Parke Heritage looks to continue improving

Coming into the 2025 football season, Parke Heritage head coach Dan Rector believed this would be the season his Wolves would have a breakthrough.

As the team enters the final third of the regular season, it would appear as if he was correct in his assessment.
Following last week's 28-15 win over Covington, Parke Heritage brings a 4-2 record into Friday's clash at North Vermillion. 

"We are pretty close to where we thought we would be at this point in the year.  The kids put in a lot of hard work and we knew we had a lot of key players returning, especially on the line of scrimmage.  We're obviously disappointed in how the Crawfordsville and Seeger games got away from us...too many turnovers in both games, and we didn't respond as well to adversity in those games as we have the rest of the season," Rector told The Parke County Post. 

With an offense that is averaging 20.3 points and a defense surrendering just over 24 points, the veteran coach admits it is tough to single out players for strong performances, opting to admit it is a total team effort. 

"It is difficult to pinpoint just a few names, because I have seen so much growth in all of our players.  But I think 3 areas are clearly the best that we have had in the past 4 seasons.  First, our defense has been very consistent.  We've been physical and fundamentally sound, and have avoided giving up very many big scoring plays.  Second, our offensive line was played well and opened up holes for the run game.  Third, our seniors have done a great job leading their team.  This group has had great unity and work ethic and that is a credit to our seniors," he said. 

Despite not wanting to single anyone out, Rector admits the seniors have helped not only set the tone for the season, but also have played a key role in turning the tide as a program.

"I'm proud of these seniors for how they've led and how they kept working and believing even during tough times.  I think there are great life lessons there about reaching your goals can be a longer process than we'd like sometimes.  This season isn't over yet and we still have plenty of areas where we need to improve, but there seems to be momentum building not just for this year, but for the future as well," Rector said. 

With games against rivals North Vermillion, Riverton Parke and Fountain Central all left to close out the regular season, Rector knows what is at stake, calling them all "big games." 

We have a lot of respect for all three programs and they are all extremely well-coached.  RP has an outstanding team this year--big and physical with lots of depth.  That's our county rivalry game and we know they'll be tough. We focus on trying to go 1-0 each week of the season.  This keeps us in a "growth mindset" that hopefully will put us playing our best football at the end of the year," Rector said.

Once the regular season winds down, the Wolves will look to make some noise in Class A Sectional 45, which features Wabash River Conference foes Riverton Parke, North Vermillion, Attica, Covington and Fountain Central, along with North Central (Farmersburg) and South Putnam.   

"A lot of our conference opponents are in our sectional so there are some great rivalries there.  South Putnam and Riverton Parke have to be considered the favorites, so that is who everyone will be aiming for," Rector said.