Team Preview: Tigers are "Back in Black" and Seeking 5th Straight Sectional Title

Lawrenceburg kicks off the season at home against East Central.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - The Lawrenceburg Tigers are "Back in Black" in 2023. 

Noticeable changes have been made to the uniforms and turf ahead of the upcoming season. The Tigers have ditched their orange home tops for a black top that pays homage to jerseys of years past. The Tigers' field will match that look with a new turf field that features black end zones. 

On the field, the Tigers will look different as well, particularly on defense, where they are tasked with replacing eight starters from a year ago. 

Lawrenceburg's defense was mostly dominate in 2022, giving up just 119 points in 15 games (7.9 allowed per game). The Tigers pitched seven shutouts last year, including six in a row in the middle of the season. Only the 1985 state runner-up team had previously had seven shutouts in a season. 

The defense and a strong running attack paved the way for Lawrenceburg to make a run to the Class 3A State Championship game. The Tigers took a 14-10 lead into halftime, but Indianapolis Chatard came out strong in the second half, winning the 3A title 34-14. 

The script has been similar for the Tigers in recent years, lose the first game of the season then rattle off 11 wins in a row on their way to a sectional championship. That exact template has been laid out the past four years with Lawrenceburg finally getting past the regional round last season after losing at the level the three previous seasons. 

"When you talk about last season, that group of kids just got better every week," said head coach Ryan Knigga. "It was a team that bought in to what we were doing. It was definitely a year of excitement and if you can tell all of us that we will be playing Thanksgiving weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium, everybody is going to sign up for that opportunity." 

Part of the team buy-in was transitioning from a pass-friendly team to a power run attack. Lawrenceburg racked up 3,690 rushing yards in 2022. Returning senior Teagan Bennett and now graduate Alex Witte accounted for most of those yards, as Bennett ran for 1,532 and 18 touchdowns, while Witte totaled 1,315 yards and 19 touchdowns. 

Bennett, who is currently dealing with a hamstring issue, will eventually be a key cog in the Tigers offense along with returning players such as senior quarterback Logan Ahaus, junior tight end Noah Knigga, and senior wideout Hayden Saylor.  

As a junior, Ahaus threw for 1,135 yards, with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Lawrenceburg anticipates throwing the ball more this season while staying true to their identity as a physical running team. 

Ahaus will have a couple of good downfield targets in Saylor and sophomore Keaton McGrath. The two combined for 335 yards and five touchdowns a season ago. Saylor also carried the ball 36 times for 236 yards and four touchdowns. 

Some of the new faces on offense include running backs D'Kari Mucker and Landon Cornett, and wideouts Xavier Eads and Emrick Engel. 

"This group this year, we have some skill guys that can make plays, can stretch the field vertically and horizontally, and up front we are filling in some spots. We lost some guys that had some experience, but every day you can see our o-line starting to gel and get better. Like our running backs. Teagan had an heck off a year last year. Anytime you can bring back a thousand-yard rusher, Logan threw for over a thousand as well, so we like where we are at on that side of the ball," said Coach Knigga.  

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Defensively, the Tigers will have new starters in six of their front seven positions. Names like Colton Roth, Niko Ferreira, Alex Witte, Elijah Freeman, Sam Cornett and Jacob Pierce were lost to graduation. 

Noah Knigga, who is also dealing with a hamstring injury, is the lone returning starter on the front seven. The junior standout linebacker recorded 87 tackles, including 17 for a loss in 2022. He also recorded eight sacks. Knigga is being looked by Division I schools such as Miami (Oh.), Central Michigan, and West Virginia. 

Zavyn Slayback is the lone returning starter in the secondary. He was among the Tigers' top tacklers in 2022 with 70 total tackles. He tied for the team high in interceptions with four. 

Drake Rorabacher and Mclean Manford return with experience on the defensive line. They will be joined in the three-man front by Noah Redar with Zachary Nagele, Joey Cavanaugh, and Jake Gourley ready to rotate in. 

Juniors D'Kari Mucker and Logan Howell, and sophomores Kinser Pope and Vander LaBazzo will compete for time at linebacker, while Landon Cornett, Xavier Eads, and Emrick Engel fill vacant defensive back positions. 

"We're a little smaller up front than last year, but we're a little faster. Breaking some young guys in at backer and they are going to get better every week, and I think our secondary is a strong suit of our defense," said Coach Knigga. 

And special teams cannot be forgotten with the Tigers. Junior kicker and punter Ryan Hinthorne has one of the best right legs in the state of Indiana. Last season, Hinthorne made 58-of-63 extra point attempts and went 5-for-10 on field goal attempts, including a 43-yard make at East Central. For his efforts, he was named to the All-Conference Team. 

"His leg has definitely gotten stronger, he's put in a lot of time. He can be a weapon for us," said Coach Knigga. 

As for expectations this season, Coach K knows he has a group that will play hard until the whistle blows. 

"Our goal is to just play Tiger football. I think we have established an identity around the state of playing great defense, running the football and being physical at the point of attack. I just think its going to be an exciting time in Tiger Town and I'm excited to watch these guys grow week to week and then again put a good product on the field and get better every week and give ourselves a chance come sectional time and playoff time. Our goal will be to stack good days on top of each other and stay together," said Coach Knigga.  

The Tigers open the season on Friday at home against the defending Class 4A state champion East Central Trojans. Eagle Country 99.3 will have full coverage starting at 6:40 p.m.

SCHEDULE

August 18 - vs East Central (Eagle Country 99.3 Feature Game)
August 25 - at Taylor
September 1 - at Milan 
September 8 - at Greensburg
September 15 - vs Franklin County (Eagle Country 99.3 Feature Game)
September 22 - vs Batesville
September 29 - at Rushville
October 6 - at Connersville
October 13 - vs South Dearborn (Eagle Country 99.3 Feature Game)