Fall Sports Previews: Football

Tipp football opens season Friday hosting Bellbrook

Boys Soccer Preview

It’s that time of the year when the dreams are high and the goals are plentiful. The Tippecanoe football team is ready to kick off the 2026 season on Friday, hosting Bellbrook in the season opener at the stadium. It is the final year of their contract, as Versailles will replace Bellbrook on the schedule starting next season.

As the Red Devils conclude training camp tomorrow, coach Matt Burgbacher is focused on what he hopes will be a special season for the Red Devils, coming off a league title and appearance in the state Final Four.

“Every year you are excited for a new season and along with the new season comes the unknown,” Burgbacher said. “We have a lot of momentum going within our program with what we have been able to do the past five or six years.”

“Now the target is a lot bigger on our backs, and we will get everybody's best shot. These kids understand our expectations here at Tipp. What this community expects from them… that's pressure. They also know pressure is a privilege.”

Tipp has gotten faster this summer and Burgbacher loves their effort in the preseason.

“The exciting part of this is week one,” he said. “We don’t schedule a game that we know we are going to win. We schedule a game that will be competitive, and after week one, we will know what kind of football team we have.”

Tipp returns Larkin Thomas at quarterback, the record-holding senior, and he is part of what is a very powerful Tipp offense this season.

“We threw Larkin to the wolves as a sophomore and he did a great job. Then last year did a great job commanding our offense,” Burgbacher said. “He has that comfort zone, and we want to get him out of that. The expectations for him are huge.”

At the running back spot, Tipp returns senior James Merry and junior Colston Artz who has been in the program for two years. Toby Hoover is another junior running back who will get carries this year.

“We won’t have that one-headed monster back there, we will have two or three heads that will give us some great carries,” Burgbacher said.

At the wide receiver spot, Tipp has plenty of weapons including Grant Titley, Bentley Heckman, David Alverez, Kam Hypes and Myles-David Sessions.

“They will give us some good minutes at the wide receiver position. We may not have that 100-meter dash guy like Will Strong, but we have guys who know how to get open and will catch the ball in traffic.”

Cade Havill hopes to return after an injury last season, and Burgbacher knows what he means to the offense.

“We are very excited to get him back, he is bigger, stronger and faster,” he said. “H-Back is probably the hardest position to play in our offense because you are huge in the run game but also the passing game. We feel really good with all of our skilled guys.”

Up front for Tipp are the likes of Cal Connors and Sam Adkins at the tackles. Corbin Zumwalt is leading the way at center, while the guards include Isaac Broering, Nick Wemple, Tristyn Neely, and Ryan Kolb are all competing.

“If you don’t have those guys up front, your skilled guys will not be as good,” Burgbacher said. “We have some experience coming back. Plus, we have 10-11 guys competing for spots.”

Over on the defense, Kolb will lead the way on that side of the ball and, according to Burgbacher, will be a one-man wrestling crew for the Red Devils.

“Teams will have to scheme against him,” he said. “With his speed and size and strength, you don’t see that very often.”

It will be a rotation on the rest of the line including Connors, Wimple, Broering, Zumwalt, Adkins, Ethan Rice, Jayden Mullins and Luke Graham all competing for time and Burgbacher is expecting contributions from all of them.

“The motor these guys play with on the defensive side is the number one reason for our success,” Burgbacher said. “We have some good depth there.”

On the edge, Tipp will bring Merry and Hoover both back along with Jackson Sinning, Carson Schultz and Andy Niekamp.

At the inside linebacker, watch for contributions from Raiden Nicholls, who Burgbacher said will have a big breakout year this season.

“He has had a great offseason with workouts, and he will be the big mainstay there,” he said. Along with Nicholls, the Tipp coach to watch for Havill, Parker Sutfin, Colton Adams, Rohan Nicholls, along with a couple of young guys.

Tipp graduated four starters in the defensive backfield, and they hope to replace them with the likes of Talan Hoover (who returns from last year), Alvarez, Wes Lowe, Levi Jones and Braedon Collins.

At the corner, Tipp will utilize Sessions, Titley, Gavin Smith, Kale Tipton and Danny Browarski and Burgbacher again said some of the young guys could play their way into that rotation.

The kicking game is a popular position at Tipp, and Owen Baileys hopes to get healthy to get back on the field to handle the place kicking duties. He will be joined by Kellen Sellers to compete.

Tipp will kick off at 7pm this Friday to get things started for the 2026 season.