The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 30, 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 By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The 2019 football season came to an end for the Pike Central Chargers on Friday, Oct. 25, against Brown County as they fell to the Eagles, 53-21, in the first round of the IHSA A Sec - tional 30 Tournament at Weath- er Field. Friday's game against Brown County (5 -5) was eerily remi- niscent of their meeting earlier this season when Charger mis- cues and mistakes led to short fields and points for the Eagles. "The things I felt like we could improve on, we did," Pike Cen- tral head coach Dave Stephens said. "We had a couple of unfor- tunate turnovers, but fumbles are fumbles. You can't turn the ball over. There are turnovers and takeaways, and we turned it over." Pike Central committed five total fumbles, four of which Brown County recovered, and also threw an interception and had a punt blocked. "The upback didn't go to the correct direction," Stephens said. "Long story short, if you watched both games, know what we have lost and that they brought back the same daggone team. I am very pleased with what we did and the growth that our young men showed." Brown County got off to an early 13-0 lead, but junior tight end Stephen Kreig made a short catch and sprinted into the end zone for a 48 -yard touchdown for Pike Central to narrow the mar- gin to 13-6, with two minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Krieg did a good job playing tight end after primarily lining up at wide receiver all season. "He blocked well for it being his first time as an inline block- er," Stephens said. "He also showed that he has some speed and can catch the ball." Krieg really impressed the Chargers' coaching staff down the stretch by drastically eval- uating his performance during the final three games of the sea- son. Pike Central running back Wyatt Frasure scored on a 48 -yard run to make the score 20 -13, with 11:38 left in the sec- ond quarter, after a quick touch- down by Brown County. Frasure scored the Chargers' final touchdown late in the game on a 95 -yard run, and finished with the best game of his young high school career. He finished with 20 attempts, 240 yards and two touchdowns, and made 13 tackles on defense. "Wyatt is a machine," Ste- phens said. "He runs like he is angry at somebody. If he can get into the open field, your just not going to catch him from be- hind. There were a couple times where it looks like it's going to be a short gain and he turns it into a 10 -yard gain. I haven't charted his yards after contract this sea - son, but he has a ton of them." Frasure has also really settled into his linebacker role, where he finished the season with about 100 tackles. "He's very instinctive, can read plays, diagnose it and get there," Stephens said. "He's just keeps getting better and better. We are very excited about Wy- att's future." Pike Central is expected to run the ball more than it did this season with such a talented runner returning and go from a true air raid team to a more pow- er run, spread attack. Pike Central's Nate Woolery 92nd at semi-state cross country meet BROWN COUNTY ELIMINATES PIKE CENTRAL IN SECTIONAL REMATCH The Chargers' Jaggar Dent returns a kickoff during the Chargers' 53-21 sectional loss to Brown County at Weath- ers Field. Pike Central running back Wyatt Frasure runs aways from a Brown County defender on Friday, Oct. 25 in the first round of the IHSA A Sectional 30 Tournament. Nate Woolery By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Nate Woolery is his most authen- tic and true self when he's running. The Chargers' senior finished 92nd in 17 minutes and 42 seconds during the IHSA A Cross Country Semi-State Meet at Brown County on Saturday, Oct. 26. "Running has helped me figure out who I am over the past five years since I started in eighth grade," Woolery said. "It has really helped me over- come a lot and has really built my character and work ethic up. Mental- ly it has made me tough, and spiritu- ally it has made me vulnerable. That's one thing that I love about this sport. Roach has had a huge influence over my life ever since he talked me in- to joining. I wish I would have taken more time to enjoy the sport and the time I had with a really great coach. I can only hope I find someone like him in college who will be a mentor, best friend and role model like he has been the past five years." This was the first time Woolery had qualified for semi-state after traveling to the meet to support his teammates the past two seasons. "I have wanted to compete at this meet since freshman year," Woolery said. "So finally being able to compete was really exciting. Overall, it's some- thing I'm glad I got to do even though I'm not happy with how it turned out—time-wise, I wanted to be faster." It was a very sloppy day on the course at Brown County due to some rain and low temperatures, but nei- ther was a huge factor for Woolery, who actually prefers it a little cooler than the average runner. "The weather was something I was really hoping would play to my ad- vantage," he said. "I heard that the meet might get cancelled, but I had a gut feeling it wouldn't. I like the cold and the rain didn't bother me. It played a much bigger role than I thought it would. I found it extreme- ly hard to pass on the course because you couldn't take the outside on any corners. I just couldn't seem to get away from anyone and was constant- ly bumping into people. The course was filled with big puddles of water and sloppy mud." Woolery said the amount of ath- letes on the course was more of a fac- tor than the conditions. "The competition was enjoyable," he said. "It is always nice to have so many people to push you in a race, al- though the amount of kids running in the same time range made it hard to build momentum on the course and get moving. You have to get out about 15 to 20 secs above your race pace in the first kilometer, at least you did this year, just to get a good spot to run. I didn't set myself up well at the start to run what I wanted to." Pike Central cross country coach Josh Roach said the race was tough to plan for because of the weather con- ditions. "It felt like a battle the whole time," Roach said. "It was hard to run the routes he had originally wanted be- cause everyone was avoiding the pud- dles or slick spots. It kind of funneled everyone into the same spots and re- ally made it harder to pass. It was a fun weekend overall and something he will look back on and be happy he got to do. The sting is there right now because he wanted to have a bet- ter result, but he can't control that. He had a great year and when he re- flects on it, he will see the rewards of his work." Woolery intends to run at the col- lege level, but he's currently talking to a couple different schools and weighing his options. "I am definitely planning on run- ning at a college level," he said. "I plan to go to college for exercise sci- ence and pursue a career in coach- ing or athletic training of some sort. Ultimately my big goal, which it has been since I started running, is to run professionally at a fairly competitive level." See REMATCH on 2 By Dennis Marshall Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central Middle School football teams com- bined to form one squad in its final game this season. The Chargers had a quick turnaround after playing just four days earlier, but the team won 50 -34 at Tell City on Tues- day, Oct. 22. "We didn't get the practice time we normally get to prepare for a team, but we played very well considering a quick turn- around," Pike Central Middle School coach Jorden Froder- man said. "Offensively, it didn't hurt us as much because they run a traditional defensive, but our defense struggled a little more, giving up more than we might have otherwise. Howev- er, they run an offense that is hard to stop under normal con- ditions. "All that being said, we had a lot of good things happen during the game. We got a lot of people involved and came out with a win. Our boys are start- ing to understand the game and how our offense works to take advantage of things in the game. Our kids are starting to bring information to me that helps in how plays are called. It's not so much they're telling me what to run, but giving in- formation that helps in the call- ing of offense. The offensive line is coming off and under- standing leverages of defend- ers and how that effects the run game and the receivers are recognizing coverages. Overall, this year was a great success in building smart football players. This season has been great and it has been an honor to be able to coach this team. Both our seventh and eighth grade have a lot of talent and are some high character kids." While all the players play a role in the overall success of the team, two members of the eighth-grade squad had excep- tionally productive seasons. Quarterback Quade Mor- ton finished the season with 1,482 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air. He also rushed for another 883 yards and 12 touchdowns. Wide receiver Ju- lian Gish was a star on both sides of the ball for the Char- gers this season. He had 1,034 yards receiving, with 22 touch- downs. He also made multiple interceptions on defense, many of which he returned all the way for a touchdown. Pike Central head varsity football Dave Stephens said he is excited for all of these young men to join the high school team and looks forward to their future development and growth. The Chargers' Zane Gehlhausen runs through a nice hole his offensive line made earlier this season against South Spencer. Pike Central eighth-grade running back Ari McDonald runs for a big gain earlier this season. Pike Central Middle School football: Chargers' team combine to hang half a hundred on Marksmen