SPENCER —
Big plays by Owen Valley High School’s football team seemed destined to doom Northview in Friday’s Western Indiana Conference clash. The Patriots had touchdowns of 96, 90 and 72 yards.
But the Knights mastered the little plays and a lot more of them. In the end, that proved to be the difference in a come-from-behind 20-19 victory against the Patriots, who had been unbeaten in the WIC.
Bullish running back Jesse Miller and a dominant line were what got Northview over the top. Miller rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns via a whopping 39 carries.
They weren’t easy yards either. Miller was punished as he often absorbed multiple blows per rush. But the 6-foot, 225-pound senior kept rumbling along.
“I wanted it super bad. It’s all about yards after contact and how bad you want it. I just kept my feet moving and it showed on the field,” Miller said.
For a time, it appeared Northview would be haunted by Owen Valley running back/defensive back Larry Shaffer, a former student at Northview.
It didn’t take Shaffer long to make his presence known to his former school. On Owen Valley’s second play from scrimmage, Shaffer ran 96 yards for a touchdown.
Northview worked its way downfield in response, but Shaffer was the man again, as he picked off Tucker Stewart deep in Owen Valley territory and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.
Owen Valley barely had possession of the ball, but the Patriots owned a 13-0 advantage. Both teams’ defenses hold the fort for the remainder of the half and Owen Valley’s lead was the same at halftime.
Northview had the ball to start the second half and the Knights established dominance in the trenches. An epic 17-play, 65-yard drive was the result with Miller inflicting — and absorbing — most of the damage.
The 17th play — fourth-and-goal from the Owen Valley 1-yard line — characterized Miller’s hard-nosed determination. Miller was hit twice in the backfield, but bounced off tacklers and used his strength to roll into the end zone to make it 13-7.
“Everyone was counting on me. I’m the leader and I can’t let them down. All of that was running through my mind as I kept my feet moving. I wanted it so bad and it happened,” Miller said.
The drive boosted Northview’s confidence and opened the game up, but not before Shaffer made his presence felt again. Two plays after Miller’s TD, Shaffer took a pitch on the left side and broke free for a 72-yard touchdown to make it 19-7.
Undaunted, Northview scored on its first drive in response. Stewart found Tyler Rector wide open over the middle for a 73-yard TD connection to make it 19-14.
The decisive drive came early in the fourth quarter. Miller had carries of 8, 14, 5 and 7 yards — and Northview converted a fourth down — to set up a 1-yard Miller touchdown run with 8:44 left in the game.
Northview’s defense did the rest. Owen Valley (3-2, 3-1) managed just one first down — via penalty — for the remainder of the contest.
Northview (2-3) improved to 2-1 in the WIC, but Northview coach George Gettle was just as happy with what this win could do for the young Knights’ confidence.
“From a confidence standpoint, this is a really big thing. It makes next week so much easier,” Gettle said.
Northview plays next Friday at Vincennes Lincoln.
Northview 20,
Owen Valley 19
Northview 0 0 14 6 — 20
Owen Valley 13 0 6 0 — 19
OV — Larry Shaffer 96 run (Landon DeFord kick), 7:42 1Q.
OV — Shaffer 90 interception return (kick failed), 3:31 1Q.
N — Jesse Miller 1 run (Trey Boor kick), 3:53 3Q.
OV — Shaffer 72 run (run failed), 3:31 3Q.
N — Tyler Rector 73 pass from Tucker Stewart (Boor kick), 2:38 3Q.
N — Miller 1 run (pass failed), 8:44 4Q.
N OV
First downs 13 4
Rush.-Yds. 52-198 19-201
Rec. Yds. 176 1
C/A/I 8-17-2 1-8-0
Pen. Yds. 7-80 6-55
Fum-Lost 2-1 2-2
Punts/Avg. 2-30 4-33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Northview, Miller 39-181, Stewart 11-13, Zach Hyde 2-4. Owen Valley, Shaffer 4-162, Drew Bradley 9-19, Caleb Arthur 3-11, Gunnar Ranard 3-9.
Passing — Northview, Stewart 8-17-2 176. Owen Valley, Ranard 1-7-0 1, Shaffer 0-1-0 0.
Receiving — Northview, Rector 3-109, Daniel Kimball 3-24, Hunter Ragan 1-31, Ben Girton 1-12. Owen Valley, Shaffer 1-1.
Next — Next Friday, Northview (2-3, 2-1) plays at Vincennes Lincoln and Owen Valley (3-2, 3-1) plays at Sullivan.
High School
Northview rallies for WIC win over OV
- High School
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Goatee, Bertoli ran away with Spring Athlete of the Year
When honoring athletes after a season of excellence, the phrase “what might have been” doesn’t usually come up.
But in the case of Terre Haute South’s Jackson Bertoli and Terre Haute North’s TaPring Goatee – the Tribune-Star’s Athletes of the Year for spring sports – there’s an air of unfinished business despite obvious recent successes.
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Post 346 opens tournament with two victories
Preston Tofaute got on base enough to score three runs, Cody Thornton smashed a two-run triple in the first inning and pitcher Pete Lannoo scattered four hits over a seven-inning complete game.
All of that helped Wayne Newton Post 346 down Lafayette Post 11 by a 7-2 score in the opener of the Terre Haute Inviatational tournament for American Legion baseball Thursday afternoon at Terre Haute North High School. -
North boys move up to 13th in golf state finals
Early Wednesday morning, Terre Haute North senior Ryan Baker and coach Abe Nasser headed out to the Legends of Indiana Golf Course for a range session.
Baker wasn’t happy with the 85 he shot in Tuesday’s first round of the IHSAA boys golf state finals.
“He was frustrated,” Nasser said.
Problem solved. Baker bounced back with a 2-over 74 Wednesday, helping the Patriots improve their team score by seven strokes.
The Patriots shot 304 as a team Wednesday, giving them a two-day score of 615, good for 13th place in the 15-team field. -
Big hill to climb for North golf
Terre Haute North boys golf is 21 strokes behind leaders at IHSAA boys golf tourney.
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Top of her game
There are a lot of surprising facts about blossoming volleyball prodigy Caitlyn Newton, including that shape-shifting thing she can apparently do, but maybe one of them stands out the most. She may only be scratching the surface.
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Camp, Howe win, then lose in state tennis tourney
Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe of Terre Haute South won their first match of high school tennis Friday at the state individual doubles finals, then won the first set against a powerful Park Tudor team before falling in three sets.
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Terre Haute North heading back to state finals in boys golf
Terre Haute North is going back to the state finals in boys high school golf for the first time in more than 10 years. The Patriots qualified for a trip to The Legends Course next week by tying for third in the Washington Regional at Country Oaks Golf Club and advancing with the better fifth score.
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North, South, Sullivan to compete at golf regional
Boys high school golf teams from the Wabash Valley will compete in the Washington Regional on Thursday, seeking a spot in the state finals to be played next week.
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Terre Haute North falls 6-1 to Brownsburg in opening game of Class 4A Regional
Terre Haute North coach Shawn Turner told the Patriots to raise their heads. He wanted to see their eyes at the close of their 24-7 high school baseball season.
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Terre Haute North girls shine on dreary day at track state finals
Led by a record setting 3,200-meter relay team and Keirra Porter’s long jump, Terre Haute North turned in its best finish ever in the 40th annual IHSAA Girls Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Indiana University in Bloomington.
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Valley teams will have to wait until Monday for baseball regionals
Rain and the threat of more rain caused postponements of high school baseball regionals involving Terre Haute North, West Vigo and Shakamak on Saturday.
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Rockville's season ends at Lafayette Central Catholic
Lafayette Central Catholic ended Rockville’s tourney run in high school baseball Saturday, defeating the Rox 8-0 in the first game of the LCC Class A Regional.
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IHSAA boys state track finals: Standing alone
It hadn’t been a particularly good day for Wabash Valley track and field Friday, and it wasn’t looking like a good one for Jackson Bertoli either.
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Terre Haute North, West Vigo return to baseball regionals
Terre Haute North’s baseball team hasn’t participated in an IHSAA regional since 2006. West Vigo’s wait hasn’t been as long, but it was 2010 when the Vikings last advanced from a sectional.
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Patriots girls take aim at state track title
Terre Haute North’s girls have several potential state champions today at Indiana University.
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South, North track athletes looking for big performances at state finals
Terre Haute South’s distance trio of Jackson Bertoli, Logan Hambrock and Riley Stohler appear to be the favorites to crack all-state status among Wabash Valley competitors today in the IHSAA boys track and field state finals at Indiana University.
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Internet site keeps area prep teams on airwaves
- PREP ROUNDUP: Locals to take part in Hoosiers All-Star Game
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South Vermillion softball can't overcome errors, Tri-West
Uncharacteristic errors led to eight unearned runs and hard-luck hitting made that impossible to overcome for South Vermillion, which fell 8-0 to Tri-West in Class 3A regional play.
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Clay City softball comes up short against Lutheran
Clay City closed its high school softball season Tuesday night with the best record ever for the program at 21-9.
The Eels wanted to add another win, the school’s first regional title, but they came up short.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Rockville wins baseball sectional
Rockville won its own Class A sectional in high school baseball Tuesday, defeating Covington 10-4 in the rain-delayed championship game.
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Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional:The wait is over
Three minutes into an interview with various media members, Terre Haute North baseball coach Shawn Turner couldn’t react fast enough to avoid a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head from behind by his giddy players. The soaking-wet Turner could shake it off with a smile, however, because his Patriots had just won the IHSAA Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional championship with a 13-3 six-inning triumph over Plainfield on Monday evening.
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Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional: TH North, Plainfield win squeakers
The high school baseball teams of Terre Haute North and Plainfield proved Monday that what a batter does early in the game is not necessarily indicative of what he will do in the late innings.
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Class 2A Linton Sectional: Eastern rains on Sullivan parade
Mother Nature put Sullivan’s quest for a high school baseball sectional championship on hold Monday night at Linton-Stockton High School. Sullivan (14-15) and Eastern Greene (16-7) will resume play in the Class 2A Sectional 47 championship game at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Linton’s Roy Herndon Field.
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Opening Day: Terre Haute Rex host Quincy
In his first season at the helm, first-year Terre Haute Rex manager Ronnie Prettyman is going to be surrounded by men he knows and trusts.
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Class A Shakamak Sectional: Stout pitching leads Union, Shakamak to final
Trey Bedwell and Patrick Green made sure their respective high school baseball teams would meet for the championship of the Class A Shakamak Sectional by pitching shutouts in semifinal contests Monday afternoon.
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Class A Rockville Sectional: Covington, Rockville title game postponed
Rockville and Covington won semifinal high school baseball games Monday to advance to the championship game of the Rockville Class A Sectional. Due to rain, the championship game was postponed. A decision was expected this morning whether the game will be played today or Wednesday.
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South Vermillion, Linton, Clay City look to stay alive in softball
There might have been as many reasons to think they wouldn’t be winning sectionals this spring as evidence to show they would, but high school softball teams from South Vermillion, Linton and Clay City will be playing one-game regionals Tuesday with the chance to keep defying the odds.
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West Vigo back on top of Class 3A baseball sectional
West Vigo won its sectional with a 6-4 victory over South Vermillion on a rainy night at Dick Ballinger Field.
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South runs into ‘buzzsaw’ at girls tennis semistate
Postmatch interviews don’t often begin with a coach and a reporter ready to blurt out the same word, but that was the case for Bill Blankenbaker and his interviewer Saturday morning after the Center Grove Semistate for girls high school tennis.
Unfortunately for Blankenbaker’s Terre Haute South team, that word was “buzzsaw.”
Greenwood’s Kawamoto twins made quick work of the top of the Braves’ singles lineup, so despite stellar efforts by both South doubles teams the Woodmen’s 3-2 victory didn’t seem all that close.
Greenwood moves on to Fishers, where it plays Floyd Central or Jasper on Friday in the state quarterfinals.
Also playing Friday, but at Park Tudor, will be South’s Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe, who reached the individual doubles finals for the second straight season by virtue of their 6-4, 6-2 win over the Greenwood team of Taylor Hudnall and Brittany Toney.
“It’s really exciting,” said Howe of the prospect of a second straight finals trip, “but I wish our team could’ve gone with us.”
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