By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
Once the Sheridan football team got going, it was unstoppable.
Sound familiar? It’s the way the Blackhawks roll, and they rolled to a first-round sectional victory over Tri-Central, 50-8, Friday night at Bud Wright Stadium. Sheridan advanced to the semi-finals of Class 1A Sectional 44 with the win and will play at Wes-Del next Friday.
The two teams met back in Week 3 of the regular season, with Sheridan winning 28-6.
The ‘Hawks scored on the first play of the game: Joe Callahan blasted off 57 yards to the end zone just 20 seconds into the contest. Gunnar Williams’ extra point kick put Sheridan up 7-0.
But the Trojans answered right away, with Jacob Ripberger throwing a 19-yard pass to Jarron Grubb for a touchdown. Tri-Central then made a two-point conversion run, and that gave it an 8-7 lead.
“We just didn’t get a very good start again,” said Wright. “They came out and took it to us, and we weren’t reading our keys. Finally, they scored.”
After that, Wright said his team decided “to get a little bit more alert, read our keys better and play a little bit better defense.” And Sheridan did, not allowing the Trojans anymore points.
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, scored plenty of points. Drake Delph zoomed in from 29 yards with 4:13 left in the first quarter to get Sheridan back in front. In the second quarter, Delph tossed two touchdown passes to Nick Burnell; the second one came with 54 seconds left. Callahan then caught a two-point conversion pass from Cole Cummings, and that made the halftime score 29-8.
“After that first half-quarter, we played pretty good after that,” said Wright, who was coaching his 600th IHSAA game.
Sheridan added three more touchdowns in the third quarter. Callahan made a 16-yard run into the end zone at the period’s 8:21 mark, then Williams jogged in to score from three yards out a few minutes later.
Delph threw a 47-yard pass to Ange Gnamkey late in the quarter that got the ‘Hawks to the three-yard line. Not to worry, Gnamkey got in to the end zone a few seconds later, as he caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Delph.
Williams went 6-for-6 on extra-point kicks for the night.
Callahan finished with 170 yards on nine carries. Delph had another highly efficient night, completing nine of 13 passes for 164 yards. Gnamkey had four catches for 92 yards.
Sheridan is now 8-2 for the season.
Sheridan’s Ange Gnamkey (13) carries the ball with Joe Callahan (30) beside him during the Blackhawks’ 50-8 first-round sectional victory over Tri-Central Friday night at Bud Wright Stadium. The win advances Sheridan into next Friday’s sectional semi-finals. It was Wright’s 600th IHSAA game. (Kent Graham)
The Sheridan Blackhawks march on to the field to play Tri-Central at Bud Wright Stadium. (Kent Graham)