Fans, the big game is almost here

Today is the day we've all been waiting for - the game of the year in Class A football.

Linton-Stockton at defending Class A state champion North Vermillion.

The Falcons were ranked third and the Miners fourth in the most recent Indiana Football Coaches Association poll.

Computer ratings guru Jeff Sagarin has North Vermillion rated 63rd with Linton-Stockton one spot below.

Now, if No. 1 Lafayette Central Catholic played No. 2 Pioneer in the regular season, that would be considered the game of the year in Class A.

But LCC doesn't schedule any 1A teams in the regular season. The Knights play seven 3A teams and two from Class 2A.

So, the biggest regular-season game in 1A football will be played Friday at Cayuga.

I'm sure a lot of fans have had September 11 circled on their calendars for reasons unrelated to 9/11.

I wasn't one of those. I thought it better to see if the Miners got through the first three games first.

Although I have been eagerly anticipating this one - and not just because the Beef House is a dozen or so miles up the road from Cayuga.

I'll say this - I think the addition of Speedway to open the season was a necessary upgrade to the schedule for the Linton football program. In that game the Miners proved they were in top physical condition and ready to play four quarters.

In years past, they'd rarely had to play four quarters until they advanced deep into the postseason. This year, they're already prepared for that eventuality.

Just my uneducated observation, but to me the Miners look to be well ahead of where they were at this point in the season a year ago.

Both teams return veteran squads but both are missing several key players from last season.

Four Linton-Stockton seniors - Braxton Cox, Austin Hale, Caleb Steele and Class A All-State defensive lineman Zach Johnson - were selected to play in the Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Classic at ISU's Memorial Stadium in late June.

North Vermillion has had to replace the anchors of their defensive front, Zeth Jumps and Dakoda Chapman, and playmakers Ethan Lee and Braeden Hollowell.

Falcon coach Brian Crabtree is no stranger to Linton and the Miners. Crabtree coached for six seasons at North Central, from 2005-2010.

Last year of course the Miners were eliminated from the postseason with a 31-8 regional loss to the Falcons on a frosty November Friday in Cayuga.

I'm sure that setback is still fresh in the minds of every Miner player, coach and supporter.

So let's take a closer look at that game.

With me being the pack-rat hoarder that I am, I still have my stat sheets and play-by-play sheets from that game.

The game really turned on two big plays and both occurred within seconds of each other in the second quarter.

Falcon quarterback Cody Wright hit Hollowell in stride over the middle and Hollowell outran the Miner defense for a 75-yard score. On the ensuing play, Jacob Earl picked off a pass at the midfield stripe and took it to the house for a 21-8 North Vermillion lead halfway through the second stanza.

A look at the stat sheet reveals that North Vermillion had nearly as many interception return yards (106) as Linton had in passing yards (121). This is where statistics can be misleading.

Playing from behind, and unable to dominate on the ground - as they had two weeks earlier against Perry Central, when the Miners had three hundred-yard rushers - the Miners found themselves forced to throw.

North Vermillion had three picks - but two of those came late in the fourth, in desperation time.

The Miners did have two big pass plays - a 26-yarder to Mitch Eberhardt and a 45-yarder to Braxton Cox - just before the half.

But five straight incompletions led to four three-and-outs and just three yards of total offense for the Miners in a scoreless third quarter.

Hollowell of course is the young man who tragically lost his life January 2 in a truck accident involving his teammate and friend Ethan Lee and their girlfriends, sisters from Cowan, near Muncie.

Linton-Stockton brought its team to Hollowell's funeral several weeks later in the North Vermillion gym despite the two-hour drive in a snowstorm.

"First class," North Vermillion athletic director Marty Brown (Braeden's stepfather) said of the gesture by coach Brian Oliver and the Miner players.

It was encouraging to see Lee back on the field at the WVFCA All-Star game, playing for the Gold squad coached by Crabtree. It was even better to see Lee score on a 23-yard swing pass from Owen Valley quarterback Evan Wood.

Yes, I still have the play-by-play sheets from that game too.

The accident had an effect on the Linton-Stockton team so some of the players came up with the idea to sell T-shirts to support the Braeden Hollowell Scholarship fund.

The T-shirts are royal blue and read "Linton With North Vermillion" with Hollowell's number 47 on the front.

I'll be wearing one Friday.

See you there!

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.