The Press-Dispatch

October 11, 2017

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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 11, 2017 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 Four members of the Pike Central High School girls' cross country team will compete in the region- al meet on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Prides Creek Park. During the sectional meet held Saturday, Oct. 7 at South Knox, Lady Char- ger senior Halley Powers placed ninth out of 63 to- tal runners with a person- al course record time of 22:36, besting her previ- ous course record time of 23:43 by 107 seconds; se- nior Cailey Furman placed 21st with a time of 24:04; freshman Lauren Young placed 28th with a person- al course record time of 24:29, besting her previous course record time of 24:30 by one second; and fresh- man Jenna Meyer placed By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' cross country team will be advancing – as a team – to the regional meet for the first time since 2011 after freshman Ijaa Cham- bers placed 10th out of 65 to- tal runners to lead the Char- gers to a fifth-place finish in the sectional meet on Satur- day, Oct. 7, at South Knox. The sectional's top five teams – along with the top 10 individuals from non-qualify- ing teams – will advance to the regional meet, which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Prides Creek Park. "That's been goal number one for them all year long – to come together as a team and decide to get through and push and hope that we got there," said Pike Cen- tral head coach Josh Roach. "We told them they'd done the work to sit in a good spot, but today was not about let- ting up and saying we've do- ne the work. It was about con- tinuing to improve." "I think they even did bet- ter, as far as the race – as far as getting there – than we re- ally thought they were going to," Roach continued. "We knew we had a good chance, and we came out and we ran great." Chambers completed the 3.1-mile course with a time of 17:52 to become the Char- gers' highest-placing runner since Cain Parker finished seventh in 2012. "He's very talented, and the thing of it is, he has yet to really grasp how talent- ed he can be," Roach said of Chambers, who posted a per- sonal record time of 17:42 on the same course during the South Knox Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 16. "He does everything that we ask," Roach added. "I just don't think it's clicked yet, 'Oh my gosh, I'm this good.' So he just goes out and runs. That's a great start, to be your top finisher at section- al – and you're not even close By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School boys' soccer team saw its bid to repeat as sec- tional champions come up short as the Chargers – af- ter battling Washington to a 0 -0 tie – lost 3-0 on penalty kicks in a semifinal match at the Gwaltney Sports Complex in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 4. With the loss, Pike Cen- tral – ranked No. 5 in Class 2A in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association's final poll – ended the season with a record of 15 -3-1. The 11th-ranked Hatch- ets, meanwhile, improved to 14-4-1 and advanced to the sectional championship game on Saturday, Oct. 7, when they defeated South- ridge 6 -2. The meeting between the two teams was the third in as many years, as Washing- ton defeated the Chargers 2-1 in overtime to win the sectional title in 2015 and Pike Central defeated the Hatchets 1-0 in overtime to win its first-ever sectional ti- tle in 2016. "Washington has a great By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School football team surren- dered 42 first-half points for the second week in a row while dropping a 56 -8 loss at Southridge on Friday, Oct. 6. One week after Gibson Southern scored on its first nine possessions against the Chargers in a 63-7 victo- ry, Southridge punched the ball into the end zone on its first seven possessions while improving to 7-1 overall and 6 -0 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. "Southridge is a great football team," said Pike Cen- tral head coach Erik Mattingly, whose team fell to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the PAC. "We left a lot out there, mis- take-wise, which is something we've got to keep grind- ing away at in practice – not fumbling, not getting false start penalties, and continuing to pursue relentlessly to the football on defense." "We've just got to find ways late in the season to get better," Mattingly continued. "Every week that goes by you can either get better at things, or you can devel- op bad habits. It gets harder and harder each week to break bad habits, but it also gets harder and harder each week to continue to get better. That's the conundrum we're faced with right now. How do we break bad hab- its we've allowed ourselves to get into? And how do we continue to get better at other things that we need to? " The Chargers, starting its first offensive drive at its own 10 -yard line, picked up a pair of first downs – one on a 4-yard run by senior quarterback Christian Alvey and the other on a 15 -yard pass from Alvey to senior wide receiver Clint Boger – to advance the line of scrimmage to Pike Central's 36 -yard line. A fter sophomore Mario Fields ran for an eight-yard gain to the 44-yard line, however, the drive stalled out when Alvey was tackled for a three-yard loss and then – on 3rd-and-5 – threw an incomplete pass intended for senior fullback Jake Sisk, forcing the Chargers to punt. Following a 24-yard punt by Boger, Southridge – start- ing with the ball at its own 35 -yard line – was flagged for a false start penalty that backed them up to their own 30 -yard line. On the very next play, however, senior running back Colin Smith ripped off a 70 -yard touchdown run that – following the point-after kick by junior Jeovany Du- bon – gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead with 7:28 left in the first quarter. A fter the ensuing kickoff by Dubon sailed into the end zone for a touchback, Pike Central was flagged for a false start penalty of its own, backing the Chargers up to their own 15 -yard line. A six-yard run by sophomore running back Connor O'Neal and a five-yard run by Fields advanced the ball to the Pike Central 26 -yard line but, on 3rd-and-4, Fields No. 5 Chargers' bid for sectional title repeat ends with loss to No. 11 Washington CHARGERS RESORT TO 'TRICKERATION' IN 56-8 LOSS AT SOUTHRIDGE Pike Central High School senior Clint Boger (15) leaps atop his teammates as they huddle around a U.S. flag before a varsity football game at Southridge on Friday, Oct. 6. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore run- ning back Mario Fields (5) is tackled by South- ridge sophomore linebacker Cole Calvert (28) and senior linebacker Justin Lammers (27) during varsity football action on Friday, Oct. 6. Ed Cahill photo From left to right, Pike Central High School se- nior Caden Armstrong, junior Draven Huff and freshman Ijaa Chambers placed among the top 20 runners during the sectional meet at South Knox on Saturday, Oct. 7. Armstrong placed 16th, Huff placed 13th and Chambers placed 10th out of 65 total runners. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Hal- ley Powers sprints for the finish line while competing in the sectional meet at South Knox on Sat- urday, Oct. 7. Pow- ers placed ninth in the girls' divi- sion with a personal course record time of 22:36. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Gavin Boyd (top) tries to head the ball away from Washington se- nior Solomon Davis (9) during a section- al semifinal match on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Taylor Lamey (12) goes up to hit the ball over the net during varsity vol- leyball action at Her- itage Hills on Thurs- day, Oct. 5. Ed Cahill photo See SOCCER on 4 See CHARGERS on 3 See LOSS on 6 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School volleyball team liter- ally saved the best for last when it closed out the regu- lar-season with a 25 -11, 25 -9, 25 -10 loss at Heritage Hills on Thursday, Oct. 4. The host Lady Patriots pounded out 46 kills in 99 at- tempts – an impressive kill rate of 46.5 percent – to win their 12th straight match while improving to 24-4 over- all and finishing a perfect 8 - 0 in the Pocket Athletic Con- ference. Senior Melissa Bell had 15 kills (with one error) out of 27 attempts – a 51.9 percent kill rate – while senior Abby Wahl had 11 kills out of 25 attempts for a 44 percent kill rate. "Heritage Hills played an awesome game," said Pike Central head coach Tonya Walton, whose team fell to 9 - 19 overall and 2-6 in the PAC. "Their outside hitters were amazing, and were hitting the ball at the 10 -foot line – wow! " "We did make several dif- ferent adjustments on de- fense, including moving blockers around a little, add- ing blockers and taking away WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN PCHS boys' cross country team advancing to regional meet for first time since 2011 Four Lady Chargers advancing to regional meet Lady Chargers close out regular season with three-set loss at Heritage Hills See REGIONAL on 3 See ADVANCE on 5

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