Fourth-quarter sack sends Sheridan to another conference championship
It went down to the wire at Carroll on Friday, but the Sheridan football team successfully defended its Hoosier Heartland Conference championship.
The Blackhawks escaped from the Class 1A No. 4 Cougars’ field with a 19-18 victory to give the 1A No. 10 Blackhawks a perfect 7-0 record in the conference. Sheridan is 8-1 overall.
“I thought it was a heck of a job,” said Blackhawks coach Bud Wright. The coach said this was the second week in a row his team had been tested, and both time it passed the test.
Neither team scored in the first quarter. Sheridan got on the board in the second period when Caleb Alexander ran the ball in from 34 yards for a touchdown, and Owen Bell made the extra-point kick. Carroll scored twice during the quarter and held a 12-7 halftime lead.
Both teams added another touchdown in the third period, so the Cougars led 18-13 going into the fourth. Jacob Jones got Sheridan’s score with a 32-yard run midway through the quarter.
The Blackhawks took the lead with 6:39 left in the game when Peyton Cross rumbled in from five yards. The Cougars made one last drive, getting a first down at the six-yard line. Carroll was third and four, but a Sheridan sack pushed the Cougars back. Carroll tried for a last-second field goal, but it didn’t go.
Wright said that when it was gut-check time, “the kids really buckled down and held their ground.”
Cross finished as the rushing leader with 111 yards.
The Blackhawks host Union City next Friday in the first round of 1A Sectional 45.
SHERIDAN 19, CARROLL 18
Score by Quarters
Sheridan 0 7 6 6 – 19
Carroll 0 12 6 0 – 18
Team Stats SHER CAR
First Downs 10 14
By Rush 8 13
By Pass 1 1
By Penalty 1 0
Rushes-Yards 48-214 45-199
Yards Passing 10 98
Comp-Att-Int-TD 1-3-1-0 2-9-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards 4-25 4-40
Punts-Average 3-30.7 2-36.0
Sheridan Scoring
Second Quarter
9:53 – Caleb Alexander 34-yard run (Owen Bell kick)
Third Quarter
6:02 – Jacob Jones 32-yard run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
6:39 – Peyton Cross 5-yard run (kick failed)
Sheridan individual stats
Rushing: Cross 32-111, Alexander 7-51, Jones 5-40, Zach Bales 4-12.
Passing: Alexander 1-3-10.
Receiving: Cross 1-10.