Miner_Pride

Week 7: Sect 37 team North Knox 3-3 at Linton 6-0 A big matchup locally between old foes. Linton had won 14 in a row til a loss 27-15 in Linton on 2020. Linton won 38-24 in 2021. NK's losses have come to 3-3 Sullivan,6-0 1A Tecumseh and 3A 4-2 Boonville. All 3 wins have come against a combined 2-15. This is a big opportunity for North Knox to prove they belong in the discussion of post season. Linton took care of then 4-1 1A North Daviess 42-7, after a back n forth tussle the week before with Boonville 50-40. Linton averages 50.7 pp and it's offense has so far not been stopped. NK defense allows just 17.8 a game so something has to give. Both teams played Sect 37's Sullivan, Linton winning 40-20, NK losing 31-17. Linton remains at the top of both 2A Polls. Southmont 6-0 at Western Boone 5-1 A true test for the Mounties, who haven't started 6-0 since.. well .. I don't think they ever have. They had 8 win seasons in 2008 and 2009, but head into the hardest part of their schedule tonight and the following 2 Fridays. 5-1 WeBo's only loss was to 4-2 Tri-West, who Southmont will see in week 8. Western Boone and Southmont have played several common opponents, both winning... but WeBo looks to have dominated Crawfordsville (49-0) and North Montgomery (35-8) while the Mounties, while getting the "W", had 26-13 and 14-12 battles. Both teams doused Frankfort by huge margins. The MOunties defense has been steller (13.2/game) WeBo comes in over 42 a game. And it's a road game. I don't necessarily think any other Sect 37 team would come away with a win aganst the Stars, but you never know. A lot of eyes will be on this one. the AP has Southmont at #9, but the Coaches put them a #13 . WeBo at #8/#6 in 3A polls. South Vermillion 5-1 at Fountain Central 2-4 The Wildcats had back to back 7 win seasons in 2019 and 2020 then a little falloff in 2021. They appear to be back to winning ways with Coach Barrett, and should be favored against the Mustangs tonight. SV has a won 4 in a row and had dropped the ppg allowed to under 10 (8.2). They had a resounding 38-0 win over previous 4-1 1A Riverton Parke last week, and their only loss has been to 3-3 Sullivan 24-14 in week to at Sportland Field. Fountain Central opened with 3 losses but put up big numbers on Covington and Attica. They battled 4-2 Seeger losing by 1 (28-27) Edgewood 1-5 and Sullivan 3-3 Coach Caton's Arrows are much better than the 3-3 record they sport. Their losses have come to 6-0 Linton, 6-0 Owen Valley and 4-2 Northview. They were in both the Linton and Owen Valley games to the end. It was 27-20 Linton at one point in the second half and Sullivan left points on the field as well as giving points away. It ended up 40-20 Miners. The Patriots Beat Northview 28-7, and the Knights beat the Arrow 28-7, but Sullivan mounted a big comeback against OV and just fell short losing 40-20. Edgewood started 1-0, but have lost their last 5, and the Mustangs could be on the receiving end of some pent up anger. The Arrows will be battle tested coming into the post season with games like Northview, Owen Valley, and again with 3A 4-2 Indian Creek in week 8. 3-3 Cascade at 4-2 Speedway The Cadets have gone back and forth but are back at .500 after winning an inter-37 matchup with 1-5 North Putnam 40-21 last week. They have a solid test hosting a rejuvenated Speedway team that is 4-2. Of course the 3 losses Cascade has endured have been lopsided losses to some of the top programs in the area- Scecina, Lutheran and Triton Central. It will interesting to see how the Cadets do in this matchup. Speedway fought Scecina decent in a 28-7 loss, the Saints beat Cascade 41-14. An interesting score was a loss to Beech Grove by Speedway, while Cascade beat the Hornets 28-13 in week 2. hmm. 1-5 Cloverdale at 3-3 Greencaste The Tigercubs stopped the 2 game skid by blasting winless Brown County 63-0. That same offense was blanked the week previous by SUllivan 38-0. Greencastle has wins over 2-4 West Vigo and 3-2 Attucks but have not fared well against solid opponents. Losses as well to Northview and 5-1 1A South Putnam. There really isn't much doubt that the Tigercubswill pick up win 4 tonight against the 1-5 Clovers. Cloverdale's long win was over winless Brown County. Unless Greencastle starts looking ahead at Owen Valley next Week 2-4 West Vigo at 1-5 North Putnam The Cougars continue to look for improvement after a loss to Cascage 40-21 and face a Viking team who's only wins have come against Brown Co. and Parke Heritage. North Put have lost to good programs in Southmont, SOuth Put and Covenant Christian. West Vigo lost to SOuth Putnam 40-8 last week while the Eagles beat NP 52-20.

Linton, North Knox, Sullivan, Southmont, South Vermillion, Cascade, Greencastle & North Putnam. Well it just occurred to me that several of us in this somewhat new arrangement in Sectional 47 really don't know much about each other. So... creating this thread will hopefully get some discussion about the teams involved, and bring others into the conversation as well as follow each team through the remainder of the season. I know for me, there are teams I've not really any info on other than their records of the past and basic school info. Obviously for Linton we know Sullivan and North Knox particularly well having played these local rivals for years and years. We've played Cascade in a series from 1999-2003 winning 4 of 5, and met them in post season 1992 losing 45-13. We've not played South Vermillion, but have faced Clinton in '71 and '72 getting blanked twice! Greencastle is a foe Linton has never beaten, but we've not played then since a 1990 post season 55-0 loss. They were a regular schedule opponent from 1970 to 1975 where we lost all 6 meetings....add a loss in 1961 and Linton is 0-8 vs the Tigercubs... but those Linton teams weren't the Miners of the last 15 years. Linton faced Southmont in back to back years 1997 and 1998 splitting those games. North Put is a team Linton has never faced. So I am continuing this thread hoping it picks up speed as we get nearer to post season!

Miners and Warriors to Tangle at the Roy on Homecoming Night. North Knox and Linton is another long term rivalry for Linton that dates back to the Bicknell Bulldogs days of battles on the gridiron. I only have records to 1930, but Linton seemed to get the best of that series from 1930 to 1958 winning 21 of 27 meetings with 2 of those ties. Oaktown, Bicknell, Freelandville and Vigo consolidated to North Knox in 1963. It became Miners vs Warriors in 1966 with newly christened North Knox winning the first 7 of 8, and 9 of the first 12. For whatever reason these two teams, separated by 30 miles of farmlands, did not meet in 1972 nor ’73, then again not in 1980-81-82. But they’ve met every year since 1983, sometimes twice a year which I have totaled up as 58 times with the Miners winning 42 of those, and including those 1930-58 Bicknell years Linton leads 63-20-2. Linton has dominated on the gridiron but North Knox won three in a row from 1990 to 1992. The Miners then won 32 of the next 36. The Warriors last win was a dominant one in 2020 at Roy Williams Field in Linton that shocked Miner Fans, 27-14. Linton had won 14 in a row coming into that game. That loss, and another in 2009 (15-7) are the only two losses Linton has had to the Warriors from 2000 onward. Linton got revenge on the 2009 loss by blasting NK 44-0 in the sectional rematch, but had to wait a year for the big loss in 2020. That would be last year’s 38-24 win at Warrior Field. The Miners and Warriors have met in post-season 7 times, when they’ve been in the class and sectional, with Linton winning all 7. Being that both schools are in Sectional 37, it could happen again. Josh Chambers in the head coach of North Knox, this being his 8th season at the helm. They went 8-3 last year, matching his 8-4 2019 season in wins but both seasons ended with losses in sectional play. Since the new post season system came into place in 1985 I don’t show the Warriors with a sectional title, but I know they had a rich tradition in the early 70’s. The best season in the 2000’s came with Shawn McDowell at the helm, in 2014 finishing 9-3 where they lost to Linton 41-0 in sectional championship. With Chambers NK has had winning campaigns in each of the last 3 years. Having to replace some big names in the North Knox program due to graduation certainly a big thing to do. Rhett Sheren rumbled for 262 yards in the 2020 win, and had 67 in 2021. Holtman Doades had 205 rushing against the Miners in the 2021 loss. They do return QB Mason Lyons, FB Kale Jones and both Tight Ends, or as they call them (Y & Z) in Brennan Messel and Devan Kent. Up front 3 year starters Dylan Bond (5’11 225) and Landyn Worstell (6;2 185) return to lead newcomers Logan Foster (5’10 190), Jacob Etmeier (5’9 250) both seniors, and sophomore Garret McGuire (5’11 170). I’ve also seen Blake Goodwin in there at 5’11 335. Junior RB Carter Lemberg is in Sheren’s familiar role, as the offense has not change in any way. Lamberg averages 6.8 per carry and has 693 yards on 102 carries, but is not the leading rusher of the Warriors; That person is WB Caleb Bottum, another junior. Bottum, a starter at safety last year as a sophomore, has an impressive 961 yards on a team high 104 carries with 9 rush TDs. QB Lyons adds 131 yards on 37 keeps and those three have all but 28 of NK’s 271 rush attempts, and all but 178 of their rushing team total of 1963. Passing has never been a Warrior commodity but they always seem to complete a couple big passes in past Miner meetings. Lyons has only put the ball up 37 times, hitting just 32.% of them (12) for 191 yards with 1 score and 3 interceptions thrown. I would also point out that in the 2020 loss to NK, then QB Reese Hammelman threw only 8 times, hitting 4 for just 23 yards. Everyone and their brother in law know what you will get when NK lines up across from you. It’s mano a mano, and if you can stop them running the ball successfully, you have a good chance at a win. NK has put up over 400 rush yards twice this year (489 vs Eastern Greene, 358 last week against Pike Central), and 306 against Sullivan in week 1. Messel had the most catches with 4 (61 yards), with 3 from Kent (49 yard and the lone air TD). As is always the case, opponents will load the box on the warriors and both squads will fight hand to hand helmet to helmet in a huge scrum play after play. Miner fans will hope that Lamberg, Lyons or Bottum will not pop thru that scrum into the secondary for big plays, but also that the defense isn’t lulled to sleep by anticipating the run only to see Warrior receivers 20 yards behind them wide open for huge plays. The Miner D came out with some changes last week in Elnora, and it looked to inspire the team, as well as supply depth at positions and put players were they seemed to be perfect fits. I know there will still be things to work on and mistakes made but it looked like a most cohesive group, and as it’s said completion breeds excellence. There is a lot of rotation at positions which not only gives guys a rest who play both sides, but allow time to watch and see what’s happening which can occasionally be a help. Russell Goodman at ILB even as a freshman, has been more and more involved and is 2nd in tackles with 42 with 4.5 TFL, 1.5 Sacks. Bradyn Cox, 3rd in tackles with 39 and 1.5 TFL, as well as Christian Shonk who moved to ILB from the nose tackle spot previous. Shonk has 4 TFL 1 sack and 9 Hurries. These three man in ILB spot, with Paul Oliver and Wrigley Franklin at OLB. Between Oliver and Franklin, both at 6’3” and leapers, they have 19 pressures on opposing QB’s, 13 TFL and 4 Sacks. In addition, Oliver, just a freshman, has 2 picks (1 returned for a TD).and a fumble recovery, plus 2 blocked punts. Up front Shonk still saw action at NT, but it was a rotation with Soph Hank Gennicks and Jr Ty Boyd. Boyd has 18 stops 3.5 for loss and .5 sacks. He also was in the mix at DE along with Senior Aiden Giles and Junior Ashton White. Giles had been at DE in 2021 but at ILB these first 5 games. He has 37.5 stops 3 for loss and half a sack. White has gone from mainly special team’s duty early in the year to time at ILB and more snaps at DE the last couple games. White makes plays, and it was evident immediately against North Daviess. He leads the team in total tackles with 43, with 5 TFL 1.5 Sacks and 5 Hurries. All of this means you can have an assortment of talent on the field at any time. Giles, Boyd, Gennicks, Shonk, White at any of the front 3 spots and feel good in any situation. The Defensive Backfield has seen good and back in 2022 giving up 16 pass plays of over 20+ yards but held a successful pass heavy 4-2 North Daviess squad with 1000-yard passer to just 6 of 15 for a mere 53 yards last week. Miner Coaching staff made a couple changes with Hunter Johns moving to CB from Free Safety. He has started at OLB in 2021, and the move put his speed and reaction time to the fore-front. In non-passing plays he is an asset to containing the outside run pushing it to the inside, not to mention he is a great tackler as well. Braden Walters moved to Free Safety where I feel his 6’5” height plays a bigger role. He’s already provided some big hits to break up would-be receptions. Soph Jesse Voigtschild was at the other corner, with mainstay Hunter Gennicks at Strong Safety. Gennicks speed makes it difficult for anyone to outrun him on a break-away, and his closing speed in a huge plus on any busted plays. Gennicks is always solid on run support with 38 tackles, 23 of those solo, 2 TFL and 2 picks. Both picks would have been TDs but one was called back via a questionable flag. You also have 6’5 Logan Webb with a lot of experience at CB, and add 6’1” sophomore Hayden Feltner in that mix. Feltner is another special teams’ mogul with 20 tackles to his credit. The Miner offense has been a juggernaut in 2022. Averaging 440.8 of total offense per game. Remember that three games have had running clocks the entire second halves which means the bulk of those yards came in Quarters 1 and 2. The most damage has come in the 2nd quarter with 135 of their total 304 being scored then. The Miners have found themselves up at the half by scores of 50-0, 56-7, 34-13 and 36-0. Only against Boonville have the Miners been behind at any time. They have shown the ability to face adversity with important scoring drives at big moments against Monrovia, Sullivan and many times against Boonville. The ability to churn out long time consuming drives as well as big play soul breakers, as evidenced by 38 plays of over 20+ yards. Linton has also been successful in scoring 62.5% of their possessions (40 of 64), which is you look at varsity time it jumps up to 69.6% (39 of 56). Linton has rushed for 1,853 yards with 30 rush TDs, averaging 308.8 per game. Credit must be given to Center Nathan Watson, Guards Aiden Giles and Wrigley Franklin, and Tackles Jacob Breedlove and sand Hank Gennicks. They have been consistent from week one. They love to compare Pancake Block tallies, but honestly a good block that springs a back for a big play or crucial first down and merely be a shove to be as effective. But for them I’ll say Franklin leads with by my tally 22, Gennicks and Giles with 15 each. Hunter Gennicks leads in touches (66) yards (788) and Tds (13) with an amazing 11.9 per carry average. His partner in “the Firm” in the backfield is fellow senior Hunter Johns, who has 510 yards on 53 totes, 10 TDs and himself a 9.6 average doing the in between the tackles work. Once more I bring out the fact these guys have essentially not played in at least 5 if not 6 quarters of games well at hand. Voigtschild has broken a few long runs and adds 204 yards on 27 carries, Walters as well with 139 on 22 carries. Capable back-ups are there with sophomore Eli Scott who started week 1, Russell Goodman, Ashton White, Bradyn Cox, Cody Pigg, and Tyson Walker all having their moments. A big plus to 2022 has been the array of receivers with size to this year’s edition. Logan Webb came out to play football his junior year, and by week 3 he was very involved in the pass game. At 6’4 he has proven to be Gennicks most targeted at 33 passes, and has made good on 18 of those for 195 yards and 2 TDs. But the addition of two newcomers has bolstered the passing game to new heights. The Air attack now accounts for 132.0 yards per game, with Gennicks on target 63% of his passes (57-90) for 785 yards with 10 TDs and just 1 interception thrown. Hunter has had 1,000 yard passing seasons in both his shop and junior years, not to mention 916 rushing as a sophomore and 1,195 last years. He is well within reason to eclipse both those again this year. The addition of 6’5 junior Braden Walters, who like Webb, came out his junior year and as stand-out for the Miner Basketball program. His 1st game was week 2, and he has had immediate impact with 18 catches for 286 yards and 4 scores. Freshman Paul Oliver at 6’3” had 11 catches, 3 of those scores with 169 yards. Voigtschild and Johns have 7 catches between them and 12 yards and a score. It’s been awhile since the Miners have had this many viable receivers each with the ability to make the big play. The Warrior defense will have their hands full, but it won’t be anything they haven’t seen and faced what Linton does. They faced the same Boonville Pioneer offense Linton did and held them to 7 points in regulation before losing in OT 13-7. Boonville put 40 on Linton. While NK held Boonville’s QB Conner to a 1 of 11 passing night producing 23 yards and a pick, the same QB out 218 yards, 3 touchdowns on 12 of 21 passing. So it’s to be seen how the Warriors fare. Sullivan ran for 161 yards and 4 scores while passing for 136 and another score in week 1’s Arrow win 31-12. By comparison Sullivan has 121 rushing and 224 passing against Linton in week 4. NK is led in tackles by ILB junior Kaleb Archer with 69, 7 TFL and a Sack. OLB Brennan Messel, a sophomore, is next up with 39, with the other ILB senior Logan Foster at 37 with 2 TFL. Junior Caleb Bottum also has notched 37 stops from Free Safety. OLB Devan Kent had 3.5 TFL from OLB with 31 stops, with Corner back Lane Adams, another soph adding 30. Nose Tackle Jean Pierre gets in the action with 25 tackles and 1 each of a TFL, Sack and Interception. NK only returns 4 starters from the Linton game of 2021- Kale Jones at OLB, Dylan Bond at DT, Mason Lyons at CB and Bottum at Free Safety. NK comes to the Roy with an eye on upsetting the Miners on Homecoming. As always the Miners have the target on their back, but even more so with a #1 ranking in 2A in the State. The Warriors coming in after back to back wins over 1A North Central 35-0 and 3A Pike Central 35-14. Their other win came in week two 45-14 over 1A Eastern Greene. Those wins come against a collective opponent Won-Loss of 2-15. Their losses come to Sullivan (3-3) 31-17, 1A 6-0 Tecumseh 35-14 and to 4-2 A Boonville 13-7 in OT. You can bet Coach Brian Oliver in year 10 at the helm of his Alma Mater will have his Miners primed with enthusiasm and intensity. Coach Oliver is 45-17 since taking over for Steve Weber staring in 2013 and led Linton to the promised land of Lucas Oil in back to back years (2015 and 2016) with the trophy coming to Linton in 2016. The bad taste of losing to North Knox in the Warriors last trip to Roy Williams (2020) still fresh in the mind, a game that saw Linton out done in physicality and embarrassed on their home turf. Many of these current seniors were sophomores: Hunter Gennicks, Aiden Giles, Wrigley Franklin, Hunter Johns certainly remember that game. Once more I can’t impress on Linton fans how important it is to fill the Roy with full voice and support for your Miners. They have put on quite the show in 2022, as well as in 2021 and should be taking the field to a packed house of Miner Red and Blue. Again we have been blessed by weather as it looks to be a perfect fall night for football. You can bet North Knox will show up in full voice. Beating Linton is always something huge locally, but beating Linton at Linton, on Linton’s Homecoming, when Linton is ranked #1 in the State would be talked about forever. The crowd support has been stellar thus far, and was very impressive in the last home game with Sullivan. This was noted by Coach Oliver and by the players themselves as helping them in many ways. You can’t know how it feels unless you have been on that field and experienced it. Let’s keep that happening for these guys. You can carry our radio broadcast online on your phone while at the game by going to www.wqtyradio.com. Listen as the game plays out to hear all the pertinent info, and maybe a little more than you necessarily want to hear! All the stats as they happen, and experienced play by play from Kevin Rader, and all the color you’d even need from my 23 years of coverage as well as my great memories of playing Linton Miner Football. Go Miners Linton NK Pre Game Stats.docx

Miners Equal Parts Run/Pass in Dominating Cougars 42-7 Delayed a day due to a lighting pole falling onto the field at Thurman Brown field earlier that week, Linton showed up hitting on all cylinders to beat North Daviess for the 14th consecutive year. The Miners jumped out to a 14-0 1st quarter lead that ballooned to 36-0 at the half. The 2nd half had a running clock for the 3rd time in 2022, Linton emptied the benches enroute to their 6th win 42-7. It was a beautiful fall say at the kickoff from ND’s Jessie Carter landed into Miner freshman Russell Goodman at the Linton 28 where he bolted up the middle nearly going the distance but caught by Wyatt Bishop and Elliott Park at the Cougar 42, a return of 30 yards. On Linton’s 1st play from scrimmage Hunter Gennicks connected with Paul Oliver, another Miner Freshman, for his 12th passing TD of the year on a sideline route in stride at the Cougar 18 when Oliver out dashed his defender for the initial Miner score. Senior Nathan Fray hit his 1st PAT of the year for the 7-0 led 14 seconds into the game. The bad start would continue for the 4-1 Cougars as on 2nd and 9, ND Sophomore Coltyn McNabb broke into the Miner secondary on a 16 yard run. However, he was hit hard by Hunter Gennicks near midfield jarring the ball loose. Miner Senior Aiden Giles scooped up the ball at the ND 49. Linton then started a march that appeared stalled with a 4th and 15 at the Cougar 29. Back to back encroachment fouls against ND made it a conceivable conversion from 5 away as Linton had been successful on 4 of 6 4th down attempts coming into the game. The Cougars proved game as ND Frosh Casey Andrews and Senior Ethan White wrapped #15 short of the 1st down stick. ND could not take advantage of the momentum gained though, and Andrews would boot a monster 63 yard punt to the Miner 17. The Miners’ 3rd possession would be finished with an impressive 11 play 83 yard drive culminating in a perfect pass from Gennicks to Oliver on a quick out at the Cougar 5, and Oliver turning and waltzing into the end zone at the 4:15 mark that, with another Frady PAT, put Linton up 14 zip. The drive featured a 20 yard pass from Gennicks to Braden Walters on a 3rd and 4 early in the march. Walters gained 13 on a rush while Oliver caught a 13 yard pass as well. North Daviess would get their initial 1st down on the day on a wide receiver screen from junior QB Brock Knepp to Senior Austin Webster for 14 to their own 44. Knepp was forced to scramble on 3rd and 11 and opted to slide down 6 yards shy forcing another Andrew punt. A nice return by Senior Hunter Johns was called back on a penalty and Linton started their 4th possession from their own 27 as the 2nd quarter ushered in. It was not the best Miner series, as Gennicks was sacked for only the 3rd time all season as Andrews managed to wrangle in the fleet-footed Gennicks for a huge 12 yard loss then a screen to Johns barely got back to the line of scrimmage bringing in Oliver for a 31 yard punt. ND started on the Miner side of the field with a great chance to grab momentum again, but Giles and senior Wrigley Franklin dropped Webster for a loss of 2, and Giles and junior Ty Boyd combined to drop Knepp for 6 yard sack on 3rd and 12. Andrews came in to punt to the Miner 32. Gennicks connected again with Oliver for a 13 yard gain to the Miner 45, then a couple plays later facing 3rd and 5, Gennicks pulled the ball back from John’s belly and blasted through the right side for 50 untouched yards to the house. Once more, Nathan Frady was perfect on the kick, and with 6:47 in the half, Linton was coasting with a 21-0 lead. Since Braden Walters hit the field in week 2, he took the kick off duties, and has been a solid kicker averaging 35 yards a kick, and would get one to the end zone (albeit aided by a misfielding of the ball inside the 5. Elliott Park hauled in a Knepp pass on a 3rd and 12 for exactly 12 yards then a Webster catch converted a 3rd and 3 to the ND 45. McNabb, who came in leading ND in rushing with 434 yards? Gained another 11 to the Linton 44 to sustain the Cougar’s best drive of the night. On 2nd and all Knepp let loose an ill-advised deep throw that Hunter Gennicks took in on the Cougar sideline at the Miner 21. He would wow the crowds on both sides of the Thurman Brown Field as he zig-zagged, dodged, and broke free of several would be tacklers for an apparent 79 yard return for a back-breaking score; but the yellow hanky at the spot of the interception was for a push in the back nullifying an outstanding effort. Instead of lining up for a PAT, Linton started from their own 11 with 2:16 until half-time. But Linton did not relax, and on 1st down Johns broke free down the ND sideline for a 33 yard burst to the Linton 44, and one play later Gennicks hit Walters in stride at the ND 44, and Walters out-raced all Cougars for a 56 yard catch and score at the 1:39 mark of the 2nd. Walters had best night in receiving yards with 115, which it tops in a single game this year. Frady hit his 4th PAT in a row, and Linton was on top 28-0. ND tried to answer from their own 21 with back to back wide receiver screens to Webster, the 1st getting 9, but the second producing an obvious holding penalty. Add to that a procedure call, and the Cougars were back on their own 17. On 3rd and 14 the snap from center Niklaus Fine came in a little high but catchable however it slid through Knepp’s hand and bounding toward the Cougar end-zone. Knepp and Linton’s Oliver raced to the pigskin where a scrum erupted at the goal line. In the end, Knepp came out with the ball, but it was inches from the ND end-zone. Coach Fine decided to have Knepp take the snap and surrender 2 points via a safety, and a Miner 30-0 advantage with 1:09 still remaining in the half. Plus, after the Carter kick-off from their own 20 bounced off Linton’s Jesse Voigtschild, the Miners had the ball at the Cougar 34 with time to strike. However, after 2 incompletions and a procedure call Linton was facing 3rd and 15 from the ND 39 with time running out. Walters hauled in Gennicks quick out pass at the ND 38 and broke and immediate tackle, stiff-armed another and ran through another as he went 39 total yards for the score. Frady finally showed he was human by not hitting the PAT, and Linton was up 36-0. ND ran off one more play before the teams headed off to locker-rooms for the Half-Time break. As the score would indicate, Linton dominated in all facets in the numbers. 324 to 59 in total yards at the half with 129 rushing and 195 passing. ND’s spread offense spear headed by Knepp’s 1000+ passing yards coming into the game had been stymied hitting only 5 of 10 at this point for 45 yards. The defense came in with notable changes in positions compared to the prior week in Boonville, and it was clear the coaching staff had laid down the challenge to a Miner D that had been challenged in some area’s the prior 3 contests. Through 2 quarters these changes had brought a positive effect on the gridiron and also the benefit of rotations seemed to be able to rest players going both ways. With the Miner margin over 35, it was a running clock coming out in the 2nd half. Both teams had their starters still going at it, and the Miner re-vamped D brought the heat to start things off in quarter three. Giles and Franklin stopped McNabb for no gain, followed by Franklin chasing on a scramble where Oliver and Boyd brought the QB down for a yard gain. On 3rd and 9 it was two of the Miners upgraded to the starting line-up freshman Russell Goodman and junior Ashton White, both at the top of the tackle chart, who combined to drop Knepp for a sack and loss of 2. It was Franklin again who forced Knepp into that tackle. The Linton offense lost a 1st down on a hold penalty and on the punt snap Oliver had to scoop it off the ground then due to the heavy rush, Paul tucked the ball and ran for it. However, he needed 10 and was tripped up by the shoestring by Andrews at the Miner 24 well short of the needed yardage. The Cougars would not seize the moment, or perhaps the Miner Defense was determined to keep the goose-egg on the scoreboard. McNabb had a net loss of 1 with 2 carries. Voigtschild, White and NT Hank Gennicks were involved in each play. Knepp, under heavy pressure from Christian Shonk as well as White made a great effort eluding the sack and finding receiver Brock Kain at the Miner 13. He put the ball in Kain’s hand, but he was unable to keep it aided by a solid pop from Hunter Johns. Facing 4th and 11 Knepp’s pass for Matthew Wager at the Linton 5 was broken up by Walters. The first play back for Linton it was sophomore Voigtschild rambled 55 yards finally tracked down by a diving Park’s tackle at the Cougar 6. Hayden Falter caught a quick out that he turned into a 14 yard gain to the 6, then 2 plays later Hunter Gennicks ran in the last 3 yards as the 3rd Quarter ended. ND blocked the Frady PAT attempt to finish 4 of 6 on PAT attempts, and Linton was up 42-0. ND put themselves in a hole with a holding call on 1st down, and 3 pass plays still left the Cougars 13 yards short. Andrews 6th punt of the night put the Miner JV offense at their own 37. Still facing the ND 1st team defense produced negative runs from Bradyn Cox and Eli Scott, but an offside set up a 3rd and 7. Corey Andrews continued his impressive showing for the Cougs and he got to freshman QB Michael Auberrry tipping the ball in the hit to Auberry. The ball sailed high intended to Scott in the flat, but it was Park who caught the ball and broke a couple should be tackles on his way for a 39 yard return and score to eliminate the shut out with 4:30 left. Jessie Carter boomed the PAT for a 42-7 margin. The JV Miners and an ever changing array of Miners shuffling in and out after every play would then run out the clock but not without a great run from soph RB Tyson Walker of 29 yards nearly went the distance. It was another nice job from the Miner from OLine of Gennicks, Franklin, Watson, Giles and Breedlove. Linton came in averaging 443.2 total offense per game and even with a running clock produced 429. It was an unusual stat that has Linton with more passing yards than rushing. Gennicks hitting for 209 yard on 9 of 19 passing. His 4 passing TD’s give him 15 on the year and well on his way to surpassing his total of 20 TD passes in 2021. Big nights were had by Paul Oliver (4 receptions for 81 yards and 2 TDS) and Braden Walters (3-115 2 TDs). Walters had 94 YAC (Yards after Catch), Oliver 38. It was the 1st game this year that saw Senior Logan Webb without a catch although he was targeted twice. Feltner had 1 for 14, and Johns 1 of (-1) on a failed screen. The Rushing game averaged 7.0 per carry and it was led by 68 yards on 5 touches from Jesse Voigtschild, 59 on 6 carries from Hunter Johns. Hunter Gennicks streak of 100+ yard games ended as he had 58 yards on 10 carries, but still added 2 TDs bringing that total to 15 for the year. Sack yards hurt Gennicks as 22 yards came off from 2 sacks from Andrews. Braden Walters added 4 for 15. Linton’s defense was led by DE Ashton White’s 9 tackles, 4 of those for loss and 1.5 Sacks. He also had 2 hurries on Knepp. Hunter Gennicks vaulted to the very top of the tackle chart for the year to date with 7 (4 of those solo stops). Linton had 12 TFL on this night, and 3 sacks with a fumble recovery (Giles) and Interception (Gennicks). ND managed just 12 yards on the ground with McNabb leading the way with 33 on 14 attempts. Knepp was a victim of sacks, finished with (-17) on 9 totes, Austin Webster 2 for (-4). More impressive was the effort by the pass defense especially the backfield of Gennicks and Walters at Safeties and Johns and Voigtschild at Corner. The pressure put on Knepp certainly hindered any hopes of a successful downfield passing game. I had Linton with 7 pressures in addition to the 3 sacks. Franklin, White, Giles and Shonk, as well as Oliver. Knepp came in with impressive numbers including a completion rate and left hitting on just 6 receptions of 14 throws for just 5 yards and a pick. Webster had 4 catches for 33 yards, with 1 catch each from Park (12 yards) and Wagler (8 yards). North Daviess’ young freshman Corey Andrews left the Cougars 8 tackle, 4 TFL, 5 Hurries and 1.5 Sacks. Elliott Park had 8 stops along with a pick 6 on the JV offense. 5 tackles each from McNabb, Wagler, Webster and Brees Woolford. The Miners who came in ranked #1 in 2A are now 6-0, North Daviess fell to 4-2. The Cougars only losses coming to unbeaten Linton and unbeaten 1A Tecumseh. They have a tough task next week hosting 6-0 1A #4 North Decatur likely on Saturday Afternoon since all home games will be moved since all the light poles had to be cut down and won’t be replaced until the season is over. Linton returns to Roy Williams Field after 2 weeks on the road. The opponent is another old rival with North Knox coming to town. The Warriors sit 3-3 after back to back wins over 0-6 Pike Central and 1-4 North Central. They battled the same Boonville squad Linton won in a shootout 50-40, to a 13-7 Overtime loss. Game Stats Attached Linton vs North Daviess 2022 Stats.docx

Starters for both teams O and D attached. Linton Offense vs N.docx

Miners to Face 4-1 Cougars at Death Valley This Friday. Linton will have perhaps their shorted road trip this Friday as they head to Elnora/Odon to face the Cougars of North Daviess. Coach Trent Fine came aboard in 2018 from Huntington North where he went 15-15, after starting his coaching at Monroe Central. This is his 5th year at ND and is over-all 21-24. The Cougars opened up with a loss to a currently unbeaten Tecumseh Brave team 49-12. However, the Cougars have won four straight including back to back road games at Edinburgh (44-20, their first loss) and a big one over Washington 49-16. Linton under Coach Brian Oliver is in his 10th season at the helm of the Miners with a 37-13 career mark that included a 2-16 state championship in Class culminating a four-year run of 51 wins and 4 losses. Since pushed to Class 2A it’s been a tougher road to how, but Linton has been in the thick of things still winning with a 44-17 record, but have ran into the always staunch Evansville Mater Dei club in post season. Last year’s 28-27 loss was a close as the Miners have seen another Sectional Title that state title run in ’16, but have a rich history of 13 sectional and 10 regional titles along the way. Linton and North Daviess have quite the history with some of the most memorable games ever played. 2010 saw the Cougars paste 73 points on the Miners at the Valley, although a young Austin Karazsia would set the still standing record for passing yards in a game as Linton scored 33. Linton would pay the Cougars back and more with an 81-20 blasting the following year that saw all 81 points come in the first 3 quarters. These teams first met in 1971 with a Miner win, but ND soon took over winning 4 in a row starting in 1977. Coach Scotty Helms suffered through perhaps one of the toughest losses in an 18-16 game in sectional championship 2008 that came down to an inch and if it was indeed a fumble or had Webster reached across to the game winner. Another classic was a 2001 upset of Linton 14-0 in sectional action, when Linton had beaten the Cougars 31-0 earlier in the year. The best year I have down for ND was a 10-2 2009 squad that fell to Linton 28-24 in a sectional championship game. Then head coach Tim Able, now at Triton Central led his 1994 7-4 Cougars to the sectional finale only to lose to Tecumseh. As for Coach Fine, his best year to days was 7-4 in 2019, but North Daviess is off to their best start since ’19. They started 4-0 then only to win 3 of their last 4. This is the game when Cougar fans and coaches alike will see how ND will compete against stiffer opposition and in a way, dictates how the season will go. 2021 had ND come in 4-1 but were blanked 47-0 by Linton at the Roy. 2020 had the Cougars 4-0 and handed a 50-14 loss from the Miners. 2019 much the same coming in 4-1 and losing 48-14. In both ’20 and ’21 ND would lose every game post Linton. This is where N.Daviess is looking for a change and to get over that hump. Linton had won 13 in a row, and since 2002 have a dominating 33-9 advantage, 42-15 over-all. How do you convince your team that this won’t be the status quo again? Yes North Daviess is 4-1, but Linton is once again coming in heavy favorites at 5-0 and ranked #1 in 2A. The Cougars have nothing to lose and everything to gain and should play as such. They cannot afford to get down early nor by a big margin. Linton has to avoid another game of coming out somewhat flat. I think the Miners will be looking to prove something after giving up 40 points to Boonville last week and giving up an awful lot of big plays. I think Linton will face an air assault most of the night with the success Brock Knepp has had in 1,089 passing yards with a spread offense that has given the Miners some concern to this mid-way point. Of course, North Daviess probably hasn’t seen an offense as high powered and a versatile as Linton’s to this point in 2022. Linton has been virtually unstoppable scoring on 65% of their possessions, which include when games are well at hand and the second teamers take over. Linton averages 443.20 of offense and 52.4 points per game, equal parts rushing at 326.6 and passing 116.6. Gennicks put up 182 last week in the air, and with 6’5” Braden Walters, 6’4” Logan Webb and 6’3” Paul Oliver running routes there are targets difficult to cover. Webb is coming off his best receiving night and leads Linton with 18 catches and 195 yards with 2 TDs. Walters adds 2 TDs as well with 12 catches on 171 yards. Gennicks had completed 67.6% of his tosses with 48 of 71, and only 1 interception. WB Jesse Voigtschild gets in on the action with 4-89-1 and RB Hunter Johns caught his 1st two catches of the year for 33 yards both on screens. Linton has always been known for their running game that never features one player. This year however, it’s hard to not look at the efforts of Hunter Gennicks specifically. Sometimes he seems to carry the Miners on his back with plays reminiscent of 2016’s state champion QB Tyler Maurer with his physical yet elusive rooms, in many cases making something purely out of a sure nothing. He has had 5 100+ yard rush games with last week’s 185 his top output. At the same time you cannot over look fellow senior Hunter Johns who lined up at RB alongside Gennicks making the switch from WB in 2021. He has burst for major runs, including 10 TDs in his 451 yards second only to Gennicks’ 11 scores. Walters started a game late in week 2 but his impact was immediate in both phases of the game, has 124 yards on 18 touches and 2 scores, along with Soph Voigtschild who has 3 TDs on 22 for 138 running. Nobody of those four has less than 6 yards per carry with Gennicks at 13.04 and Johns at 9.6. This all starts up front with a veteran offensive line that has stayed consistent in 2022. Nathan Watson, Wrigley Franklin, Jacob Breedlove, Aiden Giles and Hank Gennicks have been the centerpiece that has produced 1,633 rushing yards, and 28 TD. All the while protecting QB Gennicks giving up just 2 sacks in the passing game. Franklin from his pulling guard slot has 21 pancake blocks Gennicks 14 with 13 from Giles. Franklin and Giles both have been starters from their Sophomore years, while Watson started as a junior in 2021. Breedlove and Gennicks were both injured most of 2021, but Hank did start week 1 as a freshman, and was on the field against Mater Dei in sectional last year. Their experience had been a positive point coming into 2022. Linton will face most likely an all-out passing attack from Knepp, who has hit 69.8 of his 106 attempts and 10 Tds thrown out of his 74 completions. He has only 3 interceptions thrown. Knepp will have two seniors who have come up big in the passing game to count on in Austin Webster and Mathew Wagler. Webster at 5’9 170 has 31 catches, 7 of those for scores and 419 yards. Wagler, 5’11” 160, adds 21 more for 260 yards and 1 TD, Drew Boyd, 6’0” 160, has 6 for 147 (1 TD) as well as 6’3 200 Elliott Park with 7 for 92 (1 TD). The TailBack, Coltyn McNabb has 5 catches for 76 yard as well. McNabb just a sophomore at 6’1” 190 has been the running alternative with over half the carries (64) of the team and 434 of their over-all 652 rushing total. He has 7 TDs, and a 6.8 per carry average. The only other Cougar to run the ball is the QB Knepp with 27 for 135 and 5 TDs. The front line is manned by seniors on the right side with 5’8 260 Tanner Wilcoxen and 5’8 220 Ethan White. Nicklaus Fine 6’1 210 Junior is at center with Abraham Victoriano (Jr, 6’2 250) and a freshman Casyn Bishop (5;7 245) on the left. Victoriano and WIlcoxen are returning starters, as well as Knepp, Boyd, Webster and McNabb from the Linton game last year. The Miners have allowed 292.20 per game of offense and 21.6 ppg. They were under fire last week from a very good Boonville squad, but made just enough plays to give the Miner offense the ability to put more points on the board. Yet I know the coaches would not be pleased at allowing 40 points, and the success Boonville had at moving the ball both on the ground and in the air specifically. Opponents have been able to hit on pass plays of 20+ yards 16 times including 7 plays of 30+ yards. This was evident in 3 TD passes last week of 31, 41 and 59. A topic of discussion was that Linton had jumped on top of opponents so quickly in all four games leading into Boonville. Both Monrovia and Sullivan had played pretty even after the initial scoring onslaught but could never stop the Miner Offense. The Pioneer/Miner game was dogfight from the get-go that proved Boonville to be a tough bunch with a lot of talent. It also proved the Miners could remain composed and play through adversity. I think this week will see a defensive unit focused on improvement and possibly a point to prove. Freshman Russell Goodman is the top tackler with 38 in his role at ILB & Special Team. ILB Bradyn Cox is right behind with 35 total, with safety Hunter Gennicks at the top of solo tackles with 19. Ashton White has 34 tackles from several roles (ILB, DT and Special Teams). ILB Aiden Giles and OLB Wrigley Franklin both have a total of 31.5 stops, followed by Hunter Gennicks’ 31. The Miners have had 32 tackles for loss as a team with 8 sacks. They’ve also had 6 Nits with 2 of those being returned for touchdowns. Another noticeable stat is opponent 3rd down conversions which is at 35.4% (23 of 65) compared to Linton’s 62.8%. Paul Oliver, another freshman, leads in TFL with 6.5 and has 2 sacks. Franklin with 4.5 and 2 as well. Christian Shonk has 4 TFL and 1 sack, with Goodman 3.5 TFL and a sack. Linton has pressured QB’s a lot in 202s with Oliver leading the way at 10, Shonk and Franklin at 7, and Ty Boyd at 5. Oliver has 2 Interceptions, with Voigtschild, Boyd, Gennicks and Walters each having 1. North Daviess returns 7 starters from their 2021 team. McNabb leads ND with 25 tackles 2.5 TFL. A trio of Cougars with 20 tackles each-Elisha Swartzentuber, Elliott Park and Matthew Wagler. Park has 5.5 TFL and 2 sacks. Corey Andrews, a freshman playing SAM, has 17 tackles but leads the team with 6 TFL and 4 Sacks. The down linemen are essentially the same as on offense so there is almost every player going both ways. Linton has a lot of 2-way players as well, but certainly a little more depth. ND does have 8 interceptions to their credit, and I do expect Linton to work on it’s passing game. Looking at the starters for both teams listed below, Linton will definitely have a size advantage. This is definitely an opportunity for the Cougars. It is a good litmus test for where they are, and every year Coach Fine says this is a game they have circled because it is the game North Daviess needs to win to get the monkey off their back. No question that the Cougars are improved in an offense Coach Fine brought to Cougar Valley that completely was different from what Cougar fans knew from Coach Helms before. ND has gone 0-10 in both ’21 and ’20 from week 6 through an exit in 1st round of sectionals. A win would be monumental for the Cougars as an impetus for moving onward and upward. The season is by no means over one way or the other as ND continues down the schedule, but it goes a long way in getting respect and gaining confidence. Linton, on the other hand, will need to show improvement in some areas. It’s good to be facing this type of offense again as you simply can’t duplicate it in practice in game time speed in small schools. I think it’s an opportunity to get better, and more comfortable in handling situations you only see in a game setting as opposed to film study. Linton must avoid coming out too relaxed or the term ‘flat’. After 3 long road trips this year another to South Putnam in a few weeks, this trip south of Elnora will be a breeze travel wise. I don’t care how hard you try to convince high school kids to be focused, you know history plays a role in things, and North Daviess simply has not put up much threat in many years. Linton has put up over 699 points total over the last 13 meetings, a 53.8 average. They’ve surpassed 50 points 8 of those games and most the time early. The Cougar’s battle as you would expect them to, but they have trouble scoring against varsity defense, with only 47 points scored in the last 7 meetings. The closest game in recent memory was perhaps 2014 (a 55-28 score that was a game early on) and in 2012’s 35-12 Miner win. There was a time this game was a hard-fought battle for bragging rights in the area. In the 90’s there were tight games of a 6-0 Cougar win in ’94, and a Miner 13-7 in ’95. And I recall walking the sidelines at Sportland Field in Sullivan as N.D> beat the 1999 Miners 44-40! And then there was the immaculately played 2006 game at Cougar Valley… you might remember that one. Oh wait. It was never played. Lightning caused it’s move to Saturday morning, which then was moved again due to nasty weather to a Monday Night only to be deemed against IHSAA rules. Linton would have been heavily favored and went on to an 8-1 regular season, and lost to Perry Central to finish 8-2. But they won the SW7 conference, but alas had to share it with the 8-3 North Central Thunderbirds over the fact both had won 5 games in conference. Yet head to head Linton beat NC 28-7. The rules were changed after than year so it can’t happen again. Linton was 5-0, NC 5-1 but both were named champions. That has nothing to do with this game, and as of this writing it has been moved to Saturday at 11 AM due to a huge lighting pole calling into the field. That would have been disastrous had it occurred with the game in full flow and stands packed with people standing along the fences. Could have been a tragedy so very thankful it happened when it did, but I bet it would have made ESPN highlights. You don’t hear about stuff like that happening very often. So, it’s a Saturday morning meeting instead of a Friday Night under the lights (I like being under the lights). Will that have any affect on either team. It’s another day of practice for sure. And a lot of coaches have great disdain for a change in habit. I guess we will have to see. I hope Linton fans will make the trip to support the Miners because as I have gone to great length to express---the kids feel it, and it helps them undoubtedly and it also shows everyone that Linton brings the town with them. As always… you can hear these stats and a lot of other information live as it happens from our radio broadcast on 93.3 FM WQTY or on your phone or anything else digital related at www.wqtyradio.com as I am in mid-year 23 of Miner Broadcasting. Kevin Rader has been a great addition to the booth as Darren Clayton moved onward and upward to be Athletic Director! Go Miners

since I have lived in VInny since 1993 I always pay attention to Alices Football... and it's great to see the enthusiasm for the program to be happening again!

Well I think Sullivan made a statement with a 38-0 dominating win over the Tigercubs. I am relatively new to most of these Sect 37 teams. My memories of Greencastle was always one of a bigger school...certainly not 2A in my years of playing. Have they lost enrollment to North and or South Put?? The Arrows now will have a very tough one with unbeaten 4A Owen Valley.. who just beat Northview... who was unbeaten... who beat Sullivan 28-7 earlier. But Sullivan's losses have been to very good teams so they will be battle tested come week 10. That draw will be uber interesting as I know they want a shot at my Miners again. Now I confess my knowledge on the Mounties is slim at best. I do see they've play a schedule of mostly 3A and 4A opponents. In my old school way of doing things I would look at wins against quality opponents and right now I see all their wins coming to sub 500 opponents but I know Danville, WeBo, Lebanon and Tri-West are all traditionally good programs...maybe Danville is down but still this is quite a stretch Southmont is heading. Is this 5-0 real? The Wildcats under Coach Barrett are making waves at 4-1 but I can't help but look at opponents and think they should be 4-1. The 24-14 loss to Sullivan on the road is the game I look at but it was week 2. The win over N.VErm was nice as well as blanking 2-3 3A West Vigo. I don't see them tested at all other than perhaps a 3-2 Seeger team the rest of the way. 4-1 Riverton Parke is having a great season, so maybe this week we see a bit better. Both Greencastle and North Knox are at 2-3. Greencastle's losses have come to 4-1 Northview, 4-1 South Putnam and 3-2 Sullivan. They were not close in any of those losses. They certainly should win their next two (0-5 Brown Co and 1-4 Cloverdale) but I don't see them in the upper tier of 37 after being beaten badly by Sullivan. THe Warriors have won the games they should (N.C and EG). Tecumseh at 5-0 in 1A must be having a great year put a hurt on NK, and Sullivan won by 2 TDs in week 1. the Boonville loss in overtime throws a wrench in things because Linton just let the Pioneers put up 40 points and at times could not be stopped yet NK held them to 7 in 4 quarters. NK will win against 0-5 Pike Central setting up a big meeting with Linton at bicknell. Cascade is also 2-3 and meet 1-4 North Putnam in a Sect 37 tilt. Cascade has faces Scecina, Lutheran and TRiton Central..a combined 14-1 between them. A lot of sect 37 teams if not all might have 3 losses against those teams. Both NP and Cascade blasted Cloverdale, while the Cadets won by 15 over 4A 2-3 Beech Grove. The Cougars have also faced top level teams in South Put and Southmont as well as Covenant Christian... This will be interesting to see how it pans out. My Miners head to 1A 4-1 North Daviess...and has been case in most meetings, ND comes in with a solid record but having not played someone of LInton's calibre. It's the game they need to win, or at the least be in the game for more than a quarter. With their passing game gelling and confident, and Linton having some issue with that very thing... this could be interesting or over quick. I know ND hasn't seen an offense on Linton's level... and probably not a defense either. Their lone loss has come that 5-0 Tecumseh squad. I think LInton will try some things this week defensively to shake things up. Just a hunch tho.

See Game and Individual Stat breakdown on attached file!!! Linton Boonville Stats.docx

Miners and Pioneers Light Up Scoreboard in Linton 50-40 Win. In this brief 4-year series between Boonville and Linton, it has been full of excitement with fast pace action, big time hitting, and in some year’s drama. This 2022 game was no different, and in a lot of ways very similar to the Over Time loss 44-42 two years back at Shelton Field in 2020. There is little doubt that Boonville will be glad to see Hunter Gennicks graduate, as he has lit up the Pioneers in his 3 years facing them. Boonville came in after an overtime 13-7 win over North Knox, a game many thought the Pioneers would roll through after beating Heritage Hills the week prior. Linton made their 3rd long road trip, but their first in two weeks after emotionally high wins over Monrovia and Sullivan at the Roy in the last 2 weeks. Could the Miners avoid a slip in intensity facing a team they beat easily in 2021 35-14? The 3-1 Pioneers looked to be excited at the chance to knock of 2A #1 Linton for their first win over the Miners in this series Linton led 3-0. It was a game that produced big numbers. Linton came in averaging 52.2 pig and 443.2 of total offense per game. The Miner Defense had been a bend and not break unit the last two games after excellent showings in weeks 1 and 2. Of course that had something to do with the talent level of Monrovia and Sullivan. Still, Monrovia had 219 rush yards and drove down the field against us. Sullivan had 224 in the air and we held out of the endzone twice inside the Miner 10. In both games the Miners had opened up with big leads early on and could withstand the yardage. Sullivan had pulled to 27-20 but the Miner Offense turned up the jets, and the Defense hunkered down for win #4. One would wonder in a dog fight if the big plays could continue for…as well as against, our Miners. Boonville had proven they could run and throw the ball in game film, and with 6’5 200 Sr QB Clay Conner at the helm of a team that was 6’2” at every position, Linton would indeed be challenged. The Pioneers put themselves in a hole right away with a hold, but a short pass to Sr Carter Wolfe gained 25 to the Miner 41. Another Hold on Boonville pushed them from Linton’s 31 to the 41, and later from the 28 facing 4th and 7, Conner’s Pass to a wide open Marques Ballard at the miner 20 sailed overhead. Pressure was heavy on the QB certainly altering the throw courtesy or Ty Boyd and Wrigley Franklin. Linton would come out firing with runs from both parts of “the Firm” of Hunter & Hunter. Gennicks with 6, Then Johns with 9 up to the Miner 43. Gennicks hit Jess Voigtschild on a 3rd and 8 to convert a 3rd down and cross midfield. Gennicks put Linton at the Boonville 28 on a scramble for 18, then hit Paul Oliver for 18 more into the Red Zone at the 8. 2 plays later Hunter Johns popped in for TD # 9 for the Senior, and Linton was up 6-0 at 5:07 of the 1st. Boonville started from their own 40, and on 3rd and 9 Conner stepped back to find Ballard extremely wide open in stride at the Miner 20. The pass nearly sailed over his head but Ballard made a great leaping catch, keeping his feet and scoring for a 59 yard touchdown pass. Bradyn Cox blocked the PAT and left the score tied 6-6 at 4:41. Linton’s attempt had also failed earlier. Linton looked to answer led by another scramble from Gennicks, this for 21 yards to the Pioneer 40. Penalties both aided and hurt Linton and the Miners got inside the 10. Braden Walters pushed the ball to the 9, but was just overthrown in the back of the endzone on 3rd and goal. This set up a 4th and goal from the 8. Coming into the contest, Linton had been 16 of 17 in the Red Zone, and would have been one better but Logan Webb juggled the pass perhaps trying to get his footing down in the endzone and dropped it to give Boonville a reprieve and the ball. Linton had gone 61 yards in 11 plays to come up empty. The Pioneer offense was also moving the ball well. Conner kept for a 35 yard gain on a 3rd and 4 from their own 14, eluding tacklers and catching Linton asleep on the back side. This play would be used many times successfully through-out the night. Another 3rd and 7 was converted on a pass from Conner to Cooper Aigner, then a Miner offside penalty set up 1st and 5 and the Linton 32. Back to back runs from Reese Wilder pushed to the Linton 23, and Connor repeated the back side play for a slash to the right corner for 6 points and a Boonville lead at 7:35 of the 2nd quarter. This time the PAT was foiled on a bad snap, but it was the 1st time in 2022 that Linton found themselves behind in a ballgame at 12-6. Linton was definitely not on the level of enthusiasm that we had seen in the previous four outings, and were in need of something to jolt them up. It came in the form of #12 Hunter Johns. “Papa” as they call him, took the ball on a tall bounce at the Miner 13 from Josh Biggins. He took a few steps straight down sideline before cutting to the middle where a big hole had been created by the Return team blocking downfield. Hunter put a wicked stiff arm on Ballard at the Miner 40, then out-ran he last Boonville defender 60 yards, a total of 87 to silence the black and gold hometown fans. Big credit goes to the initial blocks from Braydn Cox and Russell Goodman, then to Voigtschild , Michael Auberry and Cody Pigg as Johns cut to the middle. Then is was Jimmie Wright, Linkyn Yarber and Ashton White that sealed off defenders giving Hunter a huge gap to ignite his jets to open field. Of course Colton McKinnon & Eli Scott had to do their part for the play for be successful. And it was much needed. Hunter Gennicks ran in the 2 point conversion and Linton was back up 14-12 15 seconds after falling behind for the first time all year. Things did pick up for the Miner D as they stuffed Wilder for no gain on a 3rd and 1 at the Pioneer 43. Boonville elected to do, and Conner looked to have been stopped short by Christian Shonk and Cox, but a measurement that took a long while for the white hat to call 1st down finally happened. From then on it was meticulous runs by both Wilder and Conner that went double digits per carry to the Miner 12. It would be Wilder who busted through for the final 12 as Boonville marched 689 yards in 10 plays all on the ground save for 9 yards in passing. The Pioneers run for 2 was stopped but Boonville themselves had answered right back at 4:00 in the 2nd with an 18-14 advantage. Then the Miners were caught off guard as Biggins squib kick split through the front line and between the second line and took a huge hop. No Miner got to it before Boonville’s Tyler Rinehart at the Miner 43. Paul Oliver and Hank Gennicks dropped Wolfe for a loss of 3 and Gennicks pressured Conner to scramble where Oliver push him out of bounds forcing a 3rd and 9. This time Conner’s run was thwarted by Gennicks again, and White forcing Boonville to punt which put the Miners at their own 21 with 2:17 before half. It was big that the Defense kept Boonville from expanding their lead and momentum. However, the Miner offense had not been on the field at all in the 2nd quarter. The last offensive play had been at the 0:12 mark of the 1st on the cropped pass in the endzone. It showed. A holding penalty negated a nice run, then two passed for Walters were incomplete and Linton only run 39 seconds off the clock. Oliver booted a 26 yard punt with no return, yet Boonville sat at the Linton 41 with 1:38 yet to run off until halftime. And Boonville struck immediately. They had been able to find open receivers most of the night, and Conner did not miss them. Again it was Marques Ballard the speedy junior who cut inside the defender and found himself wide open at the Miner 33 where Conner drilled the ball. Ballard broke an arm tackle and strode into the end zone easily, and then Conner passed to Wyatt Franz for another 2 points and now the Miners faced serious trouble down 26-14 with 1:29 still left to the break. Perhaps Boonville scored too quickly? Hard to imagine they cared at that point, and honestly Linton had probably played their worst quarter of the year at this point and would be happy to get to the locker-room knowing they’d have the first possession of the 2nd half. Of course, we in Linton know that wasn’t going to happen. And this is where you find out what your team is made up. Linton had not seen much in the way of adversity thus far, although the Miner drive against Sullivan when it was 27-20 was a good sign. However, this was in Boonville, and Boonville’s home base was indeed fired up. On 2nd and 10 Gennicks hit Johns on a swing pass that earned 14 yards, then Johns took a late option pitch another 16 yards to the Boonville 28. It was hard to fathom that as bad as things had been, a miner score would put things in much better light. Linton reached the red zone at the 19 on an Oliver reception, but Boonville Defense stood strong on back to back Gennicks runs. Facing 3rd and 10 Stihl Scott met Gennicks head up at the Line Of Scrimmage leaving a 4th and 4, but in reality with just 8 seconds left, it was 4th and goal from the 8. After time-outs, it was Gennicks to his right keeping the ball and pushing through tacklers for the Miner score! Hunter Johns drew Linton to within 4 at 26-22. Russell Goodman sent the Miners into the half on an even better note as he busted through to sack Conner for a loss of 13 as the horn sounded. It was the type of game many expected. Boonville was showing they had every bit the offense of Linton, and showing that they could expose some areas of concern for Miner Fans. The halftime numbers were an unusual site for Linton as the Pioneers led in total yards 293 to 208, with 154 in the air that accounted for 2 long Pioneer scores. Linton was really saved by the Johns kickoff return TD, and that last scoring drive definitely picking up spirits heading in the half. Again the Time of Possession heavily favored Boonville 14:37 to 9:23 as Linton had the ball just 2:00 of the entire 2nd Quarter. It’s said the first drive of the second half is always one of the most important possessions of a game. This is very true on this night but it looked grim after the 1st two produced 0 yards. Facing a near must-have 3rd and 10, it was the middle screen to Johns that worked earlier, and it worked again for 16 yards to the Pioneer 43. Then a play we’ve been oh so close on all year finally connected; the long ball. It didn’t look pretty as Ballard had a play for Boonville, but Logan Webb stay focused and down 26-14 with 8 seconds to go in the first half to a 28-26 lead just 57 seconds into the 2nd half. The offense had done their job, but what about the defense? Boonville started strong with Wilder getting 11 to move the chains, then 2 plays later for 6 for another 1st down to the Miner 43. Conner hit Aigner for 17 more, then it was Reese Wilder again up the middle for another 20 yards at the Linton 2. 2 plays later Conner got just enough to put the Pioneers back on top with a 9 play 68 yard drive. The lead was 32-28 Boonville with 7:35 in the 3rd. It was beginning to looks as if whomever had the ball last, would win; or, whomever made the first turnover offensively would lose the game. Very much like 2020. Linton began their next drive from their own 23 with Walters gaining 13. 2 plays later Hunter Gennicks busted loose for 30 yards to the Pioneer 30. A Pass Interference call on a downfield pass to Webb moved Linton to the 11. From the 2 Walters culminated the 8 play 74 yard drive on a 2 yard dive at 4:20 to yet again answer the Pioneer score. Gennicks converted the 2 point play for a 36 to 32 lead. The gauntlet laid for the defense to make a stop didn’t help as Boonville would start near mid-field. Once more it was Wilder with back to back runs setting up a 3rd and 1 which Conner converted by just enough at the Miner 40. Miner Linebackers Goodman and Franklin stopped Wilder for no gain, an incompletion left a 3rd and 10. Miner NT Christian got pressure on Conner and Wrigley Franklin leaped to tip the intended screen pass intended for Ballard. This forced the first punt of the night from Boonville’s Ballard who dropped it at the Miner 12 with 1:46 in the 3rd. It was the stop the Miners needed. Linton’s offense had scored on 4 of their 6 possessions, and their last 3 in a row. They would cover 88 yards in the next 8 plays in complete control. Gennicks connected with Webb for 8, then Johns ran for 13 for a 1st down at their own 33. Gennicks ran for 15 to midfield for another chain mover. Boonville’s Stihl Scott and Ethan Parker dropped Jesse Voigtschild for a loss of 7, and on 3rd and 17 Oliver’s catch at the Boonville 43 got 13 of that. On 4th and 3, Linton elected to go and Gennicks popped through and outran everything for a 43 score just into the 4th quarter. Hunter Johns got the 2 point run and you could feel the air come of out the Pioneer balloon as Linton jumped up 44-26 at 10:52 of the final stanza. If the balloon hadn’t burst with that last Linton score, it did as Walter executed a perfect onside kick catching the Pioneers unexpectedly. He ran alongside the kick at it went the 10 required yards, but Boonville’s Elijah Biggins looked to catch the ball at the Pioneer 42, but Walters put a big hit that caused Biggins to lose the ball before securing it, and Russell Goodman wrapped it up on the spot. Still Linton had to convert a 3rd and 3 at the Pioneer 35 with yet another Gennicks run of 10. The play of the drive was a terrific catch from Logan Webb at Boonville’s 9 on a 3rd and 12. Webb had his biggest game of the year and his catch on 3rd and 16 got 9 to the Boonville 5 but left Linton with a 4th and goal. This time it was Hunter Johns who bulled forward to ice the cake. The 2 point pass play was incomplete, but Linton had reached the 50 point plateau for the fifth time in five weeks, and led 50-32 with 6:24 remaining. Boonville was then forced to go to the air game, which had been successful for the most part but Linton was playing the pass and forced three incompletions on plays by Walters, Oliver and Gennicks. Ballard’s punt went out of bounds at the Miner 24. Linton nearly gave the ball away on successive plays as a snap went over Gennicks head but hit the side of Voigtschild who was in motion behind the QB. Conner very nearly fell on it, but Jesse prevailed, although it was a 7 yard loss. The Linton went to the Johns’ middle screen but Pioneer LB Wyatt Franz was right there and the ball bounced off his hands incomplete at the Miner 20. Paul Oliver punted 23 yards giving Boonville the ball at their own 43 with 4:31 still on the clock. Conner connected with Aigner at the Miner 45, but Hayden Feltner and Wrigley Franklin stopped him short of the sticks, then Franklin and Goodman stopped Conner a yard short again. Conner tried to go deep for Ballard at Linton’s 25 but it was incomplete. 4th and 1 saw a big play by Franklin and fellow senior Aiden Giles for a loss of 3 to the disgust of Conner and a turn-over on downs. With 3:19 left in the game, Linton seemed content to run that time off the clock, and punted with 1:59 left. However it appeared Oliver took and extra step executed a rugby style punt and Boonville was able to get to the kick with Parker and Wolfe fell on it at the Miner 31. Conner hit a wide open Nathan Sowder at the 20 before the senior even made his cut. The ball hit him on the numbers and to his credit he caught it, but had clear sailing the final 20 yards to pay dirt. Conner and Aigner combined for 2 point pass ending the scoring at 50-40 with 1:49 to run off. Linton would kneel down the final 3 plays of the game to move on to 5-0 while Boonville fell to 3-2. It was certainly a dogfight. It was certainly good to see Linton answer to the adversity of being down 26-14 late in the 1st half. It was definitely good to see the offense execute when they absolutely had to just to stay in the game and eventually win the game. It was also good to see the Miner defense make plays in the second half that opened the door for the Miners to get some separation on the scoreboard. Not to mention having a Hunter John’s kickoff return, and see a downfield pass connect for a big TD. To anyone present at the game, and certainly those listening, there were still some issue on pass defense that led to three 30+ yard TD Passes, and a couple others that were missed. In the end Conner hit on 12 of 21 for 218 yards, 153 on yards after catch. For the first time this season the opposition had more explosive plays (20+) with 7 to Linton’s 4. Linton still had more big plays over all with 27 plays gaining at least 5 yards to Boonville’s 20. Boonville had more tackles for loss with 7 to Linton’s 3. The Kickoff Return TD, the TD with 8 seconds before the half, the 43 yard TD pass to Webb on the 1st series of 2nd half, the defensive stop forcing a punt late in the 3rd, then the onside kick after Linton had just scored that led to another score were the turning points. As Coach Oliver stated in his post-game interview with me, they are still trying to put kids in the right places, still trying to work out the kinks in a relatively new defense with a lot of guys in different positions, and a lot of starters to replace from 2021. I have to keep telling myself that these are still 15-17 year olds who have to think on their feet and have a lot to digest with decisions that have to be made in the blink of an eye. I need to remember that myself, as well as just watch and NCAA or NFL game on the big screen each weekend because you see blown coverages and confusion at that level just as you do in high school. So as the coaches always say, the regular season is about getting prepared for the post-season, and part of that is the learning process and trying to always get better while addressing the issues that come up during the 9 weeks leading to it. Both teams had 400+ total yards: Linton with 459, Boonville at 409. Both teams were very balanced in their attacks. Led by Hunter Gennicks’ biggest rushing numbers of the year, Linton had 277 on the ground on 51 attempts. Gennicks had 185 yards on 21 carries with 2 scores, giving him 730 yards on the year and 11 rush TDs. Hunter Johns added 65 yards on 13 carries and his 9th and 10th rushing TDs. He is also having a solid year with 451 yards rushing to date. Braden Walters had a score on 8 for 36 while Jesse Voigtschild was the victim of a couple big negative plays and had (-9) on 6 touches. Equally as impressive was the passing game hitting for 182 yards on 13 of 26 passing from Gennicks who threw his 6th TD pass of 2022 while staying at 1 interception. As mentioned Logan Webb had his biggest night of the season with 6 catches and 91 yards and caught his 2nd TD of the year. He was the main target of Gennicks with 10 throws his way. Paul Oliver had 3 catches for 38 yards, Johns 2 for 33, Walters 1-14 and Voigtschild 1 for 6. Boonville’s tandem of Clay Conner (17-92 2TD) and Reece Wilder (16-90 1 TD) were all but 9 yards of the Pioneer total of 191 rushing yards on 37 carries. Carter Wolfe 2-3 and Marques Ballard 2-6 filled the balance. Conner hit on 3 TDs, and 218 yards in the air on 12- of 21 passing. Ballard had a big night with 2 scores on 4 catches for 113 yards. Cooper Aigner had 3 for 32, Wolfe 2 for 31, Sowder 1-31 (td), Parker 1-7 and Wilder 1 for 4. Linton got big play from freshman Russell Goodman. He had 11 tackles, a sack and 2 TFL, plus he returned 3 kickoffs for 48 yards and recovered the on-side kick. Hunter Gennicks had 9 tackles, 6 of those solo. 3 Miners had 7 tackles each-Bradyn Cox, Aiden Giles and Wrigley Franklin. Ashton White had 6, Paul Oliver 5. Boonville got outstanding play from Carter Wolfe with 14 stops and a TFL. Reece Wilder had 11, Cooper Aigner 10, Marques Ballard with 9. Ethan Parker had 2.5 TFL in his 6 total. Linton hits the road again next week at North Daviess where the Cougars have won 4 in a row since losing their opening week to unbeaten Tecumseh. Boonville hits the road to Mt. Vernon to face the Wildcats who are 4-1 themselves. My thoughts are with Pioneer senior Gavin Maxey who had battled back from (2) ACL tears to come back his senior year only to appear to have suffered another knee injury (the other knee) early on in the Linton game. Hopefully it wasn’t as serious as that. Cougar Valley will undoubtedly be rocking with the thoughts of knocking the still #1 2A Miners off their pedestal. Linton has won 13 in a row against ND with the last Cougar win in 2010. It would be great to see Miner Faithful fill the Miner side of the Valley in solid Red for this team to take the field.

Linton and Sullivan battled for a 40-20 Miner win to stay 4-0 but it was much closer than the score would indicate. Southmont continues to win with a 60-7 blasting on 1-3 Frankfort, and will travel to Crawfordsville (2-2) tonight. South Vermillion faces WCC opponent Covington after moving to 3-1 with a win over North VErmillion 35-19. Cascade's Cadets got win 2 over Clovedale in a whopping 74-0 win, but will hit reality with a meeting with Lutheran. Greencastle lost big to South Putnam (3-1) by 35-14 marging. The Tigercubsnow 2-2 meet up with most likely an angry Arrow team from Sullivan fresh from a loss to Linton. Sullivan is 2-2. North Knox took 4A 3-1 Boonville to Overtime before dropping a 13-7 loss, they look for get off the 2 game skid in facing North Central (Farmersburg) North Putnam remains winless after Covenant Christian smokes the Cougars 73-34, but could get win #1 for Scott Moore as they face Cloverdale. The Miners will travel to Boonville to face the 3-1 4 Pioneers tonight. Boonville has lost only to unnbeaten Southridge 13-0, and have wins over Paoli, Heritage Hills as well as last week's overtime win at North Knox. The big inter-37 matchup would be Greencastle and Sullivan. A lot of Purple going on at Sportland Field. Seems like all Sect 37 teams should win tonight with the exception of Cascade hosting Lutheran. Any thoughts??!?

Miners Back On The Road to Face 4A Boonville After two emotional big wins on a 2-game homestand at Roy Williams, the Miners take to the highway for their 3rd long road trip of 2022. The Pioneers of Boonville have been on the Miner schedule starting in 2020. Coach Darin Ward has always had a tough physical team and we’ve seen some great athetes along the way. The name Mockabee jumps to mind! Linton leads the short series 2-1, winning the opening tilt 27-16. That game had Linton up 21-0 featuring two Lance Dyer TD runs, but Boonville scored twice in the 4th. Luke Lannan also had TD runs. 2021 was one for the books at Boonville with it taking overtime before the Pioneers could claim a 44-42 win on a stop of Hunter Gennicks on a 2 point PAT. It was a tough loss as it looked like Linton had the game in the bag after Hunter Johns, then a sophomore, returned a punt 70 yards for a 36-28 lead with only 1:31 remaining. A “Hail Mary” pass from QB Mason Phillips to freshman Marques Ballard that was in the hands of a Miner defender gave the Pioneers a slim chance. Mockabee scored with 18 seconds left, then scored the 2 points to tie the game sending it to overtime. Both teams scored, but Gennicks was stopped scrambling to make a play for the tie and Linton was on the bottom end of quite an exciting contest. 2022’s score was a 35-14 win for the red n blue, but it was 14-7 Boonville at 9:09 of the 2nd quarter. Gabe Eslinger had a 67 yard spring to tie the game, then caught a 38 yard pass from Gennicks to take the lead into the half. Gennicks sand Frew Smith had TDs in the 2nd half while the miner D threw a shutout. Coach Ward came to Boonville in 2015 from a sectional championship in his only hear at Charlestown in a 10-3 season. He started his head coaching career at Corydon Central in 2001 with 8 years and a 27-27 record. This is his 8th year at Boonville, with a 43-32 record. Their 3-1 start is their best since an 11-1 2018 season where they lost to Evansville Central in sectional finale. The opened with a 36-8 shelling of 2-2 2A Paoli, then battled unbeaten ranked 3A Southridge 13-0. A game that saw a boonville fumble in the endzone in the 4th quarter leading to a 6 of those Raider points. They responded by winning a hard fought 20-16 win to put the only defeat on 3A Heritage Hills this year. Last week was another dogfight at Bicknell coming away with an overtime 13-6 win over North Knox. Boonville lost 13 seniors from a 2-6 season, but return 9 starters on offense including nearly all skill players in QB Clay Conner (#6) 6’5 200, RB Reece Wilder (#22 6’2 167) FB Carter Wolfe (#33 6’2 176) and WR’s Marques Ballard, the lone junior (#26 6’2 171) and Cooper Aigner (#20 6’2 165). 5 of their 6 starting linemen also return anchored by 6’2 182 Center Connor Trice. Gain Maxey 6’2 189 and Clark Monks #51 6’2 183 return at Guards. Sadler Wall #54 6’2 185 joins his fellow seniors at Tackle, with the lone newcomer Stihl Scott #72 6’2 198. This gives Coach Ward a ton of experience on the offensive side of the ball. Conner is equal threat pass and run. He has the most rushes at 54, 2 more and Wilder at RB. Wilder leads in yardage with 337 on 52 with 4 TDs. Conner has 2 rush TDs. Conner is 26 of 51 passing for 282 yards with a touchdown and interception. Wolfe figures in the run attack with 62 yards on 10, and Ballard as well with 83 yards on 12 carries and a score. The main weapon in the air is Aigner with 12 receptions for a team high 173 and the lone TD. The TE Parker has also caught a pass. Point being, the Pioneers will run twin on one side and sometimes add a third wideout to spread the field. When that happens we see #11 Walker Pierce (also the QB backup) or #5 Tyler Rinehart. Defensively I’ve seen Boonville in various formations depending on their opposition. Last week with North Knox there were heavy in the box, but yet the Warriors got 259 rushing averaging 5.5 per carry. In fact teams have rushed over 200 yards in their last 3 games vs Boonville, but nobody has had much success passing the ball. They use several Linebackers that can line up it seems anywhere. Wolfe is their leading tackler at 55 is situation both inside and out. Wilder much the same has 23 stops 3 for loss. Other Linebackers I’ve seen- #62 Junior Blayze Marchland (6’2 190) and#17 Junior Wyatt Franz (6’2 163) have both been in on the inside with either Wolfe or Wilder. Franz was not dressed last week, but was a starter the first three games. QB Conner is at another OLB spot, as well as #51 Monks from the Oline. It may be they rotate to give 2 way starters a blow. It the same case up front as usually I see a 3 man front with either Maxey at 6’2 189 or #58 Josh Biggins (12, 6’2 187) at Nose Guard. Scott and Parker on either side. I’ve seen Maxey as well as Marchland line up wide like defensive ends crashing in. Scott had 20 tackles 5 for loss, Maxey 13 with 3 for loss. The defensive backfield has been solid with Ballard, who is certainly the speedster in the bunch, Aiger, Rinehart and #15 Ethan Smith (11, 6;2 161) at corner. Smith has 20 tackles with 2 for loss, and sometimes looks like an OLB. Aigner and Ballard both with 23 tackle each. Conner and Aigner each have a pick on the year. The Miner Offense has been putting up points at the rate of 53 points per game. Linton is currently averaging 439.25 total offense per game, 339 rushing 100.25 in the air. Miners have been efficient scoring on 27 of 41 possessions at a 68.3 % click. The defense has also done will with just a 22.7% score per possession and allowing 263 total offense. The Miners have been explosive on offense as well with 27 plays of 20+ yards, and again efficient scoring on 16 of 17 red zone appearances. Linton has rushed for 1,356 yards, at 10.7 per carry and 23 scores, while allowing just 486 total from opponents (3.18 per, 5 TD). Linton is led on the ground attack by QB Hunter Gennicks (#14 Sr, 6’ 195 ) with 545 yards 9 TDs on 35 carries. Sr Hunter Johns (#12, 5’8 180) is at 366 on 34 attempts and 8 scores. Both have three 100 yards games each, and each with over 11 yards average per carry. Jesse Voigtschild (#8 Soph 5;7 150) adds another 3 TS on 145 yards rushing, and Jr Braden Walters (#16 6’5 190) adds 88. The Passing game has been a vital part of keeping defenses honest as Gennicks has hit on 35 of 45 (77%) for 394 with 5 TDs and 1 Int. Sr Logan Web (#23, 6’4 205) has the most catches at 23 for 104 yards and a score, but Walters at 6’5 had the yards at 157 on 11 receptions and 2 TDS. 6’3 freshman Paul Oliver (#13, 6’3 205) adds 4 for 50 and a score. The offensive line has been the “Trench Dawgs”, their self-pinned moniker. 3 Seniors, all multi- year starters, with center Nathan Watson (#74 6’0 255) and guards Wrigley Franklin (#51 6’3 225) and Aiden GIles (#56 6’3 200). At tackles are soph Hank Gennicks (#69 6’ 2250) and Jacob Breedlove (Jr #77 6’7 300). They have proved very physical with Franklin’s 18 pancake blocks backed by 13 from Gennicks and 10 from Giles. The defense is led by the linebacker corps of Bradyn Cox (#5, Sr 5’10 185) with 28 tackles, and Giles with 25.5. Oliver and Franklin have been pass rushing threats with 4 sacks between them as well as 16 hurries. Franklin also has 24.5 tackles. Up front it’s #4 Christian Shonk (Sr, 5;10 180) at NG with #9 Ty Boyd (11, 6’1 210) and Hank Gennicks on either side. The DB group is headed by Hunter Gennicks with 22 tackles and a TD pick Six. Johns, Voigtschild, Webb as well as Walters (who had a 90 yard pick six last week). Two others have seen extensive action defensively- Ashton White (#33, Jr, 6’0 195) and freshman Russell Goodman (#6 6’2 280). White (28 tackles) and Goodman (27 1.5 TFL) both come in a ILB and White was spotted at DE on passing situations with 2 QB hurries last week. Paul Oliver at OLB had 2 interceptions last week, one going 35 yards for a score. Linton is ranked #1 in both the coaches and the AP class 2A polls for the 2nd week in a row. Just ahead of power houses Andrean (2-2) and Indianapolis Scecina (4-0), and the only unbeaten 2A team left LaVille. The Miners have had back to back big wins at home over 2-2 Sullivan 40-20 and 2-2 Monrovia 52-47. That was after two road games to open the year 56-6 at Parke Heritage and 64-15 over North Vermillion. Linton is 3rd in 2A according to Sagarin ratings with a 70.66 behind SCecina (73.94) an LaVille (78.11). Andrean at 70.33 but 2-2 are blostered by a high strength of schedule rating, which can be said for LaVille, Scecina as well as Luers, Triton Central and Mater Dei. Boonville has a 52.69 rating in 4A but their S.O.S. considerably higher at 49.67 to Linton’s 39.22 The game is still played by real people and in this case on field turf in Boonville. I will be interested in how the Miners come out in this long road trip after the emotional highs of the Monrovia and especially Sullivan games the prior two weeks. Looking at Boonville on video they are a physical team willing to go toe to toe and pound the rushing game, but can also spread out like Sullivan, and use the QB Conner as both a passing and running threat. Aigner and Ballard can make plays, and Ballard has the speed to blow by defenders into open space. He was missed on at least 2 occasions in the NK game that would have been scores. As for Linton, we are certainly happy to see Jose Sevilla-Garcia and his PAT kicking. He was 4-4 on PAT’s he actually kicked. One was blocked, and there have been 3 snap or exchange issues there he didn’t kick. Linton proved in the last 2 weeks that they can respond to pressure and can sustain the long drives that result in points but also the affect the mindset of the opposing team. Of course, an 82 Gennicks run, or Johns busting for 50 up the middle for TDs just 2 plays into a possession accomplishes the same. I think the passing game still has improvement to be made. Most all the completions have been short out patterns or Walters across the middle in linebacker area, and then their running abilities take over. Voigtschild has caught those passes in the seam for big plays. But the long threat hasn’t hit the big play yet, and it doesn’t necessarily have to, but the threat is there with Webb and his height, and it’s been there just not quite on target. I am waiting for that to happen then safeties will have to think twice before jumping up to run support! As always…and for my 23rd year, you can tune myself and Kevin Rader on the good ol’ radio broadcast on WQTY 93.3 FM or on your phone or computer at www.wqtyradio.com. We have the facts, the history and just simply have been the voice of Miner Football for 2 decades. If you can’t be there, listen along…and if you are there, listen along as well for the stats, the play by play and to be in on the action as it happens!!! GO MINERS!

Miner Defense Shines in 40-29 Win Over Sullivan A perfect night weather wise as the 2-1 Arrows came to the Roy in what would be a shootout in meeting 108 for the ages. Thusfar in 2022 the offense has received much rave, and deservedly so. This night the defense made plays to put the Miners up early, and in the end put the game away. But not forgetting a huge goal line stand seconds before halfway that took away a huge momentum swing, as well as another red zone stop that kept the Arrows off the scoreboard. It was the 2nd game in a row that saw a huge difference in time of possession (30:38 to 17:22), leading to the facts that Linton scored a couple defense touchdowns, and the Miner Offense had big plays of their own. This was, however, the first Miner game that Linton did not score on the first possession of the game. In fact Paul Oliver would kick only his 3rd punt of the whole year to day, and a good one at 44 yards. Sullivan came out running, a bit of a surprise, and found success early with Lane Deckard taking the 1st 2 carries up the middle for 12 yards. His 3rd attempt was met by Aiden Giles for no gain. From their own 42, the Arrows went to the air for the first time, but not with normal starter Rowdy Adams, but back-up Jonathan Willey. Willey’s pass intended for Evan Royer at the Arrow 47 was played perfect by Paul Oliver who stepped in and returned the interception to the Sullivan 22. On 2nd and 9 Hunter Gennicks connected with Braden Walters for a 15 yard gain to the Arrow 6. 2 plays later Gennicks pushed in from the 1, and at 7:55 Linton broke the ice. A problem thus far in 2022 for Linton had been PAT kicks, being 0-4 with a case of bad snaps. But Jose Sevilla-Garcia got the boot across for a 7-0 lead. Sullvan would get a 1st down, but were shut down when Walters, in his first defensive action of 2022, broke up a pass from Willey to Kaden Arnett near midfield, and Gunner bowman booted a punt 33 yards to the Miner 18. It took the big play offense of Linton 2 plays to explode, and that was Gennecks coming to his left, through a big whole and out-running the Arrows on their sideline for an 82 yard score. Sevilla-Garcia’s kick hit the crossbar but up and over for the 14th point at the 4:25 mark of the opening quarter. Things then went from bad to horrible as on 3rdand 11 Willey’s pass for James Propes was perfectly played for another Oliver pick at the Arrow 35, and he went the distance for another score just 1:02 after the previous score. This time the PAT was botched with Gennicks scrambled back and forth before connecting with Russell Goodman for an apparent 2 point play, but a late penalty wiped that out. Gennicks pass for Logan Webb was incomplete a play later, but Linton had jumped on top of the Arrows 20-0 with 3:23 still in the 1st. At this point Rowdy Adams was back at QB, and immediately led the Arrows 656 yards in 6 plays going 3 for 3 passing including a pass to Propes for Sullivan’s first score at 0:20. He had hit his brother Luke Adams the play before featuring a leaping catch at the Miner 23. Arrow kicker Giuseppe Leone had been perfect in PAT’s coming in, but Wrigley Franklin crashed in and blocked this PAT leaving the score 20-6. Leone was very affective in kickoffs putting the ball inside the Linton 5 with each kick. Linton’s offense proved they could put together long drives themselves, as they reeled off 9 plays and 73 yards to answer the Arrows score. It was Oliver again with a catch from Gennicks that he broke free and collected 28 yards on a 3rd and 9 to the Arrow 43. Gennicks hit Walters and the 11 and he fought his way in the endzone at 9:03 of the second quarter, and with Sevilla-Garcia’s PAT Linton led 27-6 seemingly in control of the contest. However, Sullivan would not go away. Rowdy Adams showed why he was a force at QB not just passing but in scrambling out of the pocket with back to back gains of 18 yards. A penalty against the Miners, of which their were 10 for 60 yards and a problem all night, put the arrows at the Linton 38. Linton gave Sullivan 2 first downs on offside penalties on the drive. An Adams pass to DJ Gaines for 27 yards put Sullivan to the 16, and Adams pushed it to the 1 on 3 plays. Then, on 4th and 1, Adams pushed just enough forward to get the official’s nod, but once more Leone’s PAT was botched by a back snap. With 4:19 before the half, Linton still led 27-12 but the Arrows had driven 71 yards on 10 plays using 4:44. And that momentum shift would explode purple and gold as on the ensuing kickoff Hunter Johns was stripped of the ball by the third Adams twin Cody and Seth Pirtle recovered at the Miner 14. With a chance to pull within a TD before the half, and then get possession to start the 2nd half, Arrow fans had reason to celebrate. Sullivan stuck to the ground and Deckard and Adams on runs that got a first down at the 2. Deckard tried twice but was stopped by Giles, Bradyn Cox and Gennicks with ball still as the 2. Adams tried up the guy on 3rddown but the Miner front line of Hank Gennicks, Ty Boyd and Christian Shonk dug in allowing Linebacker Giles, Cox, Oliver and Franklin to crash in, and set up a huge play on 4th and 1 at the 1 with under a minute left in the half. After a time-out and both fanbases rose to their feet as Adams took the snap and stepped to his right and tried to leap to the endzone. It appeared he slipped a bit, but also that his jump was halted as Arrow front linemen were stood up by the Miner D, and Adams fell short of the goal line, a key play in this game. Linton did get a 26 yard run by Johns just a the half sounded, but Linton had stood strong on a big stand to stay up 27-13. The Arrows would come out determined in the 2ndhalf on the ground with a 15 yard burst from Deckard and runs from both Adams and Propes. On 4th and 2 Linton handed the Arrows another first down on an offside call to the Miner 38. It was the Adams to Adams show as Luke leaped up to make a diving catch at the Linton 8. Paul Oliver made another huge play as he chased Adams for the Linton sideline then sacked him for an 8 yard loss. Johns and Giles popped Royer on a reception at the 10, then Webb defended a pass intended for Gaines at the 5. Once more the Arrows faced a 4th and goal, this time from 10. What appears to have been a low snap ended up in Deckard’s hand and he was met by LB Aiden Giles for a loss of 3, and another failed red zone attempt for the Arrows. A 12 play 62 yard drive that used more and half the 3rd quarter (6:57). Linton took to the ground with back to back 15 yard runs from Jesse Voigtschild and Hunter Gennicks, but a holding penalty led to a 3rd and 14 at the miner 39. Gennicks launched a pass down the middle of the field but into the hands of Royer at the Arrow 33, and he returned in to the Linton 49 and new life for Coach Caton’s crew. This time it took 1 play as Rowdy found Luke well behind Miner defense at the 27 in stride for a TD strike at 3:43 of the 3rd. Another offside call put the Arrows close enough to try a 2 point that pulled the score to 27-20 on Adams run. High drama indeed at the Roy. Linton got an offside gift from Sullivan on a 3rd and 3 then Johns converted another 3rd and 1 to the Arrow 44. Gennicks took a shot from Cody Adams for a sack and loss of a yard leading to a 4th and 11 at the S 30 just into the 4th quarter. Gennicks kept and got close but the ball was pulled away by Camden Singer and again it was Pirtle who landed on it at the Sullivan 24 at 10:42 on the clock. More runs from Deckard moved the chains to the 37, but a big holding call set the Arrows back to their 25. A pass to Gaines nearly put Sullivan at mid field but fell off his leaping hands with Webb nearby. 3rd and 1 produced another big play in the game as Luke Adams looked to have a catch at the Sullivan 40 but a whopping hit from Braden Walters separated the ball to the ooh’s and ahh’s of both sidelines. At 8:58 the Arrows opted for a Bowman punt that took a Linton bounce setting up the Miners at the Sullivan 47. This time the big play returned as on the 2nd play of the possession Hunter Johns motored through the left side and up the field breaking a couple tackles on his way 48 yards for a huge score at 8:40 in the game. Sevilla-Garcia was perfect on the PAT putting Linton up 34-20. From their own 31, Sullivan wasn’t ready to throw in the towel, and led again by several Adams scrambles under pressure from Ashton White and Paul Oliver as well as Wrigley Franklin. He completed passed to Propes (14 yards) and one to a wide open Arnett at the Miner 24 that reached Linton’s 17 and another Red Zone appearance. But it would be heartbreak for Arrow fans as a pass for Gaines at the Miner 10 bounced off his hands upward, as he himself was falling to his knees. The ball seemingly magically appeared in Walters hands and he was off to the races down the Miner Sideline before many even realized it was happening. 90 yards later he crossed into the fabled south end zone to the outstretched hands of Miner fans young and old. The PAT was blocked by Luke Adams, but the game was in wraps as Linton led 40-20 with 4:46 left. The Arrows would punt the ball away on their last possession, and Linton kept on the ground with a nice 22 yard Voigtschild run to the Sullivan 21. Johns and Eli Scott closed the night as Linton let the clock wind down to zeroes at the Arrow 13. It was an impressive performance for the #1 ranked 2A Miners. They withstood an equally impressive Sullivan offense that strained the Miner pass defense, but yet the night really belong to that Miner Defense. 3 Interceptions, 2 of those for touchdowns, and 3 red zone stops, none as more impressive that the goal line stand at the end of the first half. That defense was on the field 30:38 of the 48 minutes. With Sullivan often spreading the field with 4 receivers and a QB that could roll out and run or simply take it up the middle on a draw…this makes defending very taxing and very difficult at times. As much as I talk about open receivers, it is easy to understand how that can happen with that type of offensive set. Thus, it is equally impressive that with 25 passes thrown that only 14 were completed, and only 5 were more than 20 yard completions. The Miner offense responded when they absolutely had to. They had the big running plays by Gennicks and Johns for lightning fast touchdowns, but also 9 play 73 yard, and 11 play 48 yard marches that answered Sullivan scores, and calmed the storm when Sullivan pulled to within 27-20. Without any doubt the place kicking of Jose Sevilla-Garcia was up-lifting. He was 4-4 in actual kicks, but had one blocked and with the exception of 1 snap, the other were spot on from Ty Boyd. Linton ran just 44 plays to Sullivan’s 62 but still led in total yards at 381 to 346. First Downs went Sullivan’s way 20-16. Linton put up 312 rushing on 32 carries, and Gennicks his on 7 of 12 passing for 69 yards with his first pick of the year. Hunter now has 5 TD passes on the year. Once more both Gennicks and Johns eclipsed 100+ yards for the 3rd time in 4 games. Gennicks had 130 on 12 carries and 2 scores giving him 545 yards and 9 TDs in 2022. Johns has 116 yards on 12 carries as well with a score putting him at 386 and 8 TDs this year. Logan Webb had 3 catches for 11 yards, Walters 2 for 27 and a score, 1 each from Oliver (28 yards) and Voigtschild (3 yards). Webb leads linton with 12-104 and 1 TD with Walters at 11-157 and 2 TDs. Sullivan started the game grounding out the ball, and finished with 121 on 37 carries, just a 3.27 average per rush. Rowdy Adams was most successful on his scrambling and draws up the middle finished with 70 yards on 19 attempts with a score, while Lane Deckard had 44 yards on 15 touches. 51 of those yards from Adams were from scrambles. James Propes had 3 carries for 7 yards. Once Adams was behind center the passing attack became a huge threat and he was 13 of 20 for 219 yards, 2 scores and the 1 interception that really wasn’t his fault that led to a Miner TD. Jonathan Willey was 1 of 5 for 6 yards and to his credit had a dropped pass, as well as a pass thrown away to avoid a certain sack. But clearly, his 2 early interceptions led directly to one Miner TD, and certainly set the stage for another in what became an early 14-0 lead. Luke Adams was a constant threat with 4 catches for 122 yards and a TD. Propes 4-40 and a TD, Gaines 2-29, Arnett 1-18 and Royer 3 for 16. Defensive leader for Linton had seniors Aiden Giles and Bradyn Cox with 10 each, Giles with 1 TFL. Freshman Russel Goodman added 6 from LB, Wrigley Franklin 6 with 2 QB hurries. Hunters Gennicks and Johns each with 6, Hunter with a TFL. Paul Oliver had a big night with 5 tackles, 2 for loss, a sack and 2 picks one of which went for a TD. Ty Boyd and Christian Shonk with 4 each, along with Ashton White who also had a TFL. Hank Gennicks added 4 stop with a TFL. Walters had 1 tackle, but his pass breakup on Adams in the 4th, and this 90 yard Interception return to TD were perhaps the biggest plays of the night. Sullivan had a big night from Luke Adams (9 tkls) and Sebastian Ortiz (. Camdon Singer added 7, Isaak Osbourn 6 and Cody Adams eith 5 but also a sack with 1.5 TFL. Seth Pirtle had 4 tackles and also had two fumble recoveries. Penalties were an issue on both sides of the field. Linton with 10 for 60, not necessarily in big yardage but indeed in offsides alone that accounted for 3 1st downs for Sullivan. Sullivan hurt themselves as well with 8 for 68 yards. Linton was a solid 6 of 8 on 3rd downs while Sullivan was 6 of 14. A big stat was 2 of 4 on 1stdowns, both failures coming in the red zone. Looking back on this game, Linton’s 4th win in a row in this series, it was closer than the score would indicate. The deep passing threat was a danger all night once Adams was at QB. You can’t ignore those 2 early TDs being the result of the back up QB being on the field. But the Miner offside was able to produce yards and make plays to get Linton in the endzone. Should these teams meet again, which is a definite possibility come draw night, I feel it will be quite a matchup providing both teams stay healthy. What does each team take from this game? Certainly for Linton it will give study time to learn more about dealing with a spread offense with talented skill players. For Sullivan I’m sure the feeling that they competed toe to toe and perhaps a few feel they let one get away. It will set up quite a re-match. Course 4-0 Southmont and 3-1 South Vermillion may have a say it that. Linton has another big matchup with 3-1 4A Boonville on the road Friday it what is always a tough physical contest with the Pioneers. They beat North Knox 13-7 in Overtime in Bicknell last week, and also knocked off 3-1 3A Heritage Hills in week 3. They only lost to unbeaten Southridge 13-0 and opened with a convincing 36-8 drubbing of 2A 2-2 Paoli. This will not be a time for a let down after big games with Sullivan and Monrovia. Sullivan heads back home to Sportland Field to face 2-2 Greencastle, then a tough meeting with unbeaten 4A Owen Valley on tap. Finally- A huge thanks and huge props to the Linton Miner Fan Base. The atmosphere was electric from start to finish in the stands, along the endzones and even down the sides. Sullivan brought their usual loud and proud Arrow faithful which made this cause me memories of big sectional, regional and even semi-state matchups of lore. You can absolutely believe that the Miner player and coaches could feel that support, and when they needed it, they certainly got that energy. I know that feeling of hearing the endzone crowd yelling and pushing you to the next level… and I know the feeling of running into that end zone and seeing the fist pumping from the old times, alumnus, youth league kids, friends, family…. It’s something you don’t forget. We need that type of support every time!!!

By the way.. .you can listen to the broadcast on the air with myself and Kevin Rader at WQTY 93.3 Sunrise FM... and /or hear the live audio stream at wqtyradio.com or network1sports.com Getting set to head up to Linton in an hour or so.. thought I'd throw some thoughts... The Linton Sullivan game is always a little more special for me... Why? well besides the obvious facts of being a natural enemy to Linton, being 15 miles to the west... like cats n dogs.. stones vs beatles... Coke vs Pepsi... Britney vs Christina... Topps vs. Donruss... GIbson vs Fender... beef vs vegans... you get the vibe... My family moved north from henderson ky where I spent my first 7 years of life....where my dad was 1st assistant to Bull Dawson at Henderson City High... home of the Flashes. YEs.. pre Hendo County consolidation. It was there, but it was the enemy much like Sullivan is to Linton. I went to practices, stood on the sideline during games, and have great memories of the whole scene including my pretend games of catching game winning throws to beat Owensboro Senior or dreaded Hopkinsville. Any way... Dad was supposed to succeed Bull...but Bull kept putting off retirement, and Dad got tired of waiting... so one day boom... we were moving from the bluegrass state to the hoosier state and in particular...Sullivan. i want to say 1971 but I was just in 3rd grade. Dad started the youth league in Sullivan but had an uphill battle with the Arrows. They were 1-9 then back to back 3-7 seasons. His work ethic, and theory of you work hard in practice you see playing time... and a big one--the best talent plays. Well that didn't sit well with some folks in power and he was forced out... and I rode with dad as he went to places like Paris Ill and Brownstown Central where he had offers...but Linton wanted an Athletic Director and Assistant Principal... and that's where we ended up. I was in 6th grade.. an ex-Dart..ex future Arrow in Linton. Ugh. But as youngsters do, I weathered the storm and have been a die-hard Miner since. But I always was very fired up to play Sullivan in ANY sport... Football, Baseball Basketball, Croque, Beer Pong, Cow Tipping... had to win. Had to avenge my Dad's situation. Now...I always have had friends for Sullivan, still do have a lot of friends and folks I remember from living there. But seeing that purple and old gold always made me put on blinders...and game on. We never really beat the in my basketball years...but i never lost to the Arrows in my football years from Jr High onward. granted..I had a broken leg my freshman year and didn't play... and we lost. That's not on me LOL. So yeah, it is always special. And I almost always get chills when a cool wind blows up on me as I walk the field in pre-game... and even more so when I walk across the field post game when the lights are all out and it's just me and the memories of my old man... who taught me all about the glory of football... from knee football as a little boy in the living, to pool football trying to dunk each other as the tackle chasing everyone away in holiday inns across the nation...to backyard punt games dad invented, and just working on pass routes when I was in high school... to endless amounts of football card games and NFL Strategy... to roadtrips to watch high school games once Linton was eliminated... and IU games...and his alma mater Aces of Evansville where he was a punter and tight end for 4 years.... yep it's easy to feel his spirit on nights light tonight and I will treasure that feeling once again! Now.. let's get to it. * A Side Note- Just after we got settled Linton, Dad got a call from Coach Hollowell.. .a legend at Henderson County. He was announcing his retirement but had one more season in him... and wanted Dad to come back down and be his replacement after a year being his top assistant... it was something Dad would have loved to have done... but he didn't want to cause us kids.. my sister and I... to have to move again so quickly....and stayed at Linton where he was eventually AD and Junior High Principal for many years... a good move I think.

Linton, North Knox, Sullivan, Southmont, South Vermillion, Cascade, Greencastle & North Putnam. Well it just occurred to me that several of us in this somewhat new arrangement in Sectional 47 really don't know much about each other. So... creating this thread will hopefully get some discussion about the teams involved, and bring others into the conversation as well as follow each team through the remainder of the season. I know for me, there are teams I've not really any info on other than their records of the past and basic school info. Obviously for Linton we know Sullivan and North Knox particularly well having played these local rivals for years and years. We've played Cascade in a series from 1999-2003 winning 4 of 5, and met them in post season 1992 losing 45-13. We've not played South Vermillion, but have faced Clinton in '71 and '72 getting blanked twice! Greencastle is a foe Linton has never beaten, but we've not played then since a 1990 post season 55-0 loss. They were a regular schedule opponent from 1970 to 1975 where we lost all 6 meetings....add a loss in 1961 and Linton is 0-8 vs the Tigercubs... but those Linton teams weren't the Miners of the last 15 years. Linton faced Southmont in back to back years 1997 and 1998 splitting those games. North Put is a team Linton has never faced. Looking at how things are going into tonight Southmont and Linton stand 3-0. Sullivan, S.Vermillion and Greencastle at 2-1. Cascade, and North Knox at 1-2, with North Putnam 0-3 Cascade has faced a tough opening 3 weeks with Triton Central and Scecina their two losses. They've won over 4A 1-2 Beech Grove and face 1-2 Cloverdale tonight. Greencastle's 2 wins came from 4a 1-2 Attucks and 3A 1-2 West Vigo in blow out fashion with their loss to unbeaten 4A Northview. Linton has 3 big margin wins, their best last week against 2-1 3A Monrovia, but also over 2-1 1A noth Vermillion, and winless 1A Parke Heritage. The Warriors of North Knox beat winless 1A Eastern Green 45-14 in week two but have substantial losses to Sullivan, and 1A 3-0- Tecumseh. The Cougars of North Putnam has suffered through 3 losses to 3A 2-1 North Montgomery, Southmont as well as 1A 2-1 SOuth Putnam last week 52-20. The South Vermillion Wildcats only loss came in week 2 to Sullivan 24-14, and their two wins coming over winless PArke Heritage, and 1-2 3 A West Vigo. Southmont is off to a hot start with big wins over 0-3 3A Fountain Central and North Putnam, and won a 14-12 tilt over 3A 2-1 North Montgomery. The Golden Arrows handled North Knox 31-17 then South Vermillion 24-14 before losing to 3-0 4A Northview 28-7 in a WIC game.