Bishop Noll junior forward Darian Araisa has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time.
Araisa, who leads the semistate-bound Warriors in assists, offered a rather candid assessment of his sophomore season.
“I was a nobody last year, man,” he said. “Last year, I started, but I wasn’t really doing much.”
But Araisa has been doing a lot this season. He has nine goals and a team-high 17 assists for the Warriors (16-2-2), who are ranked No. 3 in the Class 2A state coaches poll and will play top-ranked Guerin (15-0-5), the defending state champion, in the Kokomo Semistate at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Bishop Noll has won its first regional title since its 2018 run to the state championship, its first sectional title since 2022 and third straight Greater South Shore Conference title. But Araisa is still not satisfied.
“I’m proud of the way I’ve been playing this year, but I think I can do better,” he said. “This isn’t anywhere close to where I want to be. My stats, I have good goals and good assists, but I could have done better. I still could do better, and I just want to get there for my team and improve.
“This year, I stepped up. I’ve been looking to involve my teammates more. I’m an upperclassman, so I have to improve and improve our team as well.”
By any measure, Araisa has made such improvements. He scored one goal last year and had two goals and one assist in his first high school season, when he also got time on the freshman team.
Bishop Noll coach Alejandro Perez envisioned such a breakout season from Araisa, who is typically a midfielder but moved to forward after a teammate’s injury early in the season.
“That’s the guy that I knew was going to surprise a lot of people,” Perez said. “But I wasn’t surprised because of the work he put in over the winter and summer with us. He’s a guy that’s really stepped it up. He’s really one of the most shifty guys on the team, which is special. He does things that a lot of people just can’t do, things that are not coached. It’s just so natural to him.
“He’s a true center mid, but we pop him up at a high line, and he’s able to create for us, which is awesome.”
Araisa thinks a game against Valparaiso last season was a turning point.
“One game is all it took,” he said. “I was getting bodied against Valpo. That was my wake-up call.”
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound Araisa, who said he grew 3 inches and gained 20 pounds since last season, has impressed junior midfielder Lino Melero.
“He’s really progressed his game since coming in freshman year,” Melero said. “He was a freshman with myself, and he’s been putting in a lot of work, and it’s been showing in the games. He’s been having a great season. He’s really showed up.
“His freshman year, he played right mid, and he’s been all over the place. He can play right mid, center mid, and now he’s playing the holdup striker. He can play wherever we need him. He’s just a very big asset to our team.”
Senior defender Carlos Zavala agreed with Melero.
“I really like him,” Zavala said of Araisa. “He’s versatile. He’s really helped us out. One of our strikers got injured for a little bit, so we decided to throw him up there, and he does the job well.
“He knows how to use his body very well. He played midfield before, so he’s good coming in, checking in, and then either turning on the guy or playing somebody else, and just having our team go forward. He’s really good with his body, and when he’s in the box, he’s a dangerous man.”
Araisa has been especially dangerous in the postseason. He supplied three assists during the Warriors’ 4-0 victory over West Noble in the regional final. He scored the game’s lone goal in the regional semifinal against No. 2 Mishawaka Marian, reversing a loss from the regular season, and he scored a goal in both the sectional semifinal against Illiana Christian and sectional final against Boone Grove.
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Araisa said he was inspired by his grandfather Jose Barajas, who played professionally in Mexico.
“My grandpa played a big role,” Araisa said. “He’s been pushing me since I was 7 when I started playing. I look up to him a lot, just him telling me what to do. Him making it to that level has really encouraged me and showed me what I have to do. So I want to give a big shoutout to him. He’s been a big role model for me.”
Perez views star senior forward/midfielder Joaquin Rosas as a model for Araisa, who projects to be the Warriors’ primary striker next season. Rosas is also a tri-captain along with Melero and Zavala.
“He’s very similar to Joaquin,” Perez said of Araisa. “Joaquin was a center mid for us in those early years, and then when we needed someone to be up top, I popped him up there because I trust him. I trust him on the ball, I trust him being creative, and I’ve seen that same thing in Darian, which is awesome.
“We’re going to enjoy Joaquin a little longer, but when Joaquin is out the door, we have someone there that can kind of step in for us. Darian has filled his role well. We’ve asked him to play out of position, and as a forward, we want him scoring, but he’ll have like one goal and two assists, which are great numbers. He produces for us, and he’s done it to help our team. I had that talk with him, and he was, like, ‘I can do it, I can do it,’ and he’s done it very well. It shows how selfless he is.”
Araisa’s attitude has not been lost on Rosas.
“He’s a great kid,” Rosas said. “He really stepped up this year with losing good players like Alfonso Leon from last year, one of our seniors. I feel like he really filled those boots. He’s been doing great this season.”
Araisa aims to continue the Warriors’ season to the final weekend.
“All the work we put into the season and everything, it feels amazing to get this far,” he said. “All the work, I had confidence we weren’t going to go out early. I have to give it to them, they’re a good team, and we’re definitely the underdogs. But I think we could pull off the win. We’re not done yet.”