The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 18, 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 By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School's Halley Powers, Draven Huff and Ijaa Chambers advanced to semi-state during the re- gional cross country meet held Saturday, Oct. 14 at Prides Creek Park. Powers, a senior, placed 20th out of 86 total runners in the girls' division with a per- sonal record time of 21:04, besting her previous PR time of 21:16 by 12 seconds, and her previous personal course record time of 22:21 by 77 sec- onds. Powers, who placed 62nd in the regional meet as a junior with a time of 23:14, finished seventh among the regional's top 10 individuals from non-ad- vancing teams who qualified for the semi-state meet, which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Brown County's Eagle Park. In the boys' division, Huff, a junior, placed 22nd out of 90 to- tal runners with a time of 17:13, while Chambers, a freshman, placed 25th with a personal re- cord time of 17:24, besting his previous PR time of 17:42 by 18 seconds, and his previous course record time of 17:51 by 27 seconds. Huff finished eighth and Chambers finished 10th among the regional's top 10 individuals from non-advanc- ing teams who qualified for the semi-state meet. Huff, who placed 58th in By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Kendrick Sorgius threw for 132 yards and two touch- downs but it wasn't quite enough as the Pike Central High School seventh grade football team dropped a 16 - 14 loss to host Tecumseh on Thursday, Oct. 12. Sorgius completed 11 of 15 pass attempts with no in- terceptions as the Chargers – who were held to 74 yards on 20 rushing attempts – slipped to 4-5. "Offensively, our pass game was working well," Pike Central co-coach Matt Robinette said. "We had great pass protection by our linemen, great routes and catches by our receiv- ers and running backs, and great presence and throws by our quarterback." Following a scoreless opening quarter, Tecum- seh struck first when Chase Jones connected with Wy- By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Five different players scored touchdowns as the Pike Central Middle School eighth grade football team defeated host Tecumseh 40 - 8 on Thursday, Oct. 12. Zane Collins ripped off scoring runs of 53 and 40 yards, Wyatt Frasure add- ed a 33-yard touchdown run, and three of their teammates – Gunner Ear- ley, Remington Gideon and E.J. Willis – scored the first touchdowns of their middle school careers as the Char- gers improved to 3-6. "When you have five dif- ferent players score a touch- down, it's going to be a good night," Pike Central co-head coach Matt Robinette said. "When your players play hard and have fun, it makes our jobs much easier as coaches." The Chargers got things started when – on the fourth play of the game – Gideon recovered a fumble by Te- cumseh's Drew Dupont and returned it to the Braves' 40 -yard line with 5:34 left in the first quarter. Three plays later, Gideon took the handoff from Wyatt Frasure, burst through the center of the line and raced 30 yards into the end zone. Frasure's two-point con- version run was good, giv- ing Pike Central an 8 -0 lead with 4:18 remaining in the opening period. Tecumseh, starting its second possession at its own 39 -yard line, moved the ball across midfield when Du- pont completed a seven-yard pass to Austin Lytle to give the Braves a first down at the Chargers' 45 -yard line. However, a bad snap from center sailed out of Dupont's reach, and Tecumseh's Kee- gan Clutter recovered the loose ball at the Braves' 37-yard line. Three plays later, Tecum- seh was forced to punt from its own 41-yard line, and the Pike Central offense re- turned to the field for just one play – a 53-yard touch- down run by Collins. Gideon subsequently ran for the two-point conversion, extending the Chargers' lead to 16 -0 with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Tecumseh, starting its next possession at its own 36 -yard line, picked up two yards on a first-down run by Clutter. However, on 2nd- and-8, Pike Central's Blaine Pitcher tackled the Braves' Aaron Lanham for a 10 -yard loss. A fter Kayden Hopkins was stopped for a six-yard loss on 3rd-and-18, Tecum- seh was forced to punt. The Chargers' offense, once again, wasted no time finding the end zone, as Fra- sure – on the very next play – scored on a 33-yard run to extend Pike Central's lead to 22-0 with 6:04 left in the sec- ond period. Tecumseh would threaten to score late in the first half, By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School volleyball team's sea- son came to an end with a 25 - 22, 25 -21, 25 -15 loss to Princ- eton in the semifinals of the sectional tournament on Sat- urday, Oct. 14, at Sullivan. Junior Taylor Lamey had a team-high eight kills and se- nior Brook Nalley had five kills and three ace serves as the Lady Chargers fell to 9 - 20 with their seventh consec- utive loss. Princeton (11-18) pound- ed out 42 kills – including 16 by sophomore Mallory Smith and eight each by senior Ki- are Young and freshman Re- aghan Page – to avenge a reg- ular-season five-set loss to Pike Central on Sept. 12. The Lady Chargers took the lead early in the first set, scoring three straight points – including two on back-to-back ace serves by Nalley – to erase a 4-3 deficit. However, Princeton scored the next eight points, includ- ing two on kills by sophomore Emma Sartore, to take a 12- 6 lead. Pike Central would close to within three points – at 13-10 – before the Lady Tigers went on a 7-0 scoring run to extend their lead to 20 -10. But the Lady Chargers would rally, scoring 10 of the By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The Pike Central High School football team ended the regular season with a bang during a 40 -22 loss to visiting North Posey on Friday, Oct. 13. Trailing 34-0 after three quarters, the Chargers – sparked by touchdown runs by senior quarterback Christian Alvey, sophomore wide receiver Connor O'Ne- al and senior fullback Jake Sisk – outscored North Posey 22-6 in the fourth period. "We just got into some situations where we had to get away from plays we like, and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times," said Pike Central head coach Erik Mattingly, whose team fell to 2-7 overall and 1-6 in the Pocket Athletic Conference. "They did a good job of coming back, though, and putting it in the end zone some there at the end." "Every drive is a learning opportunity and sometimes you have penalties or you run the wrong plays or they make a good defensive play, and it turns out negatively," Mattingly added. "But then, sometimes, you run plays that are positive." Vikings senior quarterback Drake Rogers complet- ed 19 of 26 pass attempts for 231 yards and five touch- downs and senior running back Alex Stewart gained 188 yards on 25 carries as North Posey improved to 7- 2 overall and 5 -2 in the PAC. For the game, the Vikings racked up 460 yards in to- tal offense – 226 on the ground, 234 in the air – while converting eight of 12 third-down opportunities into first downs. North Posey also converted three of four fourth-down opportunities into first downs. "I really thought our defense played really well to- night," Mattingly said. "I know it's tough to say that when you give up 40 points, but they really did play well. We had a couple of breakdowns on some screens. They made a couple of just fantastic plays on the ball, two I can think of right now they scored touchdowns on." "We got them in a lot of third- and fourth-down sit- uations," Mattingly continued. "Defensively, I thought we played hard the whole game, and we were driving the ball on offense." Offensively, the Chargers were led by Alvey, who rushed for 223 yards on 32 carries – including 163 yards on 18 second-half rushing attempts – while completing just one of seven pass attempts, with one interception, for three yards. "We've got our linemen up front that do a great job, and he runs hard," Mattingly said of Alvey. "With (soph- omore running back) Mario (Fields) getting a little banged up there in the first quarter, a little more weight kind of fell on Christian." "To line up like we do and snap it directly to our quar- terback, and ask him to run play after play, besides the jet motion, there's not much misdirecton there," Mat- tingly added. "So you're taking some shots from some defenders, and he just keeps reeling off yardage. It was a fantastic effort by him and the offensive line and all the blockers." During the first half, when it fell behind 27-0, Pike Central drove the ball into Vikings territory on three of its first four possessions and advanced to its own 49 -yard line on the other before Stewart intercepted a pass by Alvey at North Posey's 30 -yard line with 6:47 left in the second period. One of the Chargers' first-half drives penetrated as PCHS volleyball team ends season with sectional loss to Princeton CHARGERS DROP 40-22 LOSS TO NORTH POSEY Pike Central High School sophomore wide receiver Connor O'Neal (3) carries the ball on a 22-yard touchdown run during game action against visiting North Posey on Friday, Oct. 13. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior wide receiv- er Clint Boger (15) finds some running room during game action against visiting North Posey on Friday, Oct. 13. Boger gained 86 yards on seven carries in the Chargers' 40-22 loss to the Vikings. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School eighth grade foot- ball player Zane Collins (21) carries the ball during game action at Tecumseh on Thursday, Oct. 12. Collins gained 103 yards on four car- ries as the Chargers defeated the Braves 40-8. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central Middle School seventh grade football player Draven Readle (32) carries the ball during game action at Tecumseh on Thurs- day, Oct. 12. The Braves scored with 1:18 left in the game to rally for a 16-14 victory. Ed Ca- hill photo Pike Central High School senior libe- ro Morgan Whann (3) passes the ball during the semifinals of the sectional volleyball tournament against Princeton on Satur- day, Oct. 14, at Sulli- van. The Lady Char- gers lost to the Lady Tigers 25-22, 25-21, 25-15. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School freshman Ijaa Chambers com- petes in the boys' di- vision of the region- al cross country meet held Saturday, Oct. 14 at Prides Creek Park. Chamber placed 25th with a time of 17:24 to qualify as an indi- vidual to advance to the semi-state meet on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Brown County's Eagle Park. Ed Cahill photo See LOSS on 2 See CHARGERS on 3 See ADVANCE on 2 PCMS eighth grade football team rolls to 40-8 win at Tecumseh PCMS 7th graders suffer 16-14 loss at Tecumseh Powers, Huff, Chambers advance to semi-state meet See PCMS on 4 See WIN on 3