By Ken de la Bastide, Kokomo Tribune
10/30/2008
ANDERSON — The Kokomo Wildkats convincingly removed the monkey from their collective backs Friday night by winning a sectional game for the first time since 1997.
The No. 8-ranked Wildkats put to rest a 10-game losing streak in first round sectional football games by pounding a game Anderson Highland Scots team 40-14 here in Class 5A play.
“I’m glad for the kids,” Wildkat coach Brett Colby said of his 9-1 squad. “We took another step with this program and hopefully another step next week.
“To saddle these kids with what happened the past 10 years is not fair, but it is what is it. We’re lucky we don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Kokomo raced to a 26-0 first half lead, but it was a defensive stop early in the fourth quarter that turned the momentum around after Highland scored two unanswered touchdowns.
Highland star running back Nathan Walters, held to 46 yards in the first half, put the Scots on the board with a 42-yard dash over right guard early in the third quarter to cut into the Kats’ lead.
Then with 2:52 remaining in the quarter, Walters again broke up the middle and scampered 72 yards to the end zone closing the Kats’ lead to 26-14.
“It was a rough third quarter,” Colby said. “Penalties and turnovers hurt us. We had the ball down there but just didn’t score. [Highland] never quit.”
Colby said the Kats used a reverse on the first play of the second half, hoping it would result in a score. It flopped.
“After that the wheels fell off the cart,” he said. “We finally got it jacked back-up and rolling.”
On its next drive, Kokomo drove the ball well, but turned the ball over on the Highland 17. Added by a holding penalty the Scots moved to the Kats’ 49 yard line. Three running plays netted 8 yards and on a fourth and two, interior lineman Doran Slater and linebacker Curt Hutchins dropped Jordon Segner for a one-yard loss.
“That was a big play,” Colby said. “We made the defensive stop and on the next play, ran for big yards. That turned the momentum. I was happy the kids responded. We had our backs to the wall and made a stand.”
Following the stop, Casey Shipley sprinted around the left side for a 37 yard gain to the Highland 21. From there Dylan Green only needed two plays to find the end zone and extend the Kats’ lead to 32-14.
Highland fumbled on its next possession which gave the Kats excellent field position at the Scots’ 24. Green carried for five yards, Braxton Shelton carried twice for 18 yards and then T.J. Weir went the final yard to put the finishing touches on a 40-14 victory.
In the first half Kokomo scored the first two times in touched the ball. Shelton rumbled 58 yards on the Kats’ opening play and the next time Kokomo got the ball, Shipley roared 49 yards for the first of his three touchdowns.
“I had a vision last night,” Colby said of the opening play call. “That has been a good play for us — the rocket from the I-back position. We haven’t used it much in recent games. On the second possession, Shipley just powered the ball.”
As expected, Highland game out throwing, but it was a long night for senior quarterback Kaleb Ogden, who after passing for 1,417 yards through nine games, was harassed into 9 of 23 accuracy for 52 yards. Ogden was sacked five times and twice flagged for intentional grounding.
It was a career night for Shipley, a junior, who carried the ball 14 times for 128 yards and three scores. Shelton closed with a solid 187 yards on 16 carries.
“We started out slow and that hurt us,” said Scots coach Randy Albano. “They jumped on us early — and just whooped us.”
The Kats gained 426 yards on 51 carries using seven ball carriers. The team averaged an impressive 8.2 yards per carry.
Walthers, Highland’s all-time leading rusher at just over 4,000 yards, ended his career 211 rushing yards. Highland closed its season at 7-3.
Hutchins had 14 tackles to become the all-time leader at Kokomo with 293 career stops. He has been the team’s leading tackler for three straight seasons.
“They’re a good team,” Colby said of Highland. “Their 7-2 record was no fluke. We had to defend against both the run and the pass.”
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