By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
A pair of 14-play drives that resulted in zero points at the end of the second quarter and midway through the third doomed North Posey (12-3), which surrendered two quick touchdowns after suffering three turnovers in the last five minutes of the game to remove any chance of a comeback.
Jimtown (14-1), the Class A state runner-up in 1985 and â??87, captured its fourth state championship in the last four tries under coach Bill Sharpe. The Jimmies won the Class A crown in 1991 before taking the 2A titles in 1997 and â??98.
â??I have nothing but respect for North Posey — their kids played hard,â? said Sharpe. â??We made a couple of big plays, a couple of runs â?¦ This was a much closer game than the scoreboard indicated.
â??I just couldnâ??t be happier for our kids and our community.â?
North Posey got on the board first after each team fumbled the ball away on its opening possession. A five-yard touchdown run by 6â??3â?, 215-pound senior RB Jared Baehl capped a 13-play, 77-yard drive that ate 6:47 off the clock. Elias Theodosisâ?? extra-point kick made it 7-0 with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.
The outlook remained rosy for the Vikings when Jimtownâ??s subsequent 16-play drive stalled at the North Posey 12 and Brian DeShoneâ??s 29-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. But the Vikings went three-and-out, and Baehlâ??s 35-yard punt soared toward senior Ross Bauman at the Jimtown 45.
Bauman caught the kick, started right â??? then suddenly darted back to this left, where he received a pair of crushing blocks that freed him down the left sideline. Once DeShone pushed last-chance tackler Baehl out of the way, Bauman had gone untouched on a 55-yard touchdown return on what turned out be the game’s only punt, electrifying the crowd and knotting the score at 7.
â??Tonight, Ross Bauman got us going with the punt return,â? said Sharpe, who improved to 266-50 in his 26th year at Jimtown. (Do the math â??? that averages out to 10-2 every year for two-and-a-half-plus decades, sports fans.)
North Posey coach Joe Gengelbach concurred.
â??The big play was the punt return by Jimtown,â? said Gengelbach, now 208-164 after 36 seasons in Poseyville. â??When I saw the wall form, I knew we were in trouble.â?
North Posey got the ball back and ran five minutes off the clock, but after 14 plays the Vikings had only reached the Jimtown 41. A desperation 4th-and-18 pass from junior quarterback Josh Wagner resulted in an interception near the goal line, and the half ended.
That was as good as it would get for North Posey the rest of the way. With Bauman again making a key return â??? this time ripping up 21 yards on the opening kickoff of the second half — Jimtown only had to go 56 yards in 14 plays before sophomore Ryan Konrath scored on a two-yard run. (All five Jimtown TDs were followed by successful extra-point kicks from DeShone.)
The drive that gave Jimtown a 14-7 lead and consumed a whopping 6:39 included four third-down conversions, a backbreaker that North Posey would be unable to overcome.
â??In the second half they had great ball control, and we couldnâ??t make enough first downs,â? Gengelbach said. â??They were content to get three-, four-, or five-yard runs.
â??Jimtown didnâ??t break any big plays, but they kept making third-down conversions.â?
Indeed. Jimtownâ??s offensive numbers for the contest were pedestrian at best:
â?¢ 47 rushes for 164 yards, a 3.5 yards-per-carry average
â?¢ A mere 3 of 7 passing for 43 yards
â?¢ A total offense advantage of only 17 yards, 207 to 193
But the grind-it-out O torqued on the clock and wore down the North Posey defense. In the second half, Jimtown enjoyed a 16:59 to 6:01 margin in time of possession. And a large part of the was the Jimmiesâ?? D, which swelled up big-time following North Poseyâ??s relatively huge first quarter.
Baehl was on pace for a monstrous game following a first quarter that saw him rush six times for 34 yards and a touchdown. But the Jimmies held the bruising runner to just 18 yards on eight carries over the last three periods, a major hit to the Vikingsâ?? thirst for balance.
North Posey, it must be noted, did give it one more valiant effort. Trailing by just a touchdown, a 15-play drive ate up more than five minutes of clock, yet netted only 36 yards. And despite a pair of crucial fourth-down conversions, it was the third one from the Jimtown 25 — a 4th-and-10 pass from Wagner to Jake Voegel that came up short on the next-to-last play of the third quarter — that sealed the Vikingsâ?? fate.
â??When we did get it we got close, but we didnâ??t get the ball in the end zone when we needed to,â? Gengelbach said.
The Vikings would pay dearly for the preponderance of finishitis.
Jimtown went on another one oâ?? them loooooooong drives, slowly matriculatinâ?? its way down the field over 12 plays that covered 75 yards and swallowed 5:49 off the fourth-quarter clock before sophomore running back Ryan Konrath scored from two yards out. Three third-down conversions were key, the final one coming on a 3rd-and-8 pass from senior quarterback Jon Soli, who rolled left and found senior Garrett Kavas on a gorgeous right-to-left crossing pattern that covered 32 yards.
â??Johnny made a great play on the â??cross-and-keepâ?? when he hit Garrett — that was a great play by Garrett,â? Sharpe said. â??He dropped (one) earlier and came back to make that catch.
â??John Soli has done a great job for us all season. If you look back at our run in the tournament, he has made play after play after play this year.â?
North Posey subsequently moved the ball into Jimmies territory at the 33, but on 1st-and-10 Wagnerâ??s pass intended for senior split end Ryan Kerney was intercepted by DeShone. The junior defensive back timed the pick perfectly, stepping in front of Kerney then racing 76 yards along the left sideline for a three-TD lead.
Understandably shell-shocked, Wagner was picked again on the first play of North Poseyâ??s subsequent possession by defensive end Kavas, who returned it 19 yards to the Viking 11. On 4th-and-6 from the 7, Soli faked a dive up the middle and kept it on a bootleg to the right, diving in for the final touchdown with 2:06 remaining.
â??We had two hideous plays with the two interceptions, and you just canâ??t do that against Jimtown,â? Gengelbach said.
The Jimmies spread the wealth on the ground. Konrath was the gameâ??s leading rusher with 63 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns, while Soli rushed 11 times for 54 yards and a score and Bauman toted the rock 11 times for 41 yards.
For North Posey, Wagner finished with 22-of-37 accuracy for 153 yards and the three INTs. Voegel had 69 of those yards on eight receptions. The Viking defense, meanwhile, had two tacklers in double digits â??? junior defensive back Matt Scheller (13, including nine solos) and senior linebacker Brian Merkley (10, with seven solos).
North Poseyâ??s Kerney wins Mental Attitude Award
North Poseyâ??s Ryan Kerney was named as the winner of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award.
A member of the National Honor Society and the vice president of the Varsity Club the last two years, the senior split end/defensive back volunteers some of his spare time to coach youth sports. He also has helped with the St. Wendell Social Fund Raiser and has gathered clothes for the Evansville Santa Claus Clothes Drive during the holidays.
The son of Keith Kerney of Wadesville has been a two-year starter on the Vikings basketball team and was a member of the schoolâ??s Class 2A state championship baseball team this past summer. He is undecided on his area of study but is hoping to play football on the collegiate level.
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