INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Lucas Oil Stadium will be rocking this weekend with the Indiana High School Athletic Association Football Championships.
The best teams in Indiana will be fighting for a state title on Friday and Saturday.
All the action will begin with the Class A Final between Pioneer and Eastern Greene. The Panthers head to Indy with a perfect 14-0 record on the season and looking for their first state title since 1997. The Thunderbirds are coming off a hard fought win against Lutheran in the semi-state. Eastern Greene will be going for it’s first ever state title.
The Class 3A game also will be Friday. Brebeuf is back in the state finals for the first time since 2013. The Braves will match up against Evansville Memorial. The Braves head to Lucas Oil Stadium after a shout-out win against Mishawaka Marion in the semistate. As for the Tigers of Memorial out of Evansville, they will be going for their first-ever football state championship.
Wrapping up Friday night will be the Class 5A game, Kokomo vs. Columbus East. The Wildkats come in trying to win their first state football title. Kokomo hopes to keep its momentum going after its impressive 21-14 win over Michigan City. The Olympians are back in the state finals for the second year in a row. Columbus East dominated the Irish of Cathedral in semistate to earn a trip to Lucas Oil.
Saturday will start with Woodlan vs. Southridge. The Warriors hung on to beat Eastbrook 15-14 to advance to Indianapolis. Woodlan will be going for its first state football championship. As for the Raiders, they beat Scecina 24-7 to advance to state. A win on Saturday would also give them their first ever state title.
In the Class 4A game, Lowell will face East Central. The Red Devils took down a tough Bishop Dwenger team in the semistate to advance to state for the first time since 2009. The Trojans of East Central knocked off Greenwood to get an opportunity to play in the state finals. East Central played for a state title back in 2015.
Finally, in the Class 6A game on Saturday, it’s powerhouse Ben Davis against Penn. The Giants will bring a perfect 13-0 record to Lucas Oil as they go for an incredible 15th state title. As for the Kingsmen, they dominated the defending state champs Carmel last week to advance to state. The last time Penn won a state title was 17 years ago.
Tickets are $15 per day. All seats are general admission. Age 5 and younger are admitted at no charge. Single-day tickets may also be purchased at the Lucas Oil Stadium Ticket Office on the southeast side of the venue at street level near Capitol Avenue.
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Lowell defeats Bishop Dwenger 21-7
LOWELL, Ind. (AP) – A northwestern Indiana sheriff says investigators in his department have identified the mother of a newborn infant found abandoned in a family’s backyard last week.
Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said in a news release Monday the mother is a teenage juvenile from Lowell, the same town where the baby was found July 11. Buncich says no further information about the mother is being released because of her age.
The case has been turned over to the Indiana Department of Child Services for investigation. DCS spokesman James Wide said he could not talk about a specific case, but said when a child is abandoned, the agency can ask the county prosecutor to file charges. He said it is up to the prosecutor to decide whether to file a charge.
LOWELL, Ind. (WISH) — An abandoned newborn baby is expected to fully recover after she was found in a northwest Indiana backyard.
Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said a 9-year-old girl made the discovery in her backyard on White Oak Avenue in Lowell, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The newborn, who Buncich called “Miracle Baby Jane Doe,” was wrapped in a black towel and lying in the sun about 100 yards from the road, according to the newspaper. Her placenta and umbilical cord were reportedly still attached, and she was believed to be only hours old.
“The baby was found in a very rural area, and to think if the 9-year-old wouldn’t have gone outside, this could’ve had a very different outcome,” the Tribune reports Buncich said at a press conference Monday afternoon. “The department has taken a really personal approach to this case.”
Officers, K-9 units and a helicopter searched the area to find the newborn’s mother, but authorities were unable to locate her.
“I’d like to remind people that there are laws that allow people to leave a baby with no questions asked,” Buncich added.
The umbilical cord and placenta will be analysed to determine the baby’s exact age. She was taken to Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Crown Point for observation and will soon be released into the care of a foster home.
LOWELL, Ind. (AP) – An Indiana state senator wants the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to hold a public hearing on a proposed limestone quarry in northwestern Indiana.
State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, a Lowell Republican, tells the (Merrillville) Post-Tribune he has asked for the hearing because he shares residents’ concerns about the impact of the Singleton Stone LLC quarry on residents’ wells, the quality of water and the flow of water into the Singleton Ditch and the Kankakee River. He’s also concerned about the potential flooding that may occur during heavy rains.
IDEM is reviewing a permit request for the Singleton Stone LLC quarry in southern Lake County near Lowell, about 60 miles southeast of Chicago.
LOWELL, Ind. (AP) – A woman has died in a fiery crash along Interstate 65 in northwestern Indiana’s Lake County.
Indiana State Police say a trooper found a Mitsubishi Eclipse in flames about 5 a.m. Sunday. The vehicle had veered off the right side of the southbound lanes about 20 miles south of Gary, struck a road sign and then some trees and brush about 25 feet off the highway.
Police say the trooper was unable to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher, and after firefighters extinguished them, the woman’s body was found on the passenger side floorboard.
The woman has not been identified.