SOUTH BEND — By late spring, only two Indiana high school football teams did not have a week two game on its schedule: South Bend Washington and New Albany. A combination of new conference alignments and other contracts with schools expiring left both needing to fill a spot on the nine-week calendar.
Only one issue: 257 miles separate the schools.
Enter Sheridan High School.
In a case of “it’s not what you know, but who you know,” New Albany athletic director Don Unruh is good friends with Sheridan athletic director Beth DeVinney, dating back to DeVinney’s time coaching girls basketball at Seymour in the same conference as New Albany. With Unruh and Washington AD Garland Hudson searching for a place to play, DeVinney and Sheridan stepped up to help their cause.
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That sets up a rare regular season neutral site high school football game Saturday between Washington (0-1) and New Albany (0-1) at Sheridan High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Per John Harrell’s Indiana High School Football website, it’s the first regular season neutral site game for New Albany since 2015 and first for Washington since 2001.
“It makes you feel good to see that people come together to help kids,” Unruh said. “Beth went out of her way. They put brand new turf in, but she still said, ‘let’s make it happen.’ Garland was getting the officials, and Beth was working to make it happen. We couldn’t have done it without Beth and Sheridan High School.”
Where is Sheridan High School?
Sheridan is located in central Indiana, just north of the Indianapolis suburbs. It’s a Class 1A school steeped in tradition, as the state’s all-time winningest football coach, Larry Wright, is currently in his 59th season leading the Blackhawks. His 459-211 mark includes nine state titles.
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More importantly for Washington and New Albany, it cuts the drive time in half. Washington is 120 miles away from Sheridan, while New Albany is a 145-mile drive. Instead of someone driving four-and-a-half hours one way, that’ll barely be the roundtrip total for both.
“I’m a man of faith, and truthfully, I knew something was going to happen,” Hudson said. “We were going to keep asking and trying.”
The biggest hurdle for DeVinney was getting workers for the game. The upcoming Labor Day weekend means several people already had plans to leave town, including some of the usual staff of Sheridan football games. After getting enough help secured, the game was officially set.
“I told (Hudson and Unruh) that I’ll let them take care of their folks, and I’ll take care of all the logistics,” DeVinney said. “… I love football. Football is one of my favorite sports, so I’m just excited to see the kids play for both schools. I think it’s going to be a great night and kind of a different atmosphere for everyone.”
Both schools are used to lengthy trips
As far as road trips go, this is the second straight season Washington is making a lengthy one. They traveled to Hamilton Heights in week eight last year, which is less than 15 miles away from Sheridan. Given New Albany’s location of being just north of Louisville, the Bulldogs are accustomed to making 100-plus mile trips for games in Bloomington and southwest Indiana.
It’s a distance worth traveling for both teams to play.
“It just lets you know that athletics people aren’t just looking out for themselves,” Hudson said. “It guarantees an opportunity for kids to play. It was that simple for every part of the conversation: it was bigger than us, and regardless of all these factors of why we shouldn’t, we want a game to happen for these guys.”
IHSAA and MHSAA area high school football schedule, Aug. 29-31
Thursday, Aug. 29
Michigan
Saugatuck at Buchanan, 7 p.m.
Allegan at Cassopolis, 7 p.m.
South Haven at Dowagiac, 7 p.m.
Brandywine at Hartford, 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 30
Indiana
Penn at Mishawaka, 7 p.m.
Northridge at Elkhart, 7 p.m.
Logansport at South Bend Adams, 7 p.m.
Fort Wayne South at South Bend Saint Joseph, 7 p.m.
Concord at Jimtown, 7 p.m.
Columbia City at Plymouth, 7 p.m.
West Noble at Wawasee, 7 p.m.
Triton at Bremen, 7 p.m.
Heritage at Fairfield, 7 p.m.
Mishawaka Marian at Culver Academy, 7:30 p.m.
New Prairie at Goshen, 7:30 p.m.
South Bend Riley at Fort Wayne Wayne, 7:30 p.m.
Warsaw at Warren Central, 7:30 p.m.
Portage at NorthWood, 7:30 p.m.
North Judson at LaVille, 7:30 p.m.
Lafayette Jefferson at Michigan City, 7:30 p.m.
Lowell at LaPorte, 8 p.m.
South Central at Boone Grove, 8 p.m.
Edwardsburg at John Glenn, 7 p.m.
Michigan
Niles at St. Joseph, 7 p.m.
Edwardsburg at John Glenn, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 31
Indiana
New Albany vs. South Bend Washington (at Sheridan), 5:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: A unique matchup awaits Washington football in Week 2. Who is it?
