By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
LIZTON – Class 2A No. 13 Tri-West Hendricks used a quick-strike offense to get all four of its touchdowns Aug. 22 in its annual season-opening game against Cascade, and the Bruins’ defense did the rest in a 28-8 home victory.
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Tri-West got on the scoreboard on its opening possession barely three-and-a-half minutes into the game when senior running back Thomas O’Neal scored off the left side from 11 yards out. Junior kicker/wide receiver Joe Grambling made the first of four successful point-after kicks, and the Bruins had assumed control early at 7-0.
After a 21-yard punt gave Tri-West possession at its own 49, the Bruins chewed up more than four minutes on an 11-play drive. But such a time-consuming endeavor proved fruitless as Tri-West failed to convert on 4th and 3 at the Cascade 11.
The lesson learned? Go faster.
After a three-and-out by the Cadets ended with another short punt and five-yard return, the Bruins set up shop at the Cascade 35. Short field + quick strike = paydirt.
On 3rd and 1 from the 26, senior quarterback John Frederick found senior tight end Josh Pierle on a pass to the right flat. Breaking a tackle at the 17, Pierle rumbled up the right sideline untouched for the score with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
The subsequent 14-0 lead resulted from a three-play drive that took only 42 seconds. VROOM!
The Cadets needed to slow the tempo, and that they did on their only scoring drive – a 15-play, 61-yard monster that ate 6:54 off the clock and was spurred on by an excellent fake punt from Alex Arthur.
Arthur, a sophomore who starts at quarterback and also snagged a Frederick interception in the second half from his defensive back post, dropped back to kick when the Cadets’ drive stalled at the Tri-West 38. But from a trips-right formation, Arthur instead faked a pass that way before rushing off left end for 17 yards.
Seven plays later, on 4th and goal from the Bruins’ 1, senior RB Jordan Younge took a pitch left and scored … setting up a most-wacky two-point conversion attempt. Younge and six other Cadets immediately lined up to the far left, while Arthur stood just to the right of the kicker as he placed down a tee.
On a lateral-off-the-ground hike, Arthur took the snap and rumbled to the right behind the Magnificent Seven and made it into the end zone.
The Cadets had drawn blood AND gained the momentum with a splendid two-point play to make it 14-8. New ballgame, right?
Uh, no. Bing-bong-BANG and it was 21-8 just like that.
On 3rd and 5 from the Tri-West 43, Frederick lofted a bomb down to the right that wide receiver Brock Sellers reeled in. The senior scampered untouched down the Cascade sideline, and it was a two-possession game again, 21-8, with 2:08 left in the half.
This drive? Another three plays, 62 yards … and only 51 seconds off the clock.
The score at intermission may well have been 28-8, but Frederick’s gorgeous toss to senior wideout Andrew Keck in the left corner of the end zone was nullified by penalty. The Bruins then nearly scored again on the final play of the half, but Frederick’s pass to Gramling at the goal line was waived out of bounds by the referee.
At halftime, the Bruins celebrated the 20th anniversary of the school’s first football team to make it to the state finals. Among the troops who played under former coach Mike Gillin (now at Indian Creek after a stint at Decatur Central) is none other than Clint Lahnen, a former co-worker of mine and a member of my YoVille crew. Sa-LUTE!
Despite the aforementioned Arthur interception and nice return to the Cascade 30 on just the second play of the second half, the Cadets managed only one first down before another punt was called.
This kick would seal Cascade’s fate.
Tri-West sophomore Austin Hendershot fielded Arthur’s short, line-drive boot and returned it up the gut about 30 yards, giving the Bruins yet another short field at the Cascade 32. Five plays – and a relatively marathonish 2:18 – later, freshman running back Cody Coll scored from eight yards out, crossing the goal line as he got drilled by the Cadet defense.
With 4:57 remaining in the third quarter, that was all she wrote.
Over the previous 15 years, Tri-West (7-3 last season) had gone 12-2 in the series, including a 27-0 shutout win to open the season a year ago. The Cadets’ last victory came 24-14 at home in the ’06 season opener, former coach Derek Moyers’ springboard season to Pike.
Next up for Tri-West, which blends a nice mix of veterans with four starters back on the “O” line and another six starters back on the Sagamore Conference’s second-best defense, is an Aug. 28 home date with South Putnam (1-0), a 46-0 Week 1 winner at Owen Valley.
Cascade will return home for its West Central Conference opener against Monrovia (1-0), a 50-0 WCC winner at home over Greencastle. Winless a year ago, Cascade has now lost 12 in a row and 19 of its last 20.
The lone win came in the 2007 sectional opener at Cloverdale, 35-32.
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