TERRE HAUTE — There were no reports of worms being gathered, but on Monday the early birds — in Vigo County, that would be Terre Haute South and Terre Haute North — may have had the advantage on the first day of high school football practices in Indiana.
The Braves and Patriots had their first official workouts in the relative cool of the morning — “The first practice was nice and cool,” coach Chris Barrett of North joked after it was over — while West Vigo, which traditionally meets in the afternoon and evenings for coach Jeff Cobb, ran into a steamy beginning before temperatures moderated for an early-evening session.
“We’ve been pretty lucky, weather-wise,” Cobb said Monday as the Vikings hit the weight room prior to their evening meal (prediction: the watermelon didn’t last long). “But we had a reality check today. We adjusted some of what we did [because of the heat].”
Not a lot of adjustments were necessary. By mandate, teams are limited to a pair of 90-minute sessions on the first two days before donning pads on Wednesday. By that time the days are predicted to be a little more fall-like, although today’s practices are expected to provide another endurance test.
By the weekend, all three Vigo County teams will be ready for at least some kind of scrimmage activity: the Vikings with a 10 a.m. workout open to the public for the admission charge of soap or a towel; the Braves with what coach Mark Raetz called “full team activity” from approximately 10 to 11:30 a.m.; and the Patriots with their annual soap game at 6 p.m. Preseason scrimmages are Aug. 15 — Northview at South and North at Decatur Central at 7 p.m., West Vigo at North Montgomery at 7:30.
West Vigo has the smallest squad among the three schools, with approximately 60 players, but the Vikings have one thing the other two teams don’t: a returning starting quarterback in senior Landon Keith.
“Nothing can replace that varsity experience,” Cobb said of Keith, “and he’s worked hard in the offseason.”
Keith may still have a few things to learn, however; the Vikings have added Ernie Simpson to their staff as offensive coordinator, and Simpson — who’s spent the last several years at South Vermillion — may try to meld some of his spread principles to the Vikings’ wing-T.
North and South, on the other hand, have the same offenses but will have to replace a pair of all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference quarterbacks, John Garvin at North and the county’s Humphrey Award winner, Koby Kraemer, at South.
Bryn Schwartz and Mitchell Dagnon are competing for Kraemer’s old job, where Raetz has approximately 105 players to work with, while Chris O’Leary appears to be inheriting Garvin’s job with the Patriots. North has almost 130 players right now.
“They’ve been working hard all offseason,” Raetz said of his players. “This is the second season in this system, both offensively and defensively, so we hope we can improve on the field this year.”
O’Leary won’t be the most experienced member of North’s backfield, but he won’t be the youngest either. Ben King is still just a junior but has earned two letters at running back, and slotback Daniel Gabbard is a sophomore who also got some starts as a ninth-grader.
Another relative newcomer for the Patriots is coach Ethan Tyler, who takes over as defensive coordinator after Greg Barrett, the youngest of the coaching sons of the late Jay Barrett, took his first head coaching job at North Putnam.
“He’s going to do a great job,” Chris Barrett predicted of Tyler. “He worked with Greg real closely, and he brings a ton of knowledge and enthusiasm.”
South has 14 starters returning from a 2-8 team, while North and West Vigo have 13 starters each back from teams that were 3-8 and 4-6 respectively.
High School
High schools hit the gridiron
- High School
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It’s a rivalry-filled Memorial Day for sectional contenders
Longtime rivalries figure to determine high school baseball sectional champions throughout the Wabash Valley today, with semifinal and final games scheduled at four sites and a stand-alone championship game at a fifth.
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South tops Oldenburg to win tennis semistate
There was no evidence of rally caps, rally towels and certainly no rally squirrels, but Terre Haute South’s No. 1 singles player Maddie Kesler needed a rally in the worst way.
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New route leads to same place for South girls tennis
For so many years, the road to the IHSAA girls tennis state finals for local teams ran through Vincennes (regional) and Jasper (semistate). In other words, south and more south.
This year, their trip was re-routed through Greencastle (regional) and Center Grove (semistate). So it cnahged to east and more east. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Robinson tops Greenville in sectional semifinal
Robinson jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, then cruised to a convincing 12-3 victory over Greenville in a IHSA Class 2A Vandalia sectional semifinal game on Thursday.
Ashlyn Sullivan was 2 for 3 with a double, home run and three RBIs to lead the winning Maroons. -
West Vigo baseball falls in sectional to Owen Valley
West Vigo overcame the odds to win 20 high school baseball games this season with a lineup that often included four freshmen and few seniors.
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South Vermillion softball's late-season surge comes to end
A late-season surge by South Vermillion wasn’t quite enough to halt a high school softball sectional winning streak by the host team Thursday night, as Edgewood got on top early and held on for a 5-2 win in the championship game of the Class 3A Edgewood Sectional.
The loss was just the second in the last 12 games for the Wildcats. The Mustangs, however, haven’t lost a sectional softball game for eight years in a row. -
South takes second, North third at boys track regional
Terre Haute South finished second and Terre Haute North third on Thursday night at the boys track and field regional at Evansville Central, with 11 individuals and three relay teams qualifying for the state finals June 2.
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PREP ROUNDUP: White River Valley baseball holds off Eminence
Three Eminence errors in the top of the sixth inning finally enabled White River Valley to score in high school baseball Thursday night, and the Wolverines went on to a 5-0 win in Class A Shakamak Sectional action.
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Feeling cursed: South bitten in sectional final again
Terre Haute South softball is not even close to being as cursed as a certain northside baseball team in Chicago, but it might just seem like it.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mundy, Porter, Knight individual regional winners
Chanli Mundy and Keirra Porter of Terre Haute North were among the individual winners in the IHSAA Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Thornton puts away South Vermillion
Cody Thornton’s three-run blast over the left-field fence was the finishing touch to West Vigo’s 10-3 victory over South Vermillion in the opening game of the Class 3A Greencastle Sectional on Wednesday.
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Lakers triumph, go home for regional
Shakamak took Class A Clay City Sectional honors in high school softball for the first time since 2009 Wednesday, defeating White River Valley 9-5 in the title tilt.
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North Vermillion avenges losses
North Vermillion avenged two high school softball losses during the regular season to win the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional championship Wednesday with a 3-2 triumph over the host Panthers.
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Pats, Knights will meet in sectional
Adler Ingalsbe pooh-poohed his lack of velocity Wednesday night, yet the Terre Haute North pitcher was throwing BBs in the first game compared to Mooresville’s Brandon Topie in the nightcap.
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South outbattles Northview to reach sectional final
Even the best of high school softball pitchers can’t keep all the batters in the middle of Terre Haute South’s lineup down.
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Panthers get 20th win in sectional
Riverton Parke will face North Vermillion in the Class A softball sectional championship at Riverton Parke today, with action commencing at 6 p.m.
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Plainfield Sectional all about parity
Considering Terre Haute South has won five consecutive Class 4A sectional titles in high school baseball, naming the Braves as favorites to capture the 2012 Class 4A Plainfield Sectional would not seem far-fetched.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Vermillion in title game
Casey West had a triple and three runs scored to help North Vermillion softball advance to the championship game of the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional on Tuesday.
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North takes second in track regional
Terre Haute North finished second with 74 points, six behind team champion Evansville Reitz, during the Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Wildcats advance to sectional softball final; West Vigo falls
Patience, patience.
South Vermillion exhibited great patience, being very selective at the plate and it paid off royally in the fourth inning. -
South, Crawfordsville win in regional tennis semis
Terre Haute South outlasted Fountain Central 4-1 in the first round of the girls high school tennis regional Tuesday, advancing the Braves into today’s championship match against Crawfordsville.
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Braves, Knights open with wins
It was an excellent night for starting softball pitchers to help their own cause Monday night in the Class 4A Northview Sectional.
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Lough dreamt about McMillan
A two-time state finalist in wrestling and a two-time all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference football player and wrestler, Tsali Lough of Terre Haute South was named the male recipient of the 2012 McMillan Award on Monday night at South’s Senior Awards Night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers cruise in sectional opener
Sarah Burnham pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in high school softball Monday evening as host Riverton Parke defeated defending champion Rockville 10-0 in opening-round action at the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional.
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Notable tradition bodes well for Riverton Parke
Located practically in the shadow of a high school that sets one state standard in track and field, Riverton Parke has a tendency to be overlooked in that sport.
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Vikings get 18th win over Shakamak
West Vigo began a busy week of high school baseball Monday on a winning note, defeating Shakamak 6-3.
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Greencastle new site for girls tennis regional
The starting times might prove to be a bone of contention, but otherwise coaches Bill Blankenbaker and Emily Goff are thrilled their respective girls high school tennis teams will begin play today at the Greencastle Regional.
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Northview sectional groups 3 20-win teams
Three teams with 20-plus victories will attempt to claim the Class 4A Northview Sectional crown for high school softball this week, and most of the other Wabash Valley sectional fields also appear to be wide open.
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Terre Haute South softball takes Riverton Parke tournament
Terre Haute South is going into the Class 4A Sectional at Northview on Monday with momentum, confidence, a deep bench and a healthier pitching staff than it has had in quite a while.
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North baseball splits doubleheader with Indy North Central
Some of their incentive could have been sapped a couple of nights earlier, when Center Grove achieved an eight-inning victory over Warren Central to clinch the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball championship.
- More High School Headlines
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