ELWOOD, Ind. —
Elwood leaned heavily on the shoulders of their do-it-all running back, Trevor Ozenbaugh, and defeated Alexandria 33-17.
Ozenbaugh kicked extra points, made tackles, picked off a pass, threw a pass and most importantly ran the ball 39 times for 302 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s a player,” said Elwood head coach Marty Wells as he chuckled. “I don’t know what it takes to become the Army’s Iron Man of the Week Award. He’s been nominated two weeks in a row and will get nominated this week, so we’ll figure out what it takes to win it.”
“He’s a real nice football player,” said Alexandria head coach Pete Gast. “He’s one of the toughest backs that we’ll see. I give him credit, but they have a heck of a front.”
The Iron Man of the Week award is for players who play both sides of the ball. Ozenbaugh leads the conference in rushing.
Alexandria started off the game by dominating the field position battle. Ozenbaugh fumbled early and Austin Dauenhauer’s first pass attempt was intercepted by Alex’s Josh Blanton.
The Tiger’s took advantage of the turnovers and got out to an early 10-0 lead via a 19-yard pass connection between quarterback Nik Parkison and receiver Randi Kirkland and a 37-yard field goal by Michael McFerran.
“They play hard,” said Wells of Alexandria. “That’s what it’s all about: effort and attitude.”
But after the early lead, Ozenbaugh began to take over as the Panthers scored 33 straight points over the final three quarters.
On 18 of the last 21 plays for Elwood in the second quarter, Ozenbaugh carried the ball. He scored touchdowns from five and ten yards out and finished the half with 150 yards on 24 carries giving the Panthers a 13-10 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw Elwood’s only completed pass attempt on the night go for a 9-yard touchdown from Dauenhauer to Brandon Leisure.
Wells noticed in the formation the Tiger’s defense had kept inching closer and closer to stop the run and called the bubble screen a couple times on the drive and capitalized on the score.
Execution was an issue for Alexandria as they struggled to find any rhythm on offense despite having good field position all night.
“They were up in our face challenging us to throw the football,” said Gast, “but we just couldn’t connect. We just got to execute.”
Defensively, Gast didn’t see his team executing well either.
“Our technique is a little sloppy,” said Gast. “Our focus is off. Our eyes aren’t where they need to be.”
After having to punt on one drive, Ozenbaugh had an 80-yard touchdown run that put the game out of reach early in the fourth. He added another 9-yard touchdown later in the quarter.
Alexandria had only 163 yards total on offense. Jon Blanton led the team in rushing with 30 yards on 8 attempts.
Brandon Bennet scored a touchdown late for the Tigers on an 11-yard run.
Sammy Mireles added 90 yards rushing for the Panthers on 13 carries, including a big 45-yard run.
High School Sports
Elwood runs past Tigers
- High School Sports
-
-
Pendleton Heights falls to Roncalli in regional
In the Class 4A Regional Tuesday, Roncalli scored the game-winning run in a 3-0 victory over Pendleton Heights on a wild pitch during an intentional walk to North Carolina-bound star Kendra Lynch in the sixth inning at Legends Field in Pendleton.
-
Triumphant Tribe
Seventeen years of frustration and disappointment for the Anderson Indians baseball team ended in a jubilant dog pile atop junior pitcher Curtis Wilson on Monday night at Pendleton Heights’ Field of Dreams.
-
Argylls squeeze into crown
Madison-Grant coach Ben Rodriguez liked his squeeze play so much that he called it again in the pivotal inning of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 championship game at Eastern High School on Monday night in Greentown.
-
Bulldogs’ comeback falls just short
Not even a heroic seventh-inning rally could save the Lapel baseball team in the Class 2A sectional title game at Frankton on Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs scored four runs in the seventh inning but still came up a run short as the Wapahani Raiders won the championship 9-8.
-
Tribe rallies past Pendleton Heights into final
This is the stuff of legend.
The kind of game that defines a rivalry.
The kind of victory that breathes new life into a program.
And the kind of defeat that won’t ever be forgotten. -
Tipton bedevils Madison-Grant
The Madison-Grant softball team dug a deep hole on Friday night in the championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 at Eastern High School in Greentown. Trailing 5-0 after four innings, the Argylls scratched their way back into the game, but were on the short end of a 5-4 decision against the Tipton Blue Devils.
-
Indians’ Dabney headed to state
The North Central Boys Track Regional is traditionally one of the toughest in the state with powerhouses Lawrence Central, Ben Davis, Pike and the host Panthers among the competitors
But that didn’t faze Anderson senior Derrick Dabney, who turned in two brilliant performances in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at Thursday’s regional to advance to the state meet at Indiana University in Bloomington next Saturday. -
Roller coaster ride comes to end for Lapel
The Lapel Bulldogs couldn’t overcome one more hurdle in their roller-coaster season on Thursday as they fell to Wapahani 4-1 in the softball championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 40 at Shenandoah High School.
-
Mason powers Bulldogs into final
The Frankton pitching staff opened the door just a tick Thursday with occasional bouts of wildness. Lapel sophomore Dane Mason blew the door off its hinges with the first multi-homer game of his high school career — including a walk-off grand slam — and the third-ranked Bulldogs stomped the rival Eagles 14-3 to reach this Class 2A baseball sectional final.
-
Panthers upset Tigers in sectional
Elwood used a seven-run third-inning to stun Alexandria 11-5 and advance to the semifinals of the Class 2A baseball sectional at Eastern.
- More High School Sports Headlines
-
