Top standouts, best performances in Week 9 of the Indiana high school football season

By Kevin Messenger

Listed below are some of the top standouts and performers from Week 9 high school football games throughout the Hoosier State: 

Eli Bridenthal, WR, Mt. Vernon

Scoring on both sides of the ball, Bridenthal opened the scoring in a 108-point shootout with a 55-yard interception return. He tacked on a 34-pard TD catch before halftime and his 18-yard TD reception gave Mt. Vernon a 63-38 lead. Mt. Vernon beat Yorktown 63-45.

Trey Ehman, RB, Hamilton Heights

Ehman carried the ball 27 times for 225 yards while leading Hamilton Heights to a 41-21 win. His lone score came on a 2-yard run in the third quarter, breaking a 21-21 tie and putting the Huskies into the lead for good.

Maverick Geske, QB, Brebeuf Jesuit

Geske threw five touchdown passes to lead Brebeuf Jesuit to a 42-0 win over Terre Haute North. Geske finished 17-of-23 passing for 151 yards.

Luke Haupert, QB, Fort Wayne Snider

Haupert threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns on 12 completions as the Panthers got past Bishop Luers 52-7.

Jontae Lambert, RB, Fort Wayne North

Lambert’s 265 rushing yards and three touchdowns lifted the Legends to a 48-21 win over Concordia. He finished the season with a school-record 1,822 rushing yards.

Max Loeffler, RB, Leo

Loeffler broke the school’s single-game rushing record with 301 rushing yards in a 41-17 win over DeKalb.

Khobe Martin, RB, Fishers

Fishers routed Zionsville behind 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns by Martin. He scored on second-half TD runs of 2, 29 and 27 yards to put the game out of reach.

Nolan McCullough, QB, Penn

McCullough accounted for all five Kingsmen touchdowns, pacing Penn to a 35-7 win over South Bend Adams. He scored on short runs of 1 and 2 yards and sandwiched three passing TDs in between as Penn raced to a 35-0 lead by halftime.

Brady Morehead, RB, Franklin County

The dual threat running back scored all three of Franklin County’s touchdowns in a 20-15 win over Beech Grove. He got the Wildcats on the board with a 6-yard catch in the second quarter and his 84-yard TD catch gave Franklin County a 20-13 advantage in the fourth. He finished with six receptions for 152 yards.

Danny O’Neil, QB, Cathedral 

Statistics aside, O’Neil’s late theatrics earned the Irish a 40-29 upset over No. 2 Center Grove. O’Neil threw three fourth-quarter TD passes, including a go-ahead 35-yarder to David Ayers and a clinching 60-yarder to Brennan Wooten in the game’s final minute. In all, O’Neil’s arm accounted for 410 yards and five touchdowns among 25-of-43 passing.

Nicholas Patterson, QB, Mooresville

Patterson totaled 307 yards in total offense, 172 on the ground and 135 in the air, to lead the Pioneers to a 37-22 win over Perry Meridian. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.

Ali Richardson, RB, Lawrence North

Richardson’s three-touchdown night helped the Wildcats cruise past Pike, 65-34. Richardson had 191 yards on 33 carries, and scored on runs of 27 yards and 5 yards, twice.

Devan Roberts, RB, Gibson Southern

Roberts helped Gibson Southern stay unbeaten by rushing for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 35 totes and 6.3 yards per carry helped the Titans amass 551 yards in total offense and possess the ball more than 31 minutes.

Owen Roeder, QB, NorthWood

The junior quarterback started 7-of-17 passing against Goshen, but completed 11 of his last 13 throws to finish with four touchdowns, 289 yards and 19-of-30 passing overall. He engineered scoring drives on all four possessions in the second quarter as the Panthers coasted to a 42-6 win and their first conference title since 2018.

Logan Shoffner, RB, Noblesville

Shoffner rambled for 212 yards on just 18 carries as part of a 43-41 shootout win over Avon. His 79-yard scamper put the Millers on top 14-7 in the first quarter and his 5-yard run and two-point conversion run put the game out of reach, 43-34, in the fourth quarter.

Grayson Thomas, RB, New Palestine

Thomas led the unbeaten Dragons' rout of Delta with 173 rushing yards on just 17 carries, and a career-high five touchdowns.

Jaron Tibbs, WR, Cathedral 

Tibbs corralled 11 passes for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Cathedral’s exhilarating win over Center Grove.

Isaac Wilson, QB, Pendleton Heights

Wilson accounted for four out of five touchdowns as Pendleton Heights got past Shelbyville 35-7. An 82-yard pass put the Arabians ahead 14-0 and preceded three straight rushing scores for a 35-0 lead. His final TD run covered 56 yards.

Brennan Wooten, TE, Cathedral 

When a team’s four-touchdown fourth-quarter rally upsets the defending 6A champs, it is worthy of three Top Performers. Joining Irish teammates O’Neill and Tibbs, Wooten gathered nine receptions for 153 yards, including a 60-yard catch-and-sprint TD for an exclamation point in the game’s final minute.