Hatchets look to go deep in tourney

Todd Lancaster, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
·3 min read

Oct. 19—WHS v. Pike Central

The Washington Hatchet football team ended its regular season with a 56-0 loss to Mount Vernon on Friday, but will have a chance to advance deep in the sectional due to a favorable draw.

WHS (2-7) will open sectional with one of the two teams it beat during the regular season. WHS will play Pike Central on the road Friday. If they win, they will then play the winner of West Vigo-Princeton Tigers, with the Tigers being the other team they defeated.

As the sectional broke down, the upper bracket featured two unbeaten teams (Gibson Southern and Owen Valley), Mount Vernon (5-4) and Vincennes Lincoln at 4-5, although Lincoln finished under .500, the Alices play in the toughest conference in southern Indiana, the SIAC. The upper part of the bracket comes in at 27-9, while the lower bracket comes in at 6-30.

The Hatchets dropped their last three games and were outscored 187-8, but in their two wins, they outscored PC and Princeton, 82-15.

Coach Joe Morris is now 7-22 in his third season as the Hatchet mentor. This year's squad is giving up 44 points a game and scoring 14. Although WHS was a 41-0 winner the last time the two have played, John Harrell's website predicts this one to be a lot closer, with WHS winning 31-28. The site also predicts that West Vigo will come out on top of Princeton, 38-24. The records of their competition are very similar at 46-35 (WHS) and 44-36 (PC).

The Washington team has been led by sophomore QB Colton Stowers and his primary targets have been Nathaniel Aldrich, Rylan Memering, Brody Isza and Jameson Dwyer. Cameron Cook and Parker Murphy have done much of the damage in the backfield for WHS.

"We got the draw we wanted, but so did three other teams. We know that if we don't come ready to play, this game will be a lot closer," said WHS Morris.

"We know that we have to play better. We have played well at times and at times we could have been a lot better. We know this is "Pride" game for us and Pike Central. I'm so proud of our underclassman and how much they have grown and improved."

Morris has some goals for the squad.

"I think the getting to the championship is realistic and we know that game will be a challenge, regardless who is on the other side. But we have to focus on us and this week," he said.

The lone Charger win came over Forest Park, 26-14, as they ended the year 1-8 for former Hatchet coach and player Kelly Brashear. He is 1-1 in the two times he has faced his former team.

PC is led by Matt Meadows, who is their quarterback and has a .53% completion rate. Braden Howland rushes for about 60 yards a game and Grant Boyd gets about 40 and is their leading receiver.

On defense Giles Mason is a former WJHS player, while Howland leads the team with 10. 3 tackles per game and Corey Goeppner who was second in total tackles.

The game will be played on Friday at Pike Central.

North Daviess bye week

The Cougars ended the season on a sour note with a loss to Springs Valley on the road Friday to end the regular season at 5-4. They drew the bye in the first round and will await the winner of the Tecumseh (9-0) and South Spencer (5-4). The Harrell site has Tecumseh as the probable winner, 49-17. That game will be played on the road.