Crawfordsville Athenians | Archive | September, 2008

The Paper photo by Lori Poteet Crawfordsville junior running back Craig Fairley rushed for a school-record 308 yards Friday night.

Football Friday At Crawfordsville Crawfordsville 35, Tri-West 33 Tri-West 7 7 7 12 – 33 Crawfordsville 14 14 7 0 – 35 Scoring First quarter: C – Craig Fairley 69 run (Matt Mummert kick), 11:00; C – Craig Fairley 14 run (Matt Mummert kick), 4:36; TW – Jake Allen 9 run (Drake Gadberry kick), 1:40 Second quarter: C – Craig Fairley 19 run (Matt Mummert kick), 8:43; TW – Jake Allen 15 pass to Micah Bruce (Drake Gadberry kick), 5:51; C – Craig Fairley 3 run (Matt Mummert kick), :57.5 Third quarter: TW – Caleb Ross 11 run (Drake Gadberry kick), 4:33; C – Craig Fairley 34 run (Matt Mummert kick), 1:57 Fourth quarter: TW – Caleb Ross 4 run (kick missed), 4:38; TW – Jake Allen 7 run (pass failed), 1:28 Team statistics TW C First downs 15 16 Rushes (yds.) 29-134 35-310 Passing 19-27-216-1-1 7-16-95-0-1 Total yards 350 405 Fumbles (lost) 1-0 1-1 Penalties (yds.) 6-70 3-35 Records: Crawfordsville 4-2 (4-0 SAC), Tri-West 4-2 (2-2 SAC) Individual statistics Rushing: Tri-West – Caleb Ross 14-115, Jake Allen 13-22, Jake Wright 1-2, Team 1-(-5). Crawfordsville – Craig Fairley 30-284, Jordan Boykin 3-25, Jordan Standefer 2-3. Passing: Tri-West – Jake Allen 19-27-216-1-1. Crawfordsville – Jordan Standefer 7-16-95-0-1. Receiving: Tri-West – Joe Pierle 6-64, Jake Wright 5-56, Brock Sellers 2-30, Caleb Ross 3-23, John Frederick 1-22, Micah Bruce 2-21. Crawfordsville – Brett McKinney 5-88, Brett Linn 2-7.

Reprinted Courtesy of:
The Paper of Montgomery County
thepaper24-7.com

By John
Groth
Sports
Editor

Junior
Craig Fairley may get all the limelight after Crawfordsville’s latest
win.

For the second straight year, the junior running back managed to set
the Athenians’ school rushing yards record under a patchwork offensive line.

Frustrated after being held to under 100 yards and his lowest rushing
total of the season in last week’s stunning loss to Beech Grove, Fairley and the
Athenians’ offensive line recommitted themselves to power run game Friday night.

So he’s not taking the credit. Nor should he.

Fairley rushed for
a school-record 308 yards and scored five touchdowns but the Athenians needed
John Rogers’ pressure to force a Tri-West senior quarterback Jake Allen into a
missed two-point conversion with under a minute remaining for a 35-33 win.

“I was just unhappy. I wanted to prove I could do a lot better than what
I should,” said Fairley, who broke his rushing record by two yards after having
305 in last year’s Homecoming game against Beech Grove. “The line controlled
everything up front. They always do. They did a great job tonight and got great
blocking. With Jordan (Standefer) back (at quarterback) and him throwing the
deep ball, it helps the run game. Our wide receivers blocked really great, too.”

Crawfordsville (4-2, 4-0 SAC) survived a late-game defensive collapse
and still shares the top spot in the conference standings with county-rival
North Montgomery (6-0, 4-0 SAC).

North Montgomery blew out conference
foe Lebanon 52-12 Friday night to stay right with its county foe.

But
this week, when the Athenians needed their defense to hold on, they responded –
in game-saving fashion.

Fairley rushed for 200 yards and scored four of
his five touchdowns in the first half – including his longest – a 69-yard score
– on the second play of the game.

He also had touchdown runs of 14, 19,
3 and 34 yards – with his final one coming near the end of the third quarter.

Crawfordsville coach Rex Ryker planned on getting the Athenians back to
their old style of football and dominating with the run game.

“We
brought back a couple of power run plays,” Ryker said. “We take great pride in
being able to run the ball and to run in a physical fashion. We did that
tonight. It was more enjoyable to watch than big run after big
run.”

Crawfordsville led 28-14 at half, then 35-21 at the end of the
third quarter and it looked like the Athenians would rush the game
away.

But just like last year, when Crawfordsville rallied from a
14-point second-half deficit and won on Matt Mummert’s field goal with 1.5
seconds left, this game came down to the final minutes.

This time, it was
Tri-West (4-2, 2-2 SAC) who made the rally.

Trailing by 14 and deep into
the fourth quarter, the Bruins scored twice in the final five minutes.

Senior running back Caleb Ross (14 carries, 115 yards) scored on a
four-yard run with 4:38 left to cut the lead to 35-27 after the extra point
clanged off the front right upright. It proved to be a costly miss.

Tri-West recovered the ensuing onside kick after the ball bounced in and
out of a Crawfordsville player’s hands and Allen (20-of-28, 216 yards) led the
Bruins downfield

He completed a seven-play, 56-yard drive with a
seven-yard rushing touchdown to pull the Bruins within 35-33 with 1:28
remaining.

They had to go for two.

After calling timeout, the
Bruins set up the play. As they line up, Rogers remembered what Ryker had been
drilling the Athenians’ defense on all week – their checklist of
responsibility.

Rogers noticed no one was on him and he had a free path
to the quarterback.

After the snap, he chased after Allen on the right
side forcing him to scramble to his left and throw an incomplete pass well short
of the goal line.

“Coach (Ryker) was talking to us all week about our
checklist of responsibility,” Rogers said. “I manned up and didn’t have any
responsibility. I just went after the quarterback.”

Ryker acknowledged
Rogers plays with that kind of intensity and energy every play.

“John
Rogers plays with nothing but heart,” Ryker said. “He has earned his position
and plays with everything he has. He’s the kind of kid that coaches wish they
could more of.

“He made a couple plays out there just out of pure
effort.”

Crawfordsville next plays conference rival Lebanon at 7 p.m.
next Friday in its Homecoming game.

The Paper photo by Lori Poteet North Montgomery senior Mark Clements rallied for a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles. The Paper photo by Lori Poteet Crawfordsville’s Brendon Craft prepares to hit a return.

Boys tennis Monday At Crawfordsville North Montgomery 4, Crawfordsville 1 No. 1 singles: Wade Miller NM def. Drew Smail C 6-1, 6-0 No. 2 singles: Jackson Clifton NM def. Peter Santa Maria C 6-0, 6-1 No. 3 singles: Mark Clements NM def. Brendon Craft C 6-4, 6-2 No. 1 doubles: Josh Rager and Andrew Allen C def. Eric Spencer and Chris Coakes NM 6-4, 6-3 No. 2 doubles: Jason Hook and Derek Fike NM def. Michael Demeter and Ronnie Myers C 7-5, 7-5 Records: North Montgomery 11-2 (2-0 SAC), Crawfordsville 6-2 (3-1 SAC) Junior varsity North Montgomery 4, Crawfordsville 3 No. 1 singles: Andrew Airey NM def. Luke Wren C 8-3 No. 2 singles: Bryant Hagadorn C def. Clayton Zink NM 8-6 No. 3 singles: Matt Ryker NM def. Chris Emberton C 8-6 No. 4 singles: Bryant Hagadorn C def. Mahlon Nevitt NM 6-0 No. 1 doubles: Craig Brainard and John Lawson C def. Matt Ryker and James Samuelson NM 8-3 No. 2 doubles: Raven Graves and Mason Harpham NM def. Sam Vaught and Eric Totheroh C 8-3 No. 3 doubles: Tyler King and Derek Hampton NM def. Ryan Richmond and Travis Kruckow C 8-4 No. 4 doubles: Luke Wren and John Lawson C def. Luke Walker and Dylan Riley NM 8-0

Reprinted Coutesy of:
The Paper of Montgomery County
www.thepaper24-7.com

By John Groth
Sports Editor

Mark Clements didn’t start out with a bundle of energy.

Halfway
through the first set of his No. 3 singles match against Crawfordsville
sophomore Brendon Craft, he was down three games.

And the North
Montgomery High School senior looked like he was sleepwalking against
his Sagamore Athletic Conference and county-rival.

That’s when he realized what was wrong. So, he changed his gameplan.

With
some harder serves and a little bit more patience, Clements managed to
rally for a two-set win and his other two singles teammates cruised to
victories in visiting North Montgomery’s 4-1 win over Crawfordsville.

“I
might have come out a little flat,” said Clements, who defeated Craft
6-4, 6-2 after being down 4-1 in the first set. “I think (Brendon) came
into it pumped up and maybe I was a little bit asleep. I was trying to
hit too many winners. I needed more consistency to try to make a
comeback. I hit some big serves, too.”

North Montgomery (11-2,
2-0 SAC) picked up its third-straight win over Crawfordsville (6-2, 3-1
SAC) and has gone 3-0 against its county-rival in Jonathon Guthrie’s
two-year tenure.

But the Chargers didn’t all come out with the fire he had hoped.

Guthrie
knows if the two meet again in the Indiana High School Athletic
Association Crawfordsville Sectional, they might not be as lucky the
second time around.

North Montgomery’s top two singles players
dominated their opponents – junior Wade Miller dropped junior Drew
Smail 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 while senior Jackson Clifton took care of
senior Peter Santa Maria 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2.

But at No. 3 singles – and in both doubles matches – the Chargers didn’t have that extra spark.

Clements
lost four of the first five games of his match before he started to
wake up and develop a sense of urgency. He won five of the last seven
in the first set and the final three of the second set.

“I won
some big points and it kind of dropped (Craft’s) intensity down and he
ran out of energy,” Clements said. “I think he’s gotten much better. I
haven’t played somebody who hits the ball as hard as he does all year.
I’m not used to that.”

Seniors Jason Hook and Derek Fike were
the opposite at No. 2 doubles in a 7-5, 7-5 victory over seniors
Michael Demeter and Ronnie Myers.

They started out well,
jumping out to a 4-1 first-set lead but then dropped four-straight
games before rallying back for the win. They also rallied form a 2-1
second-set deficit.

“We came out flat and weren’t moving as
well,” Guthrie said. “All of a sudden, we started playing better. That
kind of effort will not work in sectionals. Crawfordsville will work
their tails off and be better.”

Crawfordsville’s lone win came
at No. 1 doubles – where senior Josh Rager and junior Andrew Allen
earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over seniors Eric Spencer and Chris Coakes in a
back-and-forth match. They improved to 10-1.

Athenians’ coach
Barry Morton liked his team’s intensity – especially since he spent the
better part of this past weekend trying to figure out a new line-up.

Senior Sam Andre, who had recently returned after a back injury and was playing No. 2 singles, quit the team over the weekend.

That
meant Morton had to quickly come up with a new line-up. So, he moved
senior Peter Santa Maria up from No. 3 singles to No. 2 and moved Craft
up from the junior varsity to No. 3 singles.

He’d hoped to
test the new line-up out this past weekend at Saturday’s Lafayette
Jefferson Invitational, but the tournament was rained out.

He’s
going to move junior Luke Wren into the No. 3 singles position in
today’s 5 p.m. match at conference rival Danville and said he will
probably switch Wren and Craft the rest of the season.

With
sectionals coming up in the beginning of October, his goal is to find a
way to win at No. 2 doubles against North Montgomery.

“We’ve
got to win at two doubles,” Morton said. “We’ve lost to North’s two
doubles team three times in a row in really tight matchers . . . Derek
Fike is the problem. He’s won every match. Either he has to be off or
one of our guys has to win the match.”

North Montgomery next plays at 4:30 p.m. today against conference foe Frankfort.

The Paper file photo Southmont senior Nathaniel Borden scored a goal in the Mounties’ 4-1 win over county-rival Crawfordsville.

Boys soccer Saturday At Southmont Southmont 4, Crawfordsville 1 Crawfordsville 0 1 – 1 Southmont 3 1 – 4 Goals scored: Tyler Whittington C; Chris Rash S 3; Nathaniel Borden S Assists: Ethan Smith S; Tyler Witherspoon S Shots on goal: Crawfordsville 8, Southmont 9 Saves: Miguel Salazar C 1; James Miller C 4; Nick Truncone S 7 Records: Southmont 6-2 (1-1 SAC), Crawfordsville 5-4 (2-3 SAC)

Reprinted Courtesy of:
 The Paper of Montgomery County
www.thepaper24-7.com

By John Groth
Sports Editor

NEW MARKET – This Rash spread quickly.

Somehow, Chris Rash kept finding himself in the right spot all Saturday morning.

He’d come off a cross play or receive a quick, crisp pass. Seconds later, he’d break out for a goal.

By
the end of the first half, the Mounties’ sophomore had scored from
plenty of angles and found a way to help his team bounce out of their
recent slump.

Now they’re halfway from a Montgomery County title – something they haven’t had in years.

Rash scored three goals as Southmont defeated visiting county- and Sagamore Athletic Conference rival Crawfordsville 4-1.

“We
worked on our short game this week,” said senior Tyler Witherspoon, who
had one assist. “We’ve had to adjust throughout the week with the bad
weather. It helped for the small touches and one-two combos for
(Saturday).”

Southmont (6-2, 1-1 SAC) ended its two-game losing streak and kept alive its hopes for a conference and county title.

With
head coach Alan Clifton gone because of a family wedding, assistant
coach Kyle Boots filled in and the Mounties helped him earn his first
victory.

They made crisp and clean passes, worked their give-and-go’s and executed their set plays to perfection.

Southmont scored three goals in the first half – all coming by Rash and all inside the first 20 minutes.

His
first came almost nine minutes in. He took a pass from the left side,
dribbled and launched a hard shot into the bottom right goalpost.

The
ball hit the goalpost and instead of bouncing away, like the Mounties’
shots did against Greencastle and Danville, it caromed into the goal.

Just
over eight minutes later, Rash added another off an assist and
wind-aided pass from senior Ethan Smith and then netted his third with
22:44 left in the half.

“We wanted to possess the ball as much
as we can to preserve the possession,” Boots said. “The seniors knew we
had to get it done and they came ready to play.”

For the second
straight conference game, Crawfordsville (5-4, 2-3 SAC) came out flat –
and once again that uninspiring start cost the Athenians a win.

It
also didn’t help senior goalie Miguel Salazar, who allowed all three
Rash goals, was injured during the first half (split lips) after making
a save and came out at the midway point. He later came back in and
played defense.

So Athenians’ coach Jim Kochert replaced him with junior James Miller.

Salazar actually came back in late in the first half and played defense, a move Kochert had been wanting to try for some time.

Crawfordsville
senior Tyler Whittington scored with 29:51 left in the game to cut the
lead to 3-1 but the Athenians couldn’t put any of their four other
second-half shots into the net.

“That’s two games in a row
where our lack of intensity in the first half has cost us the game,”
Kochert said. “I hope the guys will realize if they do come out with
the heart and intensity like Southmont came out with and we combine
that with our second halves, that we’re going to be hard to beat.”

Crawfordsville next plays Tuesday at Benton Central, while Southmont takes on

The Paper photo by Lori Poteet Athenians’ junior Craig Fairley rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns in Friday’s win.

Football Friday At Crawfordsville Crawfordsville 27, Western Boone 20 Western Boone 14 0 6 0 – 20 Crawfordsville 7 7 13 0 – 27 Scoring First quarter: WB – Jared Knox 1 run (Jeremy Trent kick), 6:58; C – Craig Fairley 28 run (Matt Mummert kick), 6:36; WB – Jared Knox 2 pass to Eric Biesecker (Jeremy Trout kick), 2:17 Second quarter: C – Craig Fairley 1 run (Matt Mummert kick), 2:12 Third quarter: C – Craig Fairley 9 run (Matt Mummert kick), 10:10; WB – Aaron Hiland 85 kickoff return (kick blocked), 9:54; C – Brett McKinney 4 pass to Jordan Boykin (kick missed), 5:26 Team statistics WB C First downs 10 18 Rushes (yds.) 29-130 39-255 Passing 13-22-96-1-2 11-20-119-1-0 Total yards 226 384 Fumbles (lost) 1-1 1-0 Penalties (yds.) 7-45 6-20 Records: Crawfordsville 3-1 (3-0 SAC), Western Boone 1-3 (0-2 SAC) Individual statistics Rushing: Western Boone – Aaron Hiland 10-69, Josh Debard 11-36, Jared Knox 5-25. Crawfordsville – Craig Fairley 25-184, Nick Baker 4-45, Brett McKinney 8-26. Passing: Western Boone – Jared Knox 13-22-96-1-2. Crawfordsville – Brett McKinney 11-20-119-1-0. Receiving: Western Boone – Todd Morton 4-40, Ryan Knox 3-30, Eric Biesecker 3-17, Jeremy Trent 2-6, Aaron Cragun 1-3. Crawfordsville – Brett Linn 4-50, Jordan Boykin 5-45, Steven Rice 1-13, Jacob Corbin 1-11.

Reprinted Courtesy of:
The Paper of Montgomery County
www.thepaper24-7.com

By John Groth
Sports Editor

There wasn’t much for Rex Ryker to be particularly pleased about.

Crawfordsville High School’s football coach had hoped the Athenians would be in prime form for their home-opener Friday night.

They’d played their first three games on the road. But it looked like they’re still not comfortable at home just yet.

At least they’re still undefeated in Sagamore Athletic Conference play.

Junior
running back Craig Fairley rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns
and senior quarterback Brett McKinney threw the game-clinching
fourth-down four-yard pass to Jordan Boykin in the fourth quarter in
Crawfordsville’s 27-20 win over conference rival Western Boone.

“It
takes teams a little while to adjust to (Craig’s) speed,” Ryker said.
“Western Boone had a good gameplan. The last two weeks we’ve had
moments of inconsistency in our passing. If teams put nine (players) in
the box, we have to be more (consistent) in our passing. But we got it
done.”

Crawfordsville (3-1, 3-0 SAC) kept its undefeated conference record intact – but not by much.

The
Athenians needed a strong first-half rushing attack from Fairley, a
second-half resurgence from McKinney and three key second-half
defensive plays – including a blocked extra point attempt by McKinney
and an interception by senior Brett Linn – to pull out the victory.

For the first time all season, a conference opponent held Fairley under 200 yards rushing.

But that’s not to say he still didn’t have another strong game.

Fairley
dominated the first half – rushing for 151 of his 184 yards in the
first two quarters. He had his longest run, a 54-yard scamper keyed by
a Boykin block, and scored two of his three touchdowns – including a
28-yard score – in the first half.

His first touchdown tied the
game at 7-7 and then his second score – a one-yard run to the right
side – tied the game at 14-14 with 2:12 left before halftime.

But Western Boone (1-3, 0-2 SAC) slowed him down in the second half with a better defensive scheme.

The Stars put eight and nine people in the box and stuffed the Athenians at the line.

Fairley
had only 33 yards on 10 carries in the second half, including a
nine-yard score that gave them a 21-20 lead. Crawfordsville was also
missing senior offensive lineman Brandon Wise for the second half. He
suffered an injury late in the second quarter and did not return.

“Sometimes
when Craig doesn’t break it for 20 yards, we feel like something in our
running game is wrong,” Ryker said. “Teams are going to stop him
occasionally and we need to try to get it done.”

While Fairley had a tough time gaining yards in the second half, McKinney finally found his range and some confidence.

After
going 3-of-9 for 37 yards in the first half along with overthrowing a
couple of receivers, he recovered and found a rhythm in the pocket.

He went 8-for-11 in the second half, throwing for 82 yards and the touchdown to Boykin to seal the game.

After
missing on two fourth-down conversions earlier in the game, Ryker went
for another with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Crawfordsville
faced a fourth-and-goal from the Stars’ 4-yard-line. McKinney scrambled
around and found Boykin for a touchdown, giving Crawfordsville a 27-20
lead.

“In the first half, I had good protection passing-wise,”
McKinney said. “(In the second half), it was just me being more
patient. I felt more relaxed and didn’t feel as pressured.”

Western
Boone had two more chances in the final six minutes – but
Crawfordsville’s defense stopped the Stars on two fourth downs.

Linn intercepted sophomore quarterback Jared Knox’s pass on fourth down with less than six minutes remaining.

Then,
with a minute remaining and fourth-and-seven from their own
40-yard-line, Knox chased down a snap that went over his head and threw
a pass deep downfield, which Athenians’ senior cornerback Josh Rager
knocked down.

Crawfordsville kept Western Boone the
fleet-footed Knox in check – for the most part. He rushed for 69 yards
on 10 carries, threw for 96 yards and had two touchdowns (one rushing,
one throwing). But he didn’t beat them with a long rush or pass.

“We
did give up a lot of yards and they scored more than we wanted them to.
We were hoping for a shutout,” Linn said. “But we won the game and
you’ve got to be happy about that.”