PREP ROUNDUP: Delphi holds on to beat Cass in sectional play
Oct. 23—The Lewis Cass football team's fourth-quarter comeback bid fell short at Delphi on Friday night.
The Oracles held on for a 28-20 win over the Kings in a Class 2A sectional game.
Cass trailed 28-8 entering the final quarter. Cooper Frey had a two-yard touchdown run and Cayde Ingram had a 57-yard TD run to make it a 28-20 game with about six minutes left to play.
The Kings got the ball back and drove to the Oracles' 15-yard line. On fourth down, LJ Hillis's pass to Frey in the end zone was knocked away as the Oracles held on for the win.
Kooper Kinsler was the workhorse for the Oracles (7-3), carrying the ball 31 times for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
Hillis was 14 of 27 passing for 129 yards for the Kings (3-6). Luke Davis was the leading receiver with five catches for 57 yards. Ingram rushed for 97 yards on nine carries. Frey and Haden McClain each added 37 yards and a TD.
The Kings led 8-0 after one quarter but found themselves trailing 16-8 at halftime and 28-8 after three.
"We had a rough second quarter," Cass coach Clayton Mannering said. "It started with a muffed punt in the first quarter. We scored the first touchdown and forced them three-and-out and dropped the punt. We felt like we would have got the ball around the 50-yard line and had a chance to score. They got the momentum, went down and scored and the second half we really could not get them off the field. Then our own offense started to sputter out a little bit. We had a deficit at halftime and really hat's off to Delphi, they ran the ball extremely well all night. Our kids kept fighting and had a chance, threw the ball into the end zone the last offensive play of the game and had a receiver there and just couldn't quite make the completion.
"Cooper Frey has been kind of our go-to guy here late in the season and we wanted to get the ball in his hands and he almost made a spectacular catch."
Mannering credited Kinsler and the Oracles.
"He's No. 52 and he was a bruiser. They ran him basically on the same play all night and at different times we did a nice job stopping it but the kid always fell forward for 3, 4 or 5 yards. He's a really good player."
PIONEER 40, WABASH 14
Pioneer began the defense of its Class 2A sectional championship with a win over Wabash at the Pit.
The Panthers rushed for 287 yards and passed for 75 yards. They held Wabash to 39 yards on the ground and 156 yards through the air.
Beau Mersch got the scoring started for the Panthers with a 52-yard TD run. Cayden Hill's 3-yard TD run gave Pioneer a 12-0 lead after one quarter.
Caleb Sweet scored on a 9-yard TD run in the second quarter. His 2-point pass to Mersch made it 20-0. Wabash answered with a 6-yard TD run. Sweet's 29-yard TD pass to Logan Smith gave Pioneer a 26-7 lead at halftime.
The Apaches got to within 26-14 on a 70-yard TD pass to open the scoring in the third quarter. Hill's 2-yard TD run gave Pioneer a 32-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. Sweet's 46-yard TD pass to Mersch was followed by Hill's 2-point run to cap the scoring.
Pioneer hosts Delphi for a semifinal game next Friday.
WINAMAC 48, W. CENTRAL 14
Class A No. 4 Winamac opened sectional play with a blowout win at county rival West Central.
Winamac jumped out to a 42-0 lead at halftime and had a running clock for the second half.
Hayden Clark rushed for 157 yards and five touchdowns on 13 carries for the Warriors (8-0). Jadon Jones had 78 yards on just four attempts. Russell Compton and Maddox Bucinski each added a rushing TD.
Winamac hosts North Judson for a semifinal game next Friday.
