LINTON — The Linton Miners ran out of comebacks Friday night in the Class A high school football regional.
The Fountain Central Mustangs built a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, then held off the Miners for a 21-7 victory and their first regional championship since 1983.
Linton, 4-3 at one time this season, finished with a 9-4 record.
“[The Miners] don’t give up. They keep fighting. They keep playing. There is a lot of pride in this program and it comes from the kids. I’ve had a lot of good teams here and I’m as proud of this team as I am any of them,” Linton coach Steve Weber said.
Fountain Central’s speed and Linton’s mistakes determined the outcome at Linton’s Roy Williams Field.
Fountain Central accepted the opening kickoff and immediately set the tone for the game. When the ball went out of bounds, Fountain Central coach Rick Malone, who led the Mustangs to the 1983 Class A state title, had the Miners kick again instead of accepting the ball at the 35-yard line.
Fountain Central scored on its first two possessions. Zach Robertson, who rushed for 74 yards and caught two passes for 56 yards, scored all three of the Mustangs’ touchdowns.
Just six plays after the opening kickoff, Robertson caught a Scott Moore pass for a 43-yard touchdown.
“We felt like we needed to come out and throw the ball and try to open up our running game,” Malone said.
Taking possession at their own 20-yard line, the Mustangs went ahead 14-0 on a nine-play drive. Running the old fashioned student body left, straight out of the USC, Robertson broke away for a 40-yard touchdown.
“Speed, especially there in the first half. We were able to get to the edge and that’s what we really wanted to do and took advantage of it. Zach [Robertson] made some big plays. If we get the edge we feel like we’ve got the people that can make the big play,” Malone said.
Linton showed a little speed of its own on the ensuing kickoff. Kenton Helton bound a seam and broke away for an 85-yard touchdown run. Unfortunately that would be Linton’s only score of the night.
Down 21-7 at halftime, the Miners got the ball to open the second half. Led by Stefan Sparks, who rushed for a game-high 123 yards on 19 carries, Linton reached the Mustangs’ 23-yard line before an illegal shift penalty and a quarterback sack by FC’s Ryan Carver forced a punt.
The third quarter ended with Linton on the Fountain Central 8-yard line. But another penalty, followed by another double-figure loss, ended the drive. Linton reached the Fountain Central 14 with six minutes to play and again didn’t execute.
On three second-half drives, untimely encroachment and illegal procedure penalties killed Linton drives.
“Too many penalties. We were not aggressive as we should have been to start [the game]. We had some nice drives. We had chances,” Weber said.
Fountain Central 21, Linton 7
Fountain Central 14 7 0 0 — 21
Linton 0 7 0 0 — 7
FC — Zach Robertson 43 pass from Scott Moore (A.J. Stockdale kick), 10:10 1st
FC — Robertson 40 run (Stockdale kick), 3:04 1st
FC — Robertson 30 run (Stockdale kick), 6:54 2nd
L — Kenton Helton 85 kickoff return (Dyllanne Deischer kick), 6:36 2nd
FC L
First downs 14 14
Rushes-yards 39-259 38-119
Passing yards 72 83
Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 7-15-2
Return yards 18 147
Punts-avg 5-24.6 4-32.3
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 7-66 7-55
Individual statistics
Rushing: Fountain Central — Spear 16-112, Moore 16-67, Robertson 3-74, Shoaf 4-6. Linton — S.Sparks 19-123, Magni 10-30, Scott 5-minus 24, Bridges 4-minus 10.
Passing: Fountain Central — Moore 5-11-0, 72 yards. Linton — Scott 2-7-1, 28; Magni 1-1-0, 9; Karazsia 4-7-1, 36.
Receiving: Fountain Central — Robertson 2-56, Lawson 2-20, Spear 1-minus 4. Linton — Stuppy 2-24, Ray 2-10, Ivey 1-22, N.Sparks 1-18, Bridges 1-9.
Next — Fountain Central (13-0) plays Clinton Central next Friday in a semistate game. Linton finished 9-4.
High School
Linton knocked out of football playoffs by Fountain Central
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