TERRE HAUTE — Two Wabash Valley teams are off to school-record starts to the 2006 high school football season. Northview and North Central are both 3-0 in the young season.
The Knights are coming off a big win at Terre Haute North.
How big was it? Not the biggest win of Northview coach George Gettle’s career, but a huge one, nonetheless.
“There’s no win like winning the state title like I did in 1998 [as offensive coordinator of Bloomington South],” Gettle said. “We beat Vincennes when they were ranked No. 1 in state. Any time you can beat a MIC team, which everyone says is the best conference in the state, it says a lot about where our kids are.”
Northview plays host to Sullivan tonight in a Western Indiana Conference matchup. Gettle said he doesn’t anticipate a let down.
“We’ve addressed it pretty hot and heavy. That’s the last thing we’re going to do after that win,” Gettle said.
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n Backers, DBs lead Knights — Leading the Knights’ defense, which has allowed just 10 points-per-game thus far, has been its linebackers and defensive backs, Gettle said. The linebacking corps of Nick Lancaster, Chris Dean and Jordan Keller and strong safety Dylan Cruz have led the way. Gettle has been happy with both his offensive and defensive units, but particularly the middle and back of the defense.
“I’ve been pleased with our aggressiveness and willingness to fly around and get to the football,” Gettle said. “We’re pretty young. I just look for our defense to continue getting better every week.”
n Don’t take the T-birds’ winning streak away — North Central’s 3-0 start is believed to be the best start in school history. Long-time assistant coach Aaron Greve said the 1985 North Central team and one of the first NC teams in 1968 may have matched the 3-0 start.
Second-year head coach Brian Crabtree is hoping to make it a moot point and secure his place in the record book with a fourth straight win tonight at North Vermillion. The game will be broadcast on WNDI-FM 95.3.
n North Central coach beats alma mater — North Central’s Crabtree on beating his alma mater North Daviess on Aug. 25: “It was I guess just another win. Everytime you walk out there it doesn’t matter if you’re playing the Indianapolis Colts or the place you graduated from.”
n Two for two-way player — In last Friday’s 28-21 win against Mitchell, North Central junior Jared Ross caught two touchdown passes from Jimmy Swank and picked off two by the opposing quarterback.
n Braves’ big hits — Terre Haute South had few memories to take home after its 42-6 loss to Vincennes Lincoln last Friday, but the Braves at least had the two biggest hits of the game. Tony Barton laid out Vincennes’ Justin Duncan for a 3-yard loss just before halftime, “de-cleating” the unfortunate Alices’ runner. In the fourth quarter, Koby Kraemer flipped Vincennes backup quarterback Doug Roberts to emphatically end a 3-yard gain.
n “Gut-check time” — Casey’s 22-game LIC winning streak came to an end Friday at the hands of Class 2A No. 4 Red Hill. The Salukis were a 48-18 winner.
“Basically, it is known as gut-check time,” Warriors’ coach Keith Sinclair said of tonight’s game against Flora, who has outscored its opponents 74-20 on its way to a 2-0 start. Casey must slow down Flora’s wing-T offense and fight off an aggressive defense.
n Record snapped — Riverton Parke’s Josh Mager broke the school’s career rushing record last week at home against Fountain Central. But it wasn’t easy. Mager was held to less than 100 yards for the first time this season, totaling 70 against the Mustangs’ tough defense. The senior back has 2,380 yards, breaking Chris Penn’s record of 2,358.
n Bulldogs’ offense finds paydirt — Union scored its first offensive touchdown of the season in last week’s 20-8 win against Indiana Deaf. Coach Todd Gambill’s team tallied three offensive scores, with the first two coming with a short field.
“We had a nice drive in the third quarter,” said Gambill, whose team travels to play the Monrovia Bulldogs tonight.
Union’s defense played well, making three interceptions in against Indiana Deaf. Jake Francis, Logan Chesterfield and B.J. Howard came up with the picks.
n Tiger Cubs playing well — Cal Gard and his 50-percent completion percentage have led Greencastle to a 2-1 start to the season. The Tiger Cubs play at South Vermillion tonight.
“I’m fairly pleased with where we’re going,” coach Mike Meyer said. “[Tonight’s game] should be a pretty even matchup. We’ll see how it pans out.”
n Ejections — In last week’s Marshall-Martinsville game, four players were ejected from the game and cannot play tonight — Martinsville’s Bobby Short and Phil Higginbotham and Marshall’s Steven Bowen and Blain Fraker.
Craig Pearson can be reached by
e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com
Given to Fly
Quick Hits: Record-setting start to season for Knights, Thunderbirds
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
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- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
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- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
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- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
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- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
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Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence




