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No. 4 Miners survive upset bid from Springs Valley
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FRENCH LICK -- Linton-Stockton coach Steve Weber was trying to figure out how his football team managed to get out of French Lick with a 28-21 win over the homestanding Springs Valley Blackhawks Friday night in a high school football contest.
The Class A, No. 4 Miners turned the ball over four times (once on an interception and three times on fumbles), but still managed to find a way to come away with their fifth win in as many games.
Linton rushed for 301 yards and passed for 152 for a total of 453 yards of offense.
"Our stats came in streaks," said a disappointed Weber after the win. "Nothing consistent. You look at our stats and you can see we're a big strike team and that's it. This is the fifth, sixth year in a row where we're a big strike team.
"We can't sustain a drive to save our lives. The only reason we're winning is because we've got a chance at a big play every now and then and that doesn't work against good teams. You get into sectional time and you're in trouble. We've got to get consistent. The snaps have got to be consistent and every time we've got to be able to hang on to the ball."
The usually dependable defense even had it's struggles stopping both Zeke Allstott and former Linton player Tyler Smith in their running game.
Allstott rushed for 64 yards on 20 carries and two early scores, while Smith led the team with 98 yards on just eight carries.
"This is three weeks in a row now that we've been off," added Weber. "Mentally, I thought we were ready to play last week. We were not ready this week, but that doesn't answer the fumbles, bad snaps, missed tackles, missed assignments.
"We didn't play ball. We didn't show up ready to play. We couldn't get ourselves ready to play," said Linton coach Steve Weber. "This wasn't a good showing. We did nothing right. We didn't play well."
The two teams (who could possibly face each other in the sectional, were tied at half time, 14-14 and it looked as if they were going to remain tied through the third quarter until a 46 yard run by Ethan Brewer, who finished the play with a nice tightwalk performance down the left sidelines to stay in bounds, for the score as time expired in the quarter.
The two point pass failed, so Linton entered the fourth quarter holding on to a six point lead, 20-14.
"I think we just had the right call and the right time with the right execution," said Weber. "They (Springs Valley) did the same thing West Vigo did and the same thing that Wood (Memorial) tried to do. They were just playing aggressive and we're not. We're getting kicked in the face and we're not delivering any hits."
Brewer helped the Miners put some further distance between a win and the Blackhawks when he raced to the endzone on a 60 yard score. With the two point conversion (a Keith Cunningham run), Linton found themselves ahead by 14, 28-14 with 6:34 to play.
After the score, Springs Valley managed to put together a nine play drive, featuring a key fourth and nine conversion on a 13 yard pass from quarterback Dustin Land to wideout Taylor Wilkinson to keep the drive alive.
After Smith picked up 26 yards on a run play and an incomplete pass by Land, the 6'6" signal caller found Wilkerson again, this time in the back of the end zone for a 17 yard strike, and with a Billy Day extra point added on, the Blackhawks were back in the game down 28-21 with 4:52.
The Miners' biggest drive of the season so far began on their own 31 with 4:52 remaining in the game.
The strategy was simple: run out the clock and hang on to the football.
The Miners managed a first down on three plays, but found themselves in a second and 25 after back-to-back flags pushed Linton to their own 29.
"Springs Valley came out ready to play," Weber said. "They came out aggressive and fast. They're not faster than us, but they were tonight. We're going to have to go back and take a hard look at what we are doing and come up with some answers because what we're doing is not working right now."
A gutsy call by Weber to keep the chains moving ended up costing the Miners when -- on second and 25, Cameron Coleman found Nate Padgett for 17 yards to get the Miners closer to a first down.
The problem with the play ended up being that the official ruled that Padgett went out of bounds, stopping the clock.
With a more manageable third and eight, Brewer ripped off a five yard run, which set up a 12 yard, fourth down, play by the Miners' leading rusher for an all important first down.
Springs Valley saved its time outs and managed to stop the clock, which forced Linton to need one more first down to close out the game.
Brewer picked up two and four yards on back to back carries before Jaron Powell burst through the line for a 12 yard gain, but a fumble on the play by Powell caused many in the stands to sigh. However, relief was in the air when the Miners recovered, which allowed Linton to take a knee and run out the clock for the win.
"We got lucky and I don't feel like we should be ranked anywhere right now," said Weber. "Maybe we're playing too tight. Maybe that's what they're thinking in their heads and they need to be concentrating on winning the next game. We need to stop worrying about where we are in the conference, or what we're ranked in the state. We've got to focus on next week's opponent."
Brewer led everyone in rushing yards with a season-high 248 yards on 29 carries. Cunningham passed for 130 yards on 7 for 11.
"Right now, the coaches have taken the kids about as far as we can, technique-wise," noted Weber. "The scheme's there. The technique is there. We have to get them mentally ready to play now.
"Obviously we didn't have them mentally ready to play this game. We have to do a better job coaching to get them mentally ready and I don't know what that answer is. We're not taking everyone serious and playing hard-nosed football and that's what we need to work on."
The Miners (5-0) will return home after three straight weeks on the road. Linton has only Southwest Seven games for the rest of the regular season, including next Friday's homecoming contest with North Daviess beginning at 7:30 p.m.
MINERS 28, BLACKHAWKS 21
Linton-Stockton. . . .8 6 6 8 - 28
Springs Valley. . . . 7 7 0 7 - 21
First Quarter
L -- Keith Cunningham, one yard run (Cunningham to Ross Gentry), 8:09. Linton 8, Springs Valley 0.
SV -- Zeke Allstott, four yard run (Billy Day kick), 2:02. Linton 8, Springs Valley 7.
Second Quarter
SV -- Allstott, 10 yard run (Day kick), 11:50. Springs Valley 14, Linton 8.
L -- Ethan Brewer, 16 yard run (pass failed), 3:23. Linton 14, Springs Valley 14.
Third Quarter
L -- Brewer, 46 yard run (pass failed), :00. Linton 20, Springs Valley 14.
Fourth Quarter
L -- Brewer, 60 yard run (Cunningham run), 6:34. Linton 28, Springs Valley 14.
SV -- Taylor Wilkinson, 17 yard pass from Dustin Land (Day kick), 4:52. Linton 28, Springs Valley 21.
Team Statistics
Linton -- First Downs 17 (13 run, four pass); Rushing: 48-301; Passing 9-15-1-152; Total Yards 453; Fumbles 6 (lost 3); Penalties 4-40.
Springs Valley -- First Downs 11 (five run, four pass, two penalties); Rushing 33-154; Passing 6-21-1-85; Total yards 239; Fumbles 0; Penalties 4:35.
Individual Statistics
Rushing -- (L) Brewer 29-248, Powell 9-23, Cunningham 9-16, Cameron Coleman 4-5, Nate Padgett 1-6; (SV) Tyler Smith 8-98, Allstott 20-64, Land 5-(-8).
Passing -- (L) Brewer 0-2-0-0, Cunningham 7-11-1-130, Coleman 2-2-0-22; (SV) Land 6-21-1-85.
Receiving -- (L) Powell 3-20, Jordan Tharp 1-45, Levi Baysinger 1-2, Dustin Turpin 1-30, Padgett 1-17. (SV) Wilkinson 4-50, Zeke Allstott 1-14, Zach Kellams 1-21.