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Pioneer upsets No. 3 Carroll; top-ranked Judson blanks Culver again
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Football
Garrett 42, Tippecanoe Valley 13 (Friday): The Garrett defense forced three turnovers, and Calder Hefty, Alex Guzman and Cam Ruble all had over 90 yards rushing for the visiting Railroaders in a win over host Valley in a Class 3A, Sectional 26 semifinal at Smith-Bibler Memorial Stadium: Home of Death Valley Football Friday.
Wes Parker ran for 99 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown in the first quarter for Valley, who finished 7-4. Owen Omondi added an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Hefty, Garrett’s senior quarterback, ran for 111 yards and a touchdown, Guzman ran for 109 yards and a score, and Ruble ran for 93 yards and three touchdowns.
Hefty also threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Levi Chaney.
Garrett had a 330-134 advantage in rushing yards.
Both Parker Skelly and Jaxson McDowell had interceptions for Garrett.
Brock Derf, Grady Moriarty and Parker had one reception each for Valley.
Gage Overbey averaged 43.3 yards per punt on three punts.
Garrett led 30-7 at halftime.
Valley has not reached a sectional final since 1993.
This marked the first time since 2019 that a public school team has eliminated Valley from the sectional.
Garrett 42, Valley 13
Garrett 22 8 6 6 – 42
Valley 7 0 0 6 – 13
First quarter
GARR – Calder Hefty 1 run (Hefty run)
GARR – Cam Ruble 3 run (conversion failed)
TV – Wes Parker 59 run (Gage Overbey kick)
GARR – Ruble 16 run (Hefty run)
Second quarter
GARR – Levi Chaney 21 pass from Hefty (Hefty run)
Third quarter
GARR – Cam Ruble 2 run (conversion failed)
Fourth quarter
GARR – Alex Guzman 60 run (conversion failed)
TV – Owen Omondi 85 kickoff return (conversion failed)
Pioneer 49, Carroll (Flora) 7 (Friday): Micah Rans ran for a school-record 322 yards and five touchdowns, and Noah VanMeter added 156 yards rushing on 13 carries for Pioneer in an upset road win over previously unbeaten and third-ranked Carroll in a Class 1A, Sectional 42 semifinal.
VanMeter and Philip McFatridge each added a touchdown run. As a team, Pioneer had 527 yards rushing on 12.2 yards per carry.
Rans, a junior quarterback, attempted only one pass.
Eli Guffey and Shiloh Rine each had seven tackles to lead the defense. Guffey had 1.5 tackles for loss, and Brady Price, Blair Burns and Collin Frye each had a tackle for loss.
Pioneer had six tackles for loss and four sacks as a team and held Carroll to 69 yards rushing. The seven points were a season low for Carroll, who had scored 40 or more points five times previously this season.
McFatridge had an interception.
Carroll has not beaten Pioneer since the 1996 sectional.
Pioneer will host Taylor, a 32-6 winner over Tri-County, in the sectional final at 7 p.m. this Friday.
Pioneer 49, Carroll (Flora) 7
Pioneer 22 20 7 0 – 49
Carroll 0 7 0 0 – 7
North Judson 58, Culver 0 (Friday): Kole Wilcox ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns on six carries, and Jesiah McDaniel ran for two touchdowns on offense and also returned an interception for a touchdown as No. 1 North Judson routed host Culver in a Class 1A, Sectional 41 semifinal Friday.
Brock Benson added 64 yards rushing and a touchdown on three carries, and Elijah Allen also ran for a touchdown.
North Judson had 458 yards rushing on 17 yards per carry. They did not complete a pass.
Culver has not beaten North Judson since 2017, and they have lost to North Judson in the sectional five times in the last six years. They also lost to North Judson 70-0 on Sept. 20 in their regular season meeting.
North Judson 58, Culver 0
North Judson 40 12 0 6 – 58
Culver 0 0 0 0 – 0
