The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
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2001 E Broadway, Princeton | 812-385-3479 kirchnerbuildingcenters.com Co n gra tula t i o n s T it ans ! MAKING HISTORY... MAKING MEMORIES Proud to support our Titan football athletes! Hwy. 165 (3 Miles west of Owensville) (812) 724-BEEF (2333) www.kennydewigmeats.com MEATS & SAUSAGE, INC. Proud part of TITAN NATION! D-6 Titans: 2021 3A State Champions Tuesday, November 30, 2021 South Gibson Star-Times Titans crush Lions at Sectional Semi-Final By Matthew Haycraft SG Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern faced off against the Salem Lions in the Sectional semi-final on Friday, Oct. 29, crush- ing them for the win and a place in the Sectional championship on Fri- day, Nov. 5. The Titans took the field and the crowd went wild as they charged on like an army ready for battle. Gibson Southern would kick off to the Lions to start the game. Titan freshman Cam Novotny kicked the ball to the 13-yard line, where the Lions' Trev- on Smedley caught it and returned it to the 17 for a 4-yard return. Salem picked up a 4-yard gain on their first play, but the Titan de- fense then stuffed them for a loss on two consecutive plays, putting them back at the 13-yard line and leaving them facing fourth and 13. A mishan- dled punt caused Salem's punter to try and scramble out of the back- field, but he was tackled at the line of scrimmage. It gave the Titans the ball just 13 yards from the endzone. Titan senior quarterback Brady Allen had an incomplete pass, but they quickly recovered on the next down with a six-yard pass to soph- omore Sean DeLong at the Lions' 7-yard line. This was followed up by a 7-yard run in for the touchdown by senior Adrean Lukeman for the first touchdown of the game. The PAT by senior Chris Spear was good, mak- ing the score 7-0 with 9:12 on the scoreboard in the first quarter. A fter the next kickoff, Salem re- turned it to the Lions' 28 for 18 yards, followed by a 3-yard run and a 6 -yard pass, placing the Lions at their 37-yard line. The Titans did what they do best and held the Li- ons in place for the next two downs. A fter a 3-yard gain on a run by De- Long, Allen sent a 28 -yard pass down the field to DeLong, which put the Ti- tans at the Salem six-yard line with a first down. They took advantage of this, with senior Rory Heltsley catch- ing a pass from Allen in the endzone for the touchdown and following it up with a good kick for the extra point, putting the score at 14-0. Salem put together a nine-play drive that covered 60 yards for a score. It was highlighted by a 16 -yard pass from Lion quarterback Ka- leb Tucker to Grant Mahuron and a 20 -yard pass by Trevon Smedley for 20 yards to the four-yard line, where Titan Noah Bryant knocked him out- of-bounds to save a touchdown. Tucker eventually pushed it in- to the endzone to make it 14-7 with 2:31 on the scoreboard in the first quarter. The Titans continued to battle forward through their next posses- sion, leading to a touchdown off of an 11-yard pass from Allen to Heltsley, and finished it up with a good kick for the extra point by Spear, putting the score at 21-7, with the Titans at a more comfortable lead. However, the comfort was short- lived, as Salem scored their next touchdown in just 14 seconds as Tucker hit Smedley for a 78 -yard score. The Titans rejected Salem's two-point conversion by blocking out the run attempt by Lions' Grant Ma- huron. Gibson Southern responded with a big play of their own. DeLong broke away for a 72-yard run, just 27 sec- onds after Salem had scored. The PAT by Spear made it 28 -13 with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. The second quarter began where the first one ended, at the Lions' 38 -yard line. The Titans effectively held the Lions, only letting one first down get past them, taking control of the ball on the Gibson Southern 37-yard line after a punt by the Li- ons' Hayden Baughman. A fter two first downs, Titan ju- nior Isaac O'Neal made an astound- ing catch off of a staggering 48 -yard pass by Allen. The crowd boomed with excite- ment. Gibson Southern went from their territory at the 48 -yard line to the Li- ons' 3-yard line. The Titans pushed the crowd further, when Allen ran the ball in for a touchdown. Spear followed this up with a PAT, placing the score at 35 -13, with 8:04 on the scoreboard in the second quarter. The Titans held the Lions through their possession of the ball, only let- ting them collect one first down. On the punt by Salem, Titan senior Brayden Malone bobbled the punt and he scrambled to cover it. While on the ground covering the ball, a Li- ons player speared him helmet to hel- met, leading to a personal foul, two 15 -yard penalties and Salem's player being thrown out of the game. Gibson Southern seemed to hard- en and became a force to reckon with through the rest of this quarter. They put up a wall and held Salem, while scoring two more touchdowns, a one- yard run in by Allen and an 18 -yard pass from Allen to Heltsley, along with two good PATs by Spear. The game went to halftime with the score 49 -13 and the Titans dominating. The third quarter started with the Titans receiving the kickoff on the 24-yard line and Adrean Lukeman returning it 11 yards to the Titans' 35 -yard line. Gibson Southern kept possession of the ball for most of the quarter, under a running clock. Both teams were locked in place, neither scoring, leaving the score at 49 -13 by end of the quarter. Gibson Southern started out with the ball in the fourth quarter on the Lions' 24-yard line. On the Titans' fourth down, sophomore Michael Herren received a 23-yard pass from sophomore Tanner Boyd for the touchdown, which was followed with a good PAT by Novotny, putting the score at 56 -13. The ball then went to the Lions, who fought for points under the run- ning clock against the Titans' re- serve defense. They ended up with a touchdown by Grant Mahuron, off of a 7-yard pass from Kaleb Tucker, which they followed up with a two- point conversion at 2:33 left in the game. By the time the Titans began with their possession, the game end- ed, leaving the Titans victorious over the Salem Lions by a score of 56 -21. The win pushes Gibson Southern's record to 10 -1. Gibson Southern's leaders of the game were: Brady Allen in passes with 15 of 21 for a total of 199 yards and three touchdowns; Sean DeLong in rushing, with seven carries, for a total of 133 yards and one touch- down; Rory Heltsley in receiving, with five receptions for a total of 63 yards and three touchdowns. Coach Nick Hart commented on the team and the win saying, "This time of year, just winning is the big- gest thing, so you get to move on and play for another weekend. Obvious- ly some things we can improve on, but right now it's a win and move on. So I thought our guys did a great job of that." "We've been without a sectional championship for too long. So it's a big week for us and our program, to try and get another win and a sec- tional championship." 56 21 - GIBSON SOUTHERN SECTIONAL: GAME 2 SALEM OCT. 29, 2021 GAME 11 Titan junior Luke Foster, along with seniors Logan Maurer, Peyton Rogers and Levi Dickerson, take the Lions' ball carrier down for the tackle during the Titans' Sectional semi-final game against Salem on Friday, October 29 at Gibson Southern. Cam Novotny launches a PAT during the Titans' 56-21 win over Salem.