Titans fend off Alices to begin postseason
In a high-scoring Sectional game, both teams had their work cut out for them
Junior Michael Herren leaves everyone in the dust as he jets downfield for a Titan touchdown.
On Friday, October 21, the Vincennes Lincoln Alices made the trip south to Gibson County to take on the undefeated Gibson Southern Titans in an important postseason matchup. This marked the start of the Sectional tournament in which the winner moved on to the next round, and the loser saw the close of its football season.
The Alices came into the game with a record of 4-5, while the Titans were 9-0 on the season. The Alices ended the year as the 7th team in the SIAC standings, while the Titans finished the year as PAC champions when they wrapped up their season against Boonville last Friday, earning another PAC championship trophy for Gibson Southern head coach Nick Hart.
The start of Sectional action featured a lot of offense for both teams as both the Titans and Alices came out trying to put points up early. On the first drive of the game, Vincennes Lincoln snapped the ball into the endzone on a punt for a Gibson Southern safety.
“It was a big play, and we scored a touchdown to make it 9-0 shortly after,” Hart said. “Those extra points to make it a two-score game allowed for some cushion as the game went on.”
The very next drive Gibson Southern attacked the Vincennes Lincoln defense both through the air and with its running attack. It eventually led to a 16-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Tanner Boyd to senior wide receiver Isaac O’Neal.
“We knew that if we just played our game from the start, the rest of our offense would take care of itself,” Boyd said.
Vincennes Lincoln was forced to a 4th-and-1 on the next drive. They went for it, and it ended in a 55-yard touchdown run from Alices’ quarterback Xander Hunt. The score was 9-7 in favor of Gibson Southern after the extra point was kicked through the uprights for Vincennes Lincoln.
On the defensive side of the ball, both teams were making stops, then they would allow an explosive play, which led to a high-scoring first half.
“We knew that they had some players more than capable of making big plays,” Hart said. “We have to do a better job of paying attention to details to limit some of those.”
Both offenses found the end zone a few more times before the half, with the score being 35-21, Gibson Southern up by 14 at halftime. Senior running back Devin Roberts found the endzone with a rushing touchdown, as well as Boyd, who rushed for two touchdowns before halftime.
After the break, Boyd led another drive down the field, capped off by another rushing touchdown from the quarterback. Junior safety Sean DeLong picked off a pass from Hunt, and then a few plays later Boyd threw an interception to give the ball back to the Alices.
“The interception led to a stop in the red zone, during a crucial time of the second half,” DeLong said.
The rest of the game played out back and forth until the Titans eventually pulled away to win the first game of possibly three Sectional games with a score of 63-42. The Titans moved to 10-0 on the year.
The Titans are back in action for game two of the Sectional, traveling to take on the undefeated Owen Valley Patriots in the battle of the two unbeaten teams on Friday, October 28.
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Hayden Pennington is a senior who is in his third year writing for “The Southerner.” He is on both the track and cross country teams for his fourth...
