By RICHIE HALL
SHERIDAN – The rain and the wind wouldn’t let up at Sheridan’s Bud Wright Stadium Friday night.
Sheridan crowned its Homecoming king and queen in ceremonies prior to the game. Pictured are King Charlie Merriman and Queen Abby Merritt. (Allison Waitt)
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks, neither would Taylor.
The Titans scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to edge out Sheridan 12-11 in a Hoosier Heartland Conference game. It was the first conference loss of the year for the Hawks.
The weather conditions did affect game play, with both teams staying on the ground. Both Sheridan and Taylor only attempted one pass during the contest. The Blackhawks also held the Titans to negative yards for the entire game: minus 24 yards in 34 rushing attempts.
“I’ve never had a ball game before where a team had minus yardage and we got beat,” said Wright.
Sheridan looked like it was in control, scoring points in all three quarters. Alex Cravens got the Hawks on the board midway through the first period with a six-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Owen Bell fought off the conditions to make a 34-yard field goal, giving Sheridan a 9-0 halftime lead.
The defense helped out in the third quarter, forcing the Titans to recover a ball in the end zone for safety with less than a minute left in the period. The Blackhawks led 11-0 at that point.
But midway through the fourth quarter, Taylor’s Keyshawn Galloway took off for a 25-yard touchdown run, scoring the Titans’ first points of the game. Minutes later, Taylor recovered a fumble in the end zone, and the Titans had the lead. Sheridan tried to make one last march down the field but fell short.
“We just got to bear down and finish games,” said Wright. “That’s the second game we lost like that.” The Blackhawks dropped a game to North Miami during Week 2 in a way that Wright called “very similar.”
Jacob Hall led the Sheridan rushing with 44 yards, while Cravens gained 41 yards.
The Blackhawks are 3-1 in the conference and 3-3 overall. Sheridan travels to Delphi next Friday to continue HHC play.