The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, September 5, 2018 The Press-Dispatch – including 28 in the third quarter – to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the PAC. However, Stephens said that there were some bright spots for the Chargers. "When we went back and watched film, we have de- creased our mental errors," Stephens said. "I would say as far as responsibility foot- ball, we played our cleanest half of the season against Heritage Hills in the first half. Now, the truth of the matter is this – we were in positions to execute and just weren't able, physically, to get the job done." "Flat out, honestly, phys- ical strength-wise, we have the physical strength of an average junior varsity team," Stephens added. "It is what it is. I'm not trying to make ex- cuses or anything like that, but there's a reason why seventh graders don't beat sophomores." Stephens, who was in his second year as the Char- gers' offensive coordinator in 2016, noted that year's team had several offensive linemen who could bench press more than 250 pounds and could squat at least 400 pounds. "That's more of a typical high school line," Stephens said. "I think a big thing is that there was some uncer- tainty, and there was very poor attendance in the off- season weightlifting pro- gram. The reports that I re- ceived was there were five to seven players who showed up consistently in the weight room during the offseason. You just can't win if you can't get strong." "More Friday nights than not, it's not going to be that glaring of a mismatch, but this week it was a physical mismatch," Stephens added. "We're doing everything we can. We're lifting three days a week, but it just takes time to develop that strength." Stephens described Her- itage Hills as "weight room strong" and "physically ag- gressive." "They're not as well coached as Southridge," Stephens said. "They're not as well coached as Gibson Southern. They have un- usually skilled players and they have strong aggressive players. But there's nothing that they did from a sche- matic standpoint that we didn't have an answer for. There was nothing that they showed on defense that we didn't have a solution for. We just, right now, don't have the Jimmys and Joes to ex- ecute it." "We scheme them up to have a tactical advan- tage and we just can't exe- cute it yet," Stephens add- ed. "We're getting there, by them understanding our schemes and stuff. It's going to happen. It's just a matter of we've got to make sure that we get physically devel- oped the way we need to." Junior quarterback Mario Fields led Pike Central of- fensively, rushing 16 times for 49 yards while complet- ing nine of 15 pass attempts – with two interceptions – for 45 yards. Senior running back Eli Coleman gained 24 yards on 14 carries while Connor O'Neal – who rushed for 16 yards on three carries – caught eight passes for 21 yards. Senior wide receiver Judah Leathco had one re- ception for 24 yards. The Chargers return to action on Friday, Sept. 7, when they will travel to Tell City, which is 1-2 under first- year head coach Aaron Cle- ments following a 22-14 over- time win over South Spencer last week. "We will have our best chance and opportunity at a win, to be successful, since Week One," Stephens said. "You go through and watch film, and you can tell they are having first-season growing pains like us. You watch on film, a guy lines up in one area, you can't hear any sound, but you see a coach on the sideline fran- tically waving and pointing, and then you see the guy move. I understand some of the things that Coach Clem- ents is going through." Despite the 0 -3 start, Ste- phens said that the Charger players were working as hard as ever preparing for Friday night's game. "The boys were up and at it at 9 o'clock (Monday) morning, watching film, lifting weights, and doing a walk-through on the field," Stephens said. "So those boys are putting in the ef- fort, and I hope we can get us a W this Friday and make everybody at home happy." Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., Eastern time. ROLLS Continued from page 1 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L PF PA Gibson Southern 3-0 3-0 184 7 Heritage Hills 2-0 3-0 156 9 Southridge 1-0 2-1 90 49 North Posey 1-1 1-2 95 155 Tell City 1-1 1-2 22 69 Pike Central 0 -1 0 -3 30 124 Forest Park 0 -2 0 -3 7 141 South Spencer 0 -3 0 -3 42 134 RESULTS OF AUGUST 31 PAC Games Heritage Hills 62, Pike Central 2 Gibson Southern 63, North Posey 7 Tell City 22, South Spencer 14 (OT) Southridge 48, Forest Park 7 Area Games Boonville 28, Jasper 14 Eastern Greene 35, North Daviess 7 Evansville Central 42, Evansville Bosse 6 Evansville Mater Dei 50, Evansville Harrison 6 Evansville Memorial 56, Evansville North 10 Evansville Reitz 38, Castle 21 Monrovia 23, Linton-Stockton 0 Mount Vernon (Posey) 41, Mount Carmel (Ill.) 12 North Central (Farmersburg) 62, Parke Heritage 32 North Knox 52, Tecumseh 7 Northview 50, Sullivan 27 Paoli 34, Springs Valley 16 Princeton 36, Washington 14 West Washington 36, Mitchell 22 RESULTS OF SEPTEMBER 1 Area Games Anderson Prep Academy 46, Dugger Union 8 Lexington Christian (Ky.) 43, Vincennes Lincoln 38 GAMES OF SEPTEMBER 7 PAC Games Pike Central at Tell City, 7:30 p.m. Forest Park at Tecumseh Henderson County (Ky.) at Gibson Southern Heritage Hills at Jasper Owensboro Catholic (Ky.) at South Spencer Southridge at North Posey Area Games Evansville Bosse at Castle Evansville Central at Evansville Reitz Evansville Mater Dei at Evansville Memorial Evansville North at Evansville Harrison Harrisburg (Ill.) at Boonville Mitchell at Eastern Greene Mount Vernon (Posey) at Vincennes Lincoln North Central (Farmersburg) at North Decatur North Daviess at Washington North Putnam at Sullivan North Vermillion at Linton-Stockton Princeton at Mount Carmel (Ill.) West Washington at Springs Valley GAMES OF SEPTEMBER 8 Area Games South Central (Union Mills) at North Knox Southside Home School at Dugger Union PCMS seventh grade football team shuts out North Knox 22-0 Quade Morton scored two touchdowns – one rushing and one on a kick- off return – and Julian Gish added one rushing touch- down to lead the Pike Cen- tral Middle School sev- enth grade football team to a 22-0 victory over visit- ing North Knox on Thurs- day, Aug. 30. In the eighth grade con- test, the visiting Warriors defeated Pike Central 38 -6. "Our eighth graders struggled dealing with the overwhelming size of North Knox," Chargers head coach Jeremy Howald said. "They gave full effort, which helps, but were just physically outmatched. We didn't execute very well on offense or defense." Pike Central's lone score came on a 60 -yard touch- down pass from Kendric Sorgius to Gish. "Overall, we feel like we are better than we have played and are struggling to bring it to the field on Thursdays, but we will get there," Howald said. The Chargers will re- turn to action on Thursday, Sept. 6, when they will host Gibson Southern. Kickoff for the seventh grade con- test is set for 6:30 p.m. Left: Pike Cen- tral High School ju- nior linebacker Colin Craig (82) and junior defensive back Con- nor O'Neal (3) tackle Heritage Hills junior running back Phoenix Rodgers during game action on Friday, Aug. 31. Ed Cahill photo Below: Pike Central High School senior defensive lineman Braxton Rice (58) and freshman defen- sive back Wyatt Fra- sure (6) tackle Heri- tage Hills junior run- ning back Phoenix Rodgers during game action on Friday, Aug. 31. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School freshman running back Wyatt Frasure (6) looks for an opening while carry- ing the ball during game action against visiting Her- itage Hills on Friday, Aug. 31. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior running back Connor O'Neal (3) carries the ball during game action on Friday, Aug. 31, against visiting Heri- tage Hills. Ed Cahill photo The Pike Central High School football team ex- citedly gather together on the field before the start of its game against visiting Heritage Hills on Friday, Aug. 31. The Chargers took a 2-0 lead with a safety on the game-opening kickoff but the Patriots scored 62 unanswered points to win, 62-2. Ed Cahill photo Pike County Youth Football Third and Fourth Grade Win 25-0 The Pike County Youth Football League's 3rd/4th grade team celebrates a 25-0 season-opening win over host Evansville North on Saturday, Sept. 1. The team and coaches are looking forward to another successful season this year. Submitted photo with a time of 20 :27; Macy Hill placed 47th with a time of 25:08; and sixth grader Kaylyn Warner placed 50th with a time of 26:41. On Thursday, Aug. 30, the Pike Central Middle School teams competed in a two-team meet hosted by South Knox. In the boys' race, Reute- pohler placed fourth with a personal record time of 11:55, beating his previous PR time of 12:05 by 10 sec- onds. Barnett placed 17th with a time of 13:12. Sev- enth grader Wyatt Luff was 45th with a time of 15:44. Smith was 46th with a sea- son-best time of 15:47. Mc- Cain was 57th with a sea- son-best time of 19:21. In the girls' race, Weis- man placed fourth with a time of 13:21; Whitehead placed sixth with a sea- son-best time of 13:42; War- ner placed 19th with a time of 14:50 ; Meyer placed 26th with a season-best time of 15:32; Teague placed 31st with a time of 15:52; Hart- ke placed 33rd with a time of 15:56; Sallee placed 38th with a time of 16:40 ; and Gracie Hill placed 45th with a time of 17:27. "The Charger boy and girl athletes had a confi- dent mindset going into the race tonight," Butcher said. "This course is one of many of the kids had ran on before and tonight the weather was much more enjoyable. The completion of both races was a great success, filled with PRs and improvements from the year before." SECOND Continued from page 3