The Press-Dispatch
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B-4 Sports Wednesday, September 12, 2018 The Press-Dispatch in there and block it like that." "That's a huge play," Ste- phens said. "Credit to the boys executing it." Pike Central freshman Wy- att Frasure had a chance to re- cover the ball following Pow- ell's block, but the ball slipped away and Coleman was able to grab it for the touchdown. "I just tried to stay on it and make sure I wasn't out of bounds," Coleman said. "I had to roll back into bounds, it felt like. I just wanted to make sure I was in for that TD." "I had to pull him back in," Powell added. "That's for sure." The first half of the game was played in a steady rain on Friday, Sept. 7, before it was suspended due to light- ning with Tell City holding a 6 -0 lead. The Marksmen had scored their lone touchdown on a 54-yard run by freshman quarterback Aden Dodson with nine seconds left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion run by sophomore fullback Bren Miller, howev- er, failed. Pike Central's offense was subsequently able to drive deep into Tell City territo- ry twice in the second peri- od, only to come away emp- ty-handed both times. Starting at their own 30 -yard line following the ensuing kickoff, the Char- gers advanced the ball to the Marksmen's 3-yard line. However, on 3rd-and-goal, junior quarterback Mario Fields completed a pass to junior wide receiver Connor O'Neal, who subsequently fumbled the ball into the end zone, where it was recovered by Tell City with 5:13 left in the second quarter. Four plays later, however, a fumble by Miller was re- covered by Chargers' junior linebacker Colin Craig at Tell City's 40 -yard line with 3:08 remaining in the first half. On the next play, Marks- men sophomore defensive back Nigel Kaiser intercept- ed a pass by Fields intended for senior wide receiver Judah Leathco. However, the play was nullified by a defensive pass interference penalty that gave Pike Central a first down at Tell City's 25 -yard line. Then, on 4th-and-12 from the 15 -yard line, a 32-yard field goal attempt by Char- gers senior placekicker Brax- ton Rice sailed wide right with one second left in the first half. Game officials, who de- layed the start of the second half because of lightning, ul- timately decided to wait un- til Saturday – at approximate- ly noon, Eastern time – to re- sume the contest. Receiving the kickoff to start the third quarter, Pike Central drove deep into Tell City territory before turning the ball over on downs at the Marksmen's 28 -yard line. Two big plays during the 12-play, 41-yard drive oc- curred back-to-back when – faced with 3rd-and-12 from the Tell City 49 -yard line – Fields completed a nine-yard pass to O'Neal and Coleman ran for a four-yard gain, giv- ing the Chargers a fresh set of downs at the 36 -yard line. A fter the Marksmen were able to pick up a total of four yards on three straight run- ning plays – two by Miller and one by Dodson – Tell City lined up in punt formation, setting the stage for Powell's tide-turning block. "You're not supposed to root for kids, but it's hard not to root for Randy Powell," Ste- phens said. "Randy's a good kid. He's a 'yes, sir,' 'no, sir' kind of kid. He always follows directions, always tries to do the best he can to the best of his ability. So to see Ran- dy have a big moment for us like that, in his senior year, I think that's a fantastic thing for him." "I'm excited for him," Ste- phens added. "I was excited to see his face. I was so happy for him and the way his team- mates congratulated him. You know, he's the big man on campus today, for sure." With the score tied at 6 -6, Rice kicked the extra point through the uprights, giving Pike Central a 7-6 lead. Tell City, which had turned the ball over on downs at the Chargers' 8 -yard line on its first possession of the game on Friday night – when Pike Central junior linebacker Brandon Goeppner stopped Marksman senior running back Devon Blake for a three- yard loss – would drive deep into Charger territory on each of its final two offensive possessions. A fter forcing Pike Central to punt early in the fourth pe- riod, Tell City – starting at its own 43-yard line with 11:55 remaining – called eight straight running plays while advancing the ball to the Chargers' 12-yard line. A run for no gain by Mill- er and an incomplete pass lat- er – which was broken up by Craig, Leathco and O'Neal – the Marksmen called a tim- eout with 7:09 left to set up a field goal attempt by senior placekicker Braeden Beard. Beard's 33-yard attempt, however, missed wide to the right, leaving the Chargers holding a 7-6 lead. Then, after forcing Pike Central to punt from its own 28 -yard line, Tell City's of- fense returned to the field with 4:51 remaining, where the Marksmen started at their own 32-yard line follow- ing a 40 -yard punt by Rice. Eleven consecutive run- ning plays later, Tell City had advanced to the Chargers' 12-yard line, where – on 1st- and-10 – Dodson spiked the ball to stop the clock with 22 seconds left. On the next two plays, Pow- ell broke up passes intended for Blake and senior wide re- ceiver Dustin Hunt, forcing the Marksman to turn the ball over on downs with nine seconds remaining. "It's hard when you play a team that runs the ball 90 per- cent of the time," Stephens said. "We talk about this all the time – it's the one time you don't do your job that they're going to get you. So for those guys to stay disci- plined – not just Randy, but Randy, Connor, Eli, Judah – to say, 'Hey, you've got to be up front in run support, but, by the way, you've also got to make sure that your guys don't sneak out and get a cheap one on you.'" "For them to show the men- tal toughness and discipline, to stay back, after run after run after run, especially in crunch time when we need- ed it, it was a fantastic job by them," Stephens added. Offensively, Pike Central was led by Fields, who com- pleted seven of nine pass at- tempts for 44 yards while gaining a team-high 65 yards on 19 carries. Coleman, mean- while, rushed for 64 yards on 16 carries, while O'Neal car- ried the ball eight times for 19 yards while catching six pass- es for 37 yards. Leathco also had one reception for seven yards. Powell said afterward that having to make two trips to Tell City to play – and win – a game was good for the team. "We weren't really feeling too good about it, because it's a long drive up here," Pow- ell said. "But we all came to- gether as a team. It's like a brotherhood. I've never seen anything like it. When it all comes together like this, I couldn't compare it to any- thing else in the world." Powell added that junior lineman Zeb Frasure, who left the game due to injury on Fri- day night, was in the team's thoughts. "We just wanted to play for him today," Powell said. Pike Central will return home to face homecoming foe Forest Park on Friday, Sept. 14, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. "I don't know how much people listen to me when you lose 62-2, but we've seen some positive things," Ste- phens said. "Coming against Forest Park, you know, being in front of our fans, I'm excit- ed. It stinks that we lose a day of preparation, but I can't wait for Monday to be here and get started." "We talk about one of our tenets is mental toughness," Stephens continued. "They're going to have no problem be- ing up and being able to rep- resent our community at homecoming. I have no wor- ry about that. And I told the guys, this isn't our pinnacle. This is our launch point. This is, from now, the expectation of what we are going to do here." Stephens admitted becom- ing a little emotional when he huddled with his team follow- ing the win over Tell City. "I care about them so much," Stephens said. "I al- most became overcome with emotion to see them get what they deserve. Because life ain't fair, and sometimes the game of football doesn't reward you, when you put in the work. I think it makes all the lessons that we talk about – the weights, the strength training, the staying disci- plined, the techniques – I think it makes all that a little more palatable for our play- ers when they see the payoff from it." "So I'm excited about it," Stephens added. "I can't wait for Friday." CHARGERS Continued from page 1 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L PF PA Gibson Southern 3-0 3-1 184 30 Heritage Hills 2-0 4-0 170 21 Southridge 2-0 3-1 159 52 North Posey 1-2 1-3 98 224 Tell City 1-1 1-2 22 69 Pike Central 1-1 1-3 37 130 Forest Park 0 -2 0 -4 7 154 South Spencer 0 -3 0 -4 42 184 RESULTS OF SEPTEMBER 7 PAC Games Henderson County (Ky.) 23, Gibson Southern 0 Owensboro Catholic (Ky.) 50, South Spencer 0 Southridge 69, North Posey 3 Tecumseh 13, Forest Park 0 Area Games Boonville 34, Harrisburg (Ill.) 0 Castle 30, Evansville Bosse 12 Evansville Central 26, Evansville Reitz 21 Evansville Harrison 18, Evansville North 12 (OT) Evansville Memorial 51, Evansville Mater Dei 14 Linton-Stockton 34, North Vermillion 7 Mitchell 22, Eastern Greene 10 North Central (Farmersburg) 20, North Decatur 7 Princeton 14, Mount Carmel (Ill.) 6 Sullivan 48, North Putnam 21 Vincennes Lincoln 30, Mount Vernon (Posey) 26 Washington 28, North Daviess 24 West Washington 26, Springs Valley 22 RESULTS OF SEPTEMBER 8 PAC Games Pike Central 7, Tell City 6 Heritage Hills 14, Jasper 12 Area Game North Knox 28, South Central (Union Mills) 21 GAMES OF SEPTEMBER 14 PAC Games Forest Park at Pike Central, 7:30 p.m. Gibson Southern at Princeton North Posey at Heritage Hills South Spencer at Southridge Tell City at Springs Valley Area Games Crawford County at Mitchell Dugger Union at Parke Heritage Evansville Central at Castle Evansville Harrison at Evansville Reitz Evansville Mater Dei at Evansville North Evansville Memorial at Evansville Bosse Linton-Stockton at Indianapolis Ritter Mount Carmel (Ill.) at Olney (Ill.) North Knox at North Central (Farmersburg) Sullivan at South Vermillion Tecumseh at Perry Central Vincennes Lincoln at Jasper Washington at Mount Vernon (Posey) West Vigo at North Daviess GAME OF SEPTEMBER 8 Area Game Boonville at Lapel Quarterback Connor Moorman ran for three touchdowns and passed for three more to lead the Gib- son Southern eighth grade football team to a 50 -12 vic- tory over host Pike Central on Thursday, Sept. 6. Moorman, who gained 101 yards on nine carries, had touchdown runs of 16, 4 and 34 yards. He also complet- ed two touchdown passes – for 40 yards and 55 yards, re- spectively – to split end Isaac O'Neal and one – for three yards – to offensive tackle Jackson Redding. For the game, Moorman completed seven of nine passes for 187 yards. Pike Central was led by quarterback Kendric Sorgi- us, who completed three of five pass attempts, including one for a 79 -yard touchdown to Cole Parks. Jagar Dent rushed for a team-high 62 yards on 19 carries, including a two-yard touchdown run. "On the scoreboard, the game was ugly, but we learned so much during this game that we are glad we went through this," Chargers head coach Jeremy Howald said. "It was better than any practice we have had this year as far as a learning ex- perience and we will be bet- ter from going through it." In the seventh grade con- test, Gibson Southern ral- lied from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to defeat Pike Central 46 -26. "We made too many mis- takes throughout the game to win the game," Howald said. "We all have jobs to do out there, but we also have to trust that our teammate is going to do his job. With this team, this has been the most difficult aspect for them. We have players that want to do it all themselves, and when they attempt that, they leave their responsibility and we get burned there." "They have to learn to trust each other," Howald added. "We did see glimps- es of the team we want to be and that was reassuring to us as coaches." The Chargers will travel to Heritage Hills on Thursday, Sept. 13, and to North Posey on Thursday, Sept. 20. PCMS football teams drop losses to Gibson Southern Pike Central High School senior Judah Leathco (14) tries to make a leaping catch of a pass from junior quarterback Mario Fields during the first half of a varsity football game at Tell City on Fri- day, Sept. 7. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School eighth grader Kendric Sorgius (7) looks for some running room during football action against visiting Gib- son Southern on Thursday, Sept. 6. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School eighth grader Jagar Dent tries to shake a tack- le while Gibson Southern's Isaac O'Neal (9) closes in during football action on Thursday, Sept. 6. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School eighth grader Cole Parks (80) reaches for a pass from quarterback Kendric Sorgius during football action against visiting Gibson Southern on Thursday, Sept. 6. Ed Cahill photo SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500