We saw an impressive effort from New Palestine last night, which came through in all three phases to clinch an unbeaten season and a second straight HHC title in our Game of the Week. Defending sectional champ Pendleton Heights also made a statement going into Sectional 13. The HHC race sorted itself out with a mad scramble for positioning in the middle of the conference, and now, everyone is 0-0 and we start thinking about the state tournament.
But first, let's look back on a fine regular-season-ending night.
New Palestine 27, Mt. Vernon 0: The top-ranked team in Class 4A showed why with a strong defensive effort. The Dragons only needed nine seconds to score, only allowed 147 total yards to the Marauders and were effective running and passing. QB Connor Simmons threw for 178 yards two touchdowns -- to Josh Penley and Tyler Walden -- and broke the school single-season passing record. Matt Siergiej returned at running back and ran for two touchdowns. NP's defense produced three takeaways and never allowed MV to penetrate inside the 30-yard line. The Dragoons clinched their first unbeaten season since 1988 -- the fourth in school history -- and extended their overall regular-season winning streak to 17. They also won their 20th straight HHC game, breaking a record set by Hamilton Southeastern from 1994-97. Tyler Dicks led the Marauders with 70 yards rushing. MV's defense had a solid day and coach Doug Amstrong tried to get them some big plays -- calling for an on-side kick to start the second half (it appeared to work, but the official said the ball was touched a couple of millimeters before it went 10 yards) and a fake punt with Anthony Burnett that NP was able to smell out. NP hosts Muncie Central, MV visits Pendleton Heights in Sectional 13 play next week.
Daily Reporter | Broadcast archive
Pendleton Heights 34, Greenfield-Central 3: PH's Jon Furrow had a big night, kicking two field goals, four extra points and scoring two touchdowns to move into second place on the school's career scoring list. The Arabians kept their offensive roll going -- they've scored at least 30 points in all eight of their victories this year. Furrow ran for 130+ yards. PH's defense also held G-C to just 34 rushing yards, led by Matt Dickerson's 26. The Arabians head into the tournament with an 8-1 record, sole possession of second place with a 6-1 mark. G-C finishes 5-4 overall and 4-3 in HHC play for a third-place tie. PH hosts Mt. Vernon, G-C hosts Muncie South in Sectional 13 play next week. If both win, they would meet up in the sectional semifinals on the same Arabian field.
Daily Reporter | Anderson Herald-Bulletin
Eastern Hancock 19, Edinburgh 0: The Royals posted their first shutout since coach Kyle Johnson's team posted one in 1995. EH has been getting stronger all season -- including coming the closest to knocking off MIFC champion Milan -- and the Royals capped it off by winning two of their last three. Freshman Cooper Henderson scored twice and ran for 73 yards. Spencer Gilbert had a TD run. QB Logan Gilbert threw for 60 yards and ran for 47. EH finishes the regular season 3-6. EH visits Cambridge City Lincoln next week in Sectional 37 play.
Daily Reporter
Elsewhere in the HHC
Delta 45, Shelbyville 6: The Eagles won their third straight to clinch a third-place tie with G-C in the HHC standings. Ozzie Mann set the tone with a 63-yard pass to Landon Lambert on the first offensive play of the game and the Eagles never looked back. RB Mason Bechdolt had a 52-yard TD run and Ryan Bickford had an 80-yard KOR for a TD. The Eagles finish 4-5 (4-3), but were 6-3 on the field. Shelby finishes 1-6 in the HHC and 1-8 overall. Delta meets Frankfort next week in Sectional 13. Shelby hosts Columbus East.
Shelbyville News | Muncie Star-Press
Yorktown 28, Rushville 21: A competitive game sends Yorktown into a fifth-place tie in the HHC as the Tigers post their second straight come-from-behind victory on the road. Rushville scored to take a 21-20 lead with two minutes left, but Yorktown's Brendon Barnes broke off a 50-yard TD run and then ran in the two-point conversion to give the Tigers a victory. Barnes ran for 181 yards and two fourth-quarter TDs. Coach Mike Wilhelm's Tigers finish 5-4 and 3-4 in HHC play. Rushville finishes 2-7 (0-7) for the second straight year.
Muncie Star-Press
Final HHC standingsNew Palestine 7-0/9-0
Pendleton Heights 6-1/8-1
Greenfield-Central 4-3/5-4
Delta 4-3/4-5
Mt. Vernon 3-4/5-4
Yorktown 3-4/5-4
Shelbyville 1-6/1-8
Rushville 0-7/2-7
Final MIFC standings
Milan 5-0/8-1
Indian Creek 4-1/5-4
Triton Central 3-2/4-5
North Decatur 2-3/3-6
Eastern Hancock 1-4/3-6
South Decatur 0-5/2-7
Sectional pairings next week
Hancock County schools
Class 4A sectional 13
Muncie Central (2-7) at New Palestine (9-0)
Frankfort (0-9) at Delta (6-3 on the field)
Muncie South (3-6) at Greenfield-Central (5-4)
Mt. Vernon (5-4) at Pendleton Heights (8-1) (broadcast: HancockCountySports.com)
Class A sectional 37
Indiana Deaf (0-9) at Northeastern (4-5)
Eastern Hancock (3-6) at Cambridge City Lincoln (7-2)
Knightstown (6-3) at Hagerstown (5-4)
Scecina (6-3) at Tri (0-9)
In the Hoosier Heritage Conference
Class 3A sectional 19
Yorktown (5-4) at Eastbrook (9-0 on the field)Bellmont (3-6) at Blackford (2-7)
Mississinewa (7-2) at Maconaquah (2-7)
Western (7-2) at Peru (0-9)
Class 3A sectional 22
Howe (5-4) at Edgewood (6-3)Batesville (3-6) at Greensburg (4-5)
Brown County (4-5) at Rushville (2-7)
Beech Grove (0-9) at Indian Creek (5-4)
Class 4A sectional 15
Richmond (4-5) at Franklin County (7-2)Connersville (2-7) at New Castle (0-9)
East Central (8-1) at South Dearborn (7-2)
Columbus East (8-1) at Shelbyville (1-8)
Showing posts with label Edinburgh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edinburgh. Show all posts
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Dragons HHC champs
The New Palestine Dragons football team completed a perfect regular season Friday night with a nearly-perfect defensive effort in a 27-0 victory over Mt. Vernon.
We enjoyed bringing you the game -- as we have all season. The Dragons got started quickly -- needing just nine seconds to score the game's first touchdown -- and used a defensive effort that never let MV cross the 30-yard line.
Quarterback Connor Simmons completed 14-of-21 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 2,134 yards on the year, breaking Matt Rodgers' 18-year-old mark of 2,001. Simmons already holds the single-season mark for TD passes and extended it with his 24th and 25th of the year tonight. Josh Penley was his favorite target with six catches for 71 yards.
Junior running back Matt Siergiej had 44 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.
The biggest throw-and-catch happened on the game's first play. On the opening kickoff, the Dragons' Nolan Hill placed the ball between the up men and the Marauders' deep returners. It bounced on the ground and the Dragons recovered the loose ball. On the game's first play, Simmons dropped back and hit Penley in stride for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Just nine seconds in, the Dragons led 6-0, and they'd never look back from there. After stopping the Marauders on down in NP territory, the Dragons got to work again on a 14-play, 63-yard drive that primarily featured Siergiej's running.He capped it off with a 1-yard run that made it 13-0 just 4:39 in.
That was all the Dragon defense would need. The Marauders would never penetrate inside the NP 30. The Dragons stopped MV on downs twice in the first half, saw Penley nab his fourth interception of the year, blocked a punt and stuffed a fake punt. Brandon Collins also scooped up a Marauder fumble in the third quarter, setting up Siergiej's second TD of the day -- this one from 2 yards out that made it 20-0 with 2:48 left in the third. After forcing a punt, the Dragons added the insurance with a mammoth 14-play, 76-yard, 6:33 drive that saw NP convert two 20-plus yards-to-go situations. One of those was a 26-yard pass to Austin Monday on 2nd-and-24 to the MV 27. A couple of plays later, on first-and-22 from the 29, Simmons found Tyler Walden open at the back of the end zone for a touchdown pass.
The Dragons gained 271 total yards -- 93 on the ground and 178 through the air. They held MV to just 147 yards -- including minus-4 in the passing game. MV had seven total first downs, but had none in the second half until the final drive.
The victory clinches an HHC record for the Dragons, who won their 20th straight conference game. That breaks a record set by Hamilton Southeastern from 1994-97. The Dragons also retained possession of the HHC Helmet for the 14th straight game -- a conference record -- and will maintain it through the offseason for the second straight year. Simmons is also nearing career marks for passing yards, passing TDs and season TD passes. Collins has already set the school's single-season receiveing mark. He had two catches for 25 yards tonight.
New Palestine hosts Muncie Central next week in Sectional 13 play. Mt. Vernon (5-4, 3-4) is in the opposite half of the bracket, and visits Pendleton Heights in the game we will broadcast on HancockCountySports.com!
Elsewhere
Pendleton Heights 34, Greenfield-Central 3: The seventh-ranked Arabians have been on fire the last few weeks, and showed that again tonight. PH built an early 10-0 lead, extended it to a two-score game by halftime and pulled away in the second half. The Arabians finish the year with an 8-1 mark and 6-1 in the conference, showing a tremendous resurgence over the last two years. PH is a defending sectional champion and will go for back-to-back. PH visits Mt. Vernon in our HancockCountySports.com broadcast next week. G-C will host Muncie South in the other Sectional 13 bottom-bracket semifinal game.
Eastern Hancock 19, Edinburgh 0: The Royals register a shutout for the first time since 2005 in a victory over the Lancers. Coach Pat Echeverria's team wins two of its last three to head into the sectional. The Royals have shown themselves a strong team in the first year with a new head coach. At 3-6, they will visit Cambridge City Lincoln next week.
And in the HHC
Delta 45, Shelbyville 6: The Eagles are a force to be reckoned with, having won three straight games. Delta finishes the year 4-5 (6-3 on the field) and having allowed just 13 points the last two weeks. Eagles tie Greenfield-Central for 3rd in the conference with a 4-3 mark. Delta meets Frankfort in Sectional 13 action next week. Shelby hosts Columbus East in Sectional 15. Shelby is 1-8 (1-6).
Yorktown 28, Rushville 21: The Tigers win their second straight close game to finish in a fifth-place tie with Mt. Vernon in the HHC standings. Yorktown is now 3-4 in the HHC and 5-4 overall. Rushville is 2-7 (0-7) and has now dropped 15 straight HHC games.
Final HHC standings
New Palestine 7-0/9-0
Pendleton Heights 6-1/8-1
Greenfield-Central 4-3/5-4
Delta 4-3/4-5
Mt. Vernon 3-4/5-4
Yorktown 3-4/5-4
Shelbyville 1-6/1-8
Rushville 0-7/2-7
Final MIFC standings
Milan 5-0/8-1
Indian Creek 4-1/5-4
Triton Central 3-2/4-5
North Decatur 2-3/3-6
Eastern Hancock 1-4/3-6
South Decatur 0-5/2-7
We enjoyed bringing you the game -- as we have all season. The Dragons got started quickly -- needing just nine seconds to score the game's first touchdown -- and used a defensive effort that never let MV cross the 30-yard line.
Quarterback Connor Simmons completed 14-of-21 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 2,134 yards on the year, breaking Matt Rodgers' 18-year-old mark of 2,001. Simmons already holds the single-season mark for TD passes and extended it with his 24th and 25th of the year tonight. Josh Penley was his favorite target with six catches for 71 yards.
Junior running back Matt Siergiej had 44 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.
The biggest throw-and-catch happened on the game's first play. On the opening kickoff, the Dragons' Nolan Hill placed the ball between the up men and the Marauders' deep returners. It bounced on the ground and the Dragons recovered the loose ball. On the game's first play, Simmons dropped back and hit Penley in stride for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Just nine seconds in, the Dragons led 6-0, and they'd never look back from there. After stopping the Marauders on down in NP territory, the Dragons got to work again on a 14-play, 63-yard drive that primarily featured Siergiej's running.He capped it off with a 1-yard run that made it 13-0 just 4:39 in.
That was all the Dragon defense would need. The Marauders would never penetrate inside the NP 30. The Dragons stopped MV on downs twice in the first half, saw Penley nab his fourth interception of the year, blocked a punt and stuffed a fake punt. Brandon Collins also scooped up a Marauder fumble in the third quarter, setting up Siergiej's second TD of the day -- this one from 2 yards out that made it 20-0 with 2:48 left in the third. After forcing a punt, the Dragons added the insurance with a mammoth 14-play, 76-yard, 6:33 drive that saw NP convert two 20-plus yards-to-go situations. One of those was a 26-yard pass to Austin Monday on 2nd-and-24 to the MV 27. A couple of plays later, on first-and-22 from the 29, Simmons found Tyler Walden open at the back of the end zone for a touchdown pass.
The Dragons gained 271 total yards -- 93 on the ground and 178 through the air. They held MV to just 147 yards -- including minus-4 in the passing game. MV had seven total first downs, but had none in the second half until the final drive.
The victory clinches an HHC record for the Dragons, who won their 20th straight conference game. That breaks a record set by Hamilton Southeastern from 1994-97. The Dragons also retained possession of the HHC Helmet for the 14th straight game -- a conference record -- and will maintain it through the offseason for the second straight year. Simmons is also nearing career marks for passing yards, passing TDs and season TD passes. Collins has already set the school's single-season receiveing mark. He had two catches for 25 yards tonight.
New Palestine hosts Muncie Central next week in Sectional 13 play. Mt. Vernon (5-4, 3-4) is in the opposite half of the bracket, and visits Pendleton Heights in the game we will broadcast on HancockCountySports.com!
Elsewhere
Pendleton Heights 34, Greenfield-Central 3: The seventh-ranked Arabians have been on fire the last few weeks, and showed that again tonight. PH built an early 10-0 lead, extended it to a two-score game by halftime and pulled away in the second half. The Arabians finish the year with an 8-1 mark and 6-1 in the conference, showing a tremendous resurgence over the last two years. PH is a defending sectional champion and will go for back-to-back. PH visits Mt. Vernon in our HancockCountySports.com broadcast next week. G-C will host Muncie South in the other Sectional 13 bottom-bracket semifinal game.
Eastern Hancock 19, Edinburgh 0: The Royals register a shutout for the first time since 2005 in a victory over the Lancers. Coach Pat Echeverria's team wins two of its last three to head into the sectional. The Royals have shown themselves a strong team in the first year with a new head coach. At 3-6, they will visit Cambridge City Lincoln next week.
And in the HHC
Delta 45, Shelbyville 6: The Eagles are a force to be reckoned with, having won three straight games. Delta finishes the year 4-5 (6-3 on the field) and having allowed just 13 points the last two weeks. Eagles tie Greenfield-Central for 3rd in the conference with a 4-3 mark. Delta meets Frankfort in Sectional 13 action next week. Shelby hosts Columbus East in Sectional 15. Shelby is 1-8 (1-6).
Yorktown 28, Rushville 21: The Tigers win their second straight close game to finish in a fifth-place tie with Mt. Vernon in the HHC standings. Yorktown is now 3-4 in the HHC and 5-4 overall. Rushville is 2-7 (0-7) and has now dropped 15 straight HHC games.
Final HHC standings
New Palestine 7-0/9-0
Pendleton Heights 6-1/8-1
Greenfield-Central 4-3/5-4
Delta 4-3/4-5
Mt. Vernon 3-4/5-4
Yorktown 3-4/5-4
Shelbyville 1-6/1-8
Rushville 0-7/2-7
Final MIFC standings
Milan 5-0/8-1
Indian Creek 4-1/5-4
Triton Central 3-2/4-5
North Decatur 2-3/3-6
Eastern Hancock 1-4/3-6
South Decatur 0-5/2-7
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Week 9 -- lots on the line
It's one of my favorite times of year -- Boundary Rail time as Mt. Vernon and New Palestine renew their rivalry for the 48th time in 44 years. But that's not all in Hancock County football. We have the Greenfield-Central Cougars and Pendleton Heights Arabians playing for second in the HHC (for PH, it's a chance at first if NP loses). We have the Dragons trying to clinch the HHC outright for the second year in a row and break a 14-year-old HHC record for consecutive victories in conference games. We have Eastern Hancock looking for its third victory of the year in its season finale and get a boost going into the sectional.
And, of course, everyone knows the draw, so everyone will be looking ahead to next week when the records go to 0-0 and we start over.
But, of course, we have this week to get through first.
Our Game of the Week (live broadcast here)
#1/4 New Palestine (8-0, 6-0) at Mt. Vernon (5-3, 3-3), 7:30 p.m. (broadcast: HancockCountySports.com)
The Boundary Rail battle. These teams have been going at each other for years. You have the irresistable force -- a talented New Palestine offense that's poised to break every passing record the school has -- against the immovable object, a Mt. Vernon defense that has allowed just 17 points in regulation the last three games and went eight straight quarters without allowing a touchdown. MV has suffered some sizable injury losses in recent weeks, but did get RB Anthony Burnett back and coach Doug Armstrong's teams are always ready for rivalry games. Look for a battle between a great air attack led by NP's Connor Simmons vs. MV's solid ground game of Tyler Dicks and Burnett. Join Andrew Smith & Mike Jackson for the call at 7 p.m.
Greenfield-Central (5-3, 4-2) at #7/7 Pendleton Heights (7-1, 5-1), 7:30 p.m. (broadcast: WEEM-91.7, WRGF-89.7).
This game features a balanced PH offense that is scoring a ton of points -- cracking the 60-point barrier twice this season -- against a G-C defense that is scoring a ton of points. PH's Mitch Patishall has shown to be a tremendous QB over the past 3 years and wants to go out with a strong Senior Night showing. His three RBs all ran for 100 yards in last week's victory over Rushville. But G-C has a ballhawking, blitzing defense that makes life miserable for opposing offenses. The Cougars have nine return TDs this year, including an INT from Brant Boles last week. G-C produced three interceptions against a New Palestine team that rarely turns the ball over in last week's narrow 21-19 loss. Cougars are just four points away from being unbeaten in the conference, but this should be a great test.
Eastern Hancock (2-6) at Edinburgh (2-6), 7 p.m.: The Royals are significantly better than their record, but Edinburgh -- led by former Franklin College coach Bill Unsworth -- is an improving football program. Led by the Gilbert brothers, the Royals have been close several times and have a fourth-quarter comeback victory to their credit against South Decatur.
Elsewhere in the HHC
Delta (3-5, 3-3) at Shelbyville (1-7, 1-5), 7 p.m. (broadcast: WSVX-1520, www.wsvx.com): The Eagles have found their mojo again, as QB Ozzie Mann has begun spreading the ball around and the defense shut down MV's running game last week. Shelby has been right there, but turnovers have doomed the Golden Bears throughout the season.
Yorktown (4-4, 2-4) at Rushville (2-6, 0-6), 7 p.m. (broadcast: WIFE-94.3): Tigers coach Mike Wilhem showed some guts last week by going for 2 down 21-20 midway through the fourth quarter -- and being successful -- in a win at Shelbyville. Rushville is young and has struggled through much of the HHC schedule. The league's two 3A teams get an opportunity to see each other before the tourney begins.
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