Published: October 04, 2008 12:24 am            

South survives North Central for overtime victory

TERRE HAUTE — By the time Terre Haute South’s Braves got the football in the overtime period of Friday night’s Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school game, they could almost breathe a sigh of relief.

“We’d liked to get it done earlier,” quarterback Bryn Schwartz said after the game, “but it still feels good.”

For almost the entire game, i t appeared the Braves would get it done with plenty to spare. They led 24-8 midway through the third quarter and fronted 31-16 with less than five minutes to play.

But the winless Panthers responded courageously, scoring twice in a one-minute, 40-second span thanks to the recovery of a disputed onsides kick, and tied the game with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter.

That was nearly enough time for South to win it in regulation time thanks to Schwartz, who scrambled 44 yards to North Central’s 13-yard line on a fourth-down play.

“I was actually trying to call a timeout and punt,” coach Mark Raetz said after the game when asked about that particular play, “but I guess Bryn liked what he saw [and ran a play]. It worked, so I’m not mad at him.”

“I heard coach Raetz telling me to call a timeout or something,” Schwartz admitted later, “but I decided to run it.” The heroics were thwarted by the desperate Panthers, who called a pair of timeouts as the Braves attempted a tie-breaking field goal. One successful try was whistled off, and the second attempt missed to send the game into overtime.

It was only a temporary respite for the visitors, however.

After two North Central overtime plays netted just one yard, linebacker Billy Byerley sacked quarterback Derek Thiems for a 12-yard loss, and the Panthers kicked a field goal after a South penalty moved them a little closer.

“I knew we needed a big play,” Byerley said after the game. “I saw [Thiems] come out on the end, and I held onto him.”

The Panthers hadn’t really stopped the Braves all night defensively, and they didn’t here either.

“It felt good [to be able to move the ball on both the ground and in the air],” Schwartz noted. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to do that in a while … [the offensive line] stepped it up big-time. We had a lot of holes.”

“Early on we felt we could run the ball pretty well,” Raetz said. “In the second half, [the Panthers] made some adjustments and we had to mix it up a little bit more, but we were able to make plays running and passing.

“I thought the offensive line played very well,” the coach continued. “It helped getting [tackle] Josh Bridwell back [from injury] … I was glad to see them play the way they did.”

The Braves had an early fourth-down stop defensively, then marched 65 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Montgomery had three runs of at least 8 yards, and Dillon Carter took an option play 8 yards for the touchdown.

North Central came right back with a 71-yard, 11-play march, taking the lead when the Panthers caught the Braves napping for a 2-point conversion pass, but South responded by driving to an Ethan Buske field goal. When the Braves got the ball back again just past the midpoint of the second quarter, they hadn’t been stopped and still hadn’t attempted a pass.

Schwartz connected twice on third-down throws in South’s next possession, although the Braves turned the ball over on downs. But after a stop by the Braves, Schwartz found Mitchell Dagnon for a 54-yard bomb with 34 seconds left to play in the first half and the Braves led 17-8.

South’s defense pinned North Central inside its 15-yard line on the Panthers’ first series of the second half, and then defensive lineman Dustin Doss broke through to block the North Central punt. Carter scored from 3 yards away on the next play, and South led by 16 with 7:12 left in the third quarter.

“I went right up the middle. I came untouched,” Doss said after the game. “It felt good; I felt I really helped my team out.”

If the Braves were feeling good about themselves, however, the feeling didn’t last long. North Central’s next four offensive plays went for 11, 22, 14 and 18 yards and the Panthers went on a six-play scoring drive. Another 2-point conversion cut South’s lead in half, and the Braves fumbled the ball away three plays later.

South’s defense held the Panthers to a field goal attempt that missed, however, and the Braves regained momentum with an 80-yard scoring drive. This one was mostly due to Schwartz, who tucked the ball away on an option play for a 44-yard gain to the 9-yard line, then scored from there on the next play after a fake to Montgomery that fooled several Panther defenders.

With the 15-point lead, the Braves even forced one North Central punt before the Panthers started their comeback. But thanks to Theims (133 yards passing) and Jarrett Thomaston (142 yards rushing) the visitors were able to get two quick scores, with the help of that kickoff that the Braves weren’t sure had gone the required 10 yards before being recovered.

“My hat’s off to North Central,” Raetz said after the game. “They competed and they fought all the way to the end. I’m happy to get out of here with a win.”

“We faced some adversity, and we actually played through it for once,” said a frustrated coach Mark Haste of the Panthers. “I’ve never been 0-7 … never … but [the Braves] made plays.”

“We started giving up a little too much in the second half,” said Byerley when asked about South’s defensive effort, “but we brought it together in overtime and stopped them.”

“It feels great,” added Doss. “This is the first time [beating an Indianapolis MIC school] since I’ve been [at South], so it’s a good win.”

“It makes us feel a lot better going home tonight,” Raetz agreed. “We came through three straight weeks against three of the top six teams in the state, and were able to fight hard tonight, compete and get a win.”

Terre Haute South 37,

Indianapolis North Central 34, OT

Indpls North Central 8 0 8 15 3 — 34

Terre Haute South 7 10 7 7 6 — 37

THS — Dillon Carter 8 run (Ethan Buske kick), 4:38 1st

INC — Jarrett Thomaston 1 run (Miles Clark pass from Derek Thiems), 0:33.6 1st

THS — E.Buske 31 FG, 7:47 2nd

THS — Mitchell Dagnon 54 pass from Bryn Schwartz (E.Buske kick), 0:34.1 2nd

THS — Carter 3 run (E.Buske kick), 7:12 3rd

INC — Thiems 1 run (Justin Boone pass from Thiems), 4:16 3rd

THS — Schwartz 9 run (E.Buske kick), 8:45 4th

INC — Keenan Evans 4 pass from Thiems (Trip McFall kick), 3:08 4th

INC — Wells Lange 2 run (Thiems run), 1:28 4th

INC — McFall 29 FG

THS — P.J. Montgomery 2 run

INC THS

First downs 16 18

Rushes-yards 38-179 46-234

Passing yards 133 133

Comp-Att-Int 12-22-0 7-10-0

Return yards 0 30

Fumbles-lost 1-0 5-2

Punts-avg 4-28.8 2-33.5

Penalties-yards 10-75 10-80

Individual statistics

Rushing: Indianapolis North Central — Thomaston 24-142, Donavon Stewart 4-18, Thiems 6-10, Lange 3-8, Micah Smith 1-1. Terre Haute South — Montgomery 14-100, Schwartz 19-88, Carter 12-54, Tyler Evans 1-minus 8.

Passing: Indianapolis North Central — Thiems 12-22-0-133. Terre Haute South — Schwartz 7-10-0-133.

Receiving: Indianapolis North Central — Darren Robinson 5-77, K.Evans 3-25, Boone 2-22, Anthony Bradley 1-8, Thomaston 1-1. Terre Haute South — John Haley 3-43, Michael Mardis 2-26, Dagnon 1-54, Montgomery 1-10.

Next — South (3-4, 2-3 in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference) plays next Friday at Warren Central. Indianapolis North Central (0-7, 0-5) has a home game that night against Center Grove.

        

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