TERRE HAUTE —
Nic Keller isn’t without answers very often, either on the football field or in the classroom, but there was one question the Terre Haute South senior had trouble answering earlier this week.
What is his main position?
“Tight end slash defensive end is what I say when I’m asked,” the 6-foot-2, 210-pound two-way standout said. “Wherever [the coaches] need me.
“Last week I was used more on offense, but other weeks I’ll be used more on defense,” Keller continued, “and with injuries we’ve had this year, I’ve played more both ways — but I’m fine with that. It’s my senior year. I’ll take as much time on the field as I can take.”
Asked which side of the ball he preferred, Keller was stumped a second time.
“If [the coaches] asked me, I wouldn’t be able to say [if I liked offense or defense better],” he answered.
“I like defense, flying around and hitting people, but on offense I like the feeling of being able to do whatever we want, lining up and knowing what we’re going to do and executing it.”
Keller’s offensive half — the cerebral side that enjoys the cat-and-mouse game of trying to outwit the opponent’s defense — is what coach Mark Raetz will probably remember most.
“He’s an extremely smart kid and a smart football player,” the coach pointed out this week. “He’s a two-year starter, on both sides of the ball, and he’s one of the players who truly appreciates the intricacies of schemes and strategies. He does a very good job picking up things, and he helps his teammates do the same.”
Although he said most of his work last week was on offense, Keller had a defensive play that was huge. He recovered a fumble at the 7-yard line to set up the touchdown that gave the Braves a 13-10 third-quarter lead over second-ranked Ben Davis.
He didn’t take much of the credit for it, however.
“That was more [defensive lineman] Junior Berry,” Keller said. “He drove the [Ben Davis] center back into the running back and forced the fumble. I was just in the right place at the right time.”
That the Braves weren’t able to hold that lead against Ben Davis — or the fact that they let a close first half slip away for a deceptively one-sided loss at top-ranked Carmel two weeks earlier — was disappointing to Keller. Those games also represented something good about the Braves though, he indicated.
“We don’t like to use the words ‘moral victory,’ but after those two games we know we can compete against anybody in the state,” he said. “We’ve shown that our offense can drive down the field, and we’ve shown that our defense can stop anybody if we read our keys. We’ll be playing our best ball at the sectionals.”
Keller and the Braves are looking to get their first Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference victory soon, preferably tonight in the homecoming game against Indianapolis North Central. It’s a game that has particular meaning for Keller, who was injured at North Central last season and missed the second half of the game, and for all the Braves, who played their worst game of the 2011 season there.
“I need redemption this week,” Keller said, “plus our team needs redemption. We’d beaten [North Central] two years in a row, and then we go up there and play like that [in a 47-0 loss].”
Competing — and winning — in the MIC is one of the things Keller will eventually miss about high school football, that and “coming out every day and joking around with the other players and coaches and still doing work,” he added.
Whether he’ll be missing football entirely is still uncertain. He’s getting more college interest as a discus thrower than as a football player right now, and various school and career options could determine whether he’ll be a college athlete at all.
But since Keller is coming off a straight-A trimester and is easily in the top 10 percent of his graduating class, he’ll be able to choose whatever option he wants.
Just don’t ask him to choose between offense and defense.
High School
Related Photos
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Touchdown: Terre Haute South's Nic Keller hauls in a pass from Danny Etling for his second touchdown of the evening during an August scrimmage against Northview. The senior is also a standout for the Braves at defensive end. (Tribune-Star file)
Discussion
Offense or defense? It doesn’t matter to South’s Nic Keller
- 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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