The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, September 27, 2017 B- 3 the ball over on downs on its first possession when Fields sacked Webb for a nine-yard loss on 4th-and-17 from the Chargers' 21-yard line with 6:11 left in the first quarter – wasted little time responding. A fter sophomore running back Brenden Moore was thrown for a five-yard loss on 1st-and-10 from the Rebels' 44-yard line, Webb connect- ed with Taylor on a 57-yard pass that gave South Spencer a first down at the Chargers' 14 yard line. Two plays later, Moore scored on a four-yard run with 51 seconds left in the opening period. Webb then hooked up with Taylor on the two-point conversion, tying the score at 8 -8. Pike Central, starting at its own 36 -yard line, advanced the ball across midfield and had a first down at the Rebels' 38 -yard line at the start of the second period. However, af- ter three runs – by senior full- back Jake Sisk, Fields and Al- vey – netted no gain, the Char- gers elected to punt. Unfortunately, the punt at- tempt by Boger went off the side of his foot and went out of bounds at the 34-yard line – a net of four yards. A 22-yard pass from Webb to Taylor pushed the ball past midfield, to Pike Central's 44-yard line. A fter the Reb- els were flagged for a false start penalty, Webb connect- ed with senior running back Kyle Bowman for a 19 -yard pass, giving South Spencer a fresh set of downs at the Char- gers' 30 -yard line. Facing 1st-and-15 follow- ing another false start penal- ty, South Spencer got a nine- yard run by Moore but, on the next play, sophomore running back Kaje Cron was tackled for a six-yard loss by Fields. Two plays later, the Reb- els would turn the ball over on downs at the Chargers' 29 -yard line. However, following back-to- back runs by Alvey that netted a total of three yards, an inter- ception by Taylor gave South Spencer the ball at the Pike Central 39 -yard line. The Rebels offense sub- sequently picked up a pair of first downs while advanc- ing the ball to the Chargers' 14-yard line. But the drive was short-circuited by back-to- back penalties – one for hold- ing, the other for a false start – that backed South Spencer up to the Pike Central 31-yard line, where the Rebels faced 2nd-and-26. A fter completing a nine- yard pass to Taylor on third down, Webb's pass attempt on fourth down was intercepted by Chargers' senior defensive back Adam Wilkison, who re- turned it to the Pike Central 10 -yard line with 36 seconds remaining. Alvey then took the snap from center and went to a knee to send the game into halftime tied at 8 -8. South Spencer took the lead on the third play of the second half, when Webb connected with Taylor on a 71-yard touchdown pass that – following the point-after kick by junior Cole Dawson – gave the Rebels a 15 -8 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Fields caught the ball at the Chargers' 25 -yard line and returned it to near midfield, when the ball popped loose and began rolling up the field with a South Spencer player in close pursuit. Luckily for Pike Central, however, the ball bounced out of bounds at the Rebels' 40 -yard line before South Spencer could recover it. A 12-yard run by Alvey and a 26 -yard run by Fields set up a two-yard touchdown run by Alvey, cutting the Rebels' lead to 15 -14 with 8:50 left in the third period. On the two-point conver- sion attempt, however, Al- vey's pass was blocked by South Spencer sophomore de- fensive lineman Joseph Ricer, preserving the Rebels' one- point lead. South Spencer answered with a time-consuming 17-play, 91-yard drive that cul- minated in an 11-yard touch- down pass by Webb to Taylor on 4th-and-10 from the Char- gers' 11-yard line. Dawson's point-after kick was good, extending the Reb- els' lead to 22-14 with five sec- onds left in the third period. Following the ensuing kickoff, Pike Central started the fourth quarter at its own 28 -yard line and four straight runs by Alvey – including one for a three-yard gain on 4th- and-1 from the 37-yard line – gave the Chargers a fresh set of downs at their own 40 -yard line. Runs of 11 and 8 yards by Fields advanced the line of scrimmage to the South Spen- cer 41-yard line. Alvey kept the ball on the next play and, in the process of picking up the first down, lost the ball. Fortunately, the fumble was recovered by Wilkison at the 31-yard line. Then, when the Chargers fumbled the ball in the back- field on the very next play, Wilkison recovered the ball at the 38 -yard line, setting up a 2nd-and-17 play. "We got some good bounc- es," Mattingly said. "We had a fumble on a kickoff that was going to be theirs, and then it rolls out of bounds. We dodged one there. Alvey had one that we recovered. So, ye- ah, Wilkison was in the right place at the right time a cou- ple of times." "Wilkison played some nice balls tonight in the air," Mat- tingly added. "I thought he did a good job playing pass de- fense tonight, on (Bowman), who's a very good player for them. He's their second-best probably behind (Taylor)." A fter calling a timeout with 6:39 remaining in the game, Pike Central decided to put the ball in the air, with Alvey firing a pass toward Boger as he streaked down the side- line toward the end zone. The defender, Cron, ap- peared to commit a defen- sive pass interference pen- alty as he made contact with Boger and prevented him from making the catch at about the 10 -yard line. However, no flag was forthcoming from any of the officials, setting off an angry reaction from Mat- tingly that resulted in a 15 -yard unsportsmanlike penalty. "Anybody that was at the game probably has an opinion on that play, and the outcome of it," Mat- tingly said. "You've just go to keep playing the game." On the next play, facing 3rd-and-32 from the Char- gers' 47-yard line, a pass by Alvey was intercepted by Moore, who returned it to Pike Central's 41-yard line. "A lot of times, when we throw the ball, those intercep- tions are my fault, for not call- ing a good enough pass play," Mattingly said. "That's the way it was tonight. I'm not worried about those at all. When we call those plays, it's just kind of taking a shot, and sometimes they turn out and sometimes they don't. So that's on me as a play caller." Six plays later, a one-yard touchdown run by Webb – followed by Bartlett's ex- tra-point kick – extended the Rebels' lead to 29 -14 with 3:49 left in the contest. However, the Chargers were not quite finished. Starting at their own 20 -yard line after Bartlett's kickoff reached the end zone for a touchback, the Char- gers put together a five-play, 80 -yard drive that culminated in a 33-yard touchdown pass by Alvey to Boger with 1:59 remaining. Alvey subsequently ran for the two-point conversion, pulling Pike Central to with- in 29 -22. "Alvey threw a great ball," Mattingly said. "Boger made a great catch. It was an all- around fantastic play by a cou- ple of seniors." "One of our assistant coach- es noticed (Taylor) was out of the game, so we'd talked about when (Taylor) is out, when he's not in coverage, we want to take a shot, and that was exactly what happened." The two teams would then line up for the expected on- side kick, which South Spen- cer sophomore Aiden Mid- kiff recovered at the Rebels' 43-yard line. A fter three running plays by junior running back Alex Fodge netted 13 yards and a first down at the Chargers' 44-yard line, Webb took a knee on two straight snaps to run out the clock. Mattingly said afterward that, while he and the team were disappointed with the loss – which, coupled with a 37-30 loss to Tell City two weeks earlier, was the sec- ond in three games by seven points – there was a lot to be proud of. "A great ballgame the whole way," Mattingly said. "We played so hard. We're playing tight, great ball- games. We've come up short twice and came away victori- ous once in this little stretch. So I'm very happy with the way that we're playing." "I mean, an 8 -8 ballgame at half? " Mattingly added. "It was warfare out there. It's exactly what you want to be a part of on Friday nights, a battle like this, and it comes down to can you get an onside kick or not? We were unfortu- nate enough to not get it this time, but it doesn't diminish the sacrifice that took place on the field. It was a well- played game on both sides." Alvey, who completed two out of six pass attempts – with two interceptions – for 31 yards, paced the Chargers with 115 yards rushing on 19 carries. Fields added 59 yards on seven rushing attempts. Pike Central – which last defeated South Spencer in 1986 – returns to action on Friday, Sept. 29, when the Chargers will host Gibson Southern, which is current- ly ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 3A. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Pike Central will then trav- el to Southridge on Friday, Oct. 6, before closing out the regular season at home against North Posey on Fri- day, Oct. 13. "We have some very good teams we have an opportuni- ty to go play," Mattingly said. "It's a great conference, a great league, that we're proud to be a part of, and we're look- ing forward to competing on Friday nights. You've got to love the game for the game's sake, and you can't worry too much about who you're play- ing." CHARGERS Continued from page 1 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Pocket Athletic Conference Standings PAC Overall Team W-L W-L PF PA Gibson Southern 5 -0 6 -0 316 60 Southridge 4-0 5 -1 230 78 North Posey 3-2 4-2 210 173 Heritage Hills 2-2 3-3 176 153 South Spencer 2-3 2-4 81 237 Pike Central 1-3 2-4 133 188 Tell City 1-3 2-4 82 192 Forest Park 0 -4 2-4 118 220 Results of September 22 PAC Games South Spencer 29, Pike Central 22 Gibson Southern 48, Heritage Hills 7 North Posey 41, Forest Park 10 Southridge 55, Tell City 6 Area Games Boonville 49, Mount Vernon (Posey) 0 Evansville Central 48, Evansville Harrison 13 Evansville Mater Dei 31, Castle 30 Evansville Memorial 41, Evansville Reitz 21 Evansville North 24, Evansville Bosse 7 Jasper 47, Princeton 14 Linton-Stockton 54, North Daviess 6 Mitchell 80, Rock Creek Academy 0 Mount Carmel (Ill.) 28, Washington 8 North Central (Farmersburg) 19, Maconaquah at North Central 16 (2OT) Southside HomeSchool 27, Dugger Union 12 Springs Valley 36, Crawford County 2 Sullivan 41, Greencastle 10 Vincennes Lincoln 46, North Knox 20 West Washington 40, Tecumseh 6 Result of September 16 Area Game Eastern Greene 45, Perry Central 12 Games of September 29 PAC Games Gibson Southern at Pike Central, 7:30 p.m. North Posey at Tell City South Spencer at Forest Park Southridge at Heritage Hills Area Games Boonville at Princeton Castle at Evansville Harrison Eastern Greene at Edinburgh Evansville Bosse at Evansville Mater Dei Evansville Central at Evansville Memorial Evansville Reitz at Evansville Memorial Indiana Deaf at Dugger Union Jasper at Mount Carmel (Ill.) Linton-Stockton at North Knox Mitchell at Providence Mount Vernon (Posey) at Scottsburg North Daviess at Wood Memorial Riverton Parke at North Central (Farmersburg) Sullivan at South Putnam Tecumseh at Springs Valley Washington at Vincennes Lincoln BOX SCORE At Pike Central South Spencer 8 0 14 7 – 29 Pike Central 8 0 6 8 – 22 First Quarter Pike Central – Christian Alvey, 14, run (Clint Boger pass from Alvey). South Spencer – Brenden Moore, 4, run ( Jaylen Tay- lor pass from Manning Webb). Second Quarter No scoring. Third Quarter South Spencer – Taylor, 61, pass from Webb (Cole Dawson kick). Pike Central – Alvey, 2, run (pass failed). South Spencer – Taylor, pass from Webb (Dawson kick). Fourth Quarter South Spencer – Webb, 1, run (Dawson kick). Pike Central – Boger, 33, pass from Alvey (Alvey run). Team Statistics South Spencer Pike Central First Downs 18 10 Rushing Yds 141 168 Rush-Att. 36 29 Passing Yds 263 31 Pass-Att. 24 6 Pass-Comp. 17 2 Pass-Int. 2 2 Total Offense-Yds 404 199 Fumbles-Lost 0 -0 3-0 Punts-Avg. 0 -0.0 3-25.3 Penalties 11-80 4-49 Individual Statistics Rushing: South Spencer – Alex Fodge 9 -82, Bren- den Moore 10 -36, Kaje Cron 11-32, Manning Webb 6 - (-9). Pike Central – Christian Alvey 19 -115, Mario Fields 7-59, Jake Sisk 2-1, Adam Wilkison 1-(-7). Passing: South Spencer – Manning Webb 17-24-2 263. Pike Central – Christian Alvey 2-6 -2 31. Receiving: South Spencer – Jaylen Taylor 10 -200, Kyle Bowman 3-36, Dalton Bartlett 3-19, Wil Madison 1-8. Pike Central – Clint Boger 1-33, Connor O'Ne- al 1-(-2). MAC'S HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING 812-789-3065 104 E Center St, Winslow • macshtgac@hotmail.com T H I S F E A T U R E I S S P O N S O R E D B Y : TYLER TORMOHLEN has played Soccer at Pike Central for three years, and also participates in Basket- ball. He has been named All-Conference and was named Indiana Player of the Week by the Indy Star. His favorite classes are Phys Ed and Entrepreneurship. Tyler is the son of Jessica Rudolph, of Petersburg. MORGAN DEWEESE has played Golf at Pike Central for three years. Her favorite class is Health Sci- ence. She helps at the Dubois Co. Humane Society on weekends. Morgan is the daughter of Jessica Troutman and Jason DeWeese, of Petersburg. TAYLOR DEFFENDOLL has played Soccer at Pike Central for four years and also participates in Track. She has received the Leadership award and two Academic awards. She is a member of National Honor Society and Key Club. Her favorite class is Criminal Jus- tice. Taylor is the daughter of Jeremy and Jenn Deffen- doll, of Winslow. PIKE CENTRAL OF THE WEEK Mac's Heating and Air Conditioning recognizes the Pike Central seniors who are involved in athletics. Pike Central High School senior quarterback Christian Alvey (16) tries to get past South Spencer freshman linebacker Cameron Weigand (20) as Reb- els sophomore defensive lineman Willie Bennett (50) pursues during game action on Friday, Sept. 22. The visiting Rebels held off the Chargers for a 29- 22 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior wide receiver Clint Boger (15) tries to catch a pass while being defended by South Spencer sophomore defensive back Kaje Corn (21) during game action against visiting South Spencer on Friday, Sept. 22. The visiting Rebels held off the Chargers for a 29-22 victory. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Adam Wilkison (2) makes the tackle on South Spencer senior wide receiver Dalton Bartlett (3) as Rebels senior offensive lineman James Turner (56) and sopho- more offensive lineman Justice Stanton (54) look on during game action on Friday, Sept. 22. The visiting Rebels held off the Chargers for a 29-22 victory. Ed Cahill photo Quade Morton prepares to drop back for a 61-yard touchdown pass to Arri McDonald (bottom of pho- to) in the Pike County Youth Football League fifth/ sixth grade team's 18-13 victory over North Central (Farmersburg) on Saturday, Sept. 23. Morton also ran for the game-clinching score late in the fourth quarter, and Ricky Culbertson returned an inter- ception for a touchdown. Pike County would double up with a 26-14 road win over North Central (Farm- ersburg) on Sunday, Sept. 24, in Worthington. Quade Morton (2), Noah Meece and Arri McDonald scored touchdowns in that contest. Pike County is under the direction of head coach Anthony McHar- gue, who is in his second year as head coach of the program. Submitted Photo