Sometimes a contest is no contest
On any given Friday, there's never a shortage of blowout games across the high school football landscape. Blowout games have always been pretty common.
A sampling of games around the state of Indiana Friday reveals Guerin Catholic 50, Broad Ripple 6; Corydon Central 54, Eastern (Pekin) 0; North Vermillion 63, Riverton Parke 0; Pioneer 62, West Central 0; Southridge 63, South Spencer 14; and Sullivan 50, Edgewood 8.
Closer to home, Eastern Greene rolled Wood Memorial 56-16. Linton-Stockton knocked off Springs Valley 62-20 - and it wasn't even that close.
Needless to say, there's a huge disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in high school football.
The good news for some of the "have-nots" is, these things go in cycles and tend to even out over time. All it takes is a couple of good classes of athletes to turn things around.
The bad news for the teams that are winning big every week is sometimes they find out in the postseason, against better competition, that they aren't as good as they - or their fans - thought they were.
These weren't the first such games this season for the Miners and the Thunderbirds.
Eastern Greene dominated North Daviess, leading 41-0 at halftime and coasting the rest of the way in week 3. The same night, Linton steamrolled a decent Tecumseh team 65-13.
Off to a 5-0 start, this might be the year the Thunderbirds finally get the first winning season in the 13-year history of the program.
If Eastern Greene can get past the "other" Thunderbirds from North Central Friday, they'll secure a winning season.
Wouldn't it be neat to see Eastern Greene and Linton-Stockton both undefeated when the teams meet October 9?
This game might be the stiffest test the Miners face until the late rounds of sectional play. The rest of the schedule looks like it has the potential for a few more lopsided wins.
Blowout games are challenging for the stat crews and the broadcast teams. The action happens so fast it's hard to keep up.
The Linton stat crew was faced with yet another challenge at Springs Valley. They were operating shorthanded after long-time Miner statistician Donnie Clayton was bowled over on a sideline play.
I understand Donnie was taken to the hospital with a broken leg.
Let's all wish Donnie a speedy recovery!
I ran into Jim Gordillo, one of the sports writers for the Bloomington Herald-Times at the girls golf sectional in Bloomington. Jim covered the Sullivan-Edgewood blowout. Edgewood is a 4A program, so these types of games aren't confined to a few outmanned small schools.
Sullivan came out in a hurry-up offense, scoring early and often - and quickly.
It was a challenge for even a seasoned veteran like Jim to keep up.
Who benefits from these lopsided games? The only group I can think of is the reserve units.
The kids who toil all week in practice and in junior varsity games get rewarded with a chance to show their stuff.
Two Miner reserves scored their first varsity touchdowns at Springs Valley. Bill Smith took it to the house on an electrifying 89-yard kickoff return. Luke Miller found paydirt on a 15-yard burst up the middle with just over two minutes left.
I inadvertently credited Miller's touchdown to Braiden Irish. I confused Miller's jersey number 41 with Irish's number 44.
And I know how it happened. Cody Corbin ripped off a 45-yard run on the preceding play and I couldn't quite get my aging skeleton downfield and into position before the next play.
My apologies for the oversight.
Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.
Posting a comment requires free registration:
- If you already have an account, follow this link to login
- Otherwise, follow this link to register