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Next up: postseason rematch vs. mourning S. Adams
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Pioneer (12-0) at South Adams (10-2), 7:30 p.m.
(winner plays North Judson-Clinton Prairie winner in Class 1A semistate)
It figures to go down as one of the most famous rocket sweeps in Pioneer football history.
Shiloh Rine took a rocket sweep to the left and followed the block of lineman Wyatt Wiles as he turned the corner.
He straddled the sideline and shook off five potential Caston tacklers on his way for a 65-yard touchdown run that gave Pioneer a 21-14 lead.
A Phillip McFatridge interception on the ensuing possession sealed Pioneer’s seven-point win and their second straight sectional title and their 14th sectional title in school history.
Top-ranked Pioneer earned one-score victories over Lewis Cass and Knox in their first two games, but they won their next nine games by an average margin of 43.2 points. That included a 28-point win at Caston on Sept. 11 in their regular season meeting.
Caston, who scored the game-tying touchdown on a 4-yard pass from Logan Mollenkopf to Landen Rigney on fourth and goal on the previous possession, was their closest call since their two nonconference games.
“Obviously, extremely well,” Pioneer coach Adam Berry said of the way his team handled the adversity. “Talking to different people, we knew Caston was going to be ready to play, and we knew it was going to be a battle to the end, and Shiloh makes an absolutely tremendous play offensively. That’s going to go down in the books in Pioneer football for a single play. And then, you know, Phillip comes through with a huge interception to seal the game. Two of our captains, two of our veteran players who have played in some big games came up huge for us. Our team responded very well. Had some adversity. Overall, I thought we played well for four quarters.”
While Rine passed the 2,000 scrimmage yard milestone for the season – 1,252 rushing, 830 receiving – Carter Mize continues to play a big role. Mize had two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown against Caston, and he is up to 24.3 yards per reception for the season.
“He has worked at it,” Berry said. “Even the last couple years when we’re not throwing it as much during games, we are still working on our pass game, and we have seen so much maturity and so much growth just over the course of the season too with his route running. And he is just making subtle moves where he just gets the defenders off balance just that much to create some space. (He had) two catches on Friday with one being for a score. But not just his catching ability, his blocking has just gotten better. And he’ll admit it. He wasn’t too fond of blocking out there on the edge to start his career, but he has embraced that, and he has gotten a lot better at that as well.”
Pioneer, however, did yield 306 yards of offense to Caston after allowing only 118 yards to the Comets in their Sept. 11 game.
“Really, just staying in coverage,” Berry said when asked what concerns he has with his team’s pass defense. “(Caston quarterback Logan) Mollenkopf delivered obviously some great throws. A lot of those were in a scramble drill situation as well. I thought we had very good coverage at the start. Mollenkopf gets away, and we lose sight of our guy, and they’re able to create just that much more space. We’re going to see something very similar this Friday where their quarterback can extend plays, so you know it’s just working on at a certain point, even if we’re in some coverage, it turns into man where even if they’re running all the way across the field, you are staying with that person.”
While No. 5 South Adams is not the proximate neighbor that Caston is, they are not an unfamiliar opponent for Pioneer either. The Panthers beat South Adams 31-14 in last year’s semistate in Berne, shutting them out through the first three quarters.
South Adams has changed quarterbacks from last year, but their passing game remains prolific.
Last year’s quarterback Tytus Lehman and his 3,362 passing yards graduated, but new quarterback Zaden Baumer, a junior, has been a mad bomber, ranking sixth in the state with 2,856 passing yards.
Six different Starfire receivers have at least 10 catches.
They include senior Jax Wanner, who ranks in the top 20 in the state with his 1,003 receiving yards; tight end-H-back Wes Summersett, who has 50 catches for 836 yards; Colton Sprunger, who has 39 catches for 498 yards; and Will Patterson, who has 494 yards rushing to go with his 265 yards receiving.
The Starfires have scored 40 or more points in six straight games and are averaging 39.3 points per game. They routed Fremont 42-15 last week, and the 42 points allowed tied a season high in points allowed for Fremont.
Then again, they came into last year’s semistate having scored 40 or more 10 times. Having a short memory helps against a team like South Adams, according to Berry.
“You have to also know when you’re going up against a team that also throws it like South Adams, you may give up a big play,” Berry said. “They throw it around. I feel like playing corner is one of the toughest positions in football. You’re out there on an island. So when you’re going up against an explosive offense, you may give up one. You may give up a first down. You may give up a 30-yard gain, but you have to have a short memory. Forget about it, learn from it and try and get the next one. So just stay in that mindset of trusting my skill to make a play and to have great coverage even if I do give up a first down, having that mindset of continuing on.”
Defensively, Pioneer must try and contain Summersett, a Purdue recruit who has a team-leading 150 tackles and seven forced fumbles from his linebacker spot. He also has two interceptions.
“Even last year, if you go back and watch the game from last year, and there were times where our guys had an open lane to a touchdown, and he’d chase them down. See the same thing from him this year too, where against some teams, that 20-yard gain, maybe a 40, 60 or maybe a touchdown where he’s able to clean it up and run people down. His sideline-to-sideline speed is tremendous, and then he’s not afraid to stick his nose in there and attack you at the line of scrimmage either.”
Last week’s win was the 100th for coach Grant Moser in his 12 seasons at South Adams, but they came under somber circumstances after the passing of sophomore linebacker Gabe Steiner in a car accident Nov. 4. Steiner, 16, was second on the team in tackles and the son of South Adams defensive coordinator Scott Steiner.
Scott Steiner, a 2001 grad, is South Adams’ all-time leading tackler.
Tonight’s game is being played at the same stadium at which Gabe Steiner’s funeral was held 72 hours earlier.
“I don’t think their coaches could have asked anything more from them under the circumstances,” Berry said. “The young man’s father is on the coaching staff, I believe the defensive coordinator. Like I said, I can’t even imagine what they’re going through trying to prepare. But the game’s more than football. Their coaches, I can’t speak for them obviously, but they had to have been proud of just their team, their community and how they stepped up to honor that young man. It doesn’t get any easier for them with all that stuff this week with the viewing and the funeral.
“Prayers out to that community. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through. I’ve gotten to know their coach over the years. I just texted them. We’re thinking about them, praying for them, things like that. It has to be tough for them.”
If Pioneer wins, they will host North Judson or Clinton Prairie in the semistate. Berry reports no injuries.
