The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
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104 N. Main St, Owensville 812-724-3501 or 1-800-440-4888 www.holdersfurniture.net This is how LEGENDS are made Congratulations on an astonishing 2021 season! Winning Like champions! 820 S. Main, Princeton • 812-386-8282 www.TheAutoParke.com Come see us to drive like a champion Way to go, Titans! Drew Foster makes a diving tackle of a Tri-West player. Noah Bryant runs up field after making an interception. Adrean Lukeman tackles Nate Joiner of Tri-West during the Ti- tans' 44-7 win in the semi-state. The win earned Gibson South- ern their first trip to the 3A state finals. South Gibson Star-Times Titans: 2021 3A State Champions Tuesday, November 30, 2021 D-9 Titans make history with first Semi-State win By Andy Heuring SG Star-Times Sports sports@sgstartimes.com Gibson Southern pounced on Tri- West early, scoring twice in their first four offensive plays to take a 14- 0 lead just 2:40 into the game. They never looked back on their way to a 44-7 win and the Titans' first trip to the State Championship game in Lu- cas Oil Stadium. Gibson Southern's Brady Allen-led offense was simply too much for the highly regarded Tri-West defense. Allen and Rory Heltsley had their best performances of the season. Allen racked up 350 yards of pass- ing in the first half. He finished with 28 of 44, passing for 385 yards and three touchdowns, with just one in- terception. Titan fans got to witness histo- ry in the making. Along with lead- ing the Titans to a dominating per- formance over the 10th-ranked Bru- ins, Allen became the all-time touch- down pass leader in Indiana history with 143 touchdown passes. He al- so moved to number two on the ca- reer passing list for Indiana, as he reached 11,497. Only Jake Schiff, of Mater Dei, has ever passed for more at 12,195. Allen also moved to 3,855 yards passing on the season, which puts him at 14th on the single season list with a game to go. Heltsley, meanwhile, had 15 catch- es for 219 yards and one touchdown, giving him 1,533 yards for the sea- son, a total that moved him to 16th on the all-time single season receiv- ing list in Indiana, just 10 yards be- hind David Bell, who is playing for Purdue. Tri-West won the flip and decided to defer the kickoff. It might have been a mistake. Gibson Southern took over at the 35. On second down, Allen hit a div- ing Heltsley for 28 yards and a first down at the Tri-West 36. Another pass to Heltsley went for 25 yards to the Bruin 11. Allen then hit Brayden Malone on a screen. Malone made a defender miss and zipped into the endzone with the help of a block from Kayden Hurless. Chris Spear came in and drilled the PAT for a 7-0 lead just 1:06 in- to the game. The defense was nearly as impres- sive. Tri-West took over at the 29 -yard line. On first down, Bruin quarter- back Ty Owens hit Jace Mohr for a seven-yard gain. But on second down, an errant snap was chased down by Owens, just before Levi Dickerson arrived to sack him for a 13-yard loss. Their third down play was an incomplete pass and Gibson Southern received their punt at the Titan 33-yard line. On first down, Allen dropped back, sidestepped a Bruin defender and then zipped a pass to Hurless at the 50. Hurless accelerated way from the defenders and Gibson Southern led 14-0 just two minutes and 10 seconds into the game. A reeling Tri-West team tried to regroup and picked up a first down, moving the ball to the 37. Two plays later, they were looking at third and five, with Owens being stopped just short of the first down. The Bruins rolled the dice and decided to take a chance on fourth down from their 47-yard line. Levi Dickerson made them pay. He split the gap between two blockers and ran over tailback Davon Brown three yards deep in the backfield. It gave the Titans a first and 10 from the Bruin 44-yard line. Allen hit Malone for 11 and 12-yard gains, sandwiched around an incom- plete pass. He then ran out of the back field for a 12-yard gain to the Bruin 22. A fter an incomplete pass on first down, Allen hit Dickerson for a six-yard gain to the five. An incomplete pass to Hurless left the Titans facing fourth and four. Spear came on and hit the first of three consecutive field goals for the Titans. They led 17-0 with 5:50 left in the game. A gutsy Tri-West drive, helped out by a pass-interference penalty, moved the ball across mid-field as the Bruins put it on the line twice, going for it on fourth down, once fourth and one and another fourth and four. They had converted twice, but now faced fourth and five at the Titan 26 -yard line. This time, Owens' pass was too high and gave the Ti- tans a first down at their 26 -yard line. A pass to Malone picked up six. But on second down, Allen tried to zip a pass to the sideline that was picked off by Tri-West. Tri-West took advantage of Allen's third interception of the season. One the second play of the series, Owens hit Landen Ross for a 30 -yard touch- down pass, making it 17-7, with 1:46 still left in the first quarter. It was the last time Tri-West would score. Gibson Southern and Tri-West traded possession, and both moved the ball, but stalled out. Gibson Southern took over at 35 -yard line with 4:12 left in the half. Allen hit Heltsley on second down for 15 yards to the 48. A holding penalty set them back 10 yards and left the Titans facing third and 24. Allen hit Heltsley for 27 yards for a first down at the Bruin 27-yard line. They re- peated the play this time for 25 yards to the Bruin 10. They would get it to the one-yard line on two runs by Adrean Luke- man, but two consecutive false starts and another incompletion left them looking at fourth and 10 from the 11. Spear came on and hit his second field goal and moved the Titan lead to 20 -7 with 1:52 left. Tri-West took the kick and tried three passes, all incomplete. They were forced to punt, giving the Ti- tans the ball back at mid-field. Allen immediately hit Heltsley for 16 yards, then Hurless for sev- en to get them to the Bruin 30 -yard line with 1:16 left. Facing fourth and three, Allen hit Heltsley for 22 yards to get the Titans to the eight-yard line with 48 seconds left. An incom- plete pass, followed by an intentional grounding penalty, left them facing third and goal from the 24. Allen went to Malone for 15, which got them back to the Bruin nine-yard line. Spear trotted back onto the field with nine seconds left and hit his third field goal in a row and Gibson Southern led 23-7. With Tri-West getting the kickoff to start the second half, last week's comeback by Lawrenceburg was still fresh in the minds of Titan fans. A seven-yard run by Tri-West, topped off by a late hit 15 -yard penalty, mov- ing the Bruins to Titans' 40 -yard line didn't help. Tri-West decided to take a shot, but it was overthrown. Owens would try three consecutive long passes for quick strikes, but all three were in- complete. Facing fourth and 10, Tri- West decided to go for it. Tri-West at- tempted an option, but Owens' pitch to his tailback was fumbled and the Titans swarmed them for a 10 -yard loss. The Titans came out and started a methodical drive that covered 47 yards in 10 plays, with Allen hitting Heltsley for a three-yard touchdown and a 30 -7 lead. Tri-West mounted one last drive, marching to the Titan 28 -yard line in 12 plays, including a successful fourth down conversion. But on third and three, at the 28, Brown tried to go up the middle and was hit by Cade Virgin and Sloan Cox, knocking the ball loose. Ben Luttrell recovered and the Titans took over at the 28 with 3:27 left in the third quarter. Sean DeLong had the longest run of the game, as he went around the left side and raced down the sidelines for 52 yards to the Bruin 19. Six plays later, Allen dove into the endzone on fourth down from the one for a 37-7 lead with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. If there was any doubt left about the outcome, it ended when Noah Bryant ran under a tipped pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown and a 44-7 lead as the third quarter ended. "It just fell out of his hands and I was able to be behind him and take it. Nobody was really in front of me," said Bryant about the interception and return. The 37-point lead triggered the mercy rule and a running clock for the entire fourth quarter. Gibson Southern's starters spent the last quarter plotting a Gatorade dousing of Coach Hart. "I feel amazing. You know, first time to win semi-state. It feels pretty good. And you know we are not done yet, we still got one more, one more to win. But it feels great right now. Sack and then recover felt great," said Titan Ben Luttrell about the game. "These guys have done such a great job of putting in the work. Of- fensively and defensively, we were cling. We didn't finish drives in the red zone, but that is the coach com- ing out in me. A great effort by our guys," said Coach Nick Hart follow- ing the game. 44 7 - GIBSON SOUTHERN SEMI-STATE TRI-WEST NOV. 20, 2021 GAME 14