finals matchups:

EASTBROOK (13-1) VS. INDIANAPOLIS CARDINAL RITTER (10-4)

The Class 2A championship will kick off the first of six title games, beginning at noon Friday. No. 5 Ritter is playing for a third title in five years. Its last championship was in 2012. No. 3 Eastbrook is making its first finals appearance since 2004, when the Panthers finished runner-up to Tri-West.

FORT WAYNE CONCORDIA LUTHERAN (12-2) VS. LAWRENCEBURG (13-1)

Fort Wayne Concordia is making its first appearance at state and will meet Lawrenceburg in the Class 3A finals on Saturday. The Tigers finished as runner-up in 1985 while in Class 2A and won a championship in 1978.

Saturday's game could be a showdown between Concordia quarterback Peter Morrison and Lawrenceburg running back Austin Bowling. Morrison is second in the state with 3,615 total passing yards this season. Bowling is the state's leading rusher with 3,016 yards and 52 touchdowns.

NORTHWOOD (14-0) VS. RONCALLI (14-0)

One team will be handed its first loss of the year in the Class 4A finals. The other team will finish with an undefeated season and a state championship.

Roncalli is in the finals for the first time in 11 years after making it to state four straight years from 2002 to 2005. Their last title was in 2004. Northwood won a championship in 2005 in Class 3A.

WESTFIELD (11-2) VS. COLUMBUS EAST (13-1)

Last year's Class 5A championship game turned into a shootout through the air in Fort Wayne Snider's 64-61 win over New Palestine. Saturday's primetime game should have a different look with two teams who run the ball more. Westfield averages 224.1 yards rushing a game and Columbus East averages 350.

Westfield finished runner-up to Cathedral in 2013, the same year Columbus East won a title while in Class 4A.

CARMEL (9-4) VS. CENTER GROVE (12-1)

No. 3 Center Grove is going for a second straight championship in Friday's Class 6A primetime matchup with No. 7 Carmel, which returns to the finals for the fourth time since 2011.

Center Grove beat Carmel 19-6 in Week 3 of the season. Carmel is 8-2 since that regular season game and has won five straight, including last week's 21-10 semi-state win. The Greyhounds held Penn to negative-18 yards of offense in that game.