INDIANAPOLIS — Deji Karim quickly accelerated as the seam suddenly appeared in front of him.
The back-up running back was working as a valet, parking cars at a hotel, before he was re-signed by the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 11.
On Sunday, with the Colts trailing the Houston Texans for the first time all game, Karim resembled one of the dragsters that greets fans as they enter the main gate at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Southern Illinois product ran forward on a straight line, rapidly pulling away from the entire Texans’ coverage team. When he stopped 101 yards later, the only thing missing was a parachute popping from the back of his jersey to slow him down as he entered the end zone.
Karim’s return was the longest in the franchise’s Indianapolis history and tied for fourth in team annals overall. The late third-quarter score also gave the Colts (11-5) a lead they never relinquished in a 28-16 upset of the Texans (12-4).
“All week we had been preaching it,” Karim said. “[Marwan Maalouf], the special teams coordinator, had been telling us we were going to get one and just to prepare for it. We ran the return, and it just split open. I mean, I’ve got to give all the credit to all my blockers on kickoff return. They got the job done.
“They’ve been doing it every week, and I kept telling them over and over again that we were going to get this. They stayed patient with me, opened it up for me and I just took it for six. It’s all a credit to them.”
Karim’s return halted Houston’s short-lived momentum, after the Texans had taken the lead for the only time.
“It’s great to see Deji Karim coming in and house call, 101-yard kickoff return,” QB Andrew Luck said. “That’s so uplifting for a team.”
Karim was one of several late-season additions who made big plays for Indianapolis on Sunday.
With two starters — nose tackle Anthony Johnson and defensive end Cory Redding — missing along the defensive line, the Colts still managed to hold running back Arian Foster to 96 yards — nearly 70 fewer than he’d gained in a win two weeks ago in Houston — and sack quarterback Matt Schaub four times.
Three of those sacks came from players named Clifton Geathers, Lawrence nGuy and Jamaal Westerman who were street free agents — like Karim — earlier this season.
“Threw a sack party,” outside linebacker Robert Mathis said. “I was kind of mad I wasn’t invited to it, but I’m just happy to see the guys have fun and get the win.”
Not all the team’s familiar faces were shut out.
Outside linebacker Dwight Freeney picked up his fifth sack of the season in what might have been the final home game of his storied Indianapolis career. Freeney will be a free agent after the season, and the team has given little indication about his future.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Freeney said. “If that was it, it’s been a great ride in this building. We will worry about that when it’s time to worry about that.”
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Related Photos
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SPEEDSTER: Indianapolis running back Deji Karim returns a kickoff 101 yards for a game-changing touchdown against Houston on Sunday. Karim’s TD put the Colts int he lead for good en route to a 28-16 win. KT photo | Tim Bath
Discussion
Karim helps Colts head full speed into playoffs
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Barnes sets Taylor's career hits record
Taylor baseball standout Logan Barnes made his final game at George Phares Field one to remember.
Barnes pitched four solid innings to lead Taylor past Monroe Central 9-3 Tuesday. In addition, he went 2 for 3 at the plate, pushing his career hits total to a school-record 142. -
Kats drop heartbreaker
When the postseason arrives, emotions surge like a roller-coaster. One minute, it’s a long uphill, then a wild series of events offer a barrage of frights and thrills. And then, for one team, the ride ends and there aren’t any more tickets for another go around.
After two days of chills and thrills, Kokomo’s softball team ran out of tickets Tuesday night in the Class 4A Harrison Sectional. The Kats dropped a 4-3 decision to Harrison in eight innings, giving up a run in the top of the extra frame, and having a runner tagged out at home in the bottom of the frame.
“It was a great game,” Harrison coach Dick Mitchell said. “It’s always nerve-wracking to coach in one of them, but both teams played their hearts out. Nobody deserved to lose that game, but unfortunately somebody does.” -
Comets turn heads at track regional
Heading into Tuesday’s IHSAA girls track and field regional at Fort Wayne Northrop High School’s Spuller Stadium, event workers alike weren’t sure of Eastern High School’s location.
After the dust settled, they may feel compelled to get a map out and find out where Greentown is located.
Led by seniors Sarah Wagner, Brittany Neeley and Bethany Neeley, the Comets qualified for the state finals in six separate events to finish fourth as a team with 55.5 points, behind host and champion Northrop (78), Bellmont (68) and Carroll (Allen) 66. -
GASKINS: Hibbert’s block was thing of beauty
For the better part of the NBA season, ESPN devoted all kinds of time on SportsCenter episodes to replays of two dunks. Anyone who watches any ESPN at all surely knows the two to which I’m referring: 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers posterizing 6-3 Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, and 6-8 LeBron James of the Miami Heat hammering home a dunk over 6-2 Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics.
Day after day, ESPN commentators lavished endless praise, which quickly grew tiresome. The dunks were strong, but Jordan and James were much taller and heavier than Knight and Terry and the dunkers also caught perfect alley-oop passes with the defenders in poor positions to defend. Still, ESPN commentators loved these plays.
I kept wondering if a great defensive play would receive the same kind of love. -
Coons, Walker, Glassburn reach Victory Lane
When the dust settled Sunday evening at the Kokomo Speedway, a pair of drivers who have visited Victory Lane in the past at the local oval found themselves there once again while a talented up-and-comer hit the hallowed ground for the first time.
Jerry Coons Jr. had his way in the sprint car feature and Craig Walker seemed to get faster as the laps wound down to win the Street Stock main event, however Kokomo High School sophomore Kory Glassburn had to scratch and fight before scoring the first feature win of his career in the Thunder Car A-main. -
Field is set for Indianapolis 500
After being bumped from the starting field while sitting on the qualifying line on pole day, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest time on bump day, assuring himself a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 cars will have one final opportunity to practice on Friday before next Sunday’s 97th running of the 500.
One year ago the Sarah Fisher Racing Team withdrew Newgarden’s entry on the first day of qualifying and had to qualify on bump day. This year the team decided not to make another qualifying run and got bumped. -
Athlete of the week
Cole led the small-school Comets to the Kokomo Sectional title, their first title since 1998.
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Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional. -
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.
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Eastern, Kokomo favored in boys track sectional
Some of the names and faces have changed, but the plot remains much the same.
The Kokomo boys track and field sectional, much like last year, will likely be a two-horse race between the host and three-time defending champion Wildkats and Eastern, a team looking to break through and win its first sectional title since 1998. - More Sports Headlines
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