Wright reflects

It’s been 41 years since two county teams fought a regional championship battle . . . and Sheridan’s Bud Wright is here to tell our readers the story

Before tonight, the only time two Hamilton County football teams had met to play for a regional championship was back in 1981.

Hamilton Southeastern traveled to Sheridan on Nov. 7, 1981 to play for a Class 1A regional championship. It was a wild game, with the Royals getting out to a big lead, the Blackhawks coming back to tie it up, and Southeastern throwing a long passing touchdown in the game’s final minutes to win the regional title 35-28.

Long before HSE grew into the 6A football program it is today – in fact, long before anyone thought there would be a Class 6A – the Royals and Sheridan were regular rivals on the football field, playing together in the Rangeline Conference for decades. The Southeastern-Sheridan series lasted until 1996.

“Southeastern-Sheridan at that time drew all kinds of people,” said Blackhawks coach Bud Wright. “(Former coach) Dave Enright was one of my close friends. We’ve been friends for quite a while.”

The 1981 meeting would be the only tournament get-together for the ‘Hawks and the Royals. That’s probably a good thing, since the game the two teams played could probably never be duplicated in terms of drama. The late Don Jellison, the Hall of Fame Noblesville Ledger sports editor who also helped to start the Hamilton County Reporter, wrote about the game in the Nov. 9, 1981 issue of the Ledger.

At first, it looked like the regional game would be anti-climactic. Southeastern thoroughly dominated the first half, leading 28-0 with 9:53 left in the second quarter. Kevin DeTrude scored a 41-yard rushing touchdown with seven minutes left in the first quarter, then on their next series, the Royals’ Jack Powell took off on a 70-yard scoring run.

DeTrude added another touchdown in the opening play of the second period, jogging in from the four-yard line. Minutes later, Ron Moyer threw a 64-yard pass to John Clements for the fourth HSE touchdown. Doug Stis kicked all four extra points.

Despite trailing, Wright told Jellison that he didn’t think his team was out of the game.

“I told the kids if we could score twice in the first eight minutes of the second half we could get back into the game,” said Wright in the article. “And, we did.”

Sheridan had actually scored in the first half, on the final play. Brad Little threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Steve VanMeter, this after the Blackhawks had to get lined up fast.

The ‘Hawks got going right away in the third quarter, after a halftime talk from Wright that Jellison called “stormy.” Little threw a TD pass to Mike McVey, and Sheridan was within 28-12. (The ‘Hawks had gone for two after both touchdowns, but were unsuccessful each time.)

Sheridan’s David Leonard then picked off an HSE pass and ran 52 yards for a touchdown. Little then ran in a two-point conversion. In the fourth quarter, Little struck again, tossing a 31-yard scoring pass to VanMeter, and ran in another two-pointer.

The game was tied at 28-28. The Blackhawks looked to be in position to score again after another interception, but Southeastern’s defense stepped up and forced Sheridan to punt. That gave the Royals the ball on their 13-yard line, but one play was all they needed: Moyer threw to a running Powell, and the two turned it into an 87-yard touchdown pass. Stis finished the game with his fifth extra point.

Enright told Jellison after the game that his team “should have gone to Powell more.” He said: “You’ve got to dance with the lady you bring to the ball, and we had gotten this far with our passing game.”

“When I saw Powell getting single coverage at the end, I knew we could go to him,” Enright said to Jellison.

State teams

Back in the present day, Wright reflected on the game.

“It was a hard-fought football game,” he said. “We both had really good teams. They went to state in ’79 and we went and won in ’80. It was fought right down to the end. We were driving with under four minutes to go in the game. I actually called a bad play and it didn’t work.”

Southeastern would go on to win state in 1981, finishing the season undefeated. The Royals hosted North Posey in the semi-state and won 48-8, then edged out Woodlan 7-6 in the 1A state championship game. Enright was named the IFCA Region 8 and Rangeline Conference Coach of the Year, and was also the Butler University Alumni Football Coach of the Year as well.

Enright left HSE shortly thereafter to coach at Bloomington South, and also had six-year stints at Perry Meridian and Decatur Central. He was an assistant coach at Warren Central from 2002 to 2004, the year he was inducted into the IFCA Hall of Fame.

Wright, of course, would go on to win eight more state titles with Sheridan – 1984, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. And he’s still coaching 20 years later – getting ready to coach the Blackhawks in another regional game.