By Jeff Hodge
Contributing Writer
LIZTON – It looked like it was going to be a long night Sept. 18 for host Tri-West Hendricks when senior quarterback John Frederick was intercepted by Southmont senior defensive back Tanner Hill on the opening play.
Turns out that was some solid foreshadowing as Southmont scored a touchdown in each period and dominated on the ground in posting a 28-14 Sagamore Conference victory.
Following the pick, Southmont (3-2 overall, 2-1 in league play) took its opening drive 53 yards in 10 plays for an early 7-0 lead when senior quarterback Logan Petry scored from one yard out. The Mounties’ defense then forced the Bruins (1-4, 0-3) to punt on their next possession, and Southmont went on another lengthy drive as 12 plays covered 74 yards in 5:02.
The Mounties had the ball on the Tri-West 1 to start the second quarter, and senior Jordan Burkett made it 14-0 for the Mounties with his one-yard run.
But Tri-West freshman Cody Coll returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards, giving the Bruins excellent field position at their own 45. Three plays later, Coll scored from 10 yards out to cut the deficit 14-7.
It was all Coll (nine carries for 73 yards) as the big play on the Bruins’ drive was his 37-yard dash around right end on the first play from scrimmage.
The Bruins then rallied the home crowd two plays later when sophomore Austin Moxley recovered a fumble by Tanner Hill at the Southmont 40. But the Tri-West offense bogged down after huge chop-block penalty and was forced to punt the ball away.
The teams traded punts on their next possessions and headed to halftime with the score still 14-7.
Southmont came out after halftime and re-established control. The Mounties took their opening drive 65 yards in 3:16 to open up a 21-7 lead when Petry kept the ball on an option play left, weaving his way through a now-weary Bruin defense to score unharmed at the 8:39 mark.
The remainder of the third quarter was just a battle of field position as neither team could sustain a drive.
Then the Bruins and their spread offense took over at their 35 with 1:42 remaining in the period. After struggling to find a receiver, Frederick scampered 16 yards on the first play of the fourth quarter to close within 21-14.
After Tri-West forced another Southmont punt, it looked like the Bruins might just be able to score again. But on 4th and 1, the Bruins decided to punt.
The normally safe play backfired, however, when the Mounties shot the gap, with senior Chance Allen blocking the kick to give Southmont the ball at the Tri-West 25.
It took only four plays for the Mounties to score. Burkett took a pitch left from Petry around the end for 13 yards with just under seven minutes to play, and the score stayed at 28-14.
Petry (19 carries, 79 yards) was excited about how the offense played and gave all the credit to his offensive line, which allowed Southmont to own a 246-136 advantage in rushing yards. Meanwhile, third-year coach Desson Hannun was very pleased at how his Mounties had performed.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done,” Hannum said. “This team is getting better every week and just building a foundation one day at a time.”
Next up for Southmont is a Sept. 25 home game vs. upstart Lebanon (4-1, 3-0), a 37-29 upset Week 5 winner over 3A seventh-ranked North Montgomery. Tri-West will host Crawfordsville (0-5, 0-3), a 35-24 loser to visiting Beech Grove.
The box score, courtesy of thepaper24-7.com:
Southmont 7 7 7 7 – 28
Tri-West 0 7 0 7 – 14
S – Logan Petry 1 run (Curtis Rose kick)
S – Jordan Burkett 1 run (Rose kick)
TW – Cody Coll 10 run (Joe Gramling kick)
S – Petry 25 run (Rose kick)
TW – John Frederick 16 run (Gramling kick)
S – Jordan Burket 13 run (Rose kick)
S TW
First Downs 18 16
Rushes-Yards 53-246 20-136
Passing Yards 49 95
Comp-Att-Int 3-6-0 14-32-2
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-73 4-41
Rushing
Southmont: Logan Petry 19-79, Micah Hatch 14-57, Jordan Burkett 8-46, Tanner Hill 10-42, Brayden McKinney 2-22
Tri-West: Cody Coll 9-73, John Frederick 10-61, Brock Sellers 1-2
Passing
Southmont: Logan Petry 3-6-49-0
Tri-West: John Frederick 14-32-95-2
Receiving
Southmont: Tanner Hill 1-28, Austin Burton 2-21
Tri-West: Andrew Keck 5-40, Joe Pierle 2-21, Josh Pierle 2-20, Austin Hendershot 1-8, Brock Sellers 1-3, Cody Coll 3-3
