The Gibson Southern Titans continued to add to the win tally on Friday night with a 42-3 win over the Heritage Hills Patriots. This was a special win for the Titans because not only was it a Pocket Athletic Conference win, but it was also military appreciation night and Homecoming. 

“It was a great atmosphere,” head coach Nick Hart said. “The military night was extremely cool and awesome to be a part of. Our crowd was amazing. It was a lot of fun.” 

The military night idea was initiated by senior football player Ryan Holzmeyer. After talking with his family about if the tradition of football players and coaching staff touching the rock at the football field entrance was still alive, he wanted to re-educate the team about the idea behind it.  

“I would love for the senior classes further down the road to adopt the military night and establish it as a tradition, which helps define our community in terms of what we stand for: faith, family, and community,” Holzmeyer said. 

During the game, the Titans got off to a quick start, scoring in just nine plays with a pass from senior quarterback Brady Allen to senior receiver Rory Heltsley. The Titan defense would force the Patriots to punt on the next possession. They again would score quickly with a nine-yard pass from Allen to senior Kaden Hurless to make the score 14-0. 

The Titans special team came up big on the next Patriot possession. With 2:54 left in the first quarter, Heltsley blocked a punt attempt and ran it back for his second touchdown of the night to put the Titans up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. 

“It feels great knowing that I can go out and help out the team in any way I can,” Heltsley said. “Making a big play like that really puts our sideline in an energy high that can be a momentum changer in a game.”

The Patriots scored their only points of the night from a field goal from Ethan Hill, cutting the lead to 21-3 with 9:05 left in the half.

On the following possession, sophomore running back Sean Delong caught a pass from Allen and turned on the jets on the second play of the drive for a 63-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-3. The Titans would go on to score one more time before halftime with a 14-yard touchdown from senior Adrean Lukeman, putting the score at 35-3.

“Our players did a great job of executing the game plan,” Hart said. “I was very proud of how we came out and executed against them.”

The Titans defense again would force the Patriots to punt on the first possession of the second half, setting up Delong for a two-yard touchdown with 7:54 to go in the third quarter. The backups would enter the game for both teams with a running clock for the remainder of the game. The final score saw the Titans winning, 42-3.

Allen finished the night 12-14 with 203 passing yards and three touchdown passes. Delong rushed for 78 yards and a rushing touchdown, along with 88 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

Heltsley ended the game with 85 receiving yards and touchdown, along with a punt block leading to a touchdown. Lukeman and Hurless both added a touchdown apiece. 

The Titans look to take on the undefeated Wildcats of Mt. Vernon this coming Friday. 

“It will be a great test for us,” Hart said. “Their quarterback is a great player and they have a very good football team. We haven’t seen a lot of passing the past couple of weeks, so we have to do a great job defending them.”

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Mt. Vernon.