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November 26, 2012

‘Resilient’ label fits Colts

Tom James Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS — If there is a word that best describes the 2012 Indianapolis Colts, it just might be “resilient.”

Give up a lot of points in road losses to Chicago, the New York Jets and New England? No problem. Lose a close game at home? Again, no problem.

Every time that the Colts have lost a game this year, they’ve battled back the next week to secure a much needed win. Indianapolis is 4-0 in such week-after games. Not bad for a mostly young squad that is still learning about what life is like in the National Football League.

“Yeah, it just shows a lot about this team and this coaching staff. One thing is protecting home field. After a tough loss, sometimes a tough loss can carry over into the next week, but guys came in the next week just being focused,” free safety Antoine Bethea said Sunday after the Colts’ 20-13 win over Buffalo.

Bethea is one of the few veterans remaining on the Indianapolis roster, along with wide receiver Reggie Wayne, outside linebackers Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, defensive end Cory Redding and strong safety Tom Zbikowski. Redding and Zbikowski are both new to the team, but not new to the NFL after playing the last several seasons in Baltimore.

“A very resilient team. A young team that’s guided by veteran leadership. Everybody’s all-in, all-aboard and that’s what happens,” Mathis added, not resisting a chance to tweak any and all prognosticators who had the Colts winning only a couple games this season.

“I guess that’s why you call them experts. We were picked to finish 1-15 and now [we’re] sitting at 7-4.”

Redding says the secret, if there is one, to an ability to move past tough losses is to have a short memory.

“Being able to put any bad situation behind you very quick. You can’t let one loss turn into two. Definitely have to see and man up to your mistakes and go to work honestly trying to correct those mistakes and keep your team in mind so that they don’t happen again,” he said Sunday.

“Guys responded well and leaders stepped up this week. Everybody else followed our lead and we just put together another good, solid win together to get No. 7 and keep us in the hunt.”

• Hilton’s big day — Rookie wide receiver T.Y. Hilton got off to a slow start during training camp due to some injury issues. But as the preseason and the regular season has progressed, the former Florida International standout has continued to impress his coaches, teammates and fans.

Hilton caught three passes for 33 yards and a touchdown while also returning four punts for 111 yards and a TD. Not a bad day’s work. In doing so, he became the first player in franchise history to score a touchdown receiving and returning a punt for a TD in the same game. Hilton is also the first Colts player to return a punt for a touchdown since T.J. Rushing did it against Oakland in 2007.

Interim coach/offensive coordinator Bruce Arians knew early on, despite the training camp injuries, that he had something special in Hilton.

“He reminds me a lot of [Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver] Antonio Brown,” Arians said. “They’re from the same neighborhood. They’re friends, they have the same desire to be good and they take it very serious to be good. When you have those and God-given talent, you should be successful.”

• Tackling machine — Former Canadian Football League all-star Jerrell Freeman is quickly making believers out of everybody who watches him play.

Freeman, who attended Mary Hardin-Baylor College in Texas, didn’t get too many looks from NFL teams. He did get a tryout with the Tennessee Titans and impressed the coaching staff there, but became a casualty of roster cuts at the end of training camp. Freeman went on to play with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he caught the attention of the Colts’ scouting department.

He’s a big favorite of first-year general manager Ryan Grigson and was the first outside player to be signed by Grigson upon being named to his current post. Ever since Freeman moved into the starting lineup in the season opener with Chicago, filling in for an injured Pat Angerer, all he’s done is perform.

Freeman has led the team in tackles in nine of the Colts’ 11 games. He had a game-high 16 tackles against the Bills on Sunday, including nine solos, a sack, three tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.

“You can’t say enough about [Freeman]. He is a quality, quality football player and I’m sure glad he’s on our team. He’s fast and he can run with these guys,” Arians said.

• Luck keeps moving up the charts — Rookie quarterback Andrew Luck completed 20 of 37 passes for 240 yards for a TD and had one pass intercepted in the Buffalo game.

He has now thrown for 3,205 yards while throwing 13 touchdown passes and had 13 passes intercepted this season. With the win over the Bills, he tied St. Louis’ Sam Bradford for the most wins (7) by a quarterback drafted No. 1 overall since 1970.

Luck became the second rookie quarterback in Colts history to throw for 3,000-plus yards in their first season. With 449 passing attempts this season, he passed Jack Trudeau (417) for the second-most in a season by a rookie in team history.

• Wayne does too — Wayne finished with eight catches for 102 yards against the Bills. The performance was the third 100-yard contest for Wayne this season and the 41st of his career.

With his eight receptions, he upped his career total to 946 and surpassed Derrick Mason for 11th place on the NFL’s all-time receptions list. Wayne also improved his career yardage total to 12,813 and moved past Irving Fryar for 14th place on the league’s all-time receiving yardage list.

He set the NFL record for consecutive games with three-plus catches (59), topping Chris Carter’s old mark of 58.

• Injury list — Defensive tackle Fili Moala left Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter with a sprained right anterior cruciate knee ligament. He did not return.

Zbikowski incurred a right shin contusion in the fourth quarter but returned to the game later. Hilton suffered a head injury while returning his second punt and left the game. After a trip to the locker room for tests, he also returned after being cleared.

Cornerback Vontae Davis (knee) and tight end Coby Fleener (shoulder) were pregame inactives, along with inside linebacker Mario Harvey, nose tackle Josh Chapman, defensive end Clifton Geathers, offensive tackle Tony Hills and tight end Dominque Jones.

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Sports
softballsecs.jpg

Softball sectionals

  • Softball sectionals up for grabs

    All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • SPT0511613manaea3.jpg ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction

    Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
    But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • West Vigo softball holds off nemesis Edgewood in softball sectional

    Ice cream was enough of a reward Monday night after the West Vigo Vikings beat eight-time defending champion Edgewood 6-2 in extra innings in the opening game of the Class 3A softball sectional at Edgewood High School. But that’s not what Vikings want.

    May 20, 2013

  • Rose to send 5 to national finals

    Five Rose-Hulman athletes have qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships later this week at Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

    May 20, 2013

  • Terre Haute South, Northview vie for tennis regional title

    Terre Haute South and Northview take respective records of 10-5 and 11-5 into the Greencastle Regional today.
    Coach Bill Blankenbaker’s Braves will play Seeger at 4:30 p.m., while coach Emily Goff’s Knights will take on Crawfordsville about 6 p.m.

    May 20, 2013

  • IndyCar Indy 500 Auto_Morg.jpg 500 field fills up quickly on Bump Day

    In just over an hour, the field for the 2013 Indianapolis 500 was complete on Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

    May 20, 2013 2 Photos

  • Terre Haute North offense unable to get going in loss to Mooresville

    Jack Kirchner chose to give credit Monday night to Mooresville pitcher Taylor Chitwood, not to the Greg Maddux-size strike zone she seemed to enjoy.
    But if there were no excuses forthcoming from Kirchner and his Terre Haute North High School softball team, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a spectator or two to come up with extenuating circumstances about the Patriots’ 4-1 loss at the Class 4A Martinsville Sectional.

    May 20, 2013

  • SPT042213relaywelkergoatee.jpg Terre Haute North looking strong going into girls track regional

    Terre Haute North might need an off night for anyone to catch them in the girls track regional at Evansville Central.
    The Patriots are as well-rounded as they’ve ever been, and two relay teams are state contenders with times ranking No. 2 in Indiana among times recorded all spring.
    Terre Haute South, Northview and Sullivan have athletes among the contenders in multiple events as well.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • PREP ROUNDUP: Shakamak's Green hits two homers in win over West Vigo

    Shakamak improved to 22-3 on the season behind a complete-game effort from Brett Yeryar, and Patrick Green hit two solo home runs in a high school baseball game Monday.

    May 20, 2013

  • SPT 043013 ACE HUNT TROPHY.jpg ISU's athletic treasure trove

    Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.

    May 19, 2013 9 Photos 2 Links

Local Interest
softballsecs.jpg

Softball sectionals

High School
College
  • ISU track sending record 22 to postseason

    On the heels of their thrilling double victory at the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships both the Indiana State men and women moved up in the national rankings which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

    May 20, 2013

  • SPT0511613manaea3.jpg ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction

    Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
    But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • SPT 043013 ACE HUNT TROPHY.jpg ISU's athletic treasure trove

    Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.

    May 19, 2013 9 Photos 2 Links

  • Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win

    Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.

    May 19, 2013

  • Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU

    Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
    ISU couldn’t do it.

    May 18, 2013

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Terre Haute Rex
SPT 071512 DORSETT FILE.jpg

Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)

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