PENDLETON, Ind. —
Pendleton Heights already has won a pair of track meets.
Now the Arabians will see how they fare in a wrestling match.
Off to its first 2-0 start since 2005, the Pendleton Heights football team is well aware of the challenge it faces tonight.
New Palestine (1-1) is coming off a 24-14 victory against perennial power Delta. The Dragons beat the Arabians twice last year, including a season-ending setback in the first round of the sectional.
But both of those games were at New Palestine.
Pendleton Heights is hoping homefield, and much improved team chemistry, will add up to its first win against the Dragons since 2002.
“We feel confident,” junior quarterback Mitch Patishall said. “This game against New Pal is really big. If we can win that, it will give us a lot of momentum for the next couple of weeks.”
Tonight’s 7:30 kickoff against New Palestine marks the beginning of the toughest four-game stretch of one of the area’s toughest annual schedules.
After facing the Dragons, Pendleton Heights stares down a gauntlet of Shelbyville, Mount Vernon and Delta. The Arabians haven’t posted a winning record during this stretch since quarterback Justin Rummel led them to a four-game sweep in 2002.
Pendleton Heights lost all four games last year.
To turn the tide, head coach John Broughton said his team must be willing to out work New Palestine.
“It’s a matter of whether we’re willing to get down in the trenches with them,” Broughton said. “They’re a very physical team.”
The Dragons make no secret of their goal on offense. This is a smash-mouth unit that will run the ball right at the Arabians and see if their defense can withstand the pounding for four quarters.
Delta could not.
Sophomore running back Matt Siergiej gained 148 yards on 27 carries and scored one touchdown. Senior Austin Cahoy added 93 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
New Palestine’s longest run went for 22 yards, but both backs averaged nearly 5.5 yards per carry.
It’s a sustained, relentless attack. And the defense follows the same hard-nosed philosophy.
Delta senior Zach Overfield gained 97 yards on just nine carries and scored four touchdowns in season-opening 58-7 victory at Jay County. The Dragons held Overfield to just 55 yards on 14 carries and one score.
One week after averaging 10.8 yards every time he touched the ball, Overfield was held to just 3.9.
That’s just one sign of how hard New Palestine can make an offense fight for every yard.
But Pendleton Heights’ strength in the early season has been its offensive line. Kyle Babb, Kyle Smitherman, Michael Dawson, Jake Stilwell and Steffan Slick have paved the way for a highly efficient rushing attack.
Senior Dezmon Nunn leads the way with 5.9 yards per carry, and junior Jacob Lyons averages 5.7.
That balance has forced defenses to play Patishall more honestly in the passing game and opened up the Arabians’ polished run-and-shoot attack.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” Patishall said. “I feel like we’ve got good chemistry this year. Everybody is working hard for each other.”
That work so far has produced impressive wins against Yorktown and Greenfield-Central, two more building blocks as the Arabians fight to retore their once mighty program’s luster.
A win over defending sectional champion New Palestine tonight really would move that goal along.
“This is our toughest game of the year to this point,” Broughton said. “We know we’ve got our work cut out for us. But we think we’re up to the challenge.”
High School Sports
Related Photos
-
Pendleton Heights running back Dezmon Nunn runs the ball during the Arabians' game against Yorktown in the season opener. Aaron Piper / The Herald Bulletin
Discussion
Arabians ready for slugfest
- High School Sports
-
-
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.
-
Shenandoah bows out with loss to Wapahani
Wapahani’s Red Raiders advanced to the championship game of the Class 2A Frankton Baseball Sectional with a 7-2 win over Shenandoah.
- More High School Sports Headlines
-
