Bell tolls for youthful Vikings at Washington
Oct. 20—Washington had a bell chime on campus after every trip to the end zone — Friday it reverberated six times in the first of half.
The Hatchets ousted West Vigo in the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional 30 opener with a 46-7 decision.
"It sucks, losing like this for our [three] seniors, for everyone," West Vigo sophomore back Ryan Cobb said. "All you can do is learn from this, see what's happened, take it on, move for next year and just get better. That's what have to do in the offseason, in the weightroom, showing up for morning workouts. Just getting more focused on football and understanding football."
It could have been steeper in the opening half. The Hatchets had a missed field goal and incompletion off the hands of a pass-catcher in the end zone in the final 10 seconds.
The Vikings came out sluggish after their opening kickoff.
They called timeout before their defense trotted onto the field, just seven seconds in.
Cobb said it was personnel issues from the jump.
"Not being where you need to be," he said. "Wasting a timeout that early [is] not what you want to do. That's what happens when you don't focus up. You don't lock in from the start. That's what happened. We weren't locked in from the start."
The Hatchets (3-7) stormed down the field in less than three minutes.
Sophomore Xavion Lesure capped the series with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone, up the middle, after spinning away from a defender in the backfield.
On the ensuing kickoff, the football hit the turf, and the Vikings miserable start leaked over to field position. They started their first drive from the 3 and it ended at the 5.
A favorable bounce on the punt gave Washington the ball on the Vikings 32.
The Hatchets went ahead 14-0 with 7:37 left in the first half.
Junior Colton Stowers had time to survey the field before scooting to his right and launching a 32-yard throw to sophomore wideout Brody Isza who was open on that side of the end zone.
The Vikings picked up their opening first down on a 10-yard pickup on the ground by Cobb.
Sophomore quarterback Landon Fields utilized a run-pass option for pickups downhill. The Vikings' drive ended with a turnover on downs at the Washington 32.
The Vikings had a high long snap that grazed sophomore punter Chase Hedden's fingertips. He was tackled after scooping it up at the 1.
The Hatchets went ahead 21-0 on a 3-yard carry barreled across the plane by senior back Cameron Cook with 7:41 left in the half.
Isza caught a quick pass on the outside, cut inside to avoid a defender, and crossed the goal line as another defender grasped a handful of his jersey on a 13-yard score.
The Hatchets led 29-0 with 4:41 to go in the second quarter.
Hedden got snaps at quarterback for a drive. Fields came back on the next series that ended with an incompletion under duress on fourth down at the Washington 36.
The Hatchets went to the house on the next play, a slant from Stowers to sophomore Cordell Turner who outraced the secondary for a 64-yard score.
Cobb broke free a 39-yard run on the outside in the final five minutes during a running clock. The team's lone score was a 15-yard fling from Fields to his right to freshman Karson Stark.
"We've got so many guys that are going to be returning next year there are no excuses for anything," West Vigo coach Aaron Clements said. "We just got to get better at all three phases."
