By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – Hamilton Heights battled to the finish with West Lafayette on Friday before falling to the Red Devils 21-7 in the Huskies’ Senior Night game.
Heights held firm against West Lafayette for most of the game before a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns gave the Red Devils some separation at the very end. While it was a tough loss for Heights to finish the regular season, Huskies coach Jon Kirschner was pleased with the effort, saying his team “played a very physical football game in all facets of the game.”
Heights’ Dre Chandler makes one of his five catches during the game, totaling 118 yards. (Bob Cross)
“A couple plays here and there and it’s 14-14,” said Kirschner. “I’m frustrated we lost, but the way we came out and hit them and got after them on all phases of the game, I’m pleased. We came up short.”
West Lafayette scored the lone touchdown of the first half, on an 11-yard run by Ian Szulkowski midway through the first quarter. The Red Devils held their 7-0 advantage into the third quarter, until Heights broke through in the third period.
Joey Sigler played outstanding during that period, especially when the Huskies were making their touchdown drive. A 37-yard throw to Nick Bichey got Heights into West Lafayette territory, then three passes to Keaton Weaver sandwiched around a 19-yard throw to Dre Chandler put the Huskies on the five. Sigler made two short runs to get in the end zone, and Keegan Kavanaugh made the extra-point kick.
“Joey Sigler played his butt off tonight,” said Kirschner. “He was under constant pressure. He made some big hits on the defensive side of the ball. He threw the ball really well. Spread the ball around to a lot of different receivers.”
The Red Devils regained the lead in the fourth quarter after a four-yard touchdown run. The Huskies made one more drive before turning it over on downs, and West Lafayette held on to the ball with its own drive, keeping the ball just shy of the goal line before punching it in with 11.3 seconds left to clinch the game.
Sigler finished the game 17 of 27 through the air, totaling 310 yards. Weaver made the most catches with six, while Chandler gained the most yardage, with 118 yards across five receptions.
The game was also a Hoosier Conference Big School Division contest. Heights finished division play right in the middle at 2-2 and is 3-6 overall. The Huskies travel to Speedway next Friday to begin play in Class 3A Sectional 29.
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