FIFTH QUARTER: Kokomo pushes past Logansport in 2nd half

Sep. 5—Class 4A Kokomo made some halftime adjustments and got its offense going in a 14-0 win at No. 15 Logansport Friday night.

After a scoreless first half, the Wildkats (3-0, 1-0 NCC) utilized their size advantage and ran plays almost exclusively up the middle against the Berries (2-1, 0-1) running their wing-T in a phone booth offense.

The Berries played hard the entire game but never could get their running game kicked into gear like they needed to with their wing-T offense. They did get some passing game going and had a chance to take the lead. On fourth-and-5 from the Kats' 25, Isaac Russell broke wide open in the end zone but Izak Mock's pass was just overthrown and fell incomplete on a play with 16.2 seconds left in the third when the Kats led 6-0.

By then the Wildkats had gotten their offense going as they scored another touchdown and ran out the rest of the clock in the fourth quarter.

"It was a dogfight really," Logansport senior Grayson Long said. "That offense that they run is annoying but it's good, it works for them. I think we got a little tired at the end and we just didn't execute that well on offense. But we'll be back. We'll build off this and work on it and we'll be back, we'll be good. We're going to bounce back next week against Arsenal Tech."

The quarterback sneak play was a weapon for the Wildkats. On the Kats' first scoring drive, quarterback Evan Barker converted a fourth-and-1 in Kokomo territory with a two-yard run. He later scored on a one-yard run.

"Evan's a good player," Long said. "He's physical, I think he's like 215, 6 foot, so he's pretty meaty. He's good, he's hard to get down for sure."

Mock was 3 of 8 passing for 66 yards for Logan. He had a 25-yard pass to Russell on a fake punt in the first half but on the next play the Berries lost a fumble at midfield. He had a 33-yard strike to Russell in the third quarter but just missed later in the drive on a would-be go-ahead touchdown pass.

The Kats came up with an interception on a screen pass in the fourth and ran out the final 6:31 of the clock.

Aaron Bau had an interception in the end zone in the first half to keep the Kats off the board on a third-and-9 pass from the 27.

The Berries couldn't get their running game on track. Luis Ortiz was the leading rusher with 19 yards on eight carries. Shamari Gittings had 10 yards on three attempts. Chris Rene had eight yards on three tries.

"We've got an opportunity to look at it and make adjustments and get better from it," Logan coach Mike Johnson said. "It's a learning experience. We have a good football team. We just ran into another very good football team."

Kokomo, with an enrollment of 1,510, is the largest school in Class 4A. The Wildkats utilized their size advantage on the field. They also had an advantage in depth. Coach Austin Colby estimated they start 3-4 two-way players and that Logan starts 7-8 two-way players.

Logan also was without all-state fullback/safety Jeremiah Miller, who will miss at least a couple more games, Johnson said.

"We're not sure. In two weeks we'll know a little bit more. There's nothing fractured, nothing torn. It's a lisfranc, that's one if you read about it doesn't sound good. But we're hoping in two weeks he's healed up and maybe can end up playing at the end," he said.

The Berries have 18 seniors and think they can have a special team this year.

Two of the Kokomo seniors, Shayne Spear and John Curl, have fathers who were star athletes at Logansport. Jason Spear is one of the greatest football players and John Curl Sr. is one of the greatest baseball players to come from Logansport.

On Friday Shayne Spear's name was called often for making tackles from his linebacker position and Curl was a key blocker for the Wildkats on offense.

"Jason obviously we all joke that coach Spear has a statue up here in the middle of town," Colby said. "He's for sure a legend and obviously the Curl name is a legend and Bruno's Pizza here in town. They're a great family and they're two great kids that help us tremendously on our part, our team, I'm glad we've got them obviously because they're a huge help and huge weapons. You've got to respect it and they respect it. It was exciting to come up here and play for sure."

Logan hosts Indianapolis Tech on Friday.

CASS 35, BC 6

The Kings stormed to a 35-6 win at Benton Central in a matchup of Hoosier Conference foes from opposite divisions. Cass moved to 3-0 heading into next Friday's HC East Division opener at Tipton.

Haden McClain scored a nine-yard TD to get the scoreboard moving in the first quarter. Dalton Lowe and Luke Chambers added scores for a 21-0 advantage at halftime.

Wyatt Loos scored early in the third quarter and the teams traded scores later in the period to end the scoring.

McClain rushed for 93 yards on 12 carries and Cooper Frey had 66 yards and a score on eight carries.

Defensively, the Kings held the Bison to 110 yards — including negative-49 rushing. Eli Martin had three sacks, Chambers and Keaton Lewellen had two sacks apiece and McClain, Owen McBride and Brody Williams had one sack each. Lowe had an interception.

The Bison fell to 2-1 and visit Western next week.

Cass coach Clayton Mannering said he was happy with how his team played.

"We weren't sure what to expect. We thought we'd be able to run the ball. They throw it very well. We were able to run it better than I thought and we really played well against the pass and got great pressure up front," Mannering said. "We gave up one long pass but outside of that we were pretty much able to have our way. I'm really pleased with the effort. Benton Central is much improved. They'll win some games this year."

The Kings' defense had nine sacks and an interception in the win. It started up front.

"That's what we've had the first three games. I think up front our defense is becoming very strong," Mannering said. "Benton Central only attempted one run. That's not going to be the case every week. But I think we're doing some things well where it's hard to run the ball up front and then we're getting good pressure when we know it's going to be a pass. I'm really proud of our guys with the way they're playing up front, physical, fast. It makes it a little easier when you can make a team one-dimensional."

WINAMAC 33, N. WHITE 7

Winamac defeated North White 33-7 at Roudebush Field for coach Josh Burgess's first win at the helm.

Jadon Jones rushed 229 yards and three touchdowns in 14 carries to lead the Warriors (1-2). He had touchdown runs on 55, 45 and nine yards.

Michael Loehmer rushed for 106 yards on five carries. He had a 46-yard TD run. Cash Roth had a three-yard TD pass to Max Gearhart.

"We got the ground game going a little bit," Burgess said. "We talked about all week about getting Jadon Jones a few more touches. He only had four touches against Pioneer and that's not nearly enough for a kid his skill level. So we got him the ball 14 times and he rushed for 229 yards, had three touchdowns, just had a really good game. Michael Loehmer also rushed for 106 yards on five carries, had a touchdown too. I thought the guys up front on the offensive line played better. We've still got some work to do. But they opened up some holes and our backs took advantage of it."

Winamac led 14-0 after one quarter and 33-7 at halftime.

"We gave our No. 1s about two series on each side of the ball in the second half and got some younger kids in," Burgess said. "No. 1s the second series drove down to about the five. We gave them one more play as it got closer to the fourth quarter, they didn't get it in so we subbed everybody out. We were able to get every single kid on our roster some snaps. It was a good night in that regard."

Winamac rushed for 378 yards and passed for 14. The Warrior defense held the Vikings (1-2) to 142 total yards, 64 of which was on the Vikings' only touchdown run of the game.

Winamac hosts LaVille Friday.

LAVILLE 47, PIONEER 8

Class 2A No. 9 LaVille continued its roll with a lopsided win at the Pit. The Lancers (3-0, 2-0 HNAC) handed the Panthers (1-2, 1-1) their first-ever HNAC loss at home.

The Lancers also have a 42-0 win over Bremen and a 56-14 win over Triton this season.

Pioneer's highlight of the night was a 15-play, 99-yard scoring drive in the second quarter to get to within 30-8. Caleb Sweet completed three passes during the drive, including an eight-yard pass to Cayden Hill on fourth-and-7 from the LaVille 38. On the next play Rylahn Toloza scored on a 30-yard TD run. Sweet ran in the 2-point conversion.

But that was all the Panthers would muster against the Lancers, who led 17-0 after one, 33-8 at halftime and 40-8 after three.

Pioneer did manage 176 yards on the ground. Toloza was the leading rusher with 92 yards on 17 carries. Hill had 43 yards on 15 attempts. Sweet was 7 of 16 passing for 76 yards. Brian Gluth had three catches for 54 yards. Hill had three catches for 21 yards.

Lucas Plummer 10 of 17 passing for 206 yards and 2 TDs for LaVille. He also connected on field goals of 28 and 33 yards. Paul DeWitt 91 yards on 16 carries and two TDs. Noah Richhart had four catches for 22 yards and a TD and two carries for 46 yards and a TD. Cody Allen had a 45-yard TD catch. Jonathan Neese had a 20-yard interception return for a score in the second half.

Pioneer hosts Caston Friday.

TRITON 46, CASTON 6

Triton stormed out to a 39-6 lead at halftime in a win at Caston.

Caston quarterback Landon Shafer was 7 of 19 passing for 90 yards. He added a rushing touchdown in the first quarter.

Josh Sullivan led the ground attack with 44 yards on eight carries. Grant Yadon was the leading receiver with two catches for 56 yards. Oliver Trigg had two catches for 18 yards. Quinlan Kelly had three catches for 12 yards. Kyle Roudebush added one catch for 5 yards. Kelly led the defense with nine tackles. Gavin Mollenkopf added six. Noah Herd added a fumble recovery.

Caston visits Pioneer on Friday.