TERRE HAUTE —
When your high school football team has most of its starters back and one of them has been featured on national television several times recently, it’s probably a reason for optimism. Mark Raetz would agree with that assessment.
“We’re definitely excited,” the Terre Haute South coach said recently. “We’ve got a large senior class — more than 20 of them — with varsity experience, and we have 10 starters back on offense and six on defense.”
History is on the Braves’ side too — to a point.
Last year South showed its potential early with a solid win at Martinsville, an overtime decision over archrival Terre Haute North and a one-sided decision over Vincennes Lincoln.
But injuries were taking their toll on the Braves by that time, and what figured to be an interesting year in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference turned instead into a six-game losing streak, plus a sectional setback at Brownsburg.
South’s performance in its controlled scrimmage against Northview on Friday would seem to indicate that the Braves who got off to that 3-0 start are back. If they stay healthy, they have a chance to be a very interesting team again.
The most famous Brave right now is senior quarterback Danny Etling (6-foot-3, 215), an invitee to the prestigous Elite 11 tryouts and close to being among the 11 finalists in a competition among 25 of the nation’s best at that position.
Etling was a big reason for his team’s fast start last fall, but his receiving corps was hit inordinately hard by the rash of injuries. This year he has plenty of targets.
The starting wide receivers are expected to be seniors Tyler Seibert (6-2, 175) and Logan Steward (6-0, 175) and junior Jacob Johnson (5-11, 170). Seibert missed several games last year and Steward suffered a knee injury that cost him all but the first six quarters of the campaign — although Johnson, a regular defensive back as a freshman, was able to get some valuable experience as a result.
Complementing the wideouts will be senior tight end Nic Keller (6-2, 210), who caught a pair of touchdown passes against the Knights. Senior Jeremy Patterson (6-4, 175) is an experienced reserve on the outside and junior Tyler Dobbins (6-5, 250) backs up Keller.
The main offensive starter missing is running back Tyler Evans, now at Indiana State. When the Braves use a single-back offensive set this fall, either senior Pedro Piloni (5-7, 200), junior Ian Newton (5-7, 160) or sophomore Michael Watt (5-7, 175) will be behind Etling. If a fullback is used, Piloni could go there, and veteran lineman Dylan Banks (6-1, 215) has also changed his uniform number to enable him to be used in the backfield.
Keeping Etling upright will also be necessary for the Braves to be successful, and the offensive line for the Braves looks strong and experienced. Returning starters are senior center Zac Harper (6-3, 265), senior guard Brandon Russell-Cherry (6-1, 230), senior tackle Adam Scott (6-3, 225) and junior tackle Dickie Rollins (6-3, 250).
Terre Haute North transfer Junior Berry (6-2, 300), who is a junior, figures to start at the other guard position and a fifth returning starter, senior Bobby Bennett (6-2, 255) will be available after two games. Another experienced reserve is senior Danny Banks (6-1, 220), Dylan’s twin.
Many of the offensive linemen will do double duty, as senior end Howie Lawson (6-1, 200) is the only defensive line starter who isn’t listed on both sides of the ball. Russell-Cherry, Berry and Keller could be the other starters up front, backed up by Rollins, Dobbins, Scott and junior Jacob Stephens (6-2, 225).
Senior Derik Whalen (5-9, 180) leads a linebacking corps that also includes Dylan Banks, withjunior Logan Deady (6-2, 185) at South’s strong safety position. Danny Banks and senior Trevor Thomas (6-0, 180) are experienced backups, Piloni could see action there as well, and sophomore Timmy Herrin (6-4, 180), also the backup quarterback, is behind Deady.
Seibert and senior Kane Wilford (6-2, 190) will be on the corners, with hard-hitting senior Dillon Bell (6-0, 170) and Johnson as the safeties. Also figuring in the secondary are junior Taxi Brown (5-9, 175), junior Luke Church (5-7, 140) and senior Jonathan Weakley (5-11, 170).
Senior Adam Kahn (5-10, 160) will be the kicker and is also available to punt, although Patterson will get the first crack at that job. Dobbins is also available to kick.
South’s captains, as voted by their teammates, are Etling, Russell-Cherry, Seibert and Whalen.
“We have some big shoes to fill in some big spots,” said Raetz, pointing especially to the loss of Evans and his current ISU teammate Tsali Lough, a South All-Star during the summer, “but we had a good summer.
“We’re trying to create some competition [for starting positions] to see who will emerge and to discover some depth.”
Terre Haute South schedule
Friday — At Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
Aug. 24 — Terre Haute North* at Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.
Aug. 31 — At Vincennes Lincoln, 7 p.m.
Sept. 7 — At Carmel*, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 — At Center Grove*, 7 p.m.
Sept. 21 — Ben Davis*, 7 p.m.
Sept. 28 — Indianapolis North Central*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 5 — At Warren Central*, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 12 — Lawrence North*, 7:30 p.m.
* — denotes Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference game
High School
Related Photos
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Long range: Terre Haute South quarterback Danny Etling spots an open wide receiver down the practice field during the Braves' first day of practice at South. (Tribune-Star File/Joseph C. Garza)
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Long range: Terre Haute South quarterback Danny Etling spots an open wide receiver down the practice field during the Braves' first day of practice Monday at South.
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Yardage: South's #25 Pedro Piloi carries the ball for yardage after taking the hand-off from quarterback Danny Etling (8) during scrimmage against Northview Friday evening.
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Touchdown: South's #17, Nic Keller hauls in a pass from Danny Etling for his second touchdown of the evening during Friday's scrimmage against Northview.
Discussion
SEASON PREVIEW: With Etling, healthy receivers, South has big expectations
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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. -
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. -
North boys make it three consecutive Vigo County golf titles
Terre Haute North made it three in a row in Vigo County boys high school golf championship action Wednesday at Hulman Links.
The Patriots shot 161 to edge Terre Haute South with 165. West Vigo carded 222. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Wolf homers as North baseball wins 16th game
Terre Haute North erupted for seven runs in the third inning on its way to routing visiting White River Valley 14-1 in 41⁄2 innings of high school baseball Wednesday afternoon at Don Jennings Field.
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Northview's Carter strikes out 19 in 10-inning win against South Vermillion
Northview’s Taylor Carter and South Vermillion’s Daphne Dunegan locked into a 10-inning all-star softball pitching duel Tuesday night at Northview High School.
Unfortunately, one of them had to lose. -
PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP: South Vermillion 4-0 in WIC after 4-3 win at Northview
Jordan Branz won his ninth game of the season, scattering six hits over eight innings to lead South Vermillion to a 4-3 victory at Northview in a Western Indiana Conference battle.
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Thompson going into Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame
Former Terre Haute North High School standout Anthony Thompson is the newest member of the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame.
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PREP ROUNDUP: South tennis wins against Oldenburg Academy
Playing on Ben Davis’ courts, Terre Haute South pulled out a 4-1 victory over Oldenburg Academy in girls high school tennis Tuesday.
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Multiple records fall in Big Four track meet
Terre Haute North dominated the girls competition, as expected, and Terre Haute South’s boys edged the host Patriots in what turned out to be a rain-soaked Big Four Classic high school track and field meet Saturday at North.
Despite the less-than-ideal weather, North’s girls set four meet records in compiling 132.5 points, outdistancing the runner-up Braves, who had 63.5. -
Four teams still in running for Big Four baseball crown
The 2013 Big Four baseball tournament was going to last longer than Saturday anyway, thanks to a schedule change this season.
Thanks to steady rain at Terre Haute North, it will last even longer than planned.
Terre Haute South beat West Vigo 2-0 in Saturday morning’s first game, and the second contest between Northview and the host Patriots was halted in the top of the third inning as the field became unplayable. - More High School Headlines
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