The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1164723
The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, September 11, 2019 B- 3 last year. We don't have the depth right now to compete at that level defensively. We had guys who were trying to do the right things on defense, but they were just getting knocked a gap or two over because [Heritage Hills'] 279 -pound guys just slammed them out of the way." Heritage Hills finished the game with 396 yards on the ground and eight rushing touchdowns, including three fullback dives that went for more than 40 yards and a score. "It's one thing if it's misdi- rection, a counter or some- thing like that, but fullback dives going for 40 -plus yards is just not acceptable," Ste- phens said. "It wasn't a tech- nique thing, it was a busi- ness decision. The guys were thinking, 'am I going to lay my body on the line to make this tackle when the game is already out of hand? ' I think of the guys on the defense, for about a quarter, made a busi- ness decision to try to ride it out and play another day, and I think that's why the score got so lopsided." Stephens said the coach- ing staff addresses the is- sues at halftime and com- pared some of the adversity facing the team to the trials and tribulations they will face later in life. "When you get older and become an adult, you can't opt out of work or taking care of yourself," he said. "That re- ally resonated with our boys. As displeased as I was with our defensive effort in the sec- ond quarter, I was happy with some of those same guys in the second half. "They had to hear a hard truth and some of them had tears rolling down their fac- es, but they came back and played hard." Pike Central quarterback Lars Utterback played well and completed 22-of-38 pass attempts for 157 yards with a touchdown and two inter- ceptions, but drops plagued the Chargers for the second straight week. "He played with confidence and made the right reads for the most part," Stephens said. "He was decisive with the ball and threw good accurate balls, but our receivers have to help him out." Stephens said he was also very pleased with how his of- fensive line held up in pass protection. "I'm really happy with how our young guys held up in pass protection against a big, strong team like that," Ste- phens said. "Heritage Hills wasn't able to get pressure on the quarterback by just send- ing its four defensive linemen. They had to bring five or six to get pressure on him." There were also sever- al times where it looked as if Heritage Hills could have been penalized for defensive holding or pass interference, but no flags were thrown. "That's just part of the game," Stephens said. The Patriots led 62-0 at halftime, but Pike Central was much more competitive against the Heritage Hills re- serves playing to a 7-6 second half score. "That is more even footing on what we're playing with when we're playing with five freshmen, and I can't even count how many more soph- omores," Stephens said. Heritage Hills doesn't even dress freshmen for its varsi- ty games. Stephens said the Char- gers have underclassmen at a majority of their position, so it's like they are playing with a junior varsity squad already. "We have a couple of good solid guys regardless of what team they are on," he said. "But when some of these teams go to their reserves, it's more of an apples-to-ap- ples comparison than what the first group is. We will get there. I know we have to talk about the present, but we will get there. Right now, we just have to do the best we can to compete with things based on our circumstance." Stephens said the team is working diligently to correct its special teams woes. "I'm sure the fans want to hear about special teams, and we're trying," he said. "Our kick returns and punts are just atrocious. We are going to look at those things and possibly make some chang- es." Pike Central will host Tell City (2-1) this Friday at Weathers Field. The Chargers' Brandon Goeppner upends a Patriots' ball carrier on Friday, Sept. 6 at Heritage Hills. Pictured is the Charger Youth Cheerleading squad on the field at half-time rallying up the masses during the fifth and sixth grade game on Saturday, September 14. Matt Haycraft photo. Youth football player 32 flies down the side of the field, making a touchdown and bringing the Chargers ahead in the game. Fifth and sixth grade team went on to win Saturday's game 13 to 7. Matt Haycraft photo. Above: Pike Central senior captain Connor O'Neal sprints down the sidelines at Heritage Hills on Friday, Sept. 6. RIght: Chargers' tight end Levi McCarter drags a couple of defenders after making a catch at Her- itage Hills on Friday, Sept. 6. CHARGERS Continued from page 1 BOX SCORE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 HERITAGE HILLS 69, PIKE CENTR AL 6 PC HH First Downs 9 21 Rushes-Yards 14-7 33-396 Passing 159 17 Punt Returns 0 -0 1-20 Kickoff Returns 8 -76 2-50 Comp.-Att.-Int. 23-40 -2 2-2-0 Punts 6 -15.8 0 -0 Fumbles-Lost 0 -0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 2-17 4-17 Time of Possession 29:32 18:28 PC 0 0 0 6—6 HH 21 41 0 7—69 First Quarter HH — Phoenix Rodgers 11 run (Ethan Hill kick), 9:16 HH — Jacob Wentzel 58 run (Hill kick), 6:29 HH — Gavin Vaal 39 run (Hill kick), 1:11 Second Quarter HH — Wetzel 33 run (Hill kick), 11:28 HH — Phoenix 25 run (Hill kick), 9:23 HH — Kaden Feldpausch 12 pass from Luke Richel- man (Austin Hill kick), 7:21 HH — Trenton Hill 25 interception return (Hill kick), 6:15 HH — Noah Mundy 1 run (Hill kick), 3:45 HH — Richelman 5 run (Hill kick), 1:17 Fourth Quarter PC — Connor O'Neal 6 pass from Lars Utterback (Kick failed), 9:03 HH — Jacob Schmidt 7 run (Hill kick), 1:42. INDIVIDUAL STATISICS RUSHING—Pike Central: Connor O'Neal 3-22, Wy- att Frasure 8 -4; Lars Utterback 6 - -22. Heritage Hills: Jacob Wetzel 4-103, Noah Mundy 5 -75, Owen Schaad 6 - 43, Gavin Vaal 1-39, Phoenix Rodgers 2-36, Evan Bowl- ing 6 -36, Luke Rickelman 3-33, Jacob Schmidt 4-24; Caleb Fakes 2-5. PASSING—Pike Central: Utterback 22-38 -157-2, O'Neal 1-2-2-0. Heritage Hills: Rickelman 2-2-17-0. RECEIVING—Pike Central: O'Neal 11-89, Stephen Krieg 3-30, Colson Dillard 5 -22, Levi McCarter 2-20, Frasure 1-1, Utterback 1- -8. Heritage Hills: Kaden Feldpausch 1-12, Vaal 1-5. TACKLES —Pike Central: O'Neal (5), Frasure (5), McCarter (4), Brandon Goeppner (4), Cody Davis (4), Corey Goeppner (3), Isaac Marchino (3), Connor Fur- man (3), Gunnar Earley (2), Krieg (2), Braden How- ald (1), Jaggar Dent (1), Dillard (1). HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall PF PA Gibson So. 3-0 3-0 152 21 Heritage Hills 2-0 3-0 147 12 Southridge 1-0 3-0 91 44 North Posey 1-1 1-2 57 117 Tell City 1-1 2-1 50 54 Pike Central 0 -1 0 -3 31 149 South Spencer 0 -3 0 -3 26 106 Forest Park 0 -2 1-2 44 118 RESULTS FROM SEPTEMBER 6 PAC Games Tell City 32, South Spencer 6 Southridge 42, Forest Park 7 Gibson Southern 48, North Posey 7 Heritage Hills 69, Pike Central 6 Area Games Castle 22, Reitz 14 Evansville Central 45, Evansville Bosse 6 Evansville Memorial 40, Evansville North 28 Evansville Mater Dei 38, Evansville Harrison 7 Jasper 35, Boonville 0 Linton-Stockton 35, Monrovia 0 Mount Carmel (Ill.) 30, Mount Vernon 24 North Davies 42, Eastern Greene 0 North Knox 44, Tecumseh 0 Perry Central 50, Crawford County 6 West Washington 50, Mitchell 6 Paolo 42, Springs Valley 18 Princeton 24, Washington 7 Floyd Central 28, Vincennes Lincoln 12 GAMES ON SEPTEMBER 13 PAC Games Tell City at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Owensboro Catholic (Ky.) at South Spencer, 7 p.m. Tecumseh at Forest Park, 7:30 p.m. Jasper at Heritage Hills, 7:30 p.m. North Posey at Southridge, 8 p.m. Area Games Crawford County at Rock Creek Academy, 7 p.m. Linton-Stockton at North Vermillion, 7 p.m. Eastern Greene at Mitchell, 7 p.m. Springs Valley at West Washington, 7 p.m. Washington at North Daviess, 7 p.m. North Knox at Boonville, 7:30 p.m. Paoli at Perry Central, 7:30 p.m. Castle at Evansville Bosse, 8 p.m. Evansville Harrison at Evansville North, 8 p.m. Evansville Memorial at Evansville Mater Dei, 8 p.m. Reitz at Evansville Central, 8 p.m. Mount Carmel (Ill.) at Princeton, 8 p.m. Vincennes Lincoln at Mount Vernon, 8 p.m. GAMES ON SEPTEMBER 13 PAC Game Gibson Southern at Southport, 2 p.m. CHARGER YOUTH FOOTBALL Charge Youth Football player 33 takes down the ball carrier during the fifth and sixth grade game on Saturday, September 14. Matt Haycraft photo. UPCOMING SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, SEP. 11 Boys' Varsity Tennis: Pike Central at South- ridge, 4:30 p.m. THURSDAY, SEP. 12 Boys' Varsity Tennis: Pike Central at Tell City, 5:30 p.m. Girls' Varsity Golf: Pike Central/Springs Val- ley/South Spencer at Prides Creek Golf Course, 5:45 p.m. Boys' and Girls' Middle School Cross Coun- try: Pike Central and South Spencer at South- ridge, 6 p.m. Boys' Varsity Soccer: Pike Central at North Posey, 6 p.m. Girls' Varsity Soccer: Princeton at Pike Cen- tral, 6 p.m. Sixth-Grade Volleyball: Pike Central at South Knox, 6 p.m. Middle School Volleyball: Pike Central at South Spencer, 6 p.m. Middle School Football: Pike Central at Gibson Southern, 6:30 p.m. FRIDAY, SEP. 13 Varsity Football: Tell City at Pike Central, 7: 30 p.m. SATURDAY, SEP. 7 Girls' Varsity Golf: Pike Central at Pocket Athletic Conference Meet at Oakland City Golf Course, 9 a.m. Varsity Voleyball: Pike Central at Evansville Central Invite, 9 a.m. Boys' and Girls' Middle School Cross Coun- try: Pike Central at Heritage Hills Invite, 9 a.m. Boys' and Girls' Varsity Cross Country: Pike Central at Heritage Hills Invite, 10 a.m. Boys' Varsity Soccer: Pike Central at Forest Park, 10 a.m. Girls' Varsity Soccer: Pike Central at Forest Park, noon MONDAY, SEP. 16 Boys' Varsity Tennis: Forest Park at Pike Cen- tral, 5 p.m. Boys' Varsity Soccer: Tell City at Pike Central, 6 p.m. Middle School Volleyball: Pike Central at Barr- Reeve, 6 p.m. Junior Varsity Volleyball: North Posey at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Varsity Volleyball: North Posey at Pike Cen- tral, 7:45 p.m. Girls' Varsity Soccer: Tell City at Pike Central, 8 p.m. TUESDAY, SEP. 17 Girls' Varsity Soccer: Pike Central at South Knox, 5 p.m. Boys' Junior Varsity Soccer: Jasper at Pike Cen- tral, 6 p.m. Junior Varsity Volleyball: Pike Central at Princ- eton, 6:30 p.m. Middle School Volleyball: Tecumseh at Pike Central, 6:30 p.m. Varsity Volleyball: Pike Central at Princeton, 7:45 p.m.