Staff Writer
CRAWFORDSVILLE
– It sure felt like football season the evening of Nov. 7 with a strong, biting
wind to chill your bones. The weather, then, matched two of the hottest teams
in west-central Indiana for a bone-crushing chase to the Class 3A Sectional 21
championship.
No.
3 North Montgomery had won back-to-back sectionals in 1995 and 1996. Visiting Southmont,
meanwhile, has never won a sectional title. Would this be night that the upstart
Mounties make history, or would the Chargers remain undefeated on the season?
Turns
out it was the latter. North Montgomery (12-0) scored the game’s first 24
points and held on for an easy 24-8 victory. The Chargers’ reward is a road
trip next weekend to face top-ranked defending state champion Indianapolis Chatard.
Southmont
(6-6) entered the game looking to avenge a 42-19 loss to its county rival back in
September. Riding a five-game winning streak, a re-energized Mountie program brought
out approximately 500 fans for the battle against North Montgomery.
It
looked like it would be a slugfest from the onset as both teams tried to
establish their offensive dominance in the first quarter. After trading several
possessions, the Chargers were able to take advantage of a short field with a
six-play, 47-yard drive that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown run by Isaac McGaughey.
A
two-point conversion – the Chargers are averse to extra-point kicks, it seems –
made it 8-0.
Two
plays into the second quarter, Southmont quarterback Logan Petry had a pass
deflected at the line of scrimmage. The ball seemed to hang in the air for an
eternity before finally bouncing off a helmet and into the arms of North
Montgomery senior Chuck Logan at the Chargers’ 45-yard line.
“We
took advantage of Logan Petry’s aggressiveness in run support,” said North Montgomery
coach Charley German, whose team went up by 16 on the next play. “Brett Stamper
worked all week on running a back-side post pattern, and Clayton Dale used his
cannon arm to perfection.”
Dale’s
pass to an untouched Stamper went for 55 yards, and the lead became 16-0 after another
two-point conversion.
That
sort of play would have crushed most young teams in such a big game. The
Mounties, however, were looking to cut into the Chargers’ lead, and they had
three golden opportunities to do so before halftime.
Petry
scrambled for a 37-yard gain, setting up 1st and goal at the North Montgomery
10. But the Mounties fumbled on the next play, and North Montgomery took over
at its own 11.
Southmont
stopped the Chargers at their own 46 and, behind the running of Petry, moved
the ball at will down to the North Montgomery 16. But once again the drive
stalled, resulting in no points.
Then
Petry intercepted Dale just before halftime, setting the Mounties up at the North
Montgomery 26 with only 1:24 left in the half. Once again, the Charger defense
stepped up to the challenge and turned Southmont away.
If
the Mounties could have scored one time in any of those three possessions, the
second half might have been completely different. As it was, the halftime score
was North Montgomery 16, the scrappy Mounties 0.
But
the Chargers put the game away early in the second half. Going 64 yards in four
plays, North Montgomery needed only 1:36 to take a commanding lead 24-0 lead on
a 45-yard burst by senior Ethan Carpenter and yet another two-point conversion.
The
Mounties finally scored on a 12-yard pass from Petry to Lucas Long with 45
seconds remaining in the game. Still the young Mounties refused to give up,
recovering an onside kick at midfield.
But
the tenacious defensive rush of the Chargers was just too much on this night,
and the Mounties turned the ball over one more time with 6.3 seconds remaining.
“I
am very proud of these young men – they kept on fighting to the very end of the
game,” said second-year Southmont coach Desson Hannum. “It was tough once we
got inside the 10-yard line.
“They
did a great job of disrupting our plays and caused turnovers.”
The
main improvement for the Chargers over last season, according to German, was
his defensive unit.
“We
might give up a long run, but not a touchdown,” said the 20th-year
mentor. “The defense gave itself a chance to regroup due to better tackling in
the secondary, and no one is going to outrun Elijah Webster.”
The
Mounties, meanwhile, are an extremely young and talented group of kids that are
trying to establish a long-lasting tradition and program of their own – much
like that of their Sagamore Conference and cross-county rival.
In
the next “Civil War” game, as it is being called in Montgomery County, the
Mounties should be a much better team because of the experience they gained
from tonight and their entire season. Congratulations to coach Hannum and his
staff for a terrific season and an even brighter future.
And
best of luck to the undefeated Chargin’ Chargers!
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