The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 17, 2018 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 Pike Central, after three straight pass attempts by sophomore quarterback Lars Utterback – two in- tended for senior wide re- ceiver Judah Leathco and one intended for junior tight Quade Morton scored three touch- downs and passed for another to lead the Pike Central Middle School seventh grade football team to a 50 -8 victory over visiting Tecumseh on Thursday, Oct. 11. The Chargers jumped out to a 6 -0 lead on a five-yard touchdown run by Ricky Cul- bertson with 4:48 left in the first quarter. A fter scoring on a 35 -yard touchdown run with 4:10 remaining in the opening period, Morton completed a pass to Julian Gish for the two-point conversion, extend- ing Pike Central's lead to 14-0. The Chargers' defense would get in on the fun next, as Gish returned an intercep- tion 64 yards for a touchdown with 3:48 left in the first quarter. Gish's two-point con- version run was good, giving Pike Cen- tral a 22-0 lead. Morton then hooked up with Gish on a 50 -yard touchdown pass with 6:32 left in By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net For the first time since 2007, the Pike Central High School girls' cross country team has advanced – as a team – to semi- state after placing fifth in the IHSA A Region 16 Girls' Cross Country Meet on Saturday, Oct. 12, at Prides Creek Park. The Lady Chargers actually finished in a fifth-place tie with Evansville Mater Dei with 165 points each, but won on the tiebreaker as Pike Central's sixth runner, freshman Laney Johnson, placed 66th out of 85 runners with a personal re- cord time and personal course record time of 23:52 – 18 sec- onds ahead of the Lady Wildcats' sixth runner, senior Emily Herrmann, who placed 71st with a time of 24:10. Johnson beat her previous PR and personal course record time of 25:12 – which she set during the Pike Central Invita- tional just three weeks earlier – by 80 seconds. The Lady Chargers' seventh runner, senior Erin Craig, finished close behind Johnson, placing 70th with a personal record time of 24:06, beating her previous PR time of 24:38 – set during the Pocket Athletic Conference Championship Meet on Sept. 29 – by 32 seconds and her previous personal course record time of 25:03 – set during the Pike Central In- vitational on Sept. 22 – by 57 seconds. "Those two are pushing each other a lot every day right now, and without them pushing each other, they could have been behind (Herrmann) the whole race," Pike Central head coach Josh Roach said. "That's huge just that they were will- ing to put those steps in and take those steps all week, and it paid off in a huge way today." "Halfway through the race, we were, like, right beside each other," an ecstatic Craig said afterward. "We always rely on each other. She's a great teammate." Chambers, Huff advance to semi-state cross country meet for second straight year PCHS GIRLS' CROSS COUNTRY TEAM ADVANCES TO SEMI-STATE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2007 The Pike Central High School girls' cross country team placed fifth in the IHSA A Region 16 Meet on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Prides Creek Park to advance to the semi-state meet, which will be held on Satur- day, Oct. 20, at Brown County's Eagle Park. Pictured are, first row, left to right: Morgan Anderson and Morgan Sallee. Second row: Head Coach Josh Roach, Assistant Coach Wil Teague, Quinlan Teague, Lib- by Stone, Laney Johnson, Lauren Young, Charlotte Dudenhoeffer, Erin Craig, Jenna Meyer and Assistant Coach Joe Chamberlain. Not pictured: Madison Peer and Shelby Vaughn. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Ijaa Chambers com- petes in the IH- SA A Region 16 Boys' Cross Coun- try Regional Meet held on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Prides Creek Park. Cham- bers placed 15th out of 88 runners with a personal re- cord time of 16:59. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Draven Huff com- petes in the IHSA A Region 16 Boys' Cross Country Re- gional Meet held on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Prides Creek Park. Huff placed 19th out of 88 runners with a time of 17:10. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Libby Stone com- petes in the IHSA A Region 16 Girls' Cross Country Re- gional Meet held on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Prides Creek Park. Stone placed 20th out of 85 runners with a personal re- cord time of 20:50. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School sophomore Charlotte Duden- hoeffer competes in the IHSA A Region 16 Girls' Cross Country Regional Meet held on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Prides Creek Park. Dudenhoeffer placed 53rd out of 85 run- ners with a time of 22:52. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School's Kendric Sorgius (7) looks to pass the ball from the end zone during eighth grade football ac- tion against visiting Tecumseh on Thursday, Oct. 11. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior quarterback Mario Fields (5) charges for- ward for a gain during varsity football action at North Posey on Friday, Oct. 12. Fields rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-13 loss to the host Vikings. Trailing is sophomore offensive lineman Cody Davis (78). Ed Cahill photo By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School sophomore Ijaa Chambers and senior Draven Huff ad- vanced to semi-state for the second straight year after they both posted top-20 fin- ishes during the IHSA A Re- gion 16 Boys' Cross Coun- try Regional Meet on Satur- day, Oct. 13, at Prides Creek Park. Chambers placed 15th out of 88 runners with a per- sonal record time and per- sonal course record time of 16:59, beating his previous PR and personal course re- cord time of 17:02 – which he set during the Pike Cen- tral Invitational on Sept. 22 – by three seconds. During last year's semi- state meet, Chambers placed 137th with a time of 17:48. Huff, meanwhile, placed 19th with a time of 17:10 – 20 seconds off his personal best and personal course re- cord time of 16:50, which he also set during the Pike Cen- tral Invitational three weeks earlier. "I didn't race very well to- day," said Huff, who placed 118th during last year's semi-state meet at Brown County's Eagle Park with a time of 17:29. "On the back hill, I kind of rolled my an- kle a little bit, and it slowed me down." Pike Central placed sixth with a total of 166 points – 23 points behind fifth-place Evansville Memorial – to fall just one spot short of advancing to semi-state as a team. "We felt like we could get sixth, and it was going to take a lot to get up there into the top five," Chargers head coach Josh Roach said. "They pushed everything they could for it. I think they were probably even closer to See SEMI-STATE on 4 See ADVANCE on 4 See PCMS on 3 See FALL on 2 PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT JOHNSON FOR SHERIFF, JEREMY BRITTON, TREASURER Morton leads PCMS 7th grade football team to 50-8 win over Tecumseh By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net North Posey junior Zach Lowe rushed for 182 yards and a pair of second-half touchdowns as the host Vi- kings – trailing 13-7 at half- time – rallied for a 34-13 vic- tory over Pike Central in high school football action on Friday, Oct. 12. A fter falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, the Char- gers – who slipped to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the PAC with their fifth straight loss – scored on a five-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Mario Fields and the point-after kick by senior Braxton Rice tied the score at 7-7 with 7:42 left in the second period. Then, two plays after forcing North Posey to turn the ball over on downs at Pike Central's 30 -yard line, Fields broke free for a 66 -yard touchdown run that extended the Chargers' lead to 13-7 with 1:19 remaining in the second quarter. At the start of the second half, the Vikings – starting at their own 35 -yard line af- ter Rice's kickoff bounced out of bounds – ran five straight running plays, the last a 30 -yard touchdown scamper by Lowe that, fol- lowing the point-after kick by junior Tanner Tichenor, gave North Posey a 14-13 lead with 10 :09 left in the third period. Later in the third quar- ter, the Vikings – starting at their own 29 -yard line following a 46 -yard punt by Rice – extended their lead to 20 -13 on a 57-yard touch- down run by Lowe with 4:22 remaining in the period. A one-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Jar- rett Motz – coupled with the point-after kick by Tichenor – stretched North Posey's lead to 27-13 with 4:34 left in the fourth quarter. Chargers fall short in 34-13 loss at North Posey