The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1037900
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 10, 2018 B-1 SPORTS Submit sports items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: sports@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School cross country coach Josh Roach doesn't recall when Chargers senior Draven Huff began wearing a green sock on one foot and an orange sock on the other whenever he runs. "I know he wears them, but I don't know that I ever no- ticed when he started, just because you never know with Draven," Roach said. "He does a lot of things different than a lot of people. I'm just happy he's got socks AND shoes." Huff laughed when asked about his odd choice of footwear. "I like my socks matching my shoes, but then I figured, you know, I'd like to be a little different," Huff said. "So I put the green sock with the orange one on. I think that's kind of my signature trademark." "I think it's a mental thing," Huff added. "It just keeps me focused in." Being different was the theme for the Pike Central boys' and girls' cross country teams during the South Knox Sec- tional Meet on Saturday, Oct. 6, especially when tempera- tures climbed into the high 80s and low 90s as the day pro- gressed. "They kind of talked about it before, and our whole mes- sage to them was that every kid out here thinks it's hot," Roach said. "If you want to have different results, you've got to be different. You've got to approach it different." Roach said that he was caught a little off guard, however, when Lady Chargers sophomore Lauren Young gave thanks for the heat during her pre-race prayer. "Whether that was to just put it out there or whether she fully believed it, saying that kind of lightened the mood as far as, 'All right, you know what, yeah, you're right, and we can go attack this,'" Roach said. "If you think differently about it, you'll get different results." When the day was done, both the boys' and girls' teams exceeded perhaps even their own expectations by qualify- ing to advance to the regional meet, which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Pike Central's home course at Prides Creek Park. THINKING OUTSIDE THE SOCKS Pike Central High School sophomore Libby Stone placed sixth out of 52 runners with a time of 22:13 during the South Knox Girls' Cross Coun- try Sectional Meet on Saturday, Oct. 6. The Lady Chargers finished fourth as a team to qualify for the regional meet at Prides Creek Park on Satur- day, Oct. 13. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Ijaa Cham- bers placed seventh out of 69 runners with a time of 17:45 during the South Knox Boys' Cross Coun- try Sectional Meet on Saturday, Oct. 6. The Char- gers placed third as a team to qualify for the re- gional meet, which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Prides Creek Park. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior running back Eli Coleman (2) gets tack- led by Southridge junior defensive lineman Wes Allen (57) and junior line- backer Connor Oxley (right) during varsity football action against visiting Southridge on Friday, Oct. 5. Coleman rushed 25 times for 92 yards in a 48- 0 loss to the visiting Raiders. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Ethan Scott (right) gets pushed from behind by Gibson Southern sopho- more Justin Barthel (13) during boys' soccer sectional action at Gibson Southern on Wednesday, Oct. 3. The 12th-ranked Titans defeated the 13th- ranked Chargers, 1-0. Ed Cahill photo PCHS girls' kickers defeat Princeton 1-0 to advance to sectional title match Pike Central High School senior Kelsey Barrett (5) heads the ball as Princeton freshman Madison Gentry (right) closes in during girls' soccer sectional action on Thursday, Oct. 4. Barrett scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over the host Lady Ti- gers. Ed Cahill photo Lady Chargers' season ends with 3-0 loss to Washington By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Senior Kelsey Bar- rett scored on a header off a free kick by junior Morgan Houchins with 13:10 left in the first half as Pike Central defeat- ed host Princeton in the semifinals of the Class 2A Girls' Soccer Sec- tional 30 tournament on Thursday, Oct. 4. Unfortunately, Barrett did not actually get to see the ball go into the goal as she collided with the Lady Tigers' goalie – who came out to try to get the save – on the play. However, Barrett said afterward, she was fine with that. "In sectional play, I sacrifice everything, so, on this goal, I wasn't go- ing to waste any time," said Barrett. "If I was going to take a glove to the face, if that's what it takes, then that's what I'll do." "When I looked up and I saw it in the goal, that just gave me the energy to get back up and keep playing," Barrett added. Lady Chargers' head coach Eric McCord – whose team improved to 5 -9 -2 – said that both he and volunteer assis- tant coach Chad West- See KICKERS on 3 See CHARGERS on 4 See LOSS on 8 See SOCKS on 6 PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT JOHNSON FOR SHERIFF, JEREMY BRITTON, TREASURER WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A fter sitting out seven straight games following a 35 -7 win over Linton-Stock- ton in Week One, South- ridge senior running back Tucker Schank returned to the field with a vengeance in a 48 -0 victory at Pike Cen- tral on Friday, Oct. 5. With the Raiders' of- fense taking the field for the first time at the Char- gers' 49 -yard line – after Pike Central was forced to punt on its game-opening possession – with 9:52 left in the first quarter, Schank took the first-down handoff from sophomore quarter- back Colson Montgomery and carried it all the way to the end zone to give South- ridge a quick 6 -0 lead. "When I go back and watch it on film, we've got it schemed up," Chargers head coach Dave Stephens said. "I've got Colson Dillard with him one-on-one right off the edge. Colson has him in his grasp, but Tucker is just a dominant athlete and Colson is a sophomore, you know, and it just is what it is. He broke the tackle." "He's just a phenome- nal player," Stephens add- ed. "And he showed why on that play." The 5 -foot-11, 172-pound Schank would score on a 29 -yard pass from Mont- gomery in the second quar- ter before adding a nine- yard touchdown run in the third period. For the game, he rushed for 114 yards on just seven carries. Montgomery, meanwhile, completed three of six pass attempts for 95 yards and two touchdowns – one to Schank, the other to junior split end Garrett Voegerl – and scored on runs of 69 and 17 yards as the Raiders im- proved to 6 -2 overall and 5 - 1 in the Pocket Athletic Con- Southridge shuts out Chargers, 48-0 PCHS cross country teams beat the heat to advance to regional meet By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A goal by senior Brendan Murphy – off on an assist from senior Justin Bar- thel – with 6:26 left in the first half lift- ed host Gibson Southern to a 1-0 vic- tory over Pike Central in semifinals of the Class 2A Boys' Soccer Section- al 30 on Wednesday, Oct. 3. With the win, 12th-ranked Gibson Southern – who defeated Pike Cen- tral 1-0 in a regular-season contest on Sept. 20 – advanced to the sec- tional championship game on Satur- day, Oct. 6, which was won by Wash- ington, ranked No. 2 in Class 2A, by a score of 2-1. Pike Central, ranked No. 13 in Class 2A, had nine shots on goal while ju- nior goalie Noah Whann recorded 16 saves. Senior goalie Mitch Priar had eight saves for Gibson Southern, which had a total of 17 shots on goal for the game. "I thought that we really did a much better job getting some passes con- Charger kickers drop 1-0 season- ending loss to Gibson Southern