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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2009 > October
October 2009
On this date in area sports history …
Thirty seven years ago on this date, Oct. 30, 1972, Sports Illustrated listed a Wittenberg soccer player in its Faces in the Crowd:
Howard Hendershott, a freshman soccer player at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, set a new school scoring record for one game with five goals in a 10-1 victory over Capital University, accomplishing the feat in only a minute and 11 seconds.
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TweetJohn Legend sings National Anthem at World Series
Springfield native John Legend sang the National Anthem before tonight’s Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.
From the Wall Street Journal:
WSJ: A lot of veteran performers have screwed up the national anthem. They take it for granted and they forget the words. What are you doing to avoid that?
John Legend: I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’ve done the national anthem a few times before. It’s challenging because you do it by yourself a cappella in front of millions of people. The song itself, the way it’s composed, it can be tough: it’s low at the beginning and high at the end. You want to start in the right pitch, so you end on the right pitch. Some singers start too high at the beginning and they have no where to go at the end. I’ll be fine.
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TweetFootball playoff potentials for area teams
Very unscientific and I won’t project who beats who, but here’s how area teams could advance to the state playoffs. This will be in Friday’s paper, as well.
• Springfield (6-3) needs to beat Wayne for a spot in Division I, Region 3 playoffs. It’s that simple, and also that difficult. Wayne (6-3) and hasn’t lost to a Springfield team since 2002.
• Tecumseh’s almost assured a first-round game, yet the Arrows (8-1) still have much to play for. A win at Bellefontaine gives them a share of the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division and possibly a higher Region 8 seed.
• West Liberty-Salem (9-0) can clinch an undefeated regular season and the Ohio Heritage Conference by winning at Cedarville. Region 20 is especially crowded at the top, so a Tigers’ home playoff game is not automatic.
• Southeastern (7-2) needs to beat Triad to ensure its first playoff appearance since 2002. Should the Trojans beat Triad they have a shot at a playoff home game.
• Shawnee (6-3) needs to beat Stebbins (0-9) and hope a couple things fall in place to go to the Region 12 playoffs.
• Graham (7-2) first needs to beat rival Urbana (5-4), then a win and some help puts the Falcons in the Region 10 playoffs. The Falcons already clinched a share of the CBC Mad River title.
• A scenario exists for Catholic Central (5-4) to make the Region 24 playoffs. First the Irish need to beat Mechanicsburg (6-3), one of its biggest rivals. Mechanicsburg’s run of seven straight playoff appearances looks to be over, even with a win.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Catholic Central High School, Graham High School, High School Football, Mechanicsburg High School, Shawnee High School, Southeastern High School, Springfield High School, Tecumseh, West Liberty-Salem High School
TweetMascot Faceoff: Wittenberg vs. Wooster
News release from Wittenberg University:
First-Ever Online Mascot Face-Off Between Wittenberg and Wooster Builds Collegiate Spirit, Highlights Competition and Provides Comic Relief
Imagine the scene. Wittenberg’s beloved Tiger mascot going head-to-head with Wooster’s Fighting Scot mascot in a face-off destined to define the ages. For Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster, the fate of their respective mascots will come down to the votes of fans as the first-of-its-kind contest gets underway today, Oct. 26, at www.mascotfaceoff.com.
The drama, the thrill of competition, and rigors of athletic preparation unfold in unique fashion online as the four-minute face-off airs on both schools’ respective Web sites for two weeks prior to the Wooster-Wittenberg football game, Nov. 14. In addition to providing the ability for fans to vote for the winner, the Web site integrates social media technology, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The brainchild of Wittenberg’s Offices of University Communications and Alumni Relations, the face-off idea quickly grew in popularity following conversations with the same offices at The College of Wooster. From there, Wittenberg designed and deployed the interactive Web site, which includes a video showcase of each mascot as well as pages for fans of each institution.
Voting will conclude on Nov. 14 at the end of the football game between the two longtime Division III Ohio rivals. Between now and then, a series of video vignettes featuring campus administrators and students from each institution will be strategically used to encourage fans to vote for their favorite mascot in a competition that will go down in history as one of the finest in the world of sports.
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TweetWittenberg up to No. 15 in AFCA poll
Wittenberg jumped one spot from No. 16 to No. 15 in the latest American Football Coaches Association Division III poll.
The Tigers are 7-0 and 4-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with three games remaining: at Denison and home against Allegheny and Wooster. They beat Carnegie Mellon 28-7 on Saturday, Oct. 24.
In the D3football.com poll, the Tigers jumped from No. 21 to No. 17, passing the Wabash team it beat two Saturdays ago. Wabash stayed at No. 18.
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TweetNorthwestern boys soccer match moved to Shawnee
Due to power outages at Northwestern High School’s athletic facilities, the Warriors Division II soccer match against Kenton Ridge tonight, Oct. 20, has been moved to Shawnee.
The game will begin at 7 p.m. as previously scheduled.
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TweetExtra thoughts on Wittenberg-Wabash
I’ve witnessed 85-90 Wittenberg football games over the last nine seasons, including 10 Wittenberg-Wabash games.
College football doesn’t get much better than when the Little Giants and Tigers are on the field at the same time. It gets bigger, sure. Just up the road from Crawfordsville on Saturday, Ohio State and Purdue played in front of a crowd 10 times as big as the one that watched Wittenberg and Wabash.
But few college rivalries can match the drama of the recent Witt-Wabash games. Four times since 2002, the Wittenberg-Wabash game has been decided by a field goal.
In 2002, Wabash’s Mark Server kicked a 27-yard field goal in overtime to beat Wittenberg 46-43 in Springfield.
In 2006, Wabash’s Chad Finley missed a 28-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter, and Wittenberg won 19-17 in Springfield.
In 2008, Wabash’s Spencer Whitehead kicked a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the game to beat Wittenberg 13-10 in Springfield.
In 2009, a Wittenberg kicker finally got a chance, and Zack Harris took advantage, booting a 31-yard field goal to beat the Little Giants 10-7 in Crawfordsville.
After Saturday’s games, Harris cradled the ball he booted through the uprights and a pizza as he hugged his parents outside the stadium. In 12 years of kicking, he had made kicks late in the fourth quarter, but never in the final seconds as he did Saturday.
Harris celebrated the kick with a couple of fist pumps as his teammates jumped around like little kids until they realized one second still remained on the clock.
Amid the chaos, the offensive line showed just how tight-knit they are, something Dillon Hollin talked about in this story. Senior Tony Eich was hobbling off the field when junior Jeremy Block ran out to meet him. Block picked up Eich and threw him over his shoulder (all 260 pounds of him) and had just enough energy to get him to the sideline before dumping Eich on the training staff. If you watch closely, you can see the scene in the video below.
What you won’t see in any of the game footage is Wabash senior quarterback Matt Hudson. He missed the game because of an injury suffered in the previous week’s game. All week, everyone wondered if he would play, but as Hudson wrote in his excellent and insightful blog on Wabash’s Web site, he knew all week he wouldn’t play. I suspected as much all week, also knowing that Wabash (or Wittenberg if the situation was reversed) had no reason to confirm it. It’s interesting to read the background of the story, which Hudson gives in the blog entry.
Hudson: “Basically, in a span of 2 hours, I go from believing that I’m just being a sissy and have bruised ribs, to knowing that my lung is partially collapsed and that I need a chest tube put in, in INDY no less. Quite a ride, to say the least. The next thing I know, I’m riding in an ambulance to Indy at 10:30 Saturday night, quite well aware that I’m going to miss our second biggest game of the year next week (and to all of those who read the local newspaper, I apologize. There was absolutely no chance I was playing this weekend, and we all knew this 7 days in advance. All that “Hudson’s status in question” stuff was simply to keep Wittenberg guessing. Sorry). So I get to Indy, they put the tube in, and within minutes, it’s drained about a liter and a half of blood from my chest cavity (I guess one would consider this internal bleeding). The morphine makes me itchy, and I get about 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night.”
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TweetWittenberg rises to 16th in football poll
After its 10-7 victory over Wabash on Saturday, Wittenberg (6-0) jumped from 22nd to 16th in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll.
Wabash (5-1) fell from 10th to 21st.
Wittenberg is one of 16 undefeated teams in the top 25.
There are four other Ohio teams in the top 20: No. 1 Mount Union; No. 9 Case Western Reserve; No. 11 Otterbein; and No. 17 Capital.
In the D3Football.com poll, Wittenberg is ranked this week for the first time. It is No. 21. Wabash is 18th, falling from 10th after losing to the Tigers.
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TweetWitt beats Wabash on last-second kick
By David Jablonski Staff Writer
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Wittenberg set an offical school record for hugs in the aftermath of it’s 10-7 victory over Wabash on Saturday, Oct. 17.
That’s what you do when you erase almost a decade of frustration in Little Giant Stadium with one kick. You wrap your arms around the nearest battered, bruised and sweaty teammate, and you hug it out like brothers.
Fifth-year senior Zack Harris participated in his share of bear hugs. His 31-yard field goal with 1 second left gave the still-unbeaten and 22nd-ranked Tigers their biggest victory in years and their first on the home field of No. 10 Wabash.
The kick came one season after Wabash beat Wittenberg 13-10 in Springfield on a last-second kick of its own. It’s the the third time in four seasons the game has come down to a field goal in the final seconds.
“I was just glad I had a shot,” said Harris, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. “I remember standing on the sideline last year when they were kicking. I’ve seen it three times since I’ve been here in five years, and we finally got our chance.”
Defensive tackle Lance Phillips, another fifth-year senior called it “probably the greatest victory I’ve ever had in football.”
“I think it’s huge for the program,” Phillips said. “We’ve never sung the fight song at Wabash. It’s something we’ve been reminded of quite frequently.”
Wittenberg’s finished its only previous victory in Crawfordsville in 2000 at a high school in town. It had since lost four straight at Little Giant Stadium.
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TweetWabash QB Hudson won’t play against Witt
From the Paper of Montgomery County (Ind.):
Wabash College’s football team will be without its tallest offensive weapon this afternoon.
Wabash senior quarterback Matt Hudson won’t play in today’s against North Coast Athletic Conference rival and No. 22-ranked Wittenberg, Little Giants’ coach Erik Raeburn said Friday afternoon.
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TweetEarlham’s move out of NCAC official
From the Palladium-Item in Richmond, Ind.: GREENWOOD, Ind. — Earlham College will join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference beginning in the 2010-11 academic year, the conference announced this morning.
Earlham has been affiliated the past 20 years with the North Coast Athletic Conference.
“We are very pleased to have Earlham College join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference as our 10th member beginning in the fall of 2010, as they have a rich tradition of strong academic and intercollegiate athletic programs,” said Christopher Ragsdale, commissioner of the HCAC.
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TweetUpdate on Wabash QB Matt Hudson: Still questionable
Wabash head coach Erik Raeburn said it likely won’t be determined until later in the week whether or not starting quarterback Matt Hudson will play in Saturday’s showdown against Wittenberg in Crawfordsville, Ind.
Hudson suffered a chest injury in a victory over Washington University on Saturday, Oct. 10.
“As coaches, I think you’ve got to prepare as if they’re not going to to play and then cross your fingers that they’re going to be OK,” Raeburn told the News-Sun on Wednesday afternoon. “He’s still questionable. He’s been at practice, but he really hasn’t done much of anything.”
Hudson suffered the injury in the first quarter Saturday and played the rest of the game. Raeburn said Hudson thought he had gotten the wind knock out of him, but later that night it became apparent it was more serious.
“He’s a veteran guy,” Raeburn said. “With the veteran guys, if they get cleared by the trainers, we let them play. A younger guy who misses practice with some injuries, often times they’re not going to be ready.”
Hudson, a senior, is 2-0 against Wittenberg as a starter. He is the reigning North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He ranks 12th in NCAA Division III this season in pass efficiency with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Wabash’s backup QBs are sophomore Josh Miracle and freshman Chase Belton, of Clayton Northmont High School.
Wittenberg and Wabash enter Saturday’s 1 p.m. game with perfect 5-0 records. Each team is 3-0 in the NCAC.
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TweetWabash QB’s playing status in question for Witt showdown
From the Paper of Montgomery County:
Hudson suffered a pneumothorax injury during the No. 10 Little Giants’ 31-12 Saturday afternoon win over Washington University in St. Louis, Wabash College Sports Information Director Brent Harris said on Monday afternoon.
According to WebMD (www.webmd.com), a pneumothorax is a buildup of air in the space between the lung and the chest wall.
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TweetSpringfield beats Northmont 21-18
The Wildcats beat Northmont 21-18 after Northmont had two late chances to score.
Springfield finished with 165 total yards of offense and had five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumble recoveries).
B.J. Bush scored on a 75-yard interception return for the lead with 3:35 left in the third quarter.
Northmont kicked a field goal with 10:49 left in the fourth quarter. Springfield leads 21-18 with four minutes left in the game.
End of three quarters, Springfield leads 21-15. Northmont is on the Wildcats’ 10-yard line.
3:35 left in the third quarter: Springfield linebacker B.J. Bush returned an intercpetion 70 yards for a score and 21-15 lead (the extra point failed).
Some halftime stats of the 15-15 tied game between Northmont and Springfield.
Springfield RB Trey DePriest has 76 yards and one TD on six carries. He picked up most of those yards on a 42-yard run that he cut across the field.
Springfield has 13 penalties for 80 yards, mostly illegal procedures and encroachments.
Korey Ringer has 96 yards on 15 carries, plus one catch for 17 yards. He scored both of the Northmont TDs, plus the two-point conversion.
Northmont had three turnovers in the first quarter, two fumbles and an interception.
A 50-yard interception return by Springfield’s Onslow Williams set up a 6-yard TD run from George Walker.
1:11 left in the half: Northmont responded to Springfield’s go-ahead TD with a quick drive and score. Korey Ringer caught a 17-yard TD pass, then scored the two-point conversion. 15-15 with the first half almost over.
4:10 left in the half. Springfield’s up 15-7. Trey DePriest scored on a 1-yard run, and Alex Gaskins took the bobbled two-point conversion snap and scored.
11:54, second quarter. Springfield QB George Walker scored on a 6-yard run to tie the game. Onslow Williams had a 50-yard interception return to the 12 yard line to set up the TD.
2:45 left in the first quarter, Northmont just scored its first touchdown, a 3-yard run from Korey Ringer.
The Wildcats had fumbled a punt on the previous play.
4:37 left in the first quarter. No score. The Wildcats just attempted a fake punt, but the pass failed.
7:30 p.m.: I’ll be providing live updates from the Springfield-Northmont football game at Evans Stadium on Friday, Oct. 9.
The game just kicked off. Springfield has the ball.
The field is sloppy and it’s raining.
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TweetWittenberg has been dominant in four games
It’s hard to judge exactly how good the Wittenberg football team is in 2009. They have crushed four opponents (Olivet, Washington University, Ohio Wesleyan and Hiram) by a combined score of 173-13, but those four teams own a combined record of 3-14.
The Tigers should win by another lopsided score Saturday, Oct. 10, at Earlham College.
Then it’s the biggest test of the season: Wittenberg at Wabash on Oct. 17. Wabash will also likely be 5-0 entering that game, and it is currently ranked 11th in the nation.
What you can say about the Tigers is that they have been more dominant through four games than any Tiger team this decade. Some facts to consider:
If Wittenberg beats Earlham, it will be 5-0 for the first time since 2000.
Wittenberg has outscored its first four opponents by 160 points. That’s the biggest margin the program has had through four games since the 1997 team’s 217-27 margin.
Wittenberg leads NCAA Division III and all divisions of NCAA football in total defense (115.5 yards per game).
Wittenberg is tied for the NCAA D-III lead in scoring defense with Wisconsin-Whitewater (3.25 points per game). Those are the only two defenses in all of college football to be allowing fewer than seven points per game).
• Wittenberg is tied for eighth in NCAA D-III in scoring offense (43.25 points per game). Wabash is first (50.75 points per game). Witt is 21st in total offense (457.5 yards per game). Wabash is eighth (494.25).
Wittenberg season photos by Barbara J. Perenic and David Jablonski.
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TweetSix are finalists for Springfield/Clark County Baseball Hall of Fame
News release from the Springfield/Clark County Baseball Hall of Fame:
The Board of the Springfield/Clark County Baseball Hall of Fame met today to select the nominees for induction into the Hall of Fame in January. Fifty-one people and six teams were nominated and the 10- member board selected six individuals from those to appear on this year’s ballot. All living Hall of Fame members will have the opportunity to vote on these six with the top three being inducted in January. Those six are: Al Fulk, Jim Hardman, Joe “Spanky” McFarland, Rick Rogers, Phil Scott and Bob Timmons.
The other 45 people nominated were: Clint Albert, Bob Alexander, Michael Amato, Keith Beals, Bruce Brown, Sr., Bruce Brown, Jr., Tom Cameruci, Jim “Bud” Copeland, Jason Cordial, Robert Davis, Bob Detling, Danny Dewitt, Glenn Folck, Ken Fyffe, Chuck Haggy, Don Hardnick, Leroy Harshaw, Don Houseman, Jim Houseman, John Hunter, Tim Kelly, John Kuss, Bret Miller, Robert F. Mitchell, Dick Moore, Dan Palmer, Nate Pool, Steve Parrill, Jeff Rinker, Joe Robinson, Roy Rogers, Jason Ronai, Owen Seeley, Jr., David Simonton, Harold Stephens, Robert Swisshelm, Tom Taylor, Terry Triplett, Dustin Wade, Dick Ward, Margaret Wilt, Bill Winkhouse, and Don West.
Six teams were also nominated and the top two vote getters will be inducted. They were: 1877 Champion City Blue Sox, 1938 Pitchin High School, 1943 Springfield High School, 1969 Southeastern High School, 2002 Springfield Giants, 2007 Kenton Ridge High School.
The Class of 2010 inductees will be announced on November 2 and will be inducted at the Hall of Fame Banquet, which will be held January 9, 2010.
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TweetWildcats lose 38-6 to Centerville
8:14 left in the game, and Springfield scored its first TD.
George Walker ran in from 14 yards out, and the two-point conversion failed.
The Elks were stronger up front and harassed the Wildcats on offense all night. A Springfield fumble late in the second half led to an easy Centerville score to up the Elks up 21-0. That deficit was too big to overcome.
3:04 left in the third quarter: Centerville just put together an 11-play drive, helped by two encroachment penalties, to go up 28-0.
Springfield’s drive stalled on the 32-yard line. The Wildcats are moving the ball, but can’t seem to put together enough plays to maintain a drive.
Springfield trails Centerville 21-0 at halftime at Centerville.
The Elks have outgained the Wildcats 194-60.
It was electric in anticipation before the game with both teams coming in with 4-1 records. But the Elks have been more aggressive and taken advantage of two Springfield turnovers.
Springfield turned the ball over late in the first half that allowed Centerville to score with 16 seconds left. That leaves the Wildcats in a big hole for the second half.
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