Where's Waldon? Making big plays as Bloomington South claims regional football title

Given the amount of damage Lucas Waldon has done in the postseason, it seems mind-boggling that the senior receiver continues to find so much open space on the football field.

The senior was smiling big after Bloomington South's first regional title since 2019 after another huge game: eight receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns with his signature wind-milling arms celebration in a 42-21 win over Evansville North on Friday at Fred Huff Field.

But forgive Evansville North's defense, stuck with the same puzzler as every other team on South's schedule: Yeah, there's Waldon, but the Huskies also had D'Andre Black, Tysen Smith and running back Gavin Adams to keep track of. At only 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds, he gets lost by the defense and found by his QB for big play after big play.

"They've got a lot of receivers," North coach Joey Paridaen said. "So you try to take one away and they've got another one who can step up. It's a real bear to stop."

Waldon was seemingly always there when quarterback Jarrin Alley and the Panthers needed him, whether keeping drives alive, igniting them or finishing them off.

"Lucas has been doing that all year," South coach Gabe Johnson said. "And I think it's what makes us hard to defend with him and D'Andre. D'Andre had a bit of a quiet night, but we anticipate teams are going to put their best guys on him and they do. But Lucas was really, really big."

Alley was 15-of-26 for 239 yards, hitting on seven of his last eight attempts for 100 yards. Black had four catches for 52 yards, Smith two for 24 and Adams mauled the Huskies for 117 yards and three scores on 29 carries.

Another all-around night that produced 395 yards and 40 or more points for a school record 10th time this season.

"Clutch plays by everybody," Alley said. "The O-line gave me time to get the ball out. Lucas made great catches. D'Andre made great catches. Tysen had a few third-down catches, too. It was just clutch plays."

Success after failure for the Panthers

The seniors on this year's squad know what it's like to suddenly feel the chill and the sharpness of the wind on a November night when the season comes to an end after a shocking regional loss.

The Panthers were feeling nothing but happiness this time after two year's worth of frustration came to an end. Next week, South (11-1) will travel to Decatur Central, a 42-7 winner over Whiteland, for semistate and the right to play in Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 24 in the Class 5A title game.

"It means a lot because it's the next step in our goal," Alley said. "We had to get this one to get the big one."

"This feels amazing," Waldon said. "This was one of our goals and all of the guys who played tonight know what it's like to lose in it, so we were going in there, ready to fight and just do whatever we can to win this."

It's the first regional title for Johnson in his fourth year at South.

"The biggest thing is I wanted them to come out and fight," he said. "I told them the will to win is a really powerful thing. We came out and played really hard for the last time on our home field and we just wanted to execute well.

"Evansville North is a really, really good football team. And so are we. I just wanted us to be ourselves and do what we've done. Not turn the ball over, which we still haven't (in the postseason), tackle and rally to the football and take advantage of opportunities and I think we did that."

Evansville North says, 'Hold on just a second'

South's Ralph Rogers forced a fumble that Ben Ridner scooped up to start the fourth quarter.

The Panthers could not covert but looked to be in good shape when Elijah Whitney's punt rolled to the 13. Next snap, however, QB Sam McKinney looked deep to a streaking James Mercer and hit him for a stunning 87-yard TD. There was still 8:32 left and Huskies now had an inkling of a chance.

It was going to be up to the offense to stunt North's momentum this time and, boy, did they ever.

A handoff and a scramble netted two yards and a screaming Husky fan base. So Alley turned to Waldon for got free for a 37-yard gain to the EN 41.

The Panthers kept the drama coming, converting on a third-and-2 with a six-yard run by Adams. Then a holding call that created first-and-20. A big catch by Black netted 12 left on fourth-and-4. Smith was free this time for a six-yard gain and a first down at the 15, the clock draining.

"Every drive where it was third down, we just talked about fight," Waldon said. "The O-line did a hell of a job pushing the line forward and fighting for those three or four extra yards. Finding any way to survive and keep us having the ball."

Next snap, Adams was powering in for the score and the safe harbor of a 21-point cushion was restored.

"As long as we do our job, we're a really confident offense," Waldon said.

Why Friday was twice as nice for South football

Much like last week at Seymour, South found itself in a 14-14 tie and in need of a spark to pull away.

The defense helped, forcing a punt that gave the Panthers a good field position at their own 45. Eventually, Adams took care of the last 32 yards on the ground, slipping in from the 1 with 35 seconds left to make it 21-14.

"Those quick points before the second half sort of feeds us," Johnson said.

Since the Huskies made the decision to receive the opening kickoff after winning the toss, it gave South a chance to put back-to-back scores together in short order and it did. Smith had an 18-yard completion on third-and-9 to the 28.

It was still fourth-and-10 from the same spot and with injured kicker Bryce Taylor not available for field goals, went for it. Alley rolled right and found Waldon wide open for a 35-14 lead.

"It's just fight," Alley said. "We knew everything about them was physical. We knew we were going to have to fight. The O-line really stepped up. They ran a really light box so we knew we had to run the ball.

"The O-line got push on some big people. Gavin ran hard. Ben (Morrison) ran hard. Team effort."

South defense took a stand: 'Our kids rose to the challenge'

Evansville North had plenty of success on two of their first three drives to tie the game at 14 with 9:59 left in the second quarter.

The Huskies would not get another first down until the waning seconds of the third quarter and trailing, 35-14. Evansville North, which ran for 121 yards in the first half, had just 17 in the second.

And with quarterback Sam McKinney playing on a bad leg, it was tough sledding save for that one big play in the fourth. The Huskies were constantly in second and long, third and long situations and even stung themselves with a false start that turned a fourth-and-1 attempt into a punt.

"I thought we had to tackle better," Johnson said. "I didn't think we tackled well in the first half, and put them in those longer and more predictable situations so we could figure out what defense we wanted to be in and hopefully get a stop."

The Huskies had 360 yards, but take away the 87-yard TD pass and they had 88 after the break.

"I knew that containing them for four quarters was going to be tough," Johnson said. "I think our kids rose to the challenge."

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.

BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 42, EVANSVILLE NORTH 21

Evansville North (8-4) 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 — 21

Bloomington South (11-1) 14 | 7 | 14 | 7 — 42

FIRST QUARTER

EN: Cainen Northington 46 run (Alex Hess kick), 9:21. EN, 7-0.

BS: Gavin Adams 1 run (Anthony Perez kick), 8:17. Tied, 7-7.

BS: Jarrin Alley 27 run (Perez kick), 5:08. BS, 14-7.

SECOND QUARTER

EN: Jason Rucker 13 pass from Sam McKinney (Hess kick), 9:59. Tied, 14-14.

BS: Adams 1 run (Perez kick), :35. BS, 21-14.

THIRD QUARTER

BS: Lucas Waldon 28 pass from Alley (Perez kick), 10:08. BS, 28-14.

BS: Waldon 26 pass from Alley (Perez kick), 1:51. BS, 35-14.

FOURTH QUARTER

EN: James Mercer 87 pass from McKinney (Hess kick), 8:37. BS, 35-21.

BS: Adams 15 run (Perez kick), 3:05. BS, 42-21.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Evansville North (25-138): Cainen Northington 15-96, Kaleb Harris 2-23, Sam McKinney 5-13, Jason Rucker 3-6.

Bloomington South (40-156): Gavin Adams 29-117, Jarrin Alley 8-22, Lucas Waldon 1-9, Ben Morrison 2-8.

PASSING

Evansville North (13-24-0-222): McKinney 13-24-0-222.

Bloomington South (15-26-0-239): Alley 15-26-0-239.

RECEIVING

Evansville North: Lucas Pettit 5-83, James Mercer 4-109, Kasey Hospelhorn 2-13, Rucker 1-13, Northington 1-1.

Bloomington South: Waldon 8-168, D'Andre Black 4-52, Tysen Smith 2-24, Sam Giles 1-2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South makes big plays to win 5A IHSAA football regional