The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, September 27, 2017 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 Above: Pike Central High School sophomore Quinton Sorgius returns the ball while playing doubles with junior teammate Kyle Williams during a match against visiting Heritage Hills on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Ed Cahill photo Right: Pike Central High School sophomore Andrew Claridge (right foreground) hits a return while playing doubles with sophomore teammate Colin Craig (left background) during a match against visiting Heritage Hills on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Ed Cahill photo By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Junior Draven Huff fin- ished 20th out of 127 total runners as the Pike Cen- tral High School boys' cross country team placed ninth out of 19 teams com- peting in the Pike Central Invitational's varsity boys' division on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Prides Creek Park. Huff completed the 3.1-mile course with a per- sonal course record time of 17:29, besting his pre- vious course PR time of 17:31 by two seconds. Chargers freshman Ijaa Chambers, meanwhile, placed 28th with a person- al course record time of 17:51, besting his previous course PR time of 18:02 by 11 seconds. In addition, senior Ca- den Armstrong placed 41st with a time of 18:13; fresh- The Pike Central High School boys' tennis team closed out the regular sea- son with a 4-1 loss to visiting Heritage Hills on Wednes- day, Sept. 20, and a 5 -0 loss to visiting Vincennes Lin- coln on Thursday, Sept. 21. Against Heritage Hills: At No. 1 singles, Char- gers senior Jackson Keep- es lost to Patriots junior Lo- gan Smallwood 6 -2, 6 -1. At No. 2 singles, Char- gers senior Carlos Stewart lost to Patriots senior Cam- eron VanWinkle 6 -1, 6 -2. At No. 3 singles, Char- gers freshman Ethan Huck lost to Patriots freshman Josh Dellamuth 6 -2, 6 -0. PATOKA VALLEY OUTDOORS By Sam Whiteleather By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Senior quarterback Manning Webb threw two touchdown pass- es and ran for another to lead South Spencer to a 29 -22 victo- ry over host Pike Central in high school football action on Friday, Sept. 22. Webb attempted 24 passes and completed 17 – including 10 to se- nior wide receiver Jaylen Taylor for 200 yards – as the Rebels post- ed their 31st consecutive victory over Pike Central. Among Taylor's catches were two touchdown receptions – one for 61 yards and the other for 11 yards. He also had catches for 47 and 22 yards. "We put our two best on (Tay- lor)," said Chargers head coach Erik Mattingly, whose team fell to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the Pock- et Athletic Conference. "We took him away some and he managed to make some plays some. He's a very talented young man." The game remained scoreless until Pike Central senior quar- terback Christian Alvey – one play after sophomore defensive back Connor O'Neal intercept- ed a pass by Webb – barreled his way up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown run with 2:23 left in the first quarter. Sophomore running back Ma- rio Fields then completed a pass to senior wide receiver Clint Bo- ger for the two-point conversion, giving the Chargers an 8 -0 lead. South Spencer (2-4 overall, 1- 3 in the PAC) – which had turned In front of me is a sec- tion of deep green river that's bordered by a tree- lined bank. I can see in the clear water that sev- eral moss covered logs provide perfect spots for large bass to hunker down and grab prey that drifts by in the current. I flip my tube jig down past one of the logs and begin carefully reeling it along the length of the log. I reel the bait be- fore pausing to let it rest on the bottom, mimick- ing the way a crawfish swims. From behind me a voice calls, "My shoe! " I turn around to see the oldest of my three kids running in shin-deep riv- er water chasing after her shoe. The purple crock bobs like a cork just out of arms reach. "Don't let your shoe float away," I call. She responds by picking up the pace and grabbing the shoe with a splashy lunge. "Put it back on be- fore you cut your foot," I call again. She bends over to put the shoe on, only to fall back into the water with a splash. The other two let loose with laughter, clearly amused at their sister's playful attempt to sat- isfy the orders of their fish-distracted Dad. All three are dressed in swim trunks and swim shirts of varying shades of pink or blue, large flop- py sun hats – again pink or blue – and neoprene life vests in shades of, yep, you guessed it, pink or blue. And each one sports a pair of crocks that magically fall off their feet and produce a never-ending supply of over-dramatic chase scenes. By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Two 40 -minute halves and two seven-minute overtime periods weren't enough to decide the outcome of a boys' high school soccer match between visiting Gibson South- ern and Pike Central on Thursday, Sept. 21. A fter battling the Titans to a 0 -0 tie, the No. 6 -ranked Chargers ultimately emerged victorious, winning 3-0 on penalty kicks by seniors Kyson Western, Tyler Meadors and Gavin Boyd to improve to 11-2-1, including 5 -0 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. But the true hero of the night turned out to be sopho- more back-up goalkeeper Noah Whann, who prevented penalty kicks by Gibson Southern freshman Justin Barthel and junior Alex Meyer from going into the goal before the Titans' third attempt – by senior Trey Riggs – hit the front side of the left upright and ricocheted away from the goal. "The third one, I just thank God for the miss," said Whann, who had spent the entire match on the bench. "That was great." "It's a crazy feeling," Whann added. "I've never had this feeling before. I mean, it feels great to be able to contrib- ute to the win, for the team." Chargers head coach Chad Western said afterward that he did not hesitate making the decision to replace senior goalkeeper Tyler Tormohlen – who recorded 12 saves while keeping Gibson Southern scoreless for 94 minutes – with Whann for the penalty kicks. "Tyler is an awesome goalie; he's our guy," Chad West- ern said. "But when we get to PKs, we just want to make sure we've got somebody that can read it a little better, and Noah works on that all the time." "We talked with both the boys about it, and they know what's going on," Chad Western added. "That's the plan South Spencer holds off Chargers for 29-22 victory Nighthawks PCHS BOYS' SOCCER TEAM DEFEATS GIBSON SOUTHERN ON PKS Pike Central High School senior Clint Bo- ger gets ready to kick a punt during game action against visiting South Spencer on Friday, Sept. 22. The Rebels held off the Chargers for a 29-22 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Cameron Henson (22) takes possession of the ball as Gibson Southern junior Avery Gick (left) closes in during varsity boys' soccer action on Thursday, Sept. 21. After battling to a 0-0 tie, the host Chargers won the game on penalty kicks, 3-0. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Tyler Meadors (5) tries to keep the ball away from Gibson Southern junior Eli Kefer (right) during varsity boys' soccer action on Thurs- day, Sept. 21. After battling to a 0-0 tie, the host Chargers won the game on penalty kicks, 3-0. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Draven Huff com- petes in the varsity boys division of the Pike Central Invita- tional on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Prides Creek Park. Huff placed 20th with a personal course re- cord time of 17:29. Ed Cahill photo See CHARGERS on 3 See SOCCER on 5 See RECORD on 6 See HAWKS on 6 See TENNIS on 4 See HUFF on 2 Burkhart sets school record at regional girls' golf tourney Saturday Senior Natalie Burkhart fired a 14-over-par 86 as the Pike Central High School girls' golf team placed 13th out of 18 teams in the re- gional tournament played on Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Country Oaks Golf Course in Montgomery. Burkhart had two birdies and five pars while break- ing the school record for a regional tournament score. The previous record of 89 was set by senior Courtney McMillen in 2007 and was tied by sophomore Natalie Bohnert in 2016. Bohnert, meanwhile, shot a 17-over-par 89 for the sec- ond straight year. She had four pars during her 18 -hole round. Sophomore Hadley Hold- er, who had one birdie and two pars, shot a 104, while seniors Mackenzie De- Weese – who had two pars – and Morgan DeWeese – who had one par – fired a 106 and 119, respectively. As a team, the Lady Char- gers had a score of 385, trail- ing Evansville North (319), Bedford North Lawrence (332), Evansville Memori- al (335), Vincennes Rivet (337), Martinsville (344), Seymour (346), North Har- rison (350), Floyd Central (351), Gibson Southern and Jasper (tied at 356), Brown- stown Central (379) and Washington (383). Mount Vernon (Posey) was 14th with a 385, followed by Corydon Central (386), Bloomington South (392), Southridge (402) and Indi- an Creek (411). The top three teams – Evansville North, Bedford North Lawrence and Evans- ville Memorial – advanced to the state tournament, which will be held on Friday, Sept. 29, and Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. Advancing as individuals to the state tournament are New Albany's Kaylan Hook, who shot a 76; North Harri- son's Hallie Hinton, who PCHS boys' tennis team ends regular season with losses to Heritage Hills, Vincennes Lincoln Chargers' Huff places 20th in Pike Central Invitational