The Press-Dispatch

October 20, 2021

The Press-Dispatch

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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 20, 2021 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 See SENIOR on page 6 See XC on page 2 Hard-fought football game ends in defeat on Senior Night By Matthew Haycraft The Pike Central Chargers foot- ball team played North Posey for their senior night game on Friday, October 15 on their home field. The Chargers have not defeated the Vikings since October of 2016. In that game, they won in overtime by a score of 50 -49. North Posey is currently 7-2 overall and 6 -0 in the conference, making them first in the PAC, meaning that this game was go- ing to be a rough one to play for the Chargers. In the first quarter, the field was soggy to begin with, and rain loomed on the horizon. Right out of the gate, the Vikings scored a touchdown on a pass, placing the score at 6 -0. That was followed up with a good field goal kick, leaving the score 7-0 with 11:58 on the board. The quarter continued in this manner, and then the rain hit, making the game that much harder to play. The Chargers did what they do best and charged on through the rain, followed by the cheerleaders that donned rain ponchos and con- tinued to cheer them on. With two minutes left in the first quarter, the Chargers took over the ball and got a first down on their own 32-yard line. The first battle ended with the score at 35 -0. During the second quarter of the game, the Vikings kicked off to the Chargers, who eventually ended up punting to North Posey. The Vikings took the ball on their own 2-yard line. They then ran the ball 98 yards for a touchdown and a good PAT, putting the score at 42-0. The Chargers did not give up on the fight, battling the rain and the Vikings, but by the end of the second quarter, after a 68 -yard touchdown by the Vikings, the score was left at 52-0. The third quarter began with the Chargers looking more determined than ever. Pike Central fought the Vikings with all they had through the beginning of the quarter, and it paid off. With nine minutes left in the quarter, the Chargers recov- ered a fumble made by the Vikings, successfully taking possession of the ball. Charger senior Wyatt Frasure took the ball and ran it into the end- zone for the Chargers' first touch- down of the game. They rushed in a two-point conversion, putting the score at 52-8 with four minutes left in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter of the game, the Chargers continued their heart- felt battle, and scored another touch- down, followed by a run-in, putting the score at 52-16. The Chargers held the Vikings for the rest of the quar- ter, but unfortunately were unable to score anymore points. The regu- lar season ended with the Chargers losing senior night to North Posey 56 -16. The Charger will play their first game of Sectionals on Friday, Octo- ber 22 against the Brown County Ea- gles on their home field at 7 p.m. Girls' volleyball on fire, but comes up short at sectional By Matthew Haycraft The Pike Central varsity volley- ball team played their sectional at Princeton against the Sullivan Golden Arrows on Thursday, Oct. 14, losing in three sets. The Lady Chargers came out on fire, ready to play and take sec- tional by storm. Even though they played hard, and started off good, they couldn't quite pull out the win in the first set. The Chargers lost in the first set to Sullivan 18 -25, but still kept upbeat and ready to take them on. The next two sets were more of the same, with the Char- gers losing 15 -25 in the second set and 19 -25 in the third. With that, the sectional was over and the La- dy Chargers' season had come to an end. Lady Charger sophomore Lex- ie Onyett ended with 20 digs and one kill; sophomore Haylie Ful- cher with five kills and two digs; sophomore Karley Kavanaugh with two blocks, two digs, 21 assists and one kill; junior Ashlyn Shoul- tz with one ace, three kills and 12 digs; senior Erika Vinnedge with five kills, one block and one dig; senior Alaina McClellan with four kills, one block and one dig; and se- nior Jaize Mills with five digs. Head Coach Stephanie Shedd said, "I think the match would have gone our way if we could have won that first set. It would have set the tempo for the entire match. We played well overall, but couldn't get on top and stay on top." "We had a great season with big improvements over last year. It's not the way we wanted to end, but we are moving in the right direc- tion. I am proud of our season, and the overall improvements and pos- itive attitudes of our players. We had our highest number of blocks per game." Lady Charger Cross Country team headed to Semi-State Chanley qualifies for Semi-State in boys' XC By Matthew Haycraft The Pike Central cross country teams hosted the regional meet on Saturday, Oct. 16 at Prides Creek. The Lady Chargers' cross country team placed fourth, with a top five av- erage time of 21:01 and 100 points. They lost out on first to Princeton Community, with a top five average time of 19:57 and 36 points. By placing fourth in regionals, the Pike Central girls' team will advance to semi-state, making this the sixth semi-state appearance for the girls' program in school history. The other top placing schools at re- gionals in the girls' division were: 2) South Knox, 70 ; 3) Evansville F.J. Re- itz, 100 ; 5) Barr-Reeve, 117; 6) Gib- son Southern, 145; 7) Castle, 161; 8) Evansville Reitz Memorial, 175; 9) Evansville North, 217; 10) Evansville Mater Dei, 227. Lady Charger freshman Xavery Weisman was runner-up (placed sec- ond) at regional Saturday in 18:55, beating her own course record of 19:20, which she set at the PC Invi- tational. Pike Central's other girls that placed were: senior Quinlan Teague placing 21st with a time of 20 :54, ju- nior Kennedy Willis placing 26th with a time of 21:20, sophomore An- na Whitehead placing 30th with a time of 21:37, freshman Kaylyn War- ner placing 47th with a time of 22:16 and senior Morgan Anderson plac- ing 81st with a time of 25:12. The Charger boys' team placed ninth, with a top five average time of 18:51 and 211 points, making region- al the team's last stop for the season. They lost out on first to Castle, who had a top five average time of 16:48 and 54 points. Charger senior Wyatt Frasure in mid-air with the Vikings' ball carrier on the tackle during the Pike Central football senior night game on Friday, October 15 against North Posey. Pike Central's pool completed A complete rehab of the Pike Central swimming pool is now complete and it is back in use. In early 2020, plans were to replace the liner. But as they were inspect- ing it, they found large amounts of rust on the support posts and overhead beams. Pike School Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Blake compared it to peeling an onion. She said they just keep finding more problems. Eventually, they did rehab work on the perimeter support posts and found the rust on overhead beams was superficial. The ceiling tiles were eliminated and everything was painted. Also, since the tile near the support posts had to removed to work on the posts, it was decided to re- place all the tile instead of trying to match 40-year-old tile. The air handling and exchange system in the pool was also replaced. "It looks like a brand new pool. The kids are ecstatic about it. They are very proud of the pool now," said swim coach Jason McKinney. The pool had been closed since March of 2020. Last year, the Chargers had to swim all their meets on the road. Peyton Chanley, Charger junior, paces himself as he makes his way to the next turn of the course during the Pike Central boys' cross country re- gional meet at Prides Creek. Quinlan Teague, Charger se- nior, keeps her stride strong as she runs through a valley on the course during the Pike Central girls' cross country re- gional meet at Prides Creek. Charger freshman Xav- ery Weisman keeps her pace strong as she runs through a valley on the course during the Pike Central girls' cross country regional meet.

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