The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 23, 2019 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 ready to regroup for rematch with Brown County in sectional By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Despite being severely under- manned and down to just over a dozen players, the Pike Cen- tral football team never gave up during a 61-7 lost to North Posey (3-4, 4-5 Pocket Athletic Confer- ence) at Weathers Field on Fri- day, Oct. 18 in both teams' reg- ular season finale. The Chargers remained win- less and dropped to 0 -9 overall and 0 -7 in PAC, but not for a lack of effort. "The kids did a good job of ex- ecuting their assignments," Pike Central head coach Dave Ste- phens said. "It wasn't perfect by any stretch of imagination, but our linebacker play seemed to be pretty good. Our defensive line did a fairly good job." The Vikings outgained the Chargers 396 to 147, but a good amount of those yards can be contributed to when North Posey was able to catch Pike Central out of position on some four vertical passing plays that went for some huge gains. "Our guys did a really good job against the run game and making tackles," Stephens said. "It was better than it's been in a while." The Chargers' offense showed potential and the ability to move the ball some, but small execu- tion errors continued to plague the team. "There were some times where we were supposed to dou- ble team to backside lineback- er and we stayed on the dou- ble team and don't ever come off, and the linebacker we were suppose to get ends up making the play," Stephens said. "We have a counter called and our guard doesn't take a deep route on his pull to get around and he ends up running into our tackle. I thought there was more there to be had, but we just didn't ex- ecute." Pike Central entered the game with just 15 active play- ers and without its top offensive threat in Connor O'Neal, who is out for the rest of season with an injury. "It's just very difficult to miss a guy that means so much to us on the offense and defense side," Stephens said. O'Neal has nearly 700 yards receiving and five touchdowns. He also has another 50 yards and a touchdown rushing, and is tied as the team's third-leading tack- ler with 35 total stops. Despite the lopsided loss and remaining winless, Stephens was proud of his team's perfor- mance in the face of adversity. "Our guys did a fairly good job defensively all night in the run game," Stephens said. "I was happy with pursuit and ef- fort. It's hard when you have 10 guys playing both ways." Pike Central will have two more bodies to work with this week. Kicker and punter Peyton Howald and Garrett Boyd are ex- pected to play some wide receiv- er and defensive back against Brown County in the sectional game this Friday. "That helps us out a little bit," Stephens said. Chargers' senior captain Levi McCarter made a highlight play that energized the rest of the team late in the game when he intercepted a tipped pass on a two-point conversion attempt. "At the beginning, we were worried about their effort for four quarters, and the kids have never stopped trying and that was a great example of an effort play by Levi," Stephens said, adding that he was a lit- tle disappointed on Friday, but it didn't have anything to do with what was happening on the field. "Our boys come in and watch as much film, lift as much weight, run as many sprints and work as hard as any team in the state and I was a little disappointed when I looked up in the stands and saw how empty they were." The Chargers may be strug- gling on the field this year due to low numbers, but this coaching staff and group of players does things the right way. "I hope our county values work ethic, character and deter- mination that these guys show more than what's on the score- board," Stephens said. "I'm not in any way trying to chastise and criticize our fans, but I would like to see people come out and support these young men on a home sectional game because their efforts are worthy of peo- ple coming out and supporting them. I have all these coaches from the opposition coming up to me every week and talking about how brave, courageous and impressed they are with our young men. We need our fans to be equally impressed and to show the support regard- less if they think we can win or not win." Pike Central will host Brown Pike Central runner Nate Woolery qualifies for semi-state CHARGERS FALL TO VIKINGS IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE Pike Central's Colson Dillard, Noah McFarland and Stephen Kreig combine to make a tackle on Friday, Oct. 18 at Weathers Field. Pike Central quarterback Lars Utterback hands off to running back Wyatt Frasure during the Chargers' 61-7 loss to North Posey at Weathers Field. Pike Central runner Nate Woolery nears the finish line. Woolery finished 17th at the Regional 16 Meet on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Prides Creek Park to qualify for semi-state. Libby Stone, Kennedy Willis and Jenna Meyer finished within seconds of each other at the Regional 16 Meet at Prides Creek Park on Saturday, Oct. 19. Pike Central's Julian Gish makes a tackle during the eighth-grade game against South Spencer on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Weathers Field. By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central's Nate Woolery quali- fied for the IHSA A Semi-State 1 Cross Country Meet at Brown County on Sat- urday, Oct. 26, after a 17th-place finish at the Regional 16 Meet at Prides Creek Park on Saturday, Oct. 19. Woolery completed the course in 17 minutes and 28 seconds and was one of the top 10 individuals not on an ad- vancing team. "We are all very happy for Nate that he gets to race one more week," Pike Central coach Josh Roach said. "This is a level I have felt he is capable of for a few years, but injuries have held him back until now. He has learned how to manage his training better and is final- ly getting to be rewarded for the work he puts in. He has put so much into this sport and the rest of the kids see that. It's a great accomplishment for him and I don't think anyone on this team would disagree that he deserves this." The Chargers had two additional runners compete at the regional meet. Ijaa Chambers placed 53rd in 18:39 and Peyton Chanley finished 72nd in 19:17. "Ijaa had a great end to the season," Roach said. "He battled through a lot with his injury this year and just learn- ing to stay positive, not rush it back and See WOLLERY on 2 Lady Chargers come up just short of semi-state berth By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central girls' cross country team placed sixth at the Regional 16 Meet on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Prides Creek Park. The top five teams that advanced to the semi-state meet were South Knox, Evans- ville Memorial, Mount Vernon, Barr-Reeve and Princeton. The Lady Chargers bare- ly missed qualifying after finishing four points behind fifth-place Princeton, but finished ahead of Gibson Southern, Evans- ville Reitz and Evansville North. "Our girls ran a great race today," Pike Central coach Josh Roach said. "Unfortu- nately, it just wasn't in the cards for them. They did everything we asked of them and everything they could. They caught the people we were asking them to catch. They ran fantastic. Our number one through five runners all finished within 20 seconds of each other. It was a great finish to the season. The sting is there now, but when you step back and look at the improvement they all made over the course of the sea- son, it shows how great of a race they ran." Libby Stone and Quinlan Teague were Pike Central's top performers. Stone was 31st in 22 minutes and three seconds and By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central combined its seventh and eighth-grade football teams to form one squad, went on the road and hammered the Tecumseh Braves, 40 -8, on Thursday, Oct. 17. "I feel like we were able to have a lot of good things happen this week," Pike Cen- tral coach Jorden Froderman said. "Com- bining down to one team, we have the abil- ity to sub a lot more and get different guys off the field." The Chargers had a spectacular showing on defense, holding the Braves to just eight points and returning two interceptions for touchdowns. Pike Central's special teams Pike Central Middle School football puts on showcase against Tecumseh See SHOWCASE on 2 See FALL on 3 See SHORT on 2