CASEY, ILL. —
Casey dominated its opening Class 2A footballl playoff game Saturday afternoon, defeating Carmi 45-0 in sunny, chilly and windy conditions.
To say that the Warriors set the tempo early is almost an understatement.
They needed just four plays to score the first three touchdowns, leading 21-0 with 5 minutes, 52 seconds left in the first period at Sinclair-Vidoni Field.
They were up 42-0 at halftime, allowing for a running clock with the Casey starters watching from the sidelines.
The victory earned the No.3-seeded Warriors another home this Saturday against No. 6 seed Carlinville which bested Arthur 46-12.
Carmi went three-and-out on its first possession and a poor punt enabled Casey to start its first possession on the Carmi 27-yard line.
Junior quarterback Nicco Stepina got loose for 22-yard scoring run on the second play and Jesse Burnett kicked the first of seven extra points to put Casey up 7-0.
Stepina hooked up with Anthony Wilson for 53-yard pass play on the Warriors’ first play of their second possession and they were up 14-0 with 7:19 still left in the first canto.
Carmi went for a fourth down on its next possession and failed, giving Casey the football on the Carmi 35-yard line. Ajave Meeks burst loose on the first play of the possession and the host team led 21-0 with 5:52 left in the period.
Casey needed five plays to score its final touchdown of the opening period with Stepina finding Zack Murphy open for a 30-yard scoring play.
Murphy’s pass interception set up the next Casey drive with Dalton Livvix capping a seven-play drive with a 3-yard run.
The Warriors failed to score on their sixth possesion, driving to the Carmi 25, but another pass interception -- this one by Mack Disch --set up Casey’s final touchdown with Stepina going 2 yards for the score to cap a six-play drive.
Burnett kicked a 21-yard field goal to account for the only second-half points with a running clock in effect the entire time.
Casey had a 302-83 edge in total offense in the first half. Meeks rushed for 78 yards on seven carries and Livvix netted 73 on 10 totes while Stepina completed his first three passes for 101 yards.
Jim Sullivan was pleased following his first playoff game as coach of the Warriors.
“We talked about getting ahead early. These players work harder than any team I have seen. We work them hard, run a lot and today was the result of that work,” he said.
“We didn’t expect [the early lead]. I think Carmi got a little shell-shocked. We are pretty good at stopping the run and we knew they weren’t going anywhere if they tried to do that,” said Sullivan.
Senior Matt McCown is a leader on the Casey defense that allowed just 8.4 points per game in the regular season at linebacker and has been starting at that slot and at offensive tackle since his sophomore year.
“I like defense the best,” he said and intends to play college football. “I’ve narrowed it down to Indiana State and Illinois State,” said McCown.
Casey has qualified for the playoffs 12 straight years and also met Carmi two years ago, winning 36-16.
Casey 45, Carmi 0
Carmi 0 0 0 0 — 0
Casey 28 14 3 0 — 45
Casey — Stepina 22 run (Burnett kick), 9:23 1Q
Casey — Wilson 53 pass from Stepina (Burnett kick), 7:19 1Q
Casey— Meeks 35 run (Burnett kick), 5:51 1Q
Casey — Murphy 30 pass from Stepina (Burnett kick), 1:52 1Q
Casey — Livvix 3 run (Burnett kick), 11:02 2Q
Casey — Stepina 2 run (Burnett kick), 9:32 2Q
Casey — FG Burnett 21, 45.5 3Q
Car Cas
First downs 6 15
Rushes-yards 38-103 41-266
Passing yards 29 101
Comp-Att-Int 3-9-2 3-5-0
Return yards 0 57
Punts-avg 3-29.6 0-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-23 3-35
Individual statistics
Rushing — Carmi, Rankin 26-66, Farr 5-25, Matsel 5-7, Dillman 2-5. Casey, Livvix 10-73, Stepina 6-43, Meeks 7-78, Blome 2-17, Weger 7-36, Disch 2-3, Massey 3-7, Lucas 1-4, Currey 1-1, Williams 2-4.
Passing — Carmi, Farr 3-9-2 29. Casey, Stepina 3-5-0 101.
Receiving — Carmi, Matsel 2-24, Weller 1-5. Casey, Wilson 1-53, Murphy 1-30, Keigley 1-18.
Next — Casey (10-0) will meet Carlinville at Casey at 2 p.m. next Saturday in Class 2A playoff action. Carmi finished 6-4.
High School
Casey advances in Class 2A football playoffs
- High School
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West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball
West Vigo got off to a good start but Brown County finished better in Class 3A high school softball sectional semifinal action Tuesday night at Edgewood.
The Eagles bested the Vikings 7-5 and will meet South Vermillion, a 12-7 winner over Owen Valley, for the sectional championship on Thursday starting at 6 p.m.
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Valley baseball teams have been keeping busy heading into sectionals
When high school baseball sectionals begin around the Wabash Valley today, one complaint that’s not expected to be heard from any coach is that his team has had too much time off.
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Northview powers way past Terre Haute South in sectional semifinal
Northview unleashed power rarely seen in high school girls softball Tuesday night to eliminate Terre Haute South 8-1 in the Class 4A Sectional at Martinsville High School.
The Knights hit three home runs in an eight-run third inning to reach the championship game. -
Terre Haute North dominates field at regional
Keirra Porter took first place in two individual events and helped Terre Haute North win one of its relays as the Patriots captured the Evansville Central Regional team championship in girls high school track and field Tuesday night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: South tennis cruises into regional final
Terre Haute South didn’t lose a game en route to blanking Seeger 5-0 in girls high school tennis Tuesday to advance to today’s championship match against Crawfordsville in the Greencastle Regional.
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees. -
West Vigo softball holds off nemesis Edgewood in softball sectional
Ice cream was enough of a reward Monday night after the West Vigo Vikings beat eight-time defending champion Edgewood 6-2 in extra innings in the opening game of the Class 3A softball sectional at Edgewood High School. But that’s not what Vikings want.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Shakamak's Green hits two homers in win over West Vigo
Shakamak improved to 22-3 on the season behind a complete-game effort from Brett Yeryar, and Patrick Green hit two solo home runs in a high school baseball game Monday.
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Terre Haute North offense unable to get going in loss to Mooresville
Jack Kirchner chose to give credit Monday night to Mooresville pitcher Taylor Chitwood, not to the Greg Maddux-size strike zone she seemed to enjoy.
But if there were no excuses forthcoming from Kirchner and his Terre Haute North High School softball team, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a spectator or two to come up with extenuating circumstances about the Patriots’ 4-1 loss at the Class 4A Martinsville Sectional. -
Terre Haute North looking strong going into girls track regional
Terre Haute North might need an off night for anyone to catch them in the girls track regional at Evansville Central.
The Patriots are as well-rounded as they’ve ever been, and two relay teams are state contenders with times ranking No. 2 in Indiana among times recorded all spring.
Terre Haute South, Northview and Sullivan have athletes among the contenders in multiple events as well. -
South tennis ready for potential challenge in regional
Terre Haute South and Northview take respective records of 10-5 and 11-5 into the Greencastle Regional today.
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Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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Terre Haute South, Northview vie for tennis regional title
Terre Haute South and Northview take respective records of 10-5 and 11-5 into the Greencastle Regional today.
Coach Bill Blankenbaker’s Braves will play Seeger at 4:30 p.m., while coach Emily Goff’s Knights will take on Crawfordsville about 6 p.m. -
Vikings win in extra innings at Rockville
West Vigo scored six runs in its first two innings Saturday, then needed a ninth-inning single by Lucas Fagg to escape with a 7-6 extra-inning win in nonconference high school baseball at Rockville.
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TH South beats Northview in Big Four makeup baseball game
Terre Haute South wrapped up a share of the MIC baseball title and finished up the Big Four Classic with an 8-1 victory over Northview in less than 24 hours on Saturday morning.
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Olds pitches South to share of MIC baseball title
Friday night, winning the second game 5-0 and earning a share of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title.
Damon Olds was dominant on the mound for the Braves, striking out 14 and walking just one while pitching a three-hit shutout. -
South wins first half of doubleheader against Lawrence North
Host Terre Haute South kept its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title hopes alive — and clinched no worse than second place in the process — by downing Lawrence North 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Friday night.
The second game, which started after Senior Night festivities between games, ended past the Tribune-Star deadline. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Calleja pitches West Vigo past South Vermillion
Brandon Calleja had 13 strikeouts to lead West Vigo to a 5-1 victory against South Vermillion in high school baseball Friday.
Brandon Behringer went 2 for 4 with two RBI for the Vikings, who secured second place in the Western Indiana Conference.
Kaden Lawson had double for South Vermillion (15-7), which finished 4-2 in the WIC. -
Seibert returns from injury to win three events as Braves win sectional crown
His baseball equivalent might be Rick Sutcliffe of the 1984 Chicago Cubs.
When Tyler Seibert returned to the Terre Haute South track and field lineup Thursday for sectional action at Terre Haute North, it was like the midseason trade the Cubs made for Sutcliffe that earned them a playoff spot. -
South switches up lineup to defeat North in tennis sectional
Terre Haute South coach Bill Blankenbaker said two weeks ago that he would change the Braves’ lineup after the 3-2 dual-meet loss to Terre Haute North.
The Patriots knew it was coming, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it. -
PREP ROUNDUP: North slips past Northview in eight-inning baseball game
Colton Pittman drew a bases-loaded walk to score Zach Milam with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as host Terre Haute North edged Northview 8-7 in high school baseball Thursday at Jennings Field.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North and South to face off for tennis sectional title
The winner of the Terre Haute sectional for girls high school tennis will come down to Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South.
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Terre Haute North gets 10 event victories to claim 12th straight sectional crown
Terre Haute North won 10 events Tuesday night while winning the Indiana High School Athletic Association girls track and field section at South Putnam High School for the 12th straight year.
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North, South to meet in first round of baseball sectional
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced pairings for the baseball state tournament Tuesday and the draw offered up a Vigo County battle in the opening game.
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PREP ROUNDUP: West Vigo softball clinches share of WIC title
West Vigo clinched at least a share of the Western Indiana Conference softball title with a 6-4 victory over Edgewood on Tuesday.
Jacy McClain and Bailee Waters had RBI singles in the fourth inning to break the game open for the Vikings. -
Track sectional titles on the line
Expect one heck of a high school dual track meet Thursday night when Wabash Valley boys visit Terre Haute North for sectional action.
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Prep report: Patriots, Braves favored to advance from tennis sectional 1st round
Persons attending this week’s girls tennis sectional championship match at Terre Haute North might want to pack a lunch.
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Local ADs happy to see spring come to a close
Brian Mancuso is the most experienced of the high school athletic directors in Vigo County — and that’s a very relative term — but even he wasn’t quite ready for the headaches that have accompanied spring sports the last few weeks thanks to rain, rain and more rain.
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South baseball remains in first-place tie with Center Grove
Heading into Saturday’s Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball doubleheader against Center Grove, coach Kyle Kraemer of Terre Haute South wasn’t completely optimistic.
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Kehrt Award goes to Emily Bell, Lee Davis
Emily Bell of Terre Haute South and Lee Davis of Terre Haute North are the 2013 recipients of the Willard M. Kehrt Mental Attitude Award.
Bell and Davis were nominated by their schools and chosen in a vote by the Kehrt Award panel. Both will be recognized at awards assemblies later in the month at the schools.
Bell played varsity basketball four years at South and is competing in track this season, running the 800 and two relays. “I wanted something to do my senior year,” Bell said.
She plans to attend DePauw University and play basketball. DePauw is the reigning NCAA Division III champ in women's basketball.
Bell tore an AÇL playing in a basketball tournament the summer after her sophomore season. She missed most of her junior season but came back to play her senior year and was second leading scorer and leading rebounder her final season.
Bell also was leading rebounder her sophomore year. - More High School Headlines
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