Southern Indiana Bobcats end season with a playoff loss to the Indiana Tornados
The Southern Indiana Bobcats Semi Pro Football team closed out their first season as organization with a 44-12 loss to the Indiana Tornados in the Blue-Collar Football League Western Division Semifinals Saturday Night at Beech Grove HS in Indianapolis. The Bobcats finish 3-9 on the season but they are looking ahead to next season and looking to improve and learn from this inaugural season.
Mason Scott who has played defense all season got some time in the backfield in the second half and with 4:35 left in the third quarter scored on a touchdown run for the Bobcats first score of the game. Tavaras Rochell found TJ Knighton in the end zone with 9:19 left in the game as Bobcats were 0-2 on two-point conversions and DJ Clayton got an interception on defense. The Bobcats scored 80 points this season and gave up 228 points on defense.
The Tornados led 28-0 at halftime with three touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. After Mason Scott scored in the third quarter the Tornados took the kickoff back for a touchdown and got the two-point conversion to lead 36-6 with 4:23 left in the quarter. Late in the fourth quarter the Bobcats were backed up near their own goal line the snap went over the head of the punter and sailed out of the back of the end zone for a safety that made 38-12 however the scoreboard operator did not put it up on the scoreboard and the officials did not catch it, so the score stayed 36-6. On the free kick the Tornados took it back to the house and got the two-point conversion to make it 44-12 with 2:09 left in the game. The Tornados were 4-6 on 2-point conversions.
Bloomington North and South Win while Edgewood Falls in Week 2 of High School Football
Bloomington North and Bloomington South won at home Friday Night while Edgewood fell on the road Saturday night to wrap up Week 2 of High School Football action.
Bloomington North improved to 2-0 with a 21-14 win over Bedford North Lawrence. The Cougars Trailed 14-7 with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter when Dash King found Marshall University Commit Adian Stienfeldt on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 7:47 left to make 14-13 as Graham Freund’s extra point hit the cross bar. With 18.4 seconds left King found Steinfeldt in the middle of the end zone just like he did on the first touchdown pass as King found Jack Leonard on the two-point conversion. Bedford North Lawrence threw a deep pass that was intercepted by Luke Freel and ended the game. Quarterback Dash King threw for 150 yards and Running Back Kijuan Hayes had 77 of his 106 rushing yards in the second half. King scored on a 3-yard touchdown run nine minutes left in the first quarter to open the scoring.
Bloomington South handled rival Martinsville 38-6 as the Panthers improve to 2-0 and avenge their only regular season loss from a season ago. Jarrin Alley threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more. Bloomington South led 14-0 at halftime and Martinsville scored on a 36-yard pass play with 11:06 left in the fourth quarter and missed the extra point.
Washington beat Edgewood 28-0 Saturday Night in Washington as this game was moved from Friday Night due to the heat wave that hit the area all week and the heat index was over 100 degrees. The Hatches and Mustangs are 1-1 on the season.
Week 3 of HS Football action this Friday will see all three teams on the road this week as Edgewood takes on Cascade while the Bloomington schools will be heading to Terre Haute. The Panthers face Terre Haute North and the Cougars face Terre Haute South.
Kiley Jarrett named Girls Basketball Coach at Bloomington North
Kiley Jarrett has seen the Bloomington North Girls’ Basketball program at its best. She was a big reason as starting point guard for the Cougars’ only semistate qualifier in 2003. Now, she wants to be one of the reasons why North gets back to that level, only this time, she’ll do it as head coach. Jarrett’s hire was made official at Last Tuesday’s MCCSC board meeting where the Cougars also added a new Head Softball Coach, elevating assistant Kat Edmonds. Jarrett, an officer with the Bloomington Police Department, has been an assistant with the Cougars and briefly at Edgewood when Curt Simic was head coach. She hadn’t planned to be a head coach quite so soon, but the opportunity was here and now with a program that means everything to her. North’s administration recognized her strong connection to the Cougars’ program in the hiring process.
Jarrett, who stood just 5-foot-4, was a four-year starter for North under Steve Goddard, never missing a game. She averaged 12 points and 3assists and more importantly to her, went 74-19. She was an Indiana Junior and Senior All-star who went on to play for Ball State. There, she helped the Cardinals make it to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as a 12th seed and upset powerhouse Tennessee. In 2019, she was inducted to the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame. Jarrett majored in criminal justice and began working with the Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy and working as a K-9 officer before switching to BPD. A change in schedule gave her the opportunity to live her dream of becoming a head coach after Jeff Turmail resigned to move into school administration, taking a job in Cloverdale.
More familiar faces will return with Stew Cutshall and Kasandra Mack remaining on staff as assistants. Jarrett inherits a program on the rise. The Cougars finished 17-7 and return three starters. But its recent postseason history has been threadbare, no sectional wins since 2013 and no titles since 2006. That’s because she’s hoping they will play with the same elan and fire she did. She’ll be putting plenty of energy into the program itself as well as keeping strong connections with the youth players coming up.
North also turned to an assistant for its softball coach in Edmonds, who was Geoff Aiken’s assistant for four years. She’s also a guidance counselor at North. Edmonds grew up near Chicago and was a standout catcher who played collegiately at Southern Illinois University’s highly successful program in the mid-2000s. After that, she worked with the Chicago White Sox academy program in the summers coaching softball and also working with travel teams. She ended up going to Butler for her Master’s before coming to Bloomington and couldn’t wait to start coaching again. That work will also include bumping numbers up to make having a JV squad a viable option again. The Cougars have struggled record-wise since the COVID break and Edmonds will see if she can spark a change there.
Grace Berger Shines off the Bench for the Indiana Fever
Fever Guard Kelsey Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Indiana Fever (10-24) to a 90-86 victory against the Seattle Storm on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mitchell’s 36 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor and a career-high 12 made free throws was the second most points scored in a regular season game in franchise history. Thursday night was Mitchell’s fourth game scoring at least 30 points in her career.
NaLyssa Smith recorded her 11th double-double of the year with 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Rookie center Aliyah Boston also contributed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Indiana tied a season-high six blocked shots, highlighted by Boston’s four blocked shots. With her second block of the night in the third quarter, Boston recorded her 45th career block, surpassing Teaira McCowan’s 44 blocks in 2019 to set a franchise record for most blocks in a rookie season. In her fourth double-digit scoring game, rookie guard Grace Berger added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the court to go along with four assists. In addition, Kristy Wallace dished out a team-high five assists. Berger the former IU star played 24 minutes going 2-3 from three-point range 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and a turnover.
Though both teams opened the first two minutes of the game shooting 1-of-5 from the floor, Indiana soon improved and shot 42.9 percent (8-of-19) within the quarter. Mitchell led Indiana’s offense throughout the quarter as she notched 11 points, while Emma Cannon pulled down five rebounds. Neither team led by more than four points at any point in a quarter that featured eight lead changes. After 10 minutes of back-and-forth scoring, the Fever entered the second frame with the one-point advantage, 25-24. Mitchell and Smith’s five points each helped Indiana outscore Seattle, 21-14, in the second frame. The Fever defense also held the Storm to 31.3 percent (5-of-16) shooting from the court. Indiana ended the half on a 12-4 scoring run allowing the Fever to go into the locker room leading by their largest advantage of the half, 46-38.
Indiana maintained its lead throughout the third frame as it held the Storm to 31.2 percent (5-of-16) shooting for the second consecutive quarter. Mitchell added seven points in the quarter and joined Boston and Smith to collectively shoot 6-of-6 from the charity stripe within the quarter. The Fever held on to the lead going into the final frame, 63-56. With the help of a 19-8 scoring run and a 9-of-13 shooting clip, the Storm outscored the Fever, 30-27, in the final frame. After Seattle took its first lead since the 7:09 minute mark in the second quarter with roughly two minutes remaining in the matchup, Indiana quickly took back the lead 37 seconds later and extended it to four points as the clock expired. Mitchell finished with 13 points in the final frame, while Smith followed behind with seven points.
For Seattle, Jewell Loyd recorded her 11th 30-point game of the season as she notched 32 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the floor. Ezi Magbegor followed behind with a double-double of 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the court and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sami Whitcomb added 10 points and a team-high four assists, while Jordan Horston contributed nine points and six rebounds.
Indiana University Men’s Soccer opens regular season with 1-1 draw a Notre Dame
A thrilling opening night finished in a draw as the Indiana men’s soccer team (0-0-1) tied Notre Dame (0-0-1) 1-1 at Alumni Stadium in South Bend. The Hoosiers fought back from a 1-0 deficit as freshman forward Collins Oduro scored on his collegiate debut. IU dominated the shots battle 17-9 but couldn’t find the breakthrough.
In the 18th minute Notre Dame had the first big chance on a loose ball in the box, but freshman Alex Barger got in front just in time to block the shot. 7 minutes later the Fighting Irish opened the scoring, converting a header from a free kick. In the 28th Minute Indiana responded quickly as Oduro played a 1-2 with junior forward Samuel Sarver, and Oduro’s quickness allowed him to break through Notre Dame’s backline. Irish goalkeeper Bryan Dowd got fingertips to Oduro’s effort, but the ball leaked inside the post to tie the match. In the 42nd Senior forward Karsen Henderlong had a pair of one-touch opportunities in the 34th and 42nd minutes but was blocked once and saved on the latter. In the 52nd Minute other than the goal, Notre Dame just had one other shot on target. A breakaway gave the Irish a great opportunity, but senior goalkeeper JT Harms came off his line to get in front of the shot and sniff out the danger. In the 60th Minute IU had perhaps its best opportunity of the second half as Sarver drove down the right wing, leaving his mark in his wake. The junior played in the box to sophomore forward Luka Bezerra, whose shot was blocked. In the 90th Minute there was a bit of chaos in the final minute in IU’s box as Harms was forced off his line and couldn’t grab the ball. A shot came towards the open net but was deflected wide for a corner that bore no fruit.
Five Hoosiers made their debuts. Senior Hugo Bacharach and freshmen Collins Oduro and Alex Barger started the match, and freshmen Justin Shreffler and Clay Murador came on as substitutions. Indiana brought its undefeated streak against Notre Dame to seven matches. The Hoosiers are 5-0-2 in that span. Each game has been decided by one goal or a draw. The Hoosiers are 33-10-4 all time against the Fighting Irish. Indiana is 107-14-8 all time against in state opponents and have not lost to a team from the state of Indiana since 2019. The Hoosiers will play their first home match of the 2023 season tomorrow night at Bill Armstrong Stadium, hosting DePaul. The match is set to kick off at 8pm.
Indianapolis Colts win final preseason game over the Philadelphia Eagles
The Indianapolis Colts beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-13 on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field to finish the NFL preseason 2-1. Anthony Richardson started at quarterback after sitting out last week’s game against the Bears. He played the entire first half, leading the Colts on three scoring drives. After losing 14 yards on their first possession, Richardson threw a 13-yard pass to Michael Pittman Jr. and had a 23-yard completion to Drew Ogletree to move into the red zone on their second drive. Deon Jackson scored a three-yard run to tie the game at seven.
Richardson celebrated the TD by doing Philadelphia’s “Fly, Eagles Fly” motion with his arms. The rookie started the Colts’ third possession with a 16-yard run. He connected with Kylen Granson for eight yards and Pittman for 11 more. Evan Hull capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown to give the Colts a 14-10 lead. Richardson then led the offense to a 41-yard Lucas Havrisik field goal to make it 17-10. He finished 6 of 17 for 78 yards and added five carries for 38 yards. Gardner Minshew relieved Richardson in the third quarter and threw an eight-yard touchdown to Kenyan Drake to give the Colts a 24-13 lead. Sam Ehlinger finished at quarterback for the Colts, helping tack on another Havrisik field goal for the final margin. The Colts now turn their attention to roster cuts tomorrow and the regular season opener against the Jaguars on September 10.
For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson