By Jeff Hodge
Contributing Writer
CRAWFORDSVILLE – On a cold, rainy Friday night in October, there is nothing better than two titans to battle on a muddy football field – especially on Homecoming.
That was the case Oct. 9 as Sagamore Conference schools Western Boone and host Southmont got together in what turned out to be an overtime doozie. After surrendering a touchdown to tie the game at 13-all with less than a minute to play in regulation, Southmont bounced back with a 22-yard field goal from senior Curtis Rose in OT to win it.
The victory – coupled with shocking league losses by both Class 3A No. 6 North Montgomery and Lebanon – means that Southmont (6-2 overall, 5-1 in Sagamore play) can clinch the conference crown outright for the first time in forever Oct. 16 with a win over visiting Crawfordsville.
In just under three seasons, Southmont coach Desson Hannum has brought this southern Montgomery County community together and made Friday nights something to enjoyed and anticipated as the week goes on.
With his Mounties riding high on a five-game winning streak, Hannum has a simple motto for this group of young men who are coming of age:
“Losing is not an option.”
The Mounties opened the game with a six-play, 61-yard possession capped off by a 15-yard touchdown run from senior Jordan Burkett for an early 7-0 lead. But Western Boone (5-3, 3-3) marched downfield on its opening drive to even the score at 7-7 on a four-yard pass from Levi Remley to Tyler Aguirre near the end of the first quarter.
It was not unit 2:10 remained in the fourth quarter, though, that Southmont was able to mount a sustainable drive, which was culminated on a two-yard run by junior Micah Hatch. But a bad snap on the ensuing PAT and heavy rush from the Stars made the score 13-7.
WeBo, which won the total yardage battle 225-146, took only seven plays to cover 59 yards in 72 seconds. On 3rd and 10, Aguirre threw a quick slant to Jared Knox, who broke several tackles in slipping past several Southmont defenders and raced down to the Mounties’ 16.
After three straight incomplete passes, the Stars pulled out the vaunted halfback option pass and caught the Mounties by surprise. Jared Knox took a toss sweep to the right and appeared to be going for the goal line, but he pulled up and found Ryan Knox all alone in the back of the end zone to tie it at 13-all.
All Western Boone needed was to kick the point after for a victory. But the Mounties sent an all-out jail break toward kicker Thomas Garrity, with several players jumping over the center of the line. Garrity pulled the ball badly to the left with just 51 seconds to play, and we were headed to overtime.
Southmont won the toss and elected to play defense – a great choice by Hannum since his troops had played stellar “D” the entire evening. The Stars were unable to move the ball, losing a yard then enduring three incomplete passes to fail on their OT possession.
The Mounties managed to move the ball down to the 5 on three successive running plays, setting up Rose for a game-winning 3-pointer. WeBo tried to ice Rose by calling a timeout, but Rose, who also plays on Southmont’s boys soccer team, calmly drilled the kick/
After the game, Hannum was very proud of his team.
“Any time you’re in conditions like this, you know your defense can’t play a lot out there,” said the coach. “We weren’t able to give them a lot of first downs, but we were able to win the close one tonight.
“That’s a heck of a job by our kids.”
Southmont will finish the regular season Oct. 16 at home against previously winless Crawfordsville (1-7, 1-5), a 27-14 mega-upset winner over North Montgomery in Week 8. Western Boone will return home next Friday to tackle Lebanon (5-3, 4-2), another Week 8 upset victim after falling in the mud, 7-0 in overtime, at Danville.
The box score (courtesy of thepaper24-7.com):
Western Boone 7 0 0 6 0 — 13
Southmont 7 0 0 6 3 — 16
S – Jordan Burkett 15 run (Curtis Rose kick), 8:52
WB – Levi Remley 4 pass from Tyler Aguirre (Thomas Garrity kick), :40
S – Micah Hatch 2 run (run failed), 2:10
WB – Ryan Knox 9 pass from Jared Knox (kick failed), :51
S – Curtis Rose 22 FG
WB S
First Downs 11 8
Rushes-Yards 38-93 32-113
Passing Yards 132 43
Comp-Att-Int 13-21-2 2-6-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Rushing
Western Boone: Jared Knox 28-67, Josh DeBard 6-13, Austin Hildebrandt 2-11, Ryan Knox 1-1, Tyler Aguirre 1-1
Southmont: Micah Hatch 14-72, Brayden McKinney 6-22, Jordan Burkett 2-15, Tanner Hill 4-13, Logan Petry 6-[-9]
Passing
Western Boone: Tyler Aguirre 12-20-123-1-0, Jared Knox 1-1-9-1-0
Southmont: Logan Petry 2-6-43-0-0
Receiving
Western Boone: Ryan Knox 9-106, DeBard 1-11, Levi Remley 2-8, Joe Burns 1-7
Southmont: Lucas Long 2-43
