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Favorite Tournament Moments


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Thought this would be a fun discussion on a beautiful but cold Regional Night. 

What is your favorite tournament moment(s)? 

The first one that jumps into my mind was the New Pal & Columbus East Semistate game in 2014, at New Pal. The crowd was electric and it was blisteringly cold, and New Pal won on a last-second field goal. 

Ben Davis vs Center Grove in the 2014 Semistate where BD was down by three late in the 4th quarter and Chris Evans broke a 74 yd TD run to give the Giants the lead and the win. 

 

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20 minutes ago, MICFan34 said:

Thought this would be a fun discussion on a beautiful but cold Regional Night. 

What is your favorite tournament moment(s)? 

The first one that jumps into my mind was the New Pal & Columbus East Semistate game in 2014, at New Pal. The crowd was electric and it was blisteringly cold, and New Pal won on a last-second field goal. 

Ben Davis vs Center Grove in the 2014 Semistate where BD was down by three late in the 4th quarter and Chris Evans broke a 74 yd TD run to give the Giants the lead and the win. 

 

2019 - LCC vs. Lutheran in 1A state championship.  Tied at 21 going into the half.  Lutheran scores in the 3rd to take the lead 28-21. Defenses then stifle each other for most of the rest of the game.  Lutheran forces LCC to punt with under 10 minutes left in the game.  They then eat up a bit over 6 minutes of clock and get to LCC's 20, but miss a field goal with about three minutes to go in the 4th ... still holding the lead 28-21.

Moment - LCC drives 80 yards in a little over two minutes to score.  28-27 Lutheran.  Instead of the tie LCC goes for, and makes, the 2-point conversion with under a minute left and wins 29-28.

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Ben Davis vs Warren Central in the 2003 Regional Championship was one of my favorite memories. The Giants were the two time defending champions and they were seeking a third straight state title. The Warriors haven't won a Regional since 1985. It was a close game. But Warren Central won 27-20. The Warriors would go on to win their first of four straight state championships 57-7 over the Penn Kingsmen.

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As a player:

My sophomore year of high school at Muncie Central we were playing Delta in the sectional championship, which happened 5 years in a row back then. I was a very average JV player that didn't play a lot of varsity yet, but I was our backup long snapper. As luck would have it our long snapper got hurt and I was inserted into a very tight ballgame to snap on the punt team. The temperature had dropped into the single digits, and I couldn't feel my hands, much less the rock hard football. My heart was pounding a million miles an hour and I was noticeably nervous. A senior on that team who happened to be my "big brother" ( a mentorship program we had at the time) patted me on the butt and told me "you got this." Much to my surprise I delivered not one, but 3 perfect snaps in that game. We lost that game in 3OT's (the only one of the 5 we lost) but I can't remember ever feeling more part of a team than in that moment.

As a coach:

2017 was a heck of a year for our Monroe Central team. It was our 6th year as a staff here and we were starting to see some success. We found ourselves in a regional championship game against a dominating Southwood team that had run through the north racking up the number 1 passing offense in the state. Long story short, on a freezing, damp November night we threw a TD pass with 12 seconds left on 4th down to take our first lead of the night, and ultimately win the game. It was a heavyweight slugfest of a football game that no one around here will soon forget. A picture of the game winning catch hangs in our locker room from the night. An awesome experience I'll never forget. 

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I’ve got several here so bear with me. 
 

For my Columbus East Olympians…

2007 4A Regionals: 61-60 loss at Evansville Reitz. Heck of a game where neither offense could be stopped. Unfortunately, Reitz scored a touchdown at the end of the game and decided to go for two. They converted and didn’t leave East with enough time to do anything.

2009 5A Sectional First Round: 27-26 win at Columbus North. The one and only time we’ve played our crosstown rival in the postseason was an instant classic. North led 26-20 with just under two minutes left and had the ball around the East 35 on fourth down. They only needed a few yards to get a first down and attempted to go for it. They turned it over on downs and Gunner Kiel led East down the field for the tying touchdown with 20 seconds left. The PAT gave East the lead and the defense held North off in the final seconds for the win.

2013 4A State Championship: 28-27 win against Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger. After East jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead, Dwenger grabbed the momentum by scoring 27 straight. East would convert a pass (a rarity that season) on fourth down en route to an eventual touchdown and a one point lead in the final couple minutes. However, the Dwenger offense had given East problems all day and was driving into field goal range in the closing seconds when East forced two fumbles on the same play and recovered the latter to win. It was the first state title since 1979 (second overall) and the first state title for hall of fame Coach Bob Gaddis.

2014 4A Semistate: 30-28 loss at New Palestine. See @MICFan34‘s post. I’ll add that East had control for most of the game but got worn down by the fourth quarter. New Palestine drove it down into field goal range and, despite Coach Gaddis using all three timeouts in succession, the New Pal kicker had ice in his veins and didn’t get rattled. The kick was good as the game clock hit zeroes.

2017 5A Semistate: 42-13 win at Cathedral. Wasn’t a close game after halftime but the win was so significant that it felt like a state championship. Cathedral had stomped mud holes in East in the 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2012 4A semistate championships. To get the monkey off our backs and return a beating to Cathedral was amazing. It also removed any doubt that East was a top-tier program in the state.

 

Some of my favorite moments not involving Columbus East include…

2015 5A State Championship: Fort Wayne Snider 64, New Palestine 61. Snider jumped out to a 28 point lead but New Pal scored 35 straight to go in front. New Pal would take a 61-56 lead with 1:03 left but Snider would march down and score to win the game.

2017 2A State Championship: Southridge 15, Woodlan 14. Woodlan led 14-7 in the final minute but Southridge scored the touchdown and converted a gutsy two-point conversion in the final seconds to win their first state title in football.

2020 2A State Championship: Western Boone 36, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 35. Trailing by nine late, WeBo drove 86 yards to score a touchdown and cut the lead to 35-33 with 1:55 left. After failing to recover an onside kick, WeBo was able to force Luers into a three-and-out. WeBo took over at their own 46 and marched it down to the Luers 21 where the kicker calmly made a 38 yard field goal with just seconds remaining to win the team its third straight 2A championship.

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5 hours ago, MICFan34 said:

Thought this would be a fun discussion on a beautiful but cold Regional Night. 

What is your favorite tournament moment(s)? 

The first one that jumps into my mind was the New Pal & Columbus East Semistate game in 2014, at New Pal. The crowd was electric and it was blisteringly cold, and New Pal won on a last-second field goal. 

Ben Davis vs Center Grove in the 2014 Semistate where BD was down by three late in the 4th quarter and Chris Evans broke a 74 yd TD run to give the Giants the lead and the win. 

 

That Evans run was electrifying. What a football game.

1990, My first high school State Championship game witnessed as a fan as the Ben Davis Giants defeat the Marion Giants.

1991, As a high school junior, witnessing the Ben Davis Giants win the National Championship. I was the statistician for WBDG and went through many pencils. Got to see the state game from the sidelines.

1992, Got to call the 5A Championship Game on WBDG where Seth Ziegel kicked a field goal late to win the game for Fort Wayne Snider. 

1999, Damon Fine nails a 56-yard field goal to defeat Arlington in Regional

2000, James Banks leads a late drive with no timeouts and scores to defeat Decatur Central in Sectional.

2001, James Banks takes a poorly snapped ball on 4th down deep in Warren Central territory and weaves his way for a touchdown.

2002, Playing on a soupy field at Warren Central, Ben Davis stuffs Warren on 4th down to preserve a 35-28 OT win in Regional.

2008, Ben Davis goes across town and thumps Warren, 45-28, in Regional to advance to Semi-State. 

2011, Ben Davis overcomes a 28-7 deficit in the second half to beat Brownsburg in Sectional, 38-31, in 2OT.

2014, BD beats WC in a shootout at home. Then they defeat CG in the Semi-State. They get down 17-0 to Carmel before scoring the next 42 points to win State, 42-24, over the Hounds who had beaten them 37-7 in the regular season. The 2014 Giants remain my favorite Ben Davis Football Team. I cried happy tears for my friend Mike Kirschner.

2017, BD leaves no doubt in a 63-14 win over Penn that wasn't that close. The Giants set all sorts of records in that one.

2018, After allowing 70 points in the regular season, the Giants worry the heck out of Warren Central before falling to the Warriors 49-28 in the Sectional. Yeah, it was a blowout, but after the 3-6 regular season, the Giants played hard and left it all on the field.

2019, After finishing the regular season 5-4, BD nearly stuns the Center Grove Trojans and nearly advances to the State Championship game. A late drive was thwarted by a fumble.

2020, Ben Davis upsets the Carmel Greyhounds in Regional. 

Edited by BDGiant93
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1 hour ago, BDGiant93 said:

That Evans run was electrifying. What a football game.

1990, My first high school State Championship game witnessed as a fan as the Ben Davis Giants defeat the Marion Giants.

1991, As a high school junior, witnessing the Ben Davis Giants win the National Championship. I was the statistician for WBDG and went through many pencils. Got to see the state game from the sidelines.

1992, Got to call the 5A Championship Game on WBDG where Seth Ziegel kicked a field goal late to win the game for Fort Wayne Snider. 

1999, Damon Fine nails a 56-yard field goal to defeat Arlington in Regional

2000, James Banks leads a late drive with no timeouts and scores to defeat Decatur Central in Sectional.

2001, James Banks takes a poorly snapped ball on 4th down deep in Warren Central territory and weaves his way for a touchdown.

2002, Playing on a soupy field at Warren Central, Ben Davis stuffs Warren on 4th down to preserve a 35-28 OT win in Regional.

2008, Ben Davis goes across town and thumps Warren, 45-28, in Regional to advance to Semi-State. 

2011, Ben Davis overcomes a 28-7 deficit in the second half to beat Brownsburg in Sectional, 38-31, in 2OT.

2014, BD beats WC in a shootout at home. Then they defeat CG in the Semi-State. They get down 17-0 to Carmel before scoring the next 42 points to win State, 42-24, over the Hounds who had beaten them 37-7 in the regular season. The 2014 Giants remain my favorite Ben Davis Football Team. I cried happy tears for my friend Mike Kirschner.

2017, BD leaves no doubt in a 63-14 win over Penn that wasn't that close. The Giants set all sorts of records in that one.

2018, After allowing 70 points in the regular season, the Giants worry the heck out of Warren Central before falling to the Warriors 49-28 in the Sectional. Yeah, it was a blowout, but after the 3-6 regular season, the Giants played hard and left it all on the field.

2019, After finishing the regular season 5-4, BD nearly stuns the Center Grove Trojans and nearly advances to the State Championship game. A late drive was thwarted by a fumble.

2020, Ben Davis upsets the Carmel Greyhounds in Regional. 

Some great memories in there.  

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2016 4A North Semi-State

NorthWood vs. Lowell @ Lowell

Very cold, windy night at Lowell.  So windy that seat cushions are flying in the stands and the programs are flying across the field!  NorthWood is down 14 - 13 late in the 4Q...they put a drive together, converting on a 3rd and long and then on 4th down to get 1st and goal.  NW runs it in from the 1 to take the lead and then intercepts a pass on Lowell's last possession to seal the win!

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2016 Semistate- Thunderstorms and rain delayed games all over state that night, Westfield gets down 10-0 to defending state champ Snider, but scored right before half to tie it up (perfectly thrown ball somehow with how wet it was all night, and only completion of the whole game) and wins 23-17 mainly due to special teams, Will Harrison hit a 53 yarder that would have been good from 60, and a 60+ yard punt if my math is right to put Snider at their own 9 to start final drive.

2016 5A State Finals- Westfield finally gets a football state title, beating Columbus East 16-13, seemed like 80% of the town was at LOS that night. Defense and reliable kicker that carried Westfield all year come through and shut out Columbus East second half.

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1 hour ago, RocksFan23 said:

2016 5A State Finals- Westfield finally gets a football state title, beating Columbus East 16-13, seemed like 80% of the town was at LOS that night. Defense and reliable kicker that carried Westfield all year come through and shut out Columbus East second half.

A few days before the game, I remember listening to 1070 The Fan and hearing it discussed that it would probably be the quickest state title game ever with the way both teams liked to run the ball. Lol. 

I went into that game thinking we’d probably lose based on what I’d seen of Westfield. That miracle play we made at the end of the first half made the score closer than it should’ve been. You guys had the stronger team. I never like losing but I didn’t mind losing to your Shamrocks.

When we went to the 4A state title game in 2013, I was pulling for Westfield to beat Cathedral in the 5A title game. The result was all too similar to our first four match-ups with Cathedral so I sympathized for you that you weren’t able to get your first state title. So when Westfield beat us in 2016, I remembered 2013 and was happy for you. No shame in losing to a deserving team, especially when it was their first state football title.

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1988 - Tipton at Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, 3A Semi-State. The old Zollner  Field was an absolute mud pit. It had rained a lot leading up to the game. Hard fought battle for both teams. Tipton was down 15-16 in the 4th quarter. On 4th down of their last possession, the Blue Devils kicked a 47 yard field goal to win the game 18-16 and go to their first state championship game.

1994 - Griffith at Tipton, 3A Semi-State. There was nearly 3000 people at the game. The city brought all the bleachers from all across the town to accommodate as many people as they could. They were lined up 2 to 3 people deep all the way around the track against the fence. Tipton was up 25-18 in the 4th quarter. Griffith managed to score a touchdown with no time remaining on the clock. The score was 25-24, Tipton. Griffith decided to go for the two point conversion. Tipton tackled the ball carrier on the 1 yard line to win their second semi-state an go to their second state championship. All of the Blue Devil fans rushed the field to celebrate with the team.

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On 11/13/2021 at 2:53 AM, Frozen Tundra said:

A few days before the game, I remember listening to 1070 The Fan and hearing it discussed that it would probably be the quickest state title game ever with the way both teams liked to run the ball. Lol. 

I went into that game thinking we’d probably lose based on what I’d seen of Westfield. That miracle play we made at the end of the first half made the score closer than it should’ve been. You guys had the stronger team. I never like losing but I didn’t mind losing to your Shamrocks.

When we went to the 4A state title game in 2013, I was pulling for Westfield to beat Cathedral in the 5A title game. The result was all too similar to our first four match-ups with Cathedral so I sympathized for you that you weren’t able to get your first state title. So when Westfield beat us in 2016, I remembered 2013 and was happy for you. No shame in losing to a deserving team, especially when it was their first state football title.

Haha definitely not the prettiest game for quarterbacks! But always liked East as well, my uncle is good friends with Coach Chitty. 2013 was great to see East take down Dwenger, that was my senior year (wasn’t a football player, played lacrosse and soccer) but went in with now looking back blind ignorance and hope of hanging with McLaurin and Cathedral. But Coach Gilbert followed through on telling that senior class they’d be at LOS their final season; and look what he’s built now. Had him as my Government teacher, absolutely great guy. Hope they name the field after him when he decides to hang it up. 

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