The Press-Dispatch

August 14, 2019

The Press-Dispatch

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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 14, 2019 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 Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net There are just 10 days until the start of Pike Central's football season. Pike Central fans had a chance to wet their metaphorical beaks on Friday, Aug. 9 as they flocked to Weathers Field for the inaugural Charger Night. "We want to build a fun and enthusiastic atmosphere for football," Pike Central head coach Dave Stephens said. "Tonight, every- one had a good time. It was nice for the com- munity to come out and see some football for the first time this year." The varsity team hosted the "Celebration of football in Pike County," with a jambo- ree-type organized scrimmage for the en- tire program. The scrimmage was four quarters and featured athletes from third grade all the way to seniors in high school. Each squad went 10 plays on each side of the football, with third and fourth graders taking the field in the first quarter, fifth and sixth in the second, seventh and eighth in the third, and high schoolers in the fourth. There was a buzz in stands as a solid crowd turned out to watch the event. "We have the best fans, we really do," Ste- phens said. "There were times in the past where we haven't put the kind of product on the field that would draw the number [of fans] that we do. We are very thankful for our community support. They stand behind us and we're looking forward to raising their excitement level even more based on our im- proved level of play on the field this year." A unique part of the scrimmage was once each squad finished their session, the varsi- ty defense would come on the field to chal- lenge the younger players. Fourth-grader Eli Keeker scored a long touchdown run on Chargers' varsity de- fense, but quickly realized something wasn't right. "I just didn't want to get tackled, so I ran as fast as I could," Keeker said. "At first, I was worried because I thought they were going to play as hard as they could, but it was okay. It didn't look like they were play- ing hard at all." Keeker said he came into the scrimmage expecting to have fun and he wasn't disap- pointed. "It was pretty cool to go against them," he said. "I thought it was going to be pret- ty fun and it was." Pike Central youth coach Buck Seger said it was nice for the younger players to get a chance to build a relationship with the play- ers they will watch under the Friday night lights this fall. "It is awesome the way we incorporate third grade all the way through the seniors in high school," Seger said. "It's a family at- mosphere and environment. The kids en- joy seeing the high school kids because it's their goal to be in those shoes one day." Junior wide receiver Stephen Krieg said he was also really pleased with the turnout from fans and hopes they were happy with what they saw from the team, but the inter- action with younger players was what he en- joyed the most. "It was great seeing [the younger play- ers'] faces when they score touchdowns," Krieg said. "They showed a lot of excite- ment and everyone else around them was getting into it. It was pretty cool." Pike Central travels to Cloverdale on Fri- day, Aug. 23 in its official scrimmage before the start of the regular season. Krieg said the he and his teammates can hardly wait to finally go line up across from someone not wearing a Pike Central jersey. "We are super excited," he said. "We have a lot of hard hitters here and we're just ready to get after it. We have been going all sum- mer and that time is almost here." The Clovers finished last season 2-8, but there is some excitement around the pro- gram with new head coach David Zorman. Stephens and Zorman know each other well. Zorman served as the wide receivers coach when Stephens was the offensive co- ordinator at Greencastle. "It's going to be a good measuring stick for them and us, to see where we are at in our development with taking over new pro- grams," Stephens said. "He's going to have a PCHS girls' soccer drop scrimmage to Vincennes Rivet EXCITEMENT FOR SEASON BUILDS AS PIKE CENTRAL FOOTBALL HOSTS CHARGER NIGHT By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net While other fall sports are getting their final tuneups in before the start of their re- spective seasons, the high school girls' golf season is already in full swing. Pike Central improved to 4-0 after earn- ing wins against two conference foes this past week at Prides Creek Golf Course. "If you would have told me before the sea- son that we were shooting these scores, I probably would have said we were ahead of where I expected us to be at this time," Chargers head coach Jarrod Gideon said. Pike Central beat Heritage Hills on Mon- day, Aug. 11. The Chargers finished the meet with a team score of 215, while the Patriots finished with a 237. Madison Warner earned medalist honors after she fired off a 47. Gideon said he was impressed with im- provements Warner made to her short game. "She putted and chipped much better to- night," he said. "She had been struggling a little bit with that, but tonight she was bet- ter on the greens and that's where you can make a big difference in your scores." Warner was followed by Hadley Holder (54), Sophie Carnahan (54), Emma Rain- ey (60), Neveah Lemond (64), Sydney Love- less (64) and Sydney Boyd (65). "It wasn't quite as good as our previous match, but you're going to have days like that," Gideon said. "Just a couple of holes killed a couple of girls on their total scores, but we're getting better and progressing like I hoped we would." Pike Central shot a season-best 203 on Wednesday, Aug. 6 against Barr-Reeve and Washington. The Chargers were led by Holder, who finished with a 48. Warner and Carnahan each shot 50s and Rainey finished the meet with a 55. Charger girls' golf improves to 4-0 at Prides Creek Charger Night participants let out their war cries at the end of the event on Friday, Aug. 9 at PCHS. Grant Boyd carries the football for a nice run during the second quarter of Charger Night on Friday, Aug. 9 at PCHS. Pike Central golfer Madison Warner watches as her shot sails towards the fairway on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at Prides Creek Golf Course. Pike Central's Chloe Williams sinks a putt from close range on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at Prides Creek Golf Course. By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central girls' soccer team fought hard in a scrimmage at Vin- cennes Rivet on Saturday, Aug. 10, but came up short 4-2. "We saw a lot of good things from our team on Saturday," Pike Central head coach Chad Western said. "We kept bat- tling and gave a really good effort." The Patriots scored the game's first two goals and led 3-1 at halftime before a more evenly-matched second half. "They had a couple of great plays in the first half," Western said. "But we were a little bit more solid defensive- ly and a had a little more energy on of- fense in second half." Western said it was mistakes on de- fense that cost the team. "That's just the way soccer is," he said. "We will try to eliminate those mistakes." It also didn't help that Pike Central was without one of its top players in se- nior goalie Jenna Horrall. "That probably hurt us a little bit, but we played well," Western said. "Horrall has all the tools to be a great goalie this year." On a very positive note, senior Chloe Roy scored a goal after missing last sea- son with an injury. "We are expecting offense from [Roy]," Western said, adding that Roy is also expected to be a key contributor on the defense side of ball. Senior Shelby Vaughn scored the Chargers' other goal. Western said Vaughn is looking to build off a good junior year. "We are counting on her to be a lead- er for us all over the field." Pike Central will also rely heavily on seniors Morgan Houchins and Adair Kubrick this season. Western said his five seniors will be the strength of the squad. See DROP on 2 See IMPROVE on 2 See CHARGERS on 2

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