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Team Members:
First Row L-R: Cheerleaders: Laura Harkness, Morgan Oberle, Jennifer Patton, Michelle Pate, April Moore, Shalyn Peters, Lyn Tucker, Sara Benefiel, Heather Hayes, Tara Hutslar, Greta Manship, Alicia Guffey, Megan Alvey.
Second Row L-R: Luke Kimmel, Dusty Cole, Michael Harmon, David McDonald, Ethan Smith, Nick Moon, Brad Hawkins, Eric Burton, Jason Latham.
Third Row L-R: Managers Shannon Lowe, Rebecca Dooley, Assistant Coach Billy Vincent, Assistant Coach, Mike Smith, Head Coach Tim Bless, Assistant Coach Barry Sutherlin, Assistant Coach Greg Couch, Assistant Coach Matt Hinshaw, Managers Andi McIntosh, Rachael Dooley.
Fourth Row L-R: Derek Daugherty, Jeremiah Campbell, Bryon Hinton, Josh King, Derek VanEmon, Travis Cole, Chad Gilliatt, Brent Blevins, Josh Elliott.
Fifth Row L-R: Marc Pate, Barry Walls, Lucas Saltsgaver, Mark Sutherlin, Darin Patton, Josh Stevens, Mike Pate, Josh Flick.
Sixth Row L-R: Ricky Snelling, Joe Fullen, Billy Lewellyn, Jeremy Hinton, Corey Dunn, Charlie Daugherty, Andy Tuell.
Seventh Row L-R: Rebecca Florence, Charlie McIntosh, Bill Holland, Derek Calvert, Zach Holland, Derek Mauermann, Chad Bowles.
1998 Record: 7-4 Tied for 2nd in P.L.A.C.
Team Leaders:
Passing: Derek VanEmon 116/252 1,589 yds. 16 TD
Rushing: David McDonald 137 att. 847 yds. 13 TD
Receiving: Dusty Cole 50 rec. 931 yds. 13 TD
1998 Game Results:
Game 1 at. Southridge: Southridge: 43 Paoli: 6
Game 2 vs. Mitchell: Paoli: 33 Mitchell: 20
Game 3 at. Springs Valley: Springs Valley: 28 Paoli: 20
Game 4 at. North Harrison: Paoli: 27 North Harrison: 6
Game 5 vs. West Washington: Paoli: 39 West Washington 16
Game 6 vs. Corydon: Paoli: 28 Corydon: 6
Game 7 vs. Salem: Salem 21: Paoli: 10
Game 8 at. Brownstown: Paoli: 33 Brownstown: 24
Game 9 vs. Perry Central: Paoli: 42 Perry Central: 24
Game 10 at. Southridge: Paoli: 34 Southridge: 31***
Game 11 vs. Evansville Mater Dei: Evansville Mater Dei: 35 Paoli: 7
***Last time Paoli defeated Southridge
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1998 GAME REVIEWS
***PAOLi UPSETS SOUTHRIDGE 34-31 IN SECTIONAL OPENER***
HUNTINGBURG - Most high school football teams would've begun planning their off-season schedules upon learning that their first-round foe was a team that defeated them 43-6 during Week 1 of the regular season.
The Paoli Rams simply began planning.
They planned how to stop Southridge's explosive offense. They planned how to move the ball against its bone-crushing defense. And most importantly, they planned how to overcome the psychological scars of the pounding that took place nine short weeks earl
ier.
Chalk one up to careful planning, as the well-prepared Rams pulled off an unfathomable turnaround, shocking the home-standing Raiders 34-31 Friday night in a Class 2A Sectional showdown chocked with intensity and big plays.
No plays were bigger than those executed by Paoli quarterback Derek VanEmon and sticky-fingered receiver Dusty Cole. Cool as ice, VanEmon faced the teeth of the Raider rush all night and came out smiling. The junior signal caller tossed for 267 yards and
three touchdowns, while Cole was the recipient of 197 of those yards and all three scores.
The VanEmon-to-Cole connection came up golden four times on the Rams' decisive 99-yard drive, which put them ahead for good. The duo completed a crucial 29-yard fade route on third-and-eight from their own three, a seven-yard curl on fourth-and-three fro
m the Southridge 30, and a 12-yard bullet into the end zone on first-and-10 with 8:45 to play. As if that wasn't enough, VanEmon found Cole for the key two-point conversion, making it 28-25.
Paoli's defense then came up huge. Senior end Brad Hawkins busted through the line and sacked Southridge quarterback Mitch Stetter for a 10-yard loss, forcing a punt.
The Rams quickly turned the back over to the Raiders, when the Paoli defense again rose to the occasion. Senior inside linebacker David McDonald, who was hobbled with a first-quarter ankle injury, managed to strip the ball from Southridge rusher Jeremiah
Tredway, and Paoli tackle Josh King recovered.
The Rams took over at their own 41 and added what proved to be much-needed insurance. The pivotal play was senior tailback Michael Harmon's 57-yard scamper to the Southridge two. Harmon plunged in the next play and the Rams owned a 34-25 edge with 5:19 t
o play.
But Southridge wasn't finished. A five-play, 48-yard drive consumed less than three minutes and brought the Raiders within a field goal on Tredway's 12-yard touchdown run.
The next two-plus minutes seemed to last an hour, as a litany of injuries, time outs and mysterious clock stoppages made the Rams sweat to the finish.
But it was well worth the wait, as an emotional mob hoisted first-year coach Tim Bless on its shoulders when the Rams were finally able to gobble up the remaining seconds.
"It was a thrilling victory," said a beaming Bless. "My kids came to play. Not too many people were giving us a chance, but we expected that we were going to win the football game. And we played to win it."
Midway through the second quarter Bless and Paoli's hearty gathering began experiencing flashbacks to August, as two quick Raider strikes gave them a 19-6 lead and harkened memories of the first meeting. After McDonald's five-yard run brought the Rams wi
thin 7-6, Stetter answered by completing a drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, and Kuczynski capped another with a five-yard gallop.
Making matters worse, McDonald, Paoli's leading tackler, was unable to play on either side of the ball the final 15 minutes of the first half.
"It's a great tribute to our kids," Bless said. "This field is a jinx to David because he went down in Week 1 on this field also.
"But our kids held their poise. David is our leader on offense; he's our leader on defense. But we played without him most of the first half and we hung tough.
"Then in the second half we had him most of the time still not at full capacity, and we won the ballgame."
The Rams completed a gritty, five-play, 43-yard drive to narrow the gap to 19-13 before half. As usual, Cole and VanEmon hooked up for the clutch play: a 27-yard fade into the left corner of the end zone.
"Give credit to those two kids," Bless said of Cole and VanEmon. "Derek played a marvelous game at quarterback. He showed great poise in the pocket. They were pressuring him, hitting him, yet he hung tough and delivered.
"And I can't say enough about Dusty Cole. He went after the football. Like has happened all year, when the ball is in the air he goes after it."
The Rams took their first lead when they spanned 68 yards on five plays to begin the second half. VanEmon found Cole for a 32-yard touchdown and Armando Delgado added the point-after kick to make it 20-19.
Southridge quickly regained the lead, 25-20, when Stetter snuck it from a yard, capping an eight-play, 43-yard, all-ground drive.
Then the Rams broke the Raiders' back with the 99-yard drive.
"That showed our great perseverance," Bless said. "We got in a hole, and then we get a nice pass to get us some breathing room and then we just keep marching. That was a great offensive drive."
Cole's three interceptions led Paoli's spirited defense, which forced five turnovers.
"I'm so proud of our defense," Bless said. "We held Southridge's offense, which has been an incredibly successful offense all year long. They gained some yards on us, but we made plays when we needed to make plays."
Paoli tallied 360 yards total offense to Southridge's 382. Tredway carried 20 times for 173 yards to lead the Raiders (8-2).
The Rams (7-3) return home to face Evansville Mater Dei Friday.
Paoli 6 7 7 14-34
Southridge 7 12 6 6-31
First Quarter
S - Jeremiah Tredway, 66-yard run (Kurt Kuczynski kick), 6:56. Southridge 7, Paoli 0.
P - David McDonald, 5-yard Touchdown run (kick failed), 3:55. Southridge 7, Paoli 6.
Second Quarter
S - Mitch Stetter, 8-yard run (kick failed), 11:54. Southridge 13, Paoli 6.
S - Kuczynski, 5-yard run (run failed), 6:42. Southridge 19, Paoli 6.
P - Derek VanEmon 27 yard Touchdown pass to Dusty Cole (Armando Delgado kick),1:01. Southridge 19, Paoli 13.
Third Quarter
P - Derek VanEmon 32 yard Touchdown Pass To Dusty Cole (Armando Delgado kick), 10:11. Paoli 20, Southridge 19.
S - Stetter, 1-yard run (pass failed), 4:06. Southridge 25, Paoli 20.
Fourth Quarter
P - Derek VanEmon 12 yard Touchdown Pass to Dusty Cole (Derek VanEmon pass to Dusty Cole), 8:45. Paoli 28, Southridge 25.
P - Michael Harmon, 2-yard Touchdown run (kick failed), 5:19. Paoli 34, Southridge 25.
S - Tredway, 12-yard run (kick failed), 2:47. Paoli 34, Southridge 31.
Team Statistics
P - First Downs 19 (11 by pass, 4 by run, 4 by penalty); Rushing 33-93; Passing 17-32-1-267; Fumbles 2 (lost 2); Penalties 4-45.
S - First Downs 17 (11 by run, four by pass, 2 by penalty); Rushing 48-323; Passing 8-18-3-59; Fumbles 3 (lost 2); Penalties 8-75.
Individual Statistics
Rushing - (P) Michael Harmon 17-62, David McDonald 8-36, Mark Sutherlin 4-7, Derek VanEmon 4-(minus 12); (S) Kuczynski 16-115, Tredway 20-173, Daugherty 7-28, Menke 2-8, Stetter 3-(minus 1).
Passing - (P) Derek VanEmon 17-31-1-267, Michael Harmon 0-1-0-0; (S) Stetter 8-18-3-59.
Receiving - (P) Dusty Cole 11-197, Luke Kimmel 4-54, Travis Cole 1-8, David McDonald 1-8; (S) Kuczynski 5-47, Mauerman 1-7, Menke 2-5.
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***PAOLI DEFEATS PERRY CENTRAL ON SENIOR NIGHT 42-24***
PAOLI - While Friday night's high school football game at Cook Field didn't have championship implications, it was a special time for the nine seniors on the Paoli roster, who, on Senior Night, finished their final regular season with a resounding 42-24
win over Perry Central. It was a win that gave the Rams sole possession of second place in the PLAC, and more importantly, some much-needed momentum heading into next week's Class 2A sectional matchup at Southridge.
The Rams fell behind early, but hopped on the back of senior David McDonald, who carried them to victory by rushing for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries from his fullback spot.
"We really came on strong in the second half, and that's kind of been a trend we're setting lately," said Paoli coach Tim Bless. "Last week we won the game in the second half against Brownstown, and we did the same thing tonight. Unfortunately, we starte
d the game a little sluggish defensively, and I don't have an answer for what happened there. But give these kids all the credit, they hung tough and they held together. Fold was not an option.
"I think we were confident all along that we were going to win the football game once we got rolling. Offensively we had a great football game from start to finish."
Before the Rams had broken a sweat, they found themselves trailing 12-0, as the Commodores mounted two seven-play drives which netted 145 yards and two touchdowns in just over eight minutes of play.
Paoli got on the board late in the first quarter when McDonald broke free up the middle and scored from 16 yards out. Armando Delgado added the PAT to make it 12-7.
But the Commodores looked intent on spoiling the Senior Night festivities, and mounted a 13-play drive that covered 71 yards, culminating in a 23-yard burst by tailback Aaron James early in the second quarter. The fleet-footed junior was met at the 16 by
a swarm of would-be tacklers, but managed to elude them all to make it 18-7.
"That James kid is a fast back, and he made some plays," said Bless. "Not only is he a fast back, but he broke some tackles. We had him bottled up at the line. Then we got him bottled up at five yards and he breaks tackles there and scores a touchdown. T
hat's a tough athlete."
Paoli's offense began to click midway through the second quarter as McDonald and senior tailback Michael Harmon took turns reeling off first-down runs. Harmon got the one that counted as he outran the defense to the corner and dove into the end zone from
three yards out. Derek VanEmon hooked up with Nick Moon for the two-point conversion to make it 18-15 with just over two minutes to play in the first half.
The Commodores moved the ball to the Paoli 31, before Harmon intercepted a Justin Tempel pass and returned it to the Perry Central 26 to give the Rams a final chance with less than a minute to play in the half. VanEmon hooked up with Travis Cole for a ni
ne-yard gain, and the Rams were the recipients of a pass interference call in the end zone, before McDonald bulled his way in from two yards to give Paoli a 22-18 halftime lead.
"That interception was big," Bless said. "Michael came up with a big play when we needed it, and had a big return to give us good field position. And if we've got field position our offense is going to move the ball down and score.
"We really took the momentum going into halftime, after a pretty sluggish first half. I think the kids had the feeling that we had things under control at halftime, and it was just a matter of us coming out and executing in the second half and the ballga
me would be ours."
The Rams turned the ball over on downs at the Perry Central 31 on the first possession of the second half, and the Commodores made them pay by going 69 yards on just seven plays to take the lead once again, 24-22.
Paoli needed just :17 to regain the lead, however, as McDonald got the hat trick by breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage and outrunning the defense for a 57-yard touchdown.
"David played a phenomenal offensive football game," Bless said. "He had a number of yards and had some big scores for us. Then defensively he held us together. He and Brad Hawkins really picked up the slack there for some other people."
Travis Cole picked off a Josh Etienne pass to set up the Rams' next score, a 21-yard strike from VanEmon to Dusty Cole. And the defense stuffed the Commodores on the next two possessions, before Harmon threw a halfback pass to Dusty Cole for a 26-yard TD
with just over 16 minutes to play.
"I think what really helped us in the second half is that our conditioning paid off," said Bless. "We were still ready to play ball when they didn't have anything left. They had heart and they were trying hard and they wanted to win the football game, bu
t they didn't have anything physically left and we still had some reserves.
"There are a lot of people who think we can't run the football, and we are undersized up front. But we've got some aggressive kids that move people off the line and our two backs ran phenomenally tonight."
The Rams finished the regular season with a 6-3 mark, and will travel to Southridge for a rematch with the Raiders on Friday
Perry Central 12 6 6 0-24
Paoli 7 15 13 7-42
First Quarter
PC - Justin Tempel 26-yard pass to Ryan Hubert (run failed), 9:24. Perry Central 6, Paoli 0
PC - Aaron James, 7-yard touchdown run (pass failed), 3:56. Perry Central 12, Paoli 0.
P - David McDonald, 16-yard touchdown run (Armando Delgado kick), 2:50. Perry Central 12, Paoli 7.
Second Quarter
PC - Aaron James, 23-yard run (pass failed), 9:38. Perry Central 18, Paoli 7.
P - Michael Harmon, 3-yard touchdown run (Derek VanEmon pass to Nick Moon), 2:27. Perry Central 18, Paoli 15.
P - David McDonald, 2-yard touchdown run (Armando Delgado kick), :15. Paoli 22, Perry Central 18.
Third Quarter
PC - Josh Etienne, 17-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hubert (kick blocked), 5:23. Perry Central 24, Paoli 22.
P - David McDonald, 57-yard touchdown run (kick failed), 5:00. Paoli 28, Perry Central 24.
P - Derek VanEmon, 21 yard touchdown pass to Dusty Cole (Armando Delgado kick), :24. Paoli 35, Perry Central 24.
Fourth Quarter
P - Michael Harmon , 26-yard touchdown pass to Dusty Cole (Armando Delgado kick), 6:18. Paoli 42, Perry Central 24.
Team Statistics
PC - First Downs12 (10 by run, 2 by pass); Rushing 37-236; Passing 6-12-2-92; Total Yards 328; Fumbles 1 (lost 0); Penalties 4-26.
P - First Downs 20 (14 by run, 5 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 42-297; Passing 8-16-2-80; Total Yards 377; Fumbles 0; Penalties 6-40.
Individual Statistics
Rushing - (PC) James 21-134, Amos 9-74, Hubert 5-35, Tempel 2-(-7): (P) David McDonald 19-183, Michael Harmon 13-80, Charlie McIntosh 5-22, Mark Sutherlin 2-13, Darin Patton 2-4, Derek VanEmon 1-(-5).
Passing - (PC) Tempel 4-6-1-39, Peter 1-1-0-36, Etienne 1-5-1-17; (P) Derek VanEmon 7-15-2-80, Michael Harmon 1-1-0-26.
Receiving - (PC) Hubert 4-66, Peter 1-8, Etienne 1-8; (P) Travis Cole 3-22, Dusty Cole 2-27, Luke Kimmel 2-31.
