Phone: 317-846-6601
Fax: 317-575-4244 Website:
www.ihsaa.org
_____________________________________________________________________________
November 25, 2005
Jimtown scored 21 points and
intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter to win its fourth state
championship in school history 35-7 over North Posey. All of Jimtown’s state championships have
come under coach Bill Sharpe. The title was the school’s first since 1998
and third in Class 2A.
Jimtown, leading 14-7 after
three quarters, drove 75 yards over 12 plays and scored on a 2-yard touchdown
run by sophomore Ryan Konrath to take a 14-point lead with 6:46 left to play in
the fourth quarter. The Jimmies struck
again at the 4:36 mark when junior Brian DeShone intercepted a North Posey pass
on 1st and 10 and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown to give the
Jimmies a 28-7 lead. Junior Garrett
Kavas picked off another Viking pass on the very next play from scrimmage and
returned it 19 yards to the North Posey 11-yard line. Jimtown would score on senior John Soli’s
7-yard touchdown run on fourth down.
On the ensuing kickoff,
Jimtown junior Nathan Klosinski recovered a North Posey fumble with 1:59 to
play. Jimtown took a knee on the next
three snaps to kill the fourth quarter clock.
Konrath rushed 16 times for
63 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way for the Jimmies. Soli rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries and
scored once.
North Posey, making its
first state finals appearance in school history, would get on the board first
when senior Jared Baehl scored from five yards out with 32 seconds remaining in
the first quarter. Baehl’s run capped
off a 13 play, 77-yard drive for the Vikings.
Jimtown would tie the score at seven when senior Ross Bauman returned a
punt 55 yards for a touchdown with 5:03 remaining before halftime. That was the only punt for either team in the
game.
North Posey junior Josh
Wagner finished 22-for-37 passing for 153 yards and three interceptions. Senior Jake Voegel caught eight passes for 69
yards. Baehl finished with 52 yards
rushing on 14 carries. Matt Scheller led
the North Posey defense with 13 tackles, including nine of the solo variety.
Jimtown finished the season
with a nine-game winning streak to finish 14-1.
North Posey finished 12-3.
NORTH POSEY’S RYAN KERNEY HONORED WITH MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD
North Posey’s
Ryan Kerney was named by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee as the winner
of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award.
At the conclusion
of each state championship game, the IHSAA Executive Committee presents the
award to an outstanding senior participant in the football state
tournament. The recipient of the award,
who was nominated by his principal and coach, must excel in mental attitude,
scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. The award is named in honor of
the third commissioner of the IHSAA who served from 1962 to 1976 and oversaw
the beginning of the state football tournament.
Kerney is a
member of the National Honor Society and has been Vice President of the Varsity
Club the last two years. He volunteers some of his spare time to coach youth
sports and also has helped with the St. Wendell Social Fund Raiser and has
gathered clothes for the Evansville Santa Claus Clothes Drive during the
holidays.
In addition to
football, Kerney has been a two-year starter on the Vikings basketball team and
was a member of the school’s Class 2A state championship baseball team last
summer.
He is undecided on
his area of study but is hoping to play football on the collegiate level.
Indiana Farm
Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, presented a scholarship check
for $1,000.00 to North Posey High School in the name of Ryan Kerney.
VSN MEANS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Visit our friends at Visual Sports Network, the IHSAA’s official
photographer for all state championship events and one of the leading action
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STATE FINALS PROGRAMS AVAILABLE
Couldn’t be in there for the
state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official souvenir program
while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in person at the IHSAA
Office (
Quotes from the Class 2A Game
Jimtown Head Coach Bill Sharpe
“We thought Johnny
(Quarterback John Soli) could run the quarterback trap
and we thought we could run the belly play.
If we can run the belly we got a chance.
Ryan (Konrath) is a good belly runner. Belly and trap are good plays for us. Those plays hit for us and they (North Posey)
may have gotten a bit tired. We had the
ball for a long time on that first drive.”
(On the Jimtown
offensive line) “Well, they are all
underclassman. Going into the season
that was the group we were really worried about. They did a terrific job this season and I
couldn’t be happier with them.”
“We made a couple of big
runs early. They are a very good team
and we had trouble all night long with them.”
(On second half) “Johnny (Soli) made a great play on the cross and keep (pass play)
when he hit Garrett (Kavas). That was a
great play by Garrett. He dropped the
ball earlier and came back to make that catch.
That was a huge play that gave us a two touchdown lead. Also, I think Scott Kindig
caught a split-end screen on a 2nd and 10 and he got 9.5 yards. That was a big play.”
“John Soli has done
a great job for us all season. If you
look back at our run in the tournament he has made play, after play, after play
this year. And tonight, Ross Bauman got
us going with the punt return.”
“I have nothing but respect
for North Posey. Their kids played
hard. We made a couple of big plays, a
couple of runs…this was a much closer game than the scoreboard indicated. I just couldn’t be happier for our kids and our
community.”
North Posey Head Coach Joe Gengelbach
“The first half both teams
battled back and forth. The big play was the punt return by Jimtown.
When I saw the wall form I knew we were in trouble. In the second half, they
had great ball control and we couldn’t make enough first downs.”
“In the second half they
were content to get three, four, or five yard runs. Jimtown
didn’t break any big plays, but they kept making third down conversions. In the
first half we were able to slow them down.”
“In a game like this when
the other team has the ball, we can’t do anything with it. When we did get it
we got close but we didn’t get the ball in the endzone
when we needed to.”
“We had two hideous plays
with the two interceptions and you just can’t do that against Jimtown.”
“On offense we played pretty
well. Again the turnovers hurt us and in the fourth quarter they pressed us a
little more and we turned it over. On defense we just didn’t make enough stops.
Our kids played hard all the way. I have no complaints. We represented the
North Posey community well, we just didn’t come away with
the win.”