FOOTBALL: Panthers topple leaders

Western creates three-way tie atop MIC.

By Bryan Gaskins

ARCADIA — Western’s football team is going to once again play for the Mid-Indiana Conference championship.

Western went to league leader Hamilton Heights’ house Friday night and came away with a 21-14 win that created a three-way tie atop the MIC standings. The Panthers held a 21-0 lead through three quarters, then weathered the Huskies’ comeback bid in the final quarter.

“We practiced hard all week and we did everything we could in practice to make sure we’d come out with a win,” said Western senior Logun Taylor, who returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter. “It feels incredibly awesome. I’ve been starting for three years and I truly feel like we’re going to win it this year.”

Western, Heights and defending champion Lewis Cass own 5-1 league records. Western hosts Cass Friday and the winner will take at least a share of the championship. The long-time rivals battled for the outright title in three of the previous four years and the Kings won every time.

Western lineman Trevor Buckalew said it’s going to take “even more enthusiasm, even more heart for next week [in order to] finally win, finally get our championship.”

The Panthers turned in a championship-caliber effort Friday. They ran the ball behind a determined offensive line and they stuffed the Huskies’ ground game. Big tackles Buckalew and Casey Ling keyed the defensive effort with their interior line play.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” Western coach Alix Engle said. “I challenged them, asked them to step up and put themselves in position to play for a conference championship. They came out and took it to [the Huskies].”

The Panthers scored touchdowns on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead by the close of the opening quarter. Mike Jakubowicz had a 54-yard run to put the Panthers in scoring position on their first drive, and he scored four plays later on a 1-yard plunge. And backup QB Quin Fields had a 67-yard TD run on the final play of the quarter. Fields completely sucked the Huskies’ defense in with a fake to Jakubowicz, scooted around the left end and then raced to paydirt.

Heights threatened midway through the second quarter, moving inside the red zone. But on fourth-and-three from the 6-yard line, the Panthers’ Briar Shoffner stuffed the Huskies’ Logan Cunningham for a loss.

The Huskies managed just one yard on 15 rushing attempts in the first half.

Western saw its opening drive of the third quarter end in a punt, but Taylor followed three plays later with one of the game’s big plays. Husky QB Tanner Stis, under pressure from Ling, lofted a pass that Taylor picked off inside the Husky 20-yard line and returned for a touchdown at 5:55 of the quarter.

“I got one hand on it and luckily I pulled it in,” Taylor said. “I looked around and there was nobody to tackle me. It felt good going in there.”

The Huskies made things interesting in the final quarter. They scored a touchdown on their next possession to draw within 21-7 at 11:49. After turning the ball over on downs on their next drive, they scored again with 1:32 remaining.

The Huskies’ onside kick attempt failed — the kicker touched the ball before it went 10 yards. The Panthers took possession and ran out the clock.

The Panthers played without leading rusher Jake Askren, who was serving a one-game suspension. Jakubowicz carried a big workload in his place. Alternating between quarterback and fullback, he finished with 151 yards rushing on 31 carries.

“Three years ago, we saw [then-Heights running back] Chad Sherer put his team on his shoulders and carry them to a win at our place [in a sectional game]. He refused to go down and refused to lose,” Engle said. “I put a big challenge to Mike to rise to the same level as Chad did in that game and I think he really did — he kept his legs churning and did a nice job.”

Engle praised his offensive line for its work. Center Kevin Funk, guards Pat Fountain and Shoffner, tackles Koleton Pyke and Buckalew and tight ends Jake Boswell and Brad Penning won the battle up front.

Defensively, the Panthers kept Husky playmakers Zach Copas and Cunningham bottled up. Copas had one long one run, but the pair otherwise managed just 3.1 yards per carry.

“The D line was phenomenal. We played very well — I’m very proud of the D line,” Buckalew said. “And I’m proud of the offensive line too.”

Engle credited Buckalew and Ling for playing big.

“I’m really proud of Trevor and Casey up front, especially on defense. It seemed like those guys were occupying a couple guys themselves,” he said. “Casey is a big, long-armed kid and he has the capability of playing that way every night. Trevor has all the strength and talent in the world.”

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