Balanced offense keys Tipton win

Sports

Discussion

September 13, 2008

By TRIBUNE SPORTS STAFF The Kokomo Tribune Sat Sep 13, 2008, 01:15 AM EDT

TIPTON – Tipton’s Class 2A No.7-ranked Blue Devils found an aerial assault to go with their ground attack here Friday night.

The combination proved to be too much for Rensselaer as the Blue Devils stayed unbeaten, thumping the Bombers 26-7 in Hoosier Conference play.

Sophomore quarterback Ross Schulenburg completed 5-of-12 passes for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns, while senior Taylor Maxey carried 15 times for 161 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Seth Jacobs caught all five passes.

Maxey’s 48-yard touchdown capped a 4-play, 84-yard drive on the Blue Devils first possession. Maxey accounted for all 84 yards on those four plays.

Zach Spencer’s PAT kick gave Tipton a 7-0 lead at the 4:21 mark of the first quarter.

Those were Tipton’s first points scored in the first quarter this season.

“We really, really stressed that (scoring early) this week in practice,” Tipton Coach Aaron Tolle said. “We talked about getting going early and getting ahead, and the kids listened.

“It feels good to put together a nice drive and get ahead. This is the first time we’ve built any momentum in the first quarter.”

Maxey ripped off a 40-yard run on the first play of Tipton’s next possession. But the drive stalled at the Rensselaer 23 and the Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs.

Tipton’s biggest drive of the night, however, came in the final 32 seconds. The Blue Devils needed just three plays and 20 seconds to go 67 yards and did it all without any timesout left.

Maxey gained 15 yards and after Schulenburg spiked the ball to kill the clock, he hooked up with Jacobs on a hitch-and-go. The defender slipped and fell, and a wide open Jacobs caught the ball in stride and raced untouched to the end zone. A bad snap on the PAT kick resulted in the run failing but the Blue Devils led 13-0.

“Our two-minute offense was nice,” Tolle said. “The quarterback and receiver made a nice play. Seth ran an out-and-up and Ross stepped in there and hit him in stride.”

Rensselaer Coach Chris Meeks believed that was the difference in the game.

“The back-breaker was the touchdown they got at the end of the first half,” Mees said.

Tipton got the ball to start the third quarter and marched down field and scored. The Blue Devils needed just six plays and were aided by a Rensselaer penalty.

On fourth-and-2, Tipton caught Rensselaer off-balance by running out the punt team late and quickly snapping. The Bombers had too many men on the field and the 5-yard penalty gave Tipton a first down at the Rensselaer 48.

Schulenburg then sprinted out right and found Jacobs along the sideline. The Bomber defender went for the interception and missed. Jacobs caught the ball and turned up field and ran in for the TD. Spencer’s PAT made it 20-0 with 9:08 left in the third quarter.

Freshman Jake Dye set up Tipton’s next score as he intercepted a pass and returned it 27 yards. Seven plays later, sophomore Ben Harlow ran in from the 1-yard line.

Rensselaer scored its lone TD with 8:59 left to play.

Tipton (2-0 in the HC and 4-0 overall) travels to West Lafayette next Friday.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Sports

Western girls put defensive clamps on West Lafayette
Western opened its postseason by putting on a defensive clinic against host West Lafayette Wednesday night in a Class 3A Sectional opening round game.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
Rival Berries visit Kokomo
Muncie Central has the North Central Conference boys basketball championship in sight. The Class 3A No. 2-ranked Bearcats are 5-0 in league play with games remaining against second-division squads Anderson and Marion.

February 8, 2012
Black takes spot among Taylor’s elite
Growing up, Mone’y Black always saw herself as a softball player first.

She was Taylor’s go-to player for the large portions of her career on the basketball and volleyball courts, but her first love was the diamond.

February 8, 2012
Kats lose heartbreaker
Kokomo’s girls basketball team executed its game plan to near perfection against host Logansport in the first game of the Class 4A Logansport Sectional Tuesday.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
Tipton races by Taylor
Over the last two seasons, Tipton’s girls basketball team has been held under 40 points in just three games.

Tuesday’s sectional opponent — Taylor — held the Blue Devils down in two of those games. Tuesday was a different story.

February 8, 2012
It’s tourney time
In the girls basketball regular season, Tipton and Logansport compiled gaudy records and conference championships while Taylor and Kokomo finished with sub-.500 records.

February 7, 2012 1 Photo
What a kick for Hoosier native Weatherford
Indianapolis — While Steve Weatherford celebrated with his teammates in the New York Giants’ locker room after the 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, thoughts inevitably turned to Terre Haute — his hometown.

February 7, 2012
Ice baths can improve your health
Several years ago, I applied to be a participant in the weekly television show “Survivor.” Disappointingly, I was rejected.

February 7, 2012
Wiechmann comes up big in regional
Western senior wrestler Jake Wiechmann had lost twice this season to Kokomo standout Fletcher Miller, and was trailing 3-1 to Miller in the third period of the championship of the 182-pound match at the Peru Regional Saturday when the opportunity for vengeance struck.

February 5, 2012 1 Photo
Wildkat wrestlers move nine onto Ft. Wayne semistate
The Kokomo Wildkats’ bus will need just a little bit more gas than usual next weekend to haul its cargo up to Fort Wayne for Saturday’s individual wrestling semistate at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

February 4, 2012 1 Photo
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Balanced offense keys Tipton win

Site Map

Contact Us