Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
_________________________________________________________________________
November 29, 2008
BELLMONT
COMPLETES JOURNEY WITH FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Bellmont completed a magical season capping
it off with the 3A state championship following a 28-14 victory over Evansville
Memorial at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Three weeks after capturing the
first sectional championship in school history, the Braves (14-1) rode the wave
of momentum pocketing the school’s first football title.
Junior running back Nick Hall scored
all four touchdowns for Bellmont including two in the
first half. He scored from 27 yards out in the first quarter to give the Braves
a 7-0 lead and then added a five yard score just :13
seconds before the half for a 14-0 advantage.
Memorial (12-3) wasted no time after
the break racing downfield in three plays on its first possession ending with
an 18 yard touchdown pass from Grant Gribbins to
Bryce Lueken to make it 14-7.
But Bellmont
answered on the very next possession with its own three play drive when
quarterback Joel Bone found Hall wide open deep over the middle for a 61 yard
score to make it 21-7.
After a Memorial punt, Hall finished
the next Bellmont drive with a one yard run on fourth
and goal for a 28-7 advantage with 2:56 to go in the third.
Evansville Memorial (12-3), which
was also appearing in its first state championship game a week after knocking
off two-time defending state champion and top-ranked Indianapolis Bishop
Chatard, pulled within 28-14 with 7:25 to go when Gribbins
found Jon Wandling for a 35 yard scoring pass.
Memorial recovered the on-side kick
but gave it back to Bellmont four plays later on
downs at midfield. Following a Bellmont punt,
Memorial was poised to pull within a one score with a first and goal at the Bellmont seven yard line. But Bellmont’s
Conner Emenhiser forced Wandling
into a fumble after a four yard catch and Caleb Meyer recovered at the two yard
line with 3:31 left to snuff out any chance of a rally.
Gribbens set a 3A game record with 241
passing yards and Wandling caught a game record nine
passes.
Bellmont was coached by Toney Bergman and John
Hurley was in his first year as Memorial’s coach.
EVANSVILLE
MEMORIAL’S ANDREW THEISING NAMED MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER
Following
the game, the IHSAA Executive Committee named Evansville Memorial’s
Andrew Theising as the winner of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award.
Theising,
a captain for the 2008 Tiger squad, started at left tackle and saw time during
the season at linebacker. He has also
been a four-year member of the Memorial basketball team.
Theising
has served as class president for four years and has spent four years as a
member of the Student Council as well.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and Key Club, and
participates in the freshman mentoring program and the Snowflake program, a
group that promotes the benefits of being drug and alcohol-free.
Academically,
Theising maintains a 3.6 GPA on a 4.0 scale. He is
undecided on his college choice but plans to study marketing and/or law.
Theising
is the son of Steve and Angie Theising of Evansville.
The award
is presented annually to a senior participant in the state finals who was
nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental
attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. It is named in honor of
the IHSAA’s third commissioner who served the
association from 1962-76 and who helped initiate the state tournament in 1973.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance presented a $1,000 scholarship to Evansville Memorial
High School in the name of Theising.
Class 3A Game Quotes
Bellmont Coach Toney Bergman
“Our
kids, our coaches, we haven’t had time to celebrate. First coming off of
sectionals, then regional and semi state. We didn’t celebrate, we just had to win
one more game and we kept our nose to the grindstone. Now we can sit back and really think about
what we’ve done. It’s an
outstanding group of kids that have worked hard and this is truly an instance
where hard work pays off.”
“We
were concerned with Memorial’s ability to run and pass and what
they’ve done in their conference and through the tournament. Our defense is outstanding…Defensively
we have three seniors, the rest are juniors and sophomores. I’m really proud of our defense, I thought they did a nice job all year long.”
“”It’s
a young group, a lot of juniors that started coming in the weight room at an
early age. They’ve been able to stick with it, and that’s why they
were out there playing today. We’ve had a lot of opportunities to spend
time together outside of football. I
love these kids, and I wish them the best.”
Evansville Memorial Coach John Hurley
“We
didn’t get off to a very good start, we made a
lot of mistakes. You’ve got to be
a man about it. We came to win and we didn’t. You have to stand tall and be proud. I thought our kids fought hard and they were
just a little bit stronger. It was a great football game, I’m so proud of
our kids.”
Eskew Mental Attitude Award winner Andrew Theising
(On winning
mental attitude vs. winning state title)
“I
would trade it in a heartbeat. I want to thank my teammates for a great
year. It’s not the outcome we
wanted. We fought through a lot of
adversity. I have a bright future. It’s just hard to swallow.”
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