ZIONSVILLE — Visiting Terre Haute South found its offense in the fourth quarter of a Class 5A Sectional 6 first-round high school football game Friday night at Zionsville, almost in time to steal a win from the host Eagles.
But after yielding two touchdown passes in a six-minute span, Zionsville kept the ball offensively for the last two minutes and 35 seconds of the game, ending the contest on South’s 2-yard line and hanging on for a 17-14 win.
The first three quarters of the game were a rerun for South fans. The Braves played stubbornly and hard on defense but got little help from their offensive unit, and it was 17-0 heading into the final 12 minutes.
But South played that last quarter with a strong wind at its back, and used that to help revive a sometimes-dormant passing attack that nearly spoiled Zionsville’s first postseason game in Class 5A.
First South stopped the Eagles on downs on the second play of the fourth quarter, and marched 74 yards in seven plays. Bryn Schwartz had two completions to Kevin Bracken and one to P.J. Montgomery for first downs — those three doubled South’s total for the game at that point — and then found Mitchell Dagnon for a 30-yard touchdown strike with 8:30 left in the game.
Zionsville kept the ball for more than four minutes but suffered its only turnover, a fumble recovered by Dustin Galenski at South’s 34. When the Eagles were penalized while unpiling from the scrum, the Braves had the ball near midfield.
This time it took the Braves six plays to go 51 yards, Schwartz scrambling for a first down on a fourth-down play that succeeded by mere inches. Then he found Dagnon again, this time from 29 yards out, and added a 2-point conversion pass to Bracken.
But the Braves couldn’t recover their onside kickoff, and never had the ball again.
“Zionsville is a good football team,” coach Mark Raetz said afterward. “They are physical, they executed well, and they don’t make mistakes.
“We spotted them 17 points, so our surge in the fourth quarter was a little bit too late.”
South had the wind in the first quarter too, but that mostly benefitted punter Logan Buske. After the Eagles drove 71 yards to a touchdown on the first possession of the game — Brandt Kidwell breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage to go the final 33 yards — the Braves couldn’t pick up a first down on either of their first-quarter possessions.
Zionsville enjoyed a short field when the Braves were punting into the wind in the second quarter and marched 55 yards in 10 plays, scoring on a quarterback sneak with 3:31 left before halftime. South responded with its first two first downs, but then an interception led to a Zionsville field goal in the final seconds of the half that proved to be decisive.
South’s defense, led Friday by senior outside linebacker Cody Bell, kept the Eagles off the scoreboard in the second half, once stopping the Eagles on a drive that started at South’s 28 after Buske had to punt from his own end zone into the wind.
“This meant more than the North-South game. This was the game that was most important to me because there was always the possibility that it could be my last game,” a teary-eyed Bell said after the game, “so I gave it everything I got. I had a couple ankle injuries [carried off the field by teammates on one occasion], but I knew I had to keep on going.”
“I’m really proud of the way the team never quit, never stopped believing they could win, and just about pulled it off,” said Raetz.
A 2-8 final record was a game worse than the 2008 season for South, but Raetz said he could see improvement nonetheless.
“Of course we’d like to win more games,” he said, “but I really feel we were better this year than last year, and have continued to get better as a team every year.”
“This is my third year on the varsity, and I’ve never seen as good a defense as we had this year,” said Bell. “Every player, no matter how big or how small, was always ready to do what they could.
“Our record doesn’t mean anything at all to me,” Bell continued, “because this is the year I loved the most. I enjoyed everything, being with these guys, these coaches ... these coaches have made me a better person.”
“I just wish we had one more week,” said Raetz.
Zionsville 17, Terre Haute South 14
Terre Haute South 0 0 0 14 — 14
Zionsville 7 10 0 0 — 17
Z — Brandt Kidwell 33 run (Daniel Wilson kick), 7:20 1Q
Z — Chris Roberts 2 run (Wilson kick), 3:31 2Q
Z — Wilson 37 FG, 0:01.9 2Q
THS — Mitchell Dagnon 30 pass from Bryn Schwartz (pass failed), 8:30 4Q
THS — M.Dagnon 29 pass from Schwartz (Kevin Bracken pass from Schwartz), 2:37 4Q
THS Z
First downs 10 21
Rushes-yards 23-38 53-297
Passing yards 129 53
Comp-Att-Int 9-15-1 6-15-0
Return yards 0 24
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Punts-avg 5-37.2 3-30.3
Penalties-yards 4-26 5-57
Individual statistics
Rushing — South: Tyler Evans 10-29, P.J. Montgomery 3-6, Schwartz 10-3. Zionsville: Alex Woodard 24-143, Kidwell 20-135, Roberts 5-15, Blake Lueders 3-4, Josh Valentine 1-0.
Passing — South: Schwartz 9-15-1, 129 yards. Zionsville: Roberts 6-15-0, 53.
Receiving — South: Bracken 4-45, M.Dagnon 2-59, Jeremiah Argudin 1-10, Montgomery 1-10, Evans 1-5. Zionsville: Logan Aven 2-19, Shane Mikesky 2-17, Cole Tharp 2-17.
Next — Zionsville (8-2) has a home game next Friday against Brownsburg. South finished 2-8.
High School
South rally comes up short
- High School
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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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Vikings get 18th win over Shakamak
West Vigo began a busy week of high school baseball Monday on a winning note, defeating Shakamak 6-3.
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Greencastle new site for girls tennis regional
The starting times might prove to be a bone of contention, but otherwise coaches Bill Blankenbaker and Emily Goff are thrilled their respective girls high school tennis teams will begin play today at the Greencastle Regional.
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Northview sectional groups 3 20-win teams
Three teams with 20-plus victories will attempt to claim the Class 4A Northview Sectional crown for high school softball this week, and most of the other Wabash Valley sectional fields also appear to be wide open.
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Terre Haute South softball takes Riverton Parke tournament
Terre Haute South is going into the Class 4A Sectional at Northview on Monday with momentum, confidence, a deep bench and a healthier pitching staff than it has had in quite a while.
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North baseball splits doubleheader with Indy North Central
Some of their incentive could have been sapped a couple of nights earlier, when Center Grove achieved an eight-inning victory over Warren Central to clinch the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball championship.
- More High School Headlines
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