Sullivan — It was a game John Madden would have loved.
Not only would the former National Football League coach and color commentator enjoyed watching the mud-caked high school players from West Vigo and Sullivan file off Sportland Field on Friday night, the white Viking jerseys barely distinguishable from the purple Sullivan uniforms, he’d have also loved the way they got so muddy — pounding each other back and forth with eye-popping rushing statistics that included 230 yards on the ground for Sullivan’s Dakota Hiatt and 447 yards rushing as a team for the Vikings.
And because the Vikings had a little more diversity in their attack — six different West Vigo players had at least 37 yards rushing — the visitors were 45-28 winners in the Western Indiana Conference game and regular-season finale for both teams.
The lead changed hands four times in less than six minutes during the third quarter, but then West Vigo finally got a handle on Hiatt and the counter play he’d used to great effect — three runs of at least 56 yards — and wound up scoring the game’s last 19 points.
“We never did really stop [the Vikings],” coach Trent Olson of the Golden Arrows said after the game. “They totally outphysicaled us … a lot of this game goes back to size and strength.”
While the Vikings were indeed the bigger of the two teams — “every team we’ve played has been bigger than us,” Olson claimed — the Arrows matched them score for score for a long time, and twice took third-quarter leads thanks to a better job at 2-point conversions.
Hiatt’s 60-yard run — on that counter play, of course — set up his own 2-yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the third quarter, although he was stopped on a conversion attempt that left the Arrows ahead 28-26.
“He’s been running well,” Olson said of Hiatt, “but in the second half he was obviously a marked man.”
“The thing is, we run the same play [in our offense],” coach Jeff Cobb of the Vikings said after the game when asked about Hiatt’s breakaways, “but sometimes our aggressiveness works against us … but we finally started to stop it — although we were 0 for 3 at one point [against that play].”
The Vikings recovered one of Sullivan’s several short or onside kickoffs, and took the lead for good on a 52-yard, four-play drive. Sophomore Chase Silcock rambled 24 yards on one play and Cole Lydick — who led the Vikings with 133 yards on 15 carries — got the last 27 yards on the next two plays.
Three plays later linebacker Ryan Roach — who would have been a Madden favorite for the amount on mud on his uniform — nailed Hiatt on a third-down counter play to force a Sullivan punt, and Dylan Aff returned it 32 yards. On third-and-inches Roach — playing fullback in the Vikings’ tightly packed double wing formation — solidified his Madden status by churning the final 23 yards to a touchdown on a simple dive play designed to get nothing more than a first down.
That was the first two-score lead for the Vikings, so the Arrows gambled on fourth-and-5 in their own territory. A pass fell incomplete, and Cody Thornton took a reverse 37 yards to the end zone on West Vigo’s first play to complete the scoring early in the fourth quarter.
West Vigo had opened the scoring on its second possession of the game, a 92-yard drive in two plays — 49 yards for Aff, 43 for Lydick.
Sullivan fumbled away the kickoff, Dustin Montgomery recovering for the Vikings, but West Vigo failed to capitalize. Then Hiatt unveiled the counter play, racing 69 yards to set up a 1-yard scoring run for quarterback Tyler Cox.
The Vikings marched 57 yards in 12 plays, Nick Cramer scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 1, and Aff ran for the 2-point conversion. But Hiatt rambled 56 yards for a touchdown and added his own conversion for a 14-14 tie.
West Vigo got a scoring drive in the last two minutes of the half, Aff’s 35-yard run setting up Cramer’s 10-yard touchdown, and appeared to have a two-touchdown lead when Thornton — who wasn’t tackled all night — returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards. But a penalty wiped out that score, West Vigo was forced to punt, and Sullivan took its first lead when Alex Smith caught a touchdown pass — off the hands of a Viking defender — and Ryan Vermelson converted a fake kick into a 2-point conversion to make the score 22-20.
Three plays and 70 yards later, West Vigo was back ahead after a 27-yard run by Silcock, a 33-yarder by Cramer and a 10-yard touchdown by Silcock. Then Hiatt had his final breakaway to set up the Arrows’ final lead.
“Thankfully we had Silcock available to spell some kids,” said Cobb, whose team played without regular fullback John Burt, “and all the backs ran well.”
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Vikings, who had started the season with three straight wins, and may have restored a little momentum going into postseason play.
“It was huge,” Cobb said of the win. “We felt like we’ve been in most of our games, but five or six plays have been hurting us and you can’t do that to good teams.
“[The Vikings] played with emotion,” Cobb added when asked what had made the difference. “This was the first time I have felt they played with emotion — almost too much. For the first time, I had to calm some kids down. They played hard.”
West Vigo 45,
Sullivan 28
West Vigo 6 14 19 6 — 45
Sullivan 6 8 14 0 — 28
WV — Cole Lydick 43 run (kick blocked), 7:22 1st
S — Tyler Cox 1 run (kick failed), 2:25 1st
WV — Nick Cramer 1 run (Dylan Aff run), 7:56 2nd
S — Dakota Hiatt 56 run (Hiatt run), 6:20 2nd
WV — Cramer 10 run (kick blocked), 0:33.8 2nd
S — Alex Smith 71 pass from T.Cox (Ryan Vermelson run), 9:22 3rd
WV — Chase Silcock 10 run (run failed), 8:27 3rd
S — Hiatt 2 run (run failed), 5:00 3rd
WV — Lydick 13 run (run failed), 3:38 3rd
WV — Ryan Roach 23 run (Nathan Gregg kick), 1:12 3rd
WV — Cody Thornton 37 run (kick failed), 9:52 4th
WV S
First downs 21 14
Rushes-yards 52-447 40-238
Passing yards 3 138
Comp-Att-Int 1-6-0 6-22-1
Return yards 32 4
Fumbles-lost 2-1 5-1
Punts-avg 4-29.5 5-32.4
Penalties-yards 7-60 3-30
Individual statistics
Rushing: West Vigo — Lydick 15-133, Aff 7-93, Silcock 7-74, CVramer 12-64, Roach 7-46, Thornton 1-37, Lance Garrett 3-0. Sullivan — Hiatt 19-230, Jed Cox 4-14, John Walker 1-2, Thomas Smith 3-0, T.Cox 13-minus 8.
Passing: West Vigo — Garrett 1-6-0, 3 yards. Sullivan — T.Cox 6-22-1, 138.
Receiving: West Vigo — Cramer 1-3. Sullivan — A.Smith 2-82, Hiatt 2-18, Chance Hollifield 1-22, Vermelson 1-16.
Next — Both teams completed the regular season 4-5 overall, 2-4 in Western Indiana Conference play. Next Friday, West Vigo hosts Southmont in a Class 3A Sectional 21 game and Sullivan hosts South Spencer in a Class 2A Sectional 32 contest. The game at Sullivan next Friday has an 8 p.m. kickoff.
High School
447 rushing yards push West Vigo past Sullivan
- High School
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Shining Knights: Northview tops both TH teams for title
A high school baseball game that had been tense all the way through reached angina-producing heights at the end Monday night, as Northview ended Terre Haute South’s sectional championship run by a single run and a fraction of an inch.
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Miners beat 2A newcomer for 3rd straight title
Linton and North Central were both defending high school baseball sectional champions, but the Thunderbirds’ move up to Class 2A did not go as they expected.
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South hangs on after scary moment in sectional semis
Terre Haute South’s bid for a sixth consecutive high school baseball sectional championship took a scary turn Monday afternoon.
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PREP/METRO ROUNDUP: Turkey Run rolls to title
Turkey Run routed North Vermillion 15-2 to capture the Class A Rockville Sectional championship for high school baseball Monday night.
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Eaton’s pair of long balls put Linton in title game
Linton blasted its way into the championship game of its hometown Class 2A high school baseball sectional as No. 9 hitter Beau Eaton cranked a pair of home runs to left field, and starting pitcher Tanner Butler capped Linton's scoring with a grand slam.
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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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