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SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 • PAGE B1
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Wildcats gain first win against Big Eight’s Vincennes
Wildcat sophomore Gabe Adams avoids defenders for extra yardage in Friday night’s game against Vincennes Lincoln. Photo by Steven Kochersperger By Steven Kochersperger Friday the thirteenth can be a scary day and it was nothing but a nightmare for the Vincennes Lincoln Alices as they came into Mount Vernon and lost big. The Wildcats, looking to turn their season around, came into Friday’s came looking to show that hard work and perseverance really does pay off and when the final horn sounded the Wildcats found themselves as victors 35-14. Last week the Wildcats had nothing go right for them and Mount Vernon coach Paul Maier
promised the team would come prepared this week. It didn’t take long to see that Maier’s words were right on as the Wildcats looked ready to play and willing to take shots all game long. “We pushed these guys hard this week,” Maier said. “They responded very well. I think we saw a very young team grow up today. We did a lot of things well. Defensively we couldn’t be happier and there are a lot of guys on this team who did something great tonight. I’m very happy with the team and they have
worked hard to get to this point so they deserve the win.” The first quarter of play featured two defenses who looked hungry and eager to stop the opposing offense. The Alices took the opening kickoff and eventually fumbled the ball away to the Wildcats. The Wildcats were not able to take that turnover and do anything with it as they missed an opening quarter field goal attempt to leave the score 0-0 at the end of the quarter. It was the Alices who struck first offensively though, scoring on a 57 yard touchdown run by Lincoln junior Brandt Nowaskie with 9:03 left on the clock. Vincennes missed the extra point and went ahead 6-0 in the second quarter. Mount Vernon struggled early in the game as they fumbled the kickoff after the Alice touchdown giving the ball back to the visitors. But the Wildcat defense came up big yet again stopping the Vincennes offense allowing the Mount Vernon offense to take over on the two yard line. Mount Vernon would answer the call to go 98 yards and they did just that. Wildcat quarterback Riley Snodgrass threw a bullet to junior tight end Hunter Brooks 87 yards for the Wildcats first points of the game. After kicker Micheal Cannato’s extra point the Cats went ahead for the first time 7-6 with 5:07 left until halftime. Mount Vernon took the 7-6 lead into the locker room feeling good about where they were especially with the defense playing at the level they were. Mount Vernon took the second half kickoff looking to convert on the scoreboard and build their lead. That is exactly what they were able to do as Riley Snodgrass went for the touchdown two yards out on a quarterback keeper. The Cats found themselves ahead 14-6 with
momentum squarely on their side. Vincennes Lincoln answered the Wildcat touchdown with a score of their own as Alice running back Tyjuan Hawkins scored from five yards out. Hawkins used his impressive speed to run the two point conversion in to tie the game at 14-14 in the third quarter. That is when the Mount Vernon offense came alive and took over the game. Behind some great offensive line play the Wildcats would score three more rushing touchdowns to put the Alices away. Wildcat running back Austin Guthrie scored with two minutes left in the third quarter on a five yard scamper to put Mount Vernon ahead 21-14 while sophomore teammate Gabe Adams ran one in from three yards out early in the fourth to build Mount Vernon’s lead to 28-14. Guthrie would score again with 3:56 left in the game on a one yard run up the middle to get Mount Vernon their first win of the season at 35-14. And while the defense got a lot of praise from coach Maier after the game, so did the offensive line. “That’s the best game our offensive line played in a long time,” coach Maier said. “They played very physical football and paved the way for our runners to have a great game.” Quarterback Riley Snodgrass led the way in rushing Friday night running for 120 yards on 18 carries in the ball game. The Wildcats now have the momentum and will take the winning ways to Washington this week to take on the Hatchets. The Cats find themselves with an overall record of 1-3 and are now 1-1 in the Big Eight Conference. Washington is 0-4 after their loss this week at North Daviess.
Determined Vikings take out Memorial By Dave Pearce North Posey Viking volleyball coach Natalie Barnard said that if there was one word that would describe her Viking team this year, it would be “exciting.” The Memorial Tigers and the few Viking fans that stuck around Thursday evening learned just how exciting the Vikings can be. The Lady Vikings fell behind 8-1 in both the first and second games as Memorial appeared to have just too much size for the Vikings. As a matter of fact, if you added all the points together that the Vikings scored in the first and second games against the Tigers, they would barely have enough to reach 25. As a matter of fact, after dropping the first game 25-12, the Lady Vikings committed four service errors in the second contest and fell behind two sets, 25-13 and 25-12. “I think we had three service errors back-to-back-toback there in the second game,” Barnard said. “In the games you are close, you cannot have those service errors. It would be different if those errors were coming because you were trying for really powerful attempts. But we were hitting and serving scared.” That’s when most of the North Posey student section headed for the gates. But that’s also when the Lady Vikings decided they could play with the very tall and talented Tigers. “We didn’t score more than 13 points either one of the first two games and when you do that, you are scared to death as a coach,” Barnard said with a big smile, following the comeback. “The girls could easily have given up and just said ‘hey, we’re clearly not going to beat this team.’ But that’s when it becomes about heart and passion. When everyone goes out there and ‘steps up,’ you North Posey’s Hannah Harness hits between the two Memorial are never out of it. They started hitting away.” The side differential was astounding for the Vikings. blockers on their way to a come-from-behind victory over Memorial Memorial often had two or three players on the court over on Thursday evening at North Posey. Photo by Dave Pearce
six feet tall. The tallest Viking is around 5-foot-8. From the outset, it appeared to be a David versus Goliath situation and we all know how that came out. This match-up came out the same way. “At the beginning, we were intimidated by their size and how hard they were hitting the ball,” Barnard said of the match. “But then we realized we could block them to offset that size. That’s when we started to figure it out.” The teams played even in the third set, with the score tied at nearly every other point, 11-all, 14-all, 15-all, and another service error tied it again at 16-all. But the Lady Vikings decided if they were going to win this match, they were going to have to earn it. And that’s just what they did. They led by scores of 21-17 and 23-18 before settling for the third-set win at 25-23 win on the strength of Ashley Schorr spikes on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth points. “We did a good job of picking them apart defensively and we found the open spots,” Barnard said. “We were able to move their big blockers around so they couldn’t stay in front of us. And we did a great job of covering. When you have a big team like that against you, you have to do a great job of covering.” And cover they did. Memorial took and early lead in the fourth game before a Hannah Harness spike pulled the Vikings even at 2-all. The Tigers took a 4-2 lead only to have the Vikings come back to take a 5-4 lead. The Vikings continued to pick up everything that was hit to their side of the net and an Eli Schapker block gave the Vikings their largest lead of the night at 14-7 in the fourth game. But Memorial was not finished either. The Tigers
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Mount Vernon edges Vikings in Junior High action The Mount Vernon Junior High girls’ volleyball seventh and eighth grade teams each claimed narrow wins over North Posey in action this week. In seventh grade action, Mount Vernon claimed wins of 25-23, and 25-24 as North Posey’s Addison Elpers had seven aces. Elpers also led the team with two kills while Elise O’Risky had two assists. Elpers also had a dig. In eighth grade action, the match was just about as close as it could possibly be as Mount Vernon took the first set 25-10 only to have North Posey battle back and claim the second, 25-19. In the third and deciding game, which went to only 15 points, Mount Vernon closed out the match, winning 15-10. For North Posey, Haleigh Shell had four aces while Annamarie Cardin had two kills. Shell also had two assists while Hannah Will had a pair of digs.
Posey bands take titles in early marching season
Members of the North Posey homecoming court for this year are, in front, Veronica Inkenbrandt, Madeline Pfister, Taylor Franklin, Lizzie Watzlavik, Ali Lupfer, Hannah Hostettler, Celeste Hill, and Taylor Perry. In back are Ethan Morlock, Jake O’Risky, Bo Cox, Cody Ungetheim, Michael Heldt, Trey Staples, Janis Heipmann, Cale O’Risky, and Isaac Mayer. Missing from the picture is Emma Werry. Photo by Dave Pearce
Drill on the Hill in the Rietz Bowl was the first stop in the opening of marching season for both Posey County high schools. Mount Vernon and North Posey were pitted against each other in Class A along with Evansville Central and Evansville Bosse. The Wildcats took home the first place trophy. The Vikings followed in second place. Central took third place and Bosse fourth. Next, the Vikings made their way to the north side of Evansville for the Central Invitational. North Posey was one of six bands in Class A. The performance of their show, “Dark Night of the Soul,” earned them a first place trophy. Coming in second place was Pike Central and Princeton took third. North Posey will host their Field of Dreams Invitational Saturday, Sept. 21. The competition will begin at 5 p.m. at the high school. Fourteen bands are expected to participate. The Vikings will perform in exhibition.
North Posey Hall of Fame induction is Sept. 27 By Steve Kochersperger Homecoming will have an entirely new meaning for North Posey High School graduates on Friday evening, Sept. 17. Not only will the Vikings be hosting Forest Park in their homecoming game, but an induction dinner and ceremony will precede the evening’s festivities at North Posey. The inaugural class will be inducted into the Posey County Newssponsored Viking Athletic Hall of Fame following a dinner in the high school cafeteria. “The nominations have been submitted and considered,” Posey County News owner/publisher Dave Pearce said this week. “We are ready to proceed with the inaugural class. I am extremely proud to be able to be a part of it.” Tickets are $15 each and may be purchased by calling the Posey County News office at
812-682-3950. Tickets will also be available at Friday night’s football game. There will be a single team and three individuals in the inaugural induction class. “While I may have moved forward with the idea, there have been several others over the years who have had the idea of starting a Hall of Fame for North Posey athletes,” said Pearce. “I think I came along at just the right time. And with incredible backing from local school and athletic officials, we are finally going to get this done.” Attendance at the induction ceremonies and community involvement is critical to the success of any such program. “It takes a lot of time and effort to pull everything together when everyone’s lives are so busy, especially my own,” Pearce said. “But
everyone involved has been incredible. There have been times when I have had to delay meetings or reschedule things and everyone has been understanding.” North Posey School Administration from the superintendent to the coaches, teachers, and members of the community have been supportive of the Hall. As it currently stands, a dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. at the high school cafeteria. The meal will consist of your choice of fried chicken or roast beef from the Red Wagon. A guest speak will share a few words before the first plaques will be presented to the inductees and a copy to school officials for permanent placement in the Hall. “It only makes sense to hold this on the weekend of homecoming and the Poseyville
Autumnfest,” Pearce said. “Homecoming brings in a good crowd and the inductees will be recognized at half-time. Homecoming festivities are conducted prior to the game.” So why an athletic Hall of Fame? “North Posey High School came into existence in 1969 and there have been many gifted athletes and lots of memories created in those years,” Pearce said in initially presenting the proposal. “The Posey County News considers it a pleasure to help recognize some of the people who have made the athletic programs what they are at North Posey.” “First things first…We can’t thank Dave and Connie enough for being willing to be the permanent sponsor of the NPHS Athletic Hall
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