SULLIVAN —
Friday’s showdown between rivals Linton and Sullivan ultimately proved one thing.
Linton had room for error. Sullivan didn’t.
Class A No. 3 Linton wasn’t perfect – three first half turnovers attest to that – but the Miners didn’t have to be to make a statement.
After a close first half, Linton pulled away for a 58-26 triumph over a good Sullivan team in front of an overflow crowd.
Linton standout quarterback Austin Karazsia completed 28 of 37 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns.
Linton’s Zane Hayden scored four touchdowns – two on the ground, one through the air and one via an interception on the defensive side – as the Miners’ offense rolled up 509 total yards.
“We started slow, but we usually pick it up in the second half. All in all, it was a pretty good game,” said an understated Hayden.
Sullivan quarterback Payne Fortner threw for 290 yards, but the Arrows couldn’t keep up.
“[Linton] is every bit as good as advertised. If you miss a tackle, like we did a few times, you’ll never catch them,” Sullivan coach Trent Olson said.
It seemed turnovers would dictate the first half. Sullivan intercepted Karazsia on the Miners’ first drive, only for Sullivan quarterback Payne Fortner to be intercepted by Dane Rupska after a long Arrows’ drive.
Linton took advantage first … and quickly. An 8-yard Karazsia-to-Cole Bradbury touchdown strike came just five plays after the Rupska interception. Sullivan roughed Linton kicker Dyllanne Deischer on the PAT and the Miners elected to go for two. Bradbury scored to make it 8-0.
Sullivan punched back. Fortner found Jake Kinnaman wide open behind the Linton secondary for a 29-yard touchdown strike to make it 8-6.
Karazsia, who completed 10 of his first 12 passes, led a lightning-quick Linton drive in response. Passes of 32, 11 and 2 yards set up a 15-yard touchdown strike to running back Zane Hayden. Linton led 16-6 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter wasn’t as smooth for Linton. Karazsia threw a pair of interceptions – both picked off by Sullivan’s Michael Willis – but the Arrows couldn’t score off the turnovers.
It seemed Sullivan’s chance had passed when Linton’s Grant Stamm spun away from a Sullivan tackler on a routine out-pass for a 45-yard touchdown to make it 22-6, but Sullivan’s Brooks Weszely had an immediate response. He broke free for an 86-yard kick return touchdown, and suddenly, the Arrows seemed to have momentum, trailing just 22-14 with 2:53 left in the half.
Karazsia settled down and engineered a near-perfect two-minute drill to give the Miners a touchdown just before halftime. A 12-play drive was finished off by a Hayden 1-yard touchdown run – on 4th-and-goal with 5.8 seconds left in the half. Linton led 29-14 at the break.
“We were out of timeouts, so I gave them two calls. When the one play didn’t work [a Koye Kaiser run stopped at the 1-yard line], we had another play ready. You can tell the defense was tired,” Linton coach Steve Weber said.
Olson lamented the score. Had Linton not scored, Sullivan would’ve been in good shape to start the second half as it received the kick.
“It seemed like that happened a lot tonight. Every time we had to get a big play we couldn’t do it. That score at the end of the half took the wind out of us a little bit,” Olson said.
Linton put the game out of reach in the third quarter. The Miners scored on their only two drives and Sullivan came up empty on its two. Hayden scored on a 32-yard touchdown run with 7:08 left to make it 37-14. With 1:22 left in the period, Kaiser capped a 10-play drive with a 7-yard TD run to make it 44-14.
Linton was able to maintain its advantage in the fourth quarter as the teams traded touchdowns.
Linton 58, Sullivan 26
Linton 16 13 8 14 — 58
Sullivan 6 8 0 12 — 26
L – Cole Bradbury 8 pass from Austin Karazsia (Bradbury run), 5:04 1Q.
S – Jake Kinnaman 29 pass from Payne Fortner (pass failed), 2:21 1Q.
L – Zane Hayden 15 pass from Karazsia (Koye Kaiser run), :25.8 1Q.
L – Grant Stamm 45 pass from Karazsia (run failed), 3:07 2Q.
S – Brooks Weszely 86 kick return (Weszely run) 2:53 2Q.
L – Hayden 1 run (Dyllanne Deischer kick), :05.4 2Q.
L – Hayden 32 run (Paul Goodman pass from Hayden Flath), 7:08 3Q.
L – Kaiser 7 run (Deischer kick), 1:22 3Q.
S – Kinnaman 53 pass from Fortner (pass failed), 11:49 4Q.
L – Beau Eaton 15 pass from Karazsia (Deischer kick), 9:18 4Q.
S – Fortner 4 run (pass failed), 6:54 4Q.
L – Hayden 48 interception return (Deischer kick), 4:27 4Q.
L S
First downs 27 18
Rush.-Yds. 30-194 29-63
Rec. Yds. 315 290
C/A/I 28-37-3 22-41-3
Pen. Yds. 7-75 10-46
Fumb./Lost 2-0 3-1
Punts/Avg. 1-38 3-30.6
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Linton: Kaiser 18-138, Hayden 6-44, Abram Neff 3-20, Karazsia 2-(-2), Stamm 1-(-6); Sullivan: Weszely 18-44, Michael Willis 2-15, Fortner 6-3, Sheridan Sater 1-3, Nick Byrd 1-1, Michael Hutchcraft 1-(-3).
Passing – Linton: Karazsia 28-37-3, 315; Sullivan: Fortner 22-40-3, 290, M. Willis 0-1-0, 0.
Receiving – Linton: Bradbury 8-65, Stamm 7-117, Dane Rupska 4-61, Eaton 3-28, Hayden 3-25, Neff 1-11, Cody VanWinkle 1-8, Kaiser 1-0; Sullivan: M. Willis 5-39, Kinnaman 4-98, Hutchcraft 4-26, Marcus Ridge 3-31, Weszely 2-68, Byrd 2-7, Kynon Johnson 1-15, Zach Willis 1-6.
Next – Sullivan (0-2) will play at North Knox and Linton (2-0) plays host to Oakland City Wood Memorial next Friday.
High School
Related Photos
-
Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Good hands: Linton wide receiver Grant Stamm (27) pulls an Austin Karazsia pass away from Sullivan defender Marcus Ridge (18) late in the first quarter Friday night on the Sullivan field.
-
Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Big threat: Sullivan tight end Jake Kinnaman (84) scores the first Sullivan touchdown off a Payne Fortner pass. Defending is Linton's Koye Kaiser (23).
-
SPT082412LHSFBkaiser.jpg
-
SPT082412LHSFBgraber.jpg
-
Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis High flyer: Linton wide reciever Zane Hayden (26) is tackled by Sullivan's Cameron McNeely in first quarter action on the Golden Arrow's field.
-
SPT082412LHSminer pride.jpg
-
SPT082412LHSFBfortner.jpg
-
SPT082412LHSFBrupska.jpg
-
SPT082412sullivan fans.jpg
-
up for grabs.jpg
Discussion
Linton makes statement with 58-26 triumph
- High School
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
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. -
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. -
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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. -
South softball's power display earns Braves share of MIC
The fun that the Terre Haute South high school softball team had Saturday — including those five home runs — was all the result of the hard work the Braves had put in before the game, coach Dwayne Stout said after the game.
-
Pirtle takes medalist, leads Sullivan to WIC title
Sullivan took team and individual honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys high school golf championships played Saturday at Idle Creek.
-
Prep roundup: Patriots drop doubleheader to Carmel baseball
Host Terre Haute North saw its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball championship hopes suffer what was probably a fatal blow on Saturday as the Patriots lost a doubleheader to Carmel by scores of 8-7 and 11-8.
-
Timely hits: After slow start, Terre Haute North rallies to beat Mooresville
No-hit through three innings, Terre Haute North’s bats came alive — especially Sam Wolf’s — just in time to rally for a 4-2 home victory over Mooresville in high school baseball Friday evening at Jennings Field.
-
Linton’s Weber to coach at BNL
Bedford North Lawrence High School has announced that Steve Weber will be the Stars’ head coach for the 2013 season.
-
Freshman group adds to Big Four teams' baseball tradition
The Terre Haute North-Terre Haute South high school baseball series wasn’t an inning old last week before T.J. Collett of the Patriots lashed a run-scoring single.
That hit helped the Patriots take a 2-0 lead, but in the top of the second inning a three-run double by Justin Jenkins sparked the visiting Braves to a four-run inning.
North tied the score in the bottom of the second inning, Collett driving in another run. And just before rain caused the game to be suspended, South called Logan Ames in from its bullpen for some solid pitching.
Not bad for a trio of freshmen. And the weekend hadn’t even started yet. -
Pairings drawn for high school softball sectionals
The IHSAA announced Thursday its pairings for the 2013 sectional softball tournament slated for May 20-25.
Regionals will take place May 28. - More High School Headlines
-
Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma
Raw: Aftermath of Massive Tornado in Oklahoma
Raw: Rescue Workers Search Oklahoma School
Raw: Fierce Bombing in Qusair, Syria
Raw: House Burns After Massive Oklahoma Tornado
Raw: Walking in a Flattened Okla. Neighborhood
Raw: Witness Describes Scene After Okla. Tornado
RAW: TV Staff Take Cover From Tornado
Split-second Choice Ended With NY Student Dead
Raw: Swarm of Tornadoes Slams Plains
White House Backs 'Shield Law' for Media
Raw: Suspects Butt Dial 911, Lead to Arrest
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
Oklahoma Gov: 'Hearts Are Broken' After Tornado
Raw: Okla. Tornado Aftermath 'Like War Zone'
Commuters Face Delays After Conn. Train Accident
Analyst: Tumblr Fills Void in Yahoo's Offerings
'Babyland': Camp Lejeune's Toxic Legacy?
Raw: Rescuers Pull Tornado Survivors to Safety
Pug Life on Display at Wisconsin Festival
RAW: Moore, OK tornado touches down near school
Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble
Robert Pattinson Moves Out
RAW: Russian dash cam catches car 20 feet in the air
Oklahoma tornado survivor: "Everything is gone"
Khloe Lashes Out at Kim Kardashian's Critics
Couple Argues As Woman's Lover Crawls Out Window
RAW: Brad Paisley Forgets Lyrics To His Own Song
Justin Bieber Gets Booed
New 'Anchorman 2' Trailer, Drake Joins List of Rumored Cameos
Eva Longoria's Wardrobe Malfunction
Heat Star Dwyane Wade Surprises Coral Gables Teen At Prom
Steak n' Shake waitress scores huge tip
Singer Miguel Accidentally Lands on Fan At Billboard Music Awards
Celebs Celebrate the Rise of the Side Butt
Grizzly bear gets up close and personal with camera
Justin Bieber Gets Booed After Winning at the Billboard Awards
Singer forgets lyrics, makes up words to National Anthem
