The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
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Congrats Titans on a great season! Jason A. Rainey Financial Advisor 121 S. Vine Street PO BOX 437 Haubstadt, IN 47639 812-615-5075 jason.rainey@edwardjones.com Member SIPC Titans are winners in our books! C-8 Titans: 2021 3A State Champions Tuesday, November 30, 2021 South Gibson Star-Times Titans begin season with a big Bulldog win By Andy Heuring SG Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com What a difference a year makes. Gibson Southern jumped on Colum- bus North early, going up 21-0, and made some big plays when they had to as they rolled over the Bulldogs 43-20. "This is a huge win for our program. It may be the best perfor- mance in my 10 years, but it has to be the start and not the finish," said a ju- bilant Titan Head Coach Nick Hart. "A year ago, I was contemplating lay- ing down in front of the bus," said Hart as they prepared to leave Co- lumbus following a 48 -6 drubbing. This year, he practically floated off the field following the game. Air Titan was just too much for the 6A Bulldogs to keep up with, as se- nior quarterback Brady Allen burned Columbus North for 377 yards and five touchdowns, completing 24 of 39 passes. The combination of Al- len to senior receiver Rory Helts- ley scorched the Bulldogs nearly any time they needed to. Heltsley caught 11 passes for 219 yards and four touchdowns, for a 29.9 yard per catch average. His catches included touchdowns of 43, 48 and 30 yards. A play at the goal line probably should have been a fifth touchdown for Helt- sley, but contact made at the goal line resulted in a fumble recovered by the Bulldogs at the one-yard line, much to the dismay of Hart and the Titan fans. Heltsley wasn't Allen's only tar- get. Two other Titans, Cole McKee and Kaden Hurless, both topped 50 yards receiving as well. Hurless add- ed a touchdown on a fourth and goal play from the 24. "Kid (Allen) has played some pret- ty darn good games the last four years. I have never seen him play like that. He always plays at a pretty high level, that was super impressive. "Now, I'm going to expect that out of him every week. He was phe- nomenal, but everyone was. We had guys making big catches all over the place. He was phenomenal, but I thought we were as a whole," said Hart. Allen clearly is bigger, stronger and more relaxed behind center this year. When he was pressured, he didn't bolt. He moved out of the pock- et, extended the play and often found an open receiver. At other times, he threw the ball away. Despite passing the ball 39 times, he had no intercep- tions, not even any close calls. When Gibson Southern needed a first down and he got flushed out of the pock- et, he put his head down and either juked a defender or drove smaller defensive backs backward for the first-down yards. He picked up first downs running three times on third or fourth downs. Gibson Southern dominated on offense, as they ran 74 plays, com- pared to Columbus North's 47, and out-gained them 494 to 307, especial- ly through the air, where they had 377 yards passing compared to the Bulldogs' 132. Gibson Southern took control of the game immediately when Brayden Malone cut in front of a Bulldog re- ceiver on just the second play of the game, intercepting senior quarter- back Luke Hammons' pass at the 38 -yard line. It looked like the Titans were go- ing to have a hard time moving the ball when their first two plays result- ed in losses of five and three yards. That was before Allen zipped a 15 -yard pass to Cole McKee on third and 20. Facing fourth and five, Co- lumbus North jumped offsides, giv- ing Gibson Southern a first down at the 27. Seven plays later, Allen hit a wide-open Heltsley in the corner of the endzone for a five-yard touch- down. The Titan defense kept the pres- sure on Columbus North. Their first three offensive plays resulted in a to- tal of three yards, forcing them to punt. Allen and the Titan offense took only five plays to cover the 60 yards for their next score. A Malone run for two yards, followed by a three-yard pass to Hurless and a seven-yard pass to McKee, got the Titans a first down. Titan tailback Sean Delong ran 18 times for a tough 52 yards, gaining five yards. On the next play, Heltsley faked inside, then went back outside and broke free down the sidelines. Allen hit him wide open near the 20 and strolled into the endzone unchal- lenged for a 14-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs mounted a strong drive behind the running of senior tailback Dyllan Redmon and their big offensive line. Redmon ran the ball four of their first five plays, go- ing six, five, nine and five yards, but he suffered a leg injury on the fourth carry and never returned to the game. He was replaced by Connor Es- sick, who promptly broke free for a 19 -yard gain to the Titan 19, but on the next play, he fumbled and Gib- son Southern's Levi Dickerson recov- ered after Ethan Ziliak knocked the ball loose. Gibson Southern ground out a 16 -play drive that covered 72 yards and saw the Titans overcome a two- yard loss, a holding penalty and a four-yard sack that left them facing fourth and goal from their 24. On a play that took a long time to develop, Allen zipped a pass up the middle to a wide open Hurless at the four-yard line and he ran into the endzone to make it 21-0 with 3:14 left in the half. "Fourth and goal from the 25, he (Allen) knew they were going to fly over the top of Rory, when we run the verticals. He bought just enough time to hit Hurless on the screen. He is seeing it as soon as I'm seeing it and he has some pretty good weap- ons out there with him. I thought the game just seemed slow to him. He is just processing everything so fast," said Hart of Allen's development. Columbus North finally got on the scoreboard with 1:06 left in the half. They took over on the 48 and went 52 yards in seven plays as Hammons burned the Titans with passes of 15 and 19 yards, as well as a couple of nice runs on the drive to make it 21- 7 at halftime. Gibson Southern started the sec- ond half with a 75 -yard drive that fell short at the one yard line when Helt- sley fumbled. Titan fans were sure he had crossed the goal line but Co- lumbus North took over at the one. Gibson Southern got a huge break. Columbus North, feeling pressure, hiked the ball into the endzone, sail- ing the snap over the quarterback's head and out of the endzone for an automatic safety. It gave the Titans two points for a 23-7 lead and the ball. Gibson Southern wasn't able to score and punted. Columbus, be- hind the veteran Hammons, moved the ball 77 yards in 11 plays, that in- cluded passes of 42, 13 and 5 yards, as well as four rushes by Hammons, totaling 30 yards. They attempted a two-point conversion, but it failed, making the score 23-13 with 3:25 left in the third quarter. It also made the mood a little tense on the Titan side of the field. The suspense didn't last long. Allen promptly marched the Ti- tans 79 yards in 11 plays, that in- cluded passes of 19 and 28 yards to Heltsley, before 210 -pound tailback Adrean Lukeman muscled it into the endzone from the 13-ard line to make it 30 -13. Gibson Southern's defense then forced a three and out as Peyton Rogers broke up a first down pass. Ethan Ziliak dropped Hammons af- ter only four yards. Hammons' third down pass was incomplete and Gib- son Southern took over at their 38 -yard line. Any suspense about the game's outcome was quickly erased. Al- len connected with Heltsley on an- other bomb down the left side for a 48 -yard score and the Titans held a 37-13 lead with 9:34 left. Gibson Southern's defense forced another three and out. Allen and Heltsley hit the repeat button, connecting on the same play for a 30 -yard touchdown and a 43-17 lead with 4:26 left. Columbus scored two minutes lat- er, but it was far too little and too late. A year after being shell shocked by the Bulldogs, Gibson Southern walked away with one of their big- gest regular season wins ever. The Titans' 43 points is more than Co- lumbus North gave up all last sea- son, including to 6A state champi- on Center Grove. The Bulldogs have only given up 43 or more points one other time in their last five seasons. "Our kids have been unbelievable from the Monday after the South- ridge loss until now. They are to- gether. If you play for each other, you play at a higher level and our guys have been playing for each oth- er in the weight room and through the summer stuff. It is a really spe- cial group. They are talented, don't get me wrong, but it is a really spe- cial group, in how close they are and what they want to accomplish. It was great to see that get paid off tonight," said Hart. 43 20 - GIBSON SOUTHERN COLUMBUS NORTH AUGUST 20, 2021 GAME 1 Kaden Hurless tucks away the football after making a catch in- side the five-yard line that he took into the endzone. It was on fourth and goal from the 24-yard line. In the background, Jacob Bales and Brady Allen celebrate. It gave the Titans a 21-0 lead. Logan Maurer (5), Ben Luttrell (7) and Ethan Ziliak (41) tackle a Columbus North ball carrier for no gain. 2021 GIBSON SOUTHERN SEASON RECAP: