The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1433249
2 - 4 - 6 - 8. Who Do We Appreciate? We are proud of you! Mark Meny n Randy Meny License#CP30300017, License#HAC20643 408 E. State Road 68, Haubstadt n 812-768-6229 For all Your Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Needs Hwy 64 W • Princeton • 812-386-6193 SteveFaulknerChevroletBuickGMC.com GREATNESS Congratulatio 2021 Tita! Built For D-2 Titans: 2021 3A State Champions Tuesday, November 30, 2021 South Gibson Star-Times Titans football runs into South Warren's buzzsaw By Andy Heuring SG Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Speed kills. That axiom was on dis- play in Bowling Green, when Gibson Southern played the South Warren Spartans. The third ranked Spartans showed why they are considered a contender for the Kentucky 5A state championship on their way to a 42-7 win over the Titans. A fter two possessions, South War- ren led 14-0 and Gibson Southern had total of two yards. The Titans' one highlight in the first quarter was a one-handed in- terception by Drew Foster. It gave the Titans the ball at their 28 -yard line, down just 14-0. Gibson South- ern couldn't capitalize, as a holding penalty on second down was followed by a quarterback sack and fumble. Three plays later, South Warren had a 22-0 lead. On Gibson Southern's fifth posses- sion of the game, quarterback Brady Allen finally connected with Rory Heltsley for an 11-yard gain as the second quarter began. It was their first, first down of the game. On the next play, Sean DeLong got a sec- ond first down with a 10 -yard run. Just when the Titans had some mo- mentum, a hand-off exchange went wrong and South Warren recovered. "We had a lot of unforced errors," said Titan Head Coach Nick Hart of their first loss. "They are a really good football team. Playing a team like them exposes a lot of errors. The great thing is we are playing this game and having them exposed in Sept., instead of when we are in the tournament," said Hart. Three plays later, South Warren was up 28 -0 and the game had of- ficially turned into a romp, with 11 minutes to go in the second quarter. Hart said it wasn't so much shock and awe, as it was they were just knocked back on their heels and off balance in the first half. Gibson Southern went into half- time trailing 36 -0. "Defensively they are unbeliev- able. They have two D1 corner- backs," said Hart of South Warren. Early in the game, they broke up numerous passes by closing on the ball quickly and knocking away Al- len's passes. Allen had passed for more than 200 yards in each of the three previ- ous games. Most high school quar- terbacks would be glad to pass for 120 yards on 12 of 20 passing for one touchdown. He spent much of the night under pressure. When Gibson Southern returned to the field after half-time and had a chance to get settled in, they looked much better. They got a defensive stop. "When we didn't give them a short field, we were able to get a defen- sive stop and then we scored. They still had their starters in. I know when you are up 36 -0, you proba- bly are playing a little different, but I thought we executed a lot better," said Hart. He said a lot of their problems in the first half weren't so much sche- matic errors, but mental errors of not being in the right position before the ball was snapped. Their lone score came on the first possession of the second half. Al- len hit Isaac O'Neal for an 11-yard gain. A fter a two-yard loss on second down, Allen hit a streaking Brayden Malone in stride over the middle. He was gone for a 48 -yard score. It made it a 36 -7 game, but because they trailed 36 -0 at the half, the sec- ond half was played with a running clock that limited the Titans to on- ly a couple of possessions a quarter. Hart said the Titans didn't do a very good job of executing in the first half. He admitted South War- ren's speed, causing the Titans to have to speed up, contributed to some of their errors. "We didn't do a very good job of executing." "We learned a lot from this game. Hopefully, we can take a lot away from it." He said it is the first time this year they have faced a team that jumped on them and they had to respond. "It will make us a better team," said Hart of playing South Warren. - 7 GIBSON SOUTHERN 42 SOUTH WARREN SEPT. 10, 2021 GAME 4 Titan receiver Rory Heltsley pulls in a pass as he is being hit by a South Warren defender. Heltsley had four catches for 40 yards in the Titans 42-7 loss Friday. Titans dominate Southridge in Game 5 comeback By Andy Heuring SG Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Big plays propelled Gibson South- ern as they dominated Southridge for a 63-9 win. Whether it was all- time leading Titan passer Brady Al- len repeatedly throwing over the top of Southridge defenders for a touch- down or Michael Herren blowing through the Raider coverage for a 93-yard kickoff return, any doubt about the game was gone early in the first quarter. "I thought it was a great team win. We made a couple of plays on special teams. On offense, every time we had it, we scored, except where we ran out the time at end of the half," said Titan Coach Nick Hart. Gibson Southern ran only 32 plays in the game, 15 less than South- ridge's 47 plays, but they not only outscored them by 52 points, they outgained them by 441 to 121 yards. Again the Titan offense was a stan- dard in efficiency. They scored nine touchdowns and had 19 first downs in only 32 plays. So only four plays didn't result in a score or a first down. Allen had another stellar night, completing 13 of 14 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns. The one incompletion was a dropped bomb that would have been a touchdown. Rory Heltsley had another big night as well, catching seven passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. The defense had a big night as well, holding Southridge to just 121 yards of offense and only 69 yards off rushing in 36 carries. "We harped on details all week," said Hart. It paid off Friday night. Hart said he was proud of how the Titans paid attention to getting the little things right Friday night. He said not getting those details right the previous week against South Warren had cost them. "Just some things, little things, if you are missing a line by a few yards against a team like South Warren, it is go- ing to make the difference. If you are more athletic than an opponent, you can get away with it, but not with a team like South Warren, that was a great lesson to learn," said Hart. In the first half, the Titans scored touchdowns on their first seven pos- sessions. On their eighth possession, they took over with 1:47 on the clock and mercifully let time expire. It was a dominant performance from the opening drive. Gibson Southern went 81 yards in 10 plays, which included passes of 29, 18 and 13 yards, all to Heltsley, before Allen found him in the endzone for a four- yard touchdown. A long kickoff return by South- ridge got them to the Gibson South- ern 32-yard line. An 18 -yard carry by Kaden Neukam got them to the 16 -yard line. The Titan defense stiff- ened and forced a 35 -yard field goal by Max Jesse. Southridge would only get two more first downs in the first half. Sophomore Michael Herren put up a quick score on the kickoff return. He took the kickoff at the seven, cut to the middle of the field, found a seam and cut it back to the left side- line, and went untouched 93 yards for a touchdown and 14-3 lead at the 6:29 mark of the first quarter. A three and out by Southridge got the ball back into Allen's hands at the 5:18 mark. He hit Cole McKee for a six-yard gain. Then on second down, his pass went off Heltsley's fingertips. Helts- ley was several steps behind South- ridge's defender and on his way to the endzone. Two plays later, the two ran the same play. Again Heltsley was several steps behind the South- ridge defense and he waltzed into the endzone for a 21-3 lead. On the next defensive series, Tye Whitledge sacked Raider quarter- back Levi Neukam for a six-yard loss, leading to another three and out. Gibson Southern put pressure on the punt and it was punted into the back of a Southridge player. The miscue allowed Gibson Southern to take over at the 19 -yard line. On the second play of the series, Allen lofted a pass to Cole McKee in the endzone for a 21-yard touchdown and a 27-3 lead, with 2:46 still left in the first quarter. The Titan defense again stifled Southridge's offense. A face mask penalty helped the Raiders to a first down before Gibson Southern had three consecutive tackles for a loss. Levi Dickerson stuffed Reid Schro- eder in the backfield for a one-yard loss, Peyton Rogers tackled Kaden Neukam for a four-yard loss, and then Dickerson and Aidan Barrett sacked Neukam for nine-yard loss. Gibson Southern got the ball back on the 50. It took only two plays, a 12-yard pass to McKee, followed by a 38 -yard touchdown pass to Heltsley, and the Titans had extended their lead to 35 -3. Their final score of the half came on a four-play, 63-yard drive that started with a seven-yard loss on a quarterback sack. Allen then hit McKee for a 42-yard gain, Kaden Hurless for a 26 -yard gain and then Hurless for a two-yard touchdown on consecutive plays. Chris Spear hit his seventh consecutive PAT of the half to make it 42-3 with 5:26 left. Gibson Southern's reserves took over in the second half, as the start- ers did not return to the field. They pretty much took up where the starters left off. Despite a run- ning clock limiting each team to about two possessions a quarter, the Titans scored three more times. Southridge burned eight minutes off the clock with their opening drive to make it 42-9. Then it was all Gibson Southern. Tanner Boyd and Devan Roberts both put up big numbers in the sec- ond half for the Titans. Roberts scored at the 11:15 mark of the fourth quarter on a nine-yard run. Luke Foster recovered a South- ridge fumble at the Southridge 12. Boyd scored on the first play of the series on a 12-yard run, making it 56 -9. Then with 3:20 left in the game, Roberts ripped off a 65 -yard run. He had 85 yards in just four carries. Boyd had three carries for 48 yards. They were the Titans' leading rush- ers on the night. 63 9 - GIBSON SOUTHERN SOUTHRIDGE SEPT. 17, 2021 GAME 5 Titan receiver Cole McKee pulls in a pass in the endzone on Friday during the Titans' 63-9 win over Southridge. It was one of five touchdown passes by Brady Allen.