TERRE HAUTE —
The biggest difference I’ve noticed, as I transition from the high school football beat to quasi-official status as the Indiana State football beat writer for a few weeks, is the length of the games.
“Duh,” most of you should be saying right now, but the difference is in the number of key plays that are impossible to document in a college football game story.
As the Sycamores kept the “P” word in play on Saturday at Missouri State, for example, there were a number of notes I jotted down that in no way could fit in our Sunday paper.
Calvin Burnett, for example, did not appear. This despite the fact that he stopped the Bears’ first drive single-handedly by intercepting Missouri State’s first pass attempt — after the home team had quickly pounded out two first downs on the ground — and later helped force a field goal by stripping MSU’s Jermaine Saffold — an extremely good receiver who I am glad is a senior — of what looked very much like a second-quarter touchdown pass.
Even Shakir Bell turned out to be an unsung hero. Despite setting a school record and nearly setting another on Saturday, his most important two runs were fourth-down carries in the first half — he gained 4 yards on fourth-and-1, and then he gained 3 yards, by the skin of his teeth, on fourth-and-3 — that helped ISU’s two scoring drives continue. Like coach Trent Miles said, he runs with determination.
ISU was running on fourth down several times because its kicking game, you probably have heard, is a little dicey. Yet Lucas Hileman had a couple of excellent punts into stiff winds — including a 44-yarder when the Sycamores were backed up in their own territory in the first half — that prevented bad situations from becoming worse.
(He also had a couple that weren’t as good, to be honest. But I remember a game long ago at Eastern Kentucky in which ISU punter Jim Shaughnessy — I was certain he was headed to the National Football League as a punter — had to field one of his own kicks that blew back over his head. And, in continuing the EKU theme for a moment, I’ll always consider Verbie Walder to be the best quarterback in ISU history because with the game on the line in that game, he threw one into that same wind about 60 yards, right on the fingertips of a receiver — who, unfortunately, dropped it.)
Virtually everyone on the defensive unit was an unsung hero at some point, because there were a lot of big plays. Demory Lawshe isn’t a defensive player, but he had a huge play with a tackle in punt coverage. So did Garrick Dikos, even though he also had to snap the ball.
Then there was Brock Lough, and in the interest of fairness I need to point out that I’ve known Brock a long time and known most of his relatives even longer. But favoritism has nothing to do with his doing something I’m not sure I’ve seen another college football player do — play three different positions on three consecutive offensive plays.
Early in the second quarter, in a third-and-2 situation, Lough was the tight end in place of injured Alex Jones. He was helping block as Bell went 17 yards to the Missouri State 3-yard line. (Jones, who did not appear on the injury report, had tweaked a previous injury, Miles said, and is expected back this week.)
Next play, Lough was at tailback and tried to blast up the middle, stopped for a 1-yard gain.
Third play, Lough was back at his usual fullback position and threw a block that helped spring Bell for a touchdown.
“I’ve got to work on my tight end stuff,” Lough said with a laugh after the game, “but [the ISU coaches] have moved me around a lot; I think I’ve been everywhere but quarterback.
“Actually, I tried [quarterback, or at least wildcat formation] too, but it didn’t work so well,” Lough added. “That’s crossed off the list now.”
“Our heart and soul,” Miles said of Lough, and also of several others among the senior class that took its lumps for two straight years.
n No doubt about it — My least favorite, reasonably new college football rule is the one that protects defenseless receivers, much like the one the NFL has adopted.
The call that may have cost ISU the game against North Dakota State on Nov. 5 was probably legit — at least pretty much every official in the area threw the flag on the hit. Just one flag, however, from the offical farthest from the play, was thrown on a hit at Missouri State by Jacolby Washington that dislodged the ball from one of the MSU tight ends in a crucial spot and threatened to help a comeback attempt by the Bears (Washington, who made too many plays Saturday to be considered unsung, had a tackle-for-loss two plays later to help snuff said threat, by the way). The receiver had the ball in his hands and was tackled slightly above the waist, nowhere near the head.
“As a defender, your job is to separate the ball [from the receiver],” said Washington, who doesn’t like that penalty much either, after the game. “I thought I led with my shoulder [instead of my helmet] ... the defense rose up again [and stopped the drive] though.”
n What’s next? It’s Senior Day on Saturday at Memorial Stadium when the Sycamores try to keep playoff (that’s the word) hopes alive against Southern Illinois. How big a game is it?
“Probably the biggest since I’ve been here,” said Miles. “Probably the biggest since 1984 [ISU’s most recent playoff venture].”
Andy Amey can be reached after 4 p.m. at (812) 231-4277 or at 1-800-783-8742; by e-mail at andy.amey@tribstar.com; by mail at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN, 47808; or by fax at (812) 231-4321.
INDIANA ST. 28,
MISSOURI ST. 20
Indiana St. 7 7 7 7 — 28
Missouri St. 0 6 7 7 — 20
First Quarter
InSt—Bell 23 run (Wozniak kick), 3:05.
Second Quarter
InSt—Bell 2 run (Wozniak kick), 10:46.
MoSt—FG Witmer 22, 4:09.
MoSt—FG Witmer 44, :00.
Third Quarter
MoSt—Douglas 5 pass from Wooden (Witmer kick), 13:04.
InSt—Spencer 36 pass from Fouch (Wozniak kick), 6:02.
Fourth Quarter
InSt—Obaseki 1 run (Wozniak kick), 3:57.
MoSt—Saffold 12 pass from Wooden (Witmer kick), 1:39.
A—5,278.
InSt MoSt
First downs 17 13
Rushes-yards 46-249 40-134
Passing 90 136
Comp-Att-Int 8-18-0 10-22-1
Return Yards 36 14
Punts-Avg. 7-32.6 7-39.7
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-45 2-13
Time of Possession 31:30 28:30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Indiana St., Bell 39-206, Lough 4-46, Obaseki 1-1, Team 1-(minus 1), Fouch 1-(minus 3). Missouri St., Douglas 15-65, Johnston 9-31, Wooden 12-26, Scott 4-12.
PASSING—Indiana St., Fouch 8-18-0-90. Missouri St., Wooden 10-22-1-136.
RECEIVING—Indiana St., Spencer 3-52, Bell 3-16, Lough 1-17, Hilton 1-5. Missouri St., Saffold 4-90, Starnes 2-20, Johnston 2-12, Thayer 1-9, Douglas 1-5.
Amey Takes Aim
AMEY TAKES AIM: Taking note of ISU’s latest football win
- Amey Takes Aim
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Amey Takes Aim: NHL playoffs to put TVs to good use
If Jenny had known, she probably wouldn’t have bought that TV.
But four or five years ago, my Fathers Day present — for those unfamiliar with Amey family traditions, the Fathers Day one is “let’s get something we all really want and pretend it’s a gift for Dad” — was a 42-inch Vizio. It’s been used even more than the cell phone I never would have bought for myself, or the TomTom that disappeared since Jenny’s smartphone arrived.
And it came with high-def.
I’m not going to insult you by telling you how great high-def is, because to do so would be to imply that you are even farther behind the technological curve than I am. I’m guessing, however, that not all of you have yet discovered what it does for hockey. -
Amey Takes Aim: Can’t bottle the joy of Amey vacations
The first bad sign was the Gatorade bottle.
In the Bataan-Death-March drive to Orlando that got the Amey family spring break vacation off to a bad start, seeing it between lanes of I-24 — as we zipped along at a 100-miles-in-five-hours clip — filled with an ominous yellow liquid was a little bit scary. And although we didn't stop to check for sure, I'm fairly certain I knew about its contents.
And the person stuck in the same traffic jam with us, the one with the existential license plate YMIHR4, couldn’t have asked a more pertinent question.
But, after seeing a lot more of Oak Grove, Ky., than we’d planned, and after enduring more traffic slowdowns in Nashville, we were on our way. Even some rain in the dark in the Smokies didn’t slow us down much, so you would think our first-day troubles were over.
You would be wrong. -
ANDY AMEY: Farewell to basketball
I believe you’ve heard me say before — just about a year ago, perhaps — that a boys high school basketball season that ends with the Tribune-Star in Bankers Life Fieldhouse can’t be considered a bad one, which is why we have a little celebrating to do thanks to the Linton Miners.
Lover of irony that I am, I’ve also got to point out that this season was another branch sprouting from the Wabash Valley’s most legendary coaching tree, that of Joe Hart.
Joe never got much credit for his work at Dugger, but he took Brody Boyd, Clark Golish and the Bulldogs to a state championship game in 2000, and since then three of his former players — Joe Pigg, Clint Swan and now Joey Hart, his son — also have coached teams in the final game of the season.
Joe probably wishes he could take credit for Doc Nash, another down-home type who gave a banjo lesson earlier Saturday in leading Borden past a bigger, more athletic Triton team (banjo lesson is a Howard Sharpism, for you younger readers), but his lineage is still the best I can think of around here. -
AMEY TAKES AIM: Maroons, Rox final a true Classic
I don’t make predictions nearly as often as I used to, but I had one several months ago that was proven correct last week.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Nitpicking aside, West Vigo Hall of Fame selections spot on
I can’t imagine a better first class of inductees into the West Vigo High School Athletics Hall of Fame than the one that was feted Saturday night in the Jim Mann Green Dome.
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Tough bunch of people
I’m getting my warm clothes ready for a trip to Linton this week, and if a few thrills from the Miners, Casey or North Vermillion happen the next couple of weeks, I hope I get to see them.
But high school football is over in Vigo County for the season — as coach Chris Barrett of Terre Haute North said, prematurely — and I’m sadder to see it go than usual.
Walking the sidelines and doing midweek or postgame interviews enables me to meet quite a few of the guys whose names you are about to read, and haven’t been more impressed than I was this fall. What outstanding groups of young men. What a tough, tough bunch of people.
Many know that one of my favorite athletic adjectives appeared consecutively in the previous sentence. -
AMEY TAKES AIM: A weekend to remember with ISU’s ’72 football team
They’re all still pretty hale and hearty, the boys of the fall of 1972 who returned to campus over the weekend to honor their former football coach.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: ISU reunion raises more questions than answers
One of the wrestlers I used to hang out with occasionally claimed to be a pretty good second-story man — although he may have just been talking, since I never saw any of the goods — and it was with him in mind that I was able to get access to the Indiana State Wrestling Alumni Reunion late Saturday night.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Deciding not to ‘vacate’ during ‘vacation’ – & other ventures
Flaunting the law, setting a bad example for the kids in other ways, grooming and acquiring dogs … not a typical Amey family vacation, but an appreciated one just the same.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Huntsville’s Stars, Havoc take back seat to GGS
The second-best thing about the Amey family’s spring-break trip to Huntsville, Ala., is that we left a lot of things on the table to do the next time we’re down there.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Rox well represented on Amey teams
If having the state finals in town makes it a successful girls high school basketball season, then certainly having a team to follow at the state finals makes it a very successful boys high school basketball season . . .
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AMEY TAKES AIM: A feeling of pride, not disappointment, comes from watching Rox play
It’s not going to come as a startling admission that I — once the rest of the local opposition has been eliminated from consideration — am an unabashed fan of whatever team the Wabash Valley sends onward in postseason high school sports competition.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: This private school plays basketball the right way
Any girls high school basketball season that ends with state championship games in Hulman Center is a pretty good one — even though I wished I’d seen Riverton Parke and Seeger knock off a couple of private schools the week before to even the public school-private school battle a little bit.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Even 2 of state’s best once had doubts
Look at them now.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Getting ready for the dance
Terre Haute North got the good news Sunday night — or did it?
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Harrowing path for state hopefuls
The bad news is that the winner of Class 4A Sectional 13 in boys basketball heads northeast instead of southeast for regional play in March — to Hinkle Fieldhouse instead of Seymour as a result of Indiana High School Athletic Association’s changes.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: A superior all-star arrangement
I don’t work on Wednesdays, so I wasn’t able to attend the first Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association draft last week to set up the annual all-star game that will be June 23 this year.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: The biggest & baddest of a holiday classic
There are more things to love about the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic than could fit in this newspaper, but one of this year’s best things was that for an hour or so on Wednesday, it was Justin Paddock’s world and we were just living in it.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Taking note of ISU’s latest football win
The biggest difference I’ve noticed, as I transition from the high school football beat to quasi-official status as the Indiana State football beat writer for a few weeks, is the length of the games.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: IHSAA playoff draw not as bad as it could have been
First reaction to the Indiana sectional football pairings drawn late Sunday by the Indiana High School Athletic Association? It could have been a lot worse.
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ANDY AMEY: Between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & a hard place
Just in case any of you noticed — with some anticipation — the recent lack of my bylines, I can tell you that your wish (and mine) did come true. It was vacation week for the Amey family.
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Amey Takes Aim: UFC fighter’s bloodines traced back to ISU brothers
As a mild-mannered reporter from a great metropolitan newspaper — or thereabouts — I admit I haven’t paid much attention to the burgeoning mixed martial arts scene.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Predators’ win is music to new fan’s ears
For many, many years, the number of live games televised on WGN has been cited as perhaps the main reason for the popularity of the Chicago Cubs (it’s got to be something besides masochism, right?).
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AMEY TAKES AIM: You’ll be having a good ol’ time on vacation with the Ameys
When one of the first people you meet is Tammy Wynette’s stepdaughter, when you’ve stepped on the feet of people you haven’t met while trying to navigate Ernest Tubbs’ old Silver Eagle tour bus, and when the activities director of your resort is, well, Elvis, you might be vacationing in Nashville.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: The Annual All-Amey basketball teams close out the prep season
The most encouraging boys high school basketball event I’ve attended so far in 2011 has been the Lafayette Semistate a couple of weeks ago.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Family remembers Cheryl Weatherman as caring grandmother
As far as Riley and Keely Davis are concerned, Cheryl Weatherman was simply their grandmother, and a pretty darn good one at that.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Honor to see Turkey Run girls close out memorable career
I don’t know if anyone in this part of the state could actually say they enjoy going to Fort Wayne and back, but I was glad to see the Turkey Run Warriors play one last time during the girls basketball state finals Saturday.
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So many matches, so many favorites
Go ahead, ask me anything about the 224 wrestlers who competed last week at the Indiana state finals — or at least about the 112 wrestlers who survived Saturday’s first round.
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ANDY TAKES AIM: A sportwriters’s lament: Oh, the games we missed
I was already tired of winter by the time that first bitterly cold snap passed through in mid-December, so it’s safe to say the season hasn’t grown on me.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Time of the season for teams to tough it out
In the last month or so I figure I’ve seen at least four boys high school basketball teams with legitimate state-championship dreams as the season heads into its dog days.
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