|
|
Arcanum sophomore, Dane Craport, recovers a loose ball early in the
opening quarter after the
Trojans specials teams blocked a punt. The
Trojans would later score and go on to a 33-3 Cross
County Conference
victory over Twin Valley South. CNO Photos by George Starks
|
|
Trojans earn
first victory of the season
Arcanum too much for South Panthers
By George Starks
ARCANUM- It all boiled down to some very simple math.
If the Arcanum Trojans lose in the fifth game of the season, then
another 5-5 season was on the horizon for the third straight year.
A win, and a winning season was a possibility.
Coming in against a 2-2 Twin Valley South team, Arcanum was in dire
need of a change.
Playing some inspired football, Arcanum rolled to a 33-3 Cross County
Conference victoryFriday over the Panthers.
“We have a great group of kids, we really do,” said Arcanum coach TJ
Powers. “These kids never give up and they never give in. I’m proud of
them. We worked our tails off and we were 0-4 but these guys never hung
their heads. They kept at it, they kept plugging away and I’m very
proud of them.”
In high school football, it’s rare to see a teams game tone set by the
special teams.
In the case of Arcanum, that’s exactly what happened.
Staring at a 4th and six from its own 44, South was forced to punt
going three and out on the opening drive of the game.
With the ball snapped, the Trojans rushed through the line, blocking
the kick.
With sophomore Dane Craport making the recovery at the South 45, the
Trojans were in business.
Five plays later, Arcanum senior quarterback, Pierce Lindemuth, hit
Adam Mills on a 22 yard pass play for the score at the 7:59 mark and
the Trojans would go up 7-0.
All set up by the blocked punt.
“That was a huge momentum play,” said Powers. “We had the short field
drive off the blocked put and after that, we spit and sputtered a
little bit, then we got on a roll and started to figure out some
thgings we were doing wrong.”
That score would hold up until the Panthers would get three on a 31
yard field goal at the 6:49point in the half.
After that, it was all Arcanum.
With 2:44 left in the half, junior Daniel Coats would run the ball in
from 22 yards for a 14-3 advantage.
The Trojans would get another score right before the break and would
take a 20-3 lead on a 49 yard bust by Brandon Kinney right before the
end of the half.
“They are the dynamic duo,” Powers said of Coats and Kinney. “It’s nice
having those two guys but they will be the first to tell you that it
all starts upfront. I thought we flat out controlled the line of
scrimmage and that’s what it all is, blocking and tackling.”
With the offense getting the job done on one side of the ball, it was
the defense doing it on the other side.
“The defense was outstanding tonight,” Powers stated. “I don’t know how
many four down stops we had but that interception by Wade Meeks was one
of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was an unbelievable pick.”
With the win, the Trojans go to 1-4 on the season and will play
National Trail next Friday.
|
|
After
the win, the Trojans greet the student body with raised helmets.
|
|
|
|
