Big second half lifts L-S past Colfax-Mingo

SULLY — The biggest momentum-changing play of the game almost didn’t happen for the Lynnville-Sully football team.

Senior Tyson Vander Linden had a bead on a pass by Colfax-Mingo junior Brady Berkey late in the second quarter on Friday night.

The Hawks trailed 10-0 at the time of the pass, and Vander Linden thought knocking the fourth-down pass to the grass may be his best option.

Against his original thought, Vander Linden caught the pass and returned the interception 92 yards the other way for a touchdown.

The pick six turned out to give momentum to Lynnville-Sully, and the Hawks wound up scoring 43 unanswered points in a 43-10 home victory over the Tigerhawks.

“It was fourth down so I thought about just batting it down so we would have good field position,” Vander Linden said. “I am not sure why I caught, but then I saw a lot of green and a lot of blockers.”

It was the third straight win for the Hawks over Colfax-Mingo, which came into the game with a 3-0 record. Lynnville-Sully rushed for 293 yards in the win.

Senior Gage Vander Leest tallied a season-high 201 rushing yards and three scores and threw for a season-high 121 yards and another TD.

L-S coach Mike Parkinson made some positional changes as the Hawks tried to get back on track against Colfax-Mingo.

Vander Leest was primarily a quarterback in the first three games but was put in several different positions on the field against the Tigerhawks. He lined up at tailback and was used in a wildcat formation, too.

Parkinson also moved his two senior running backs, Evan Squires and Nate Stock, to the offensive line. They were given linemen numbers but were used in both roles.

“We were playing good defense at that point, but we weren’t clicking on offense. That pick really lifted us up,” Parkinson said. “It was a huge momentum play, but we were still down. At halftime, we said we had to do something different.

“We just basically said we are doing this, and we are going right and left with it. We were either going to win it on the line of scrimmage or nothing good was going to happen. We put it on the boys up front. Those guys took over.”

The adjustment worked. And the Tigerhawks couldn’t keep up.

“They changed their offense up a little bit,” Colfax-Mingo coach Jeff Lietz said. “It was basically 10 linemen with a Wildcat. They controlled the line of scrimmage and the clock. They got us out of rhythm on offense and we couldn’t get off the field on defense.”

The Hawks played the game with heavy hearts. Senior Grant Wehrle lost his father earlier in the week and Squires’ uncle also passed away.

Nothing was keeping Wehrle off the field Friday night though.

“It wasn’t hard at all. I never had a thought of not playing,” Wehrle said. “My Dad loved Hawk football. And he is proud that I am out here. I didn’t talk to him about it, but I know he would want me out here, and I did it for him.”

Colfax-Mingo led 10-0 after one quarter. The Tigerhawks got on the board with a 32-yard field goal from Berkey and then went up 10-0 after a 35-yard TD run by senior Holister Koenig.

The Tigerhawks though were plagued by three turnovers. The second miscue was Vander Linden’s pick six late in the second quarter.

On fourth down, Berkey rolled away from pressure on the line of scrimmage and flung it down field only to have it intercepted by Vander Linden, who then took it 92 yards the other way for a TD.

That, plus a two-point conversion run by Stock, got the Hawks on the board, and they used that momentum to dominate the second half.

“The turnovers helped them turn the tide and then they just kept going,” Lietz said. “They had momentum on their side. We had been successful the first three games without turning the ball over, but we turned it over three times. You saw what came of that.”

The Tigerhawks stopped Lynnville-Sully (2-2) on its first possession of the second half, but turned it over on its first possession of the third quarter.

The Hawks took advantage of the mistake and Vander Leest scored in two plays. He gained four yards on the first play and then scored on a 26-yard TD run to give the Hawks a lead for good.

On their next drive, the Tigerhawks (3-1) converted a big third down and long after Berkey connected with junior Trinity Schroeder for 34 yards. But they turned it over on downs four plays later.

Lynnville-Sully once again needed just two plays to get to paydirt. Squires gained 20 yards on the first play and then Vander Leest sprinted 48 yards for the TD.

“We wanted some senior ownership on the line,” Parkinson said about some of the personnel changes. “We had some young guys playing there, but we tried to change it up. The combination really clicked.”

Colfax-Mingo went three-and-out on its next two possessions and then turned it over on downs on four plays after that. L-S scored each time to pull away.

The Hawks went up 30-10 when Vander Leest connected with Vander Linden for an 86-yard halfback pass TD. Vander Leest’s 10-yard TD run on the Hawks’ next drive made it 36-10.

“The coaches made some great changes at halftime, and we just went out and executed perfectly,” Wehrle said. “We came out firing and got the win. It gives us a spark for the rest of the season as we start district play next week.”

L-S junior Ethan Wyma capped the scoring with a 9-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter.

Vander Linden finished with 133 yards on six catches. He had two interceptions on defense, including the pick 6 at the end of the second quarter.

“We had a lot of reasons to play tonight both off the field and on the field,” Vander Linden said. “We just haven’t gotten off to a good start this year so we needed to turn it around. I was just trying to play for that name across my chest. We needed to play real Hawk football.”

Colfax-Mingo, which played without senior Damir Gumerov because of an injury, was held to 97 yards on the ground. Koenig got 35 of those on one play and led the Tigerhawks with 68 yards on 15 carries.

Senior Zarek Hill had the flu all week and played with the illness Friday night. He finished with four catches for 54 yards and 5 1/2 tackles on defense. Schroeder led the way with 98 yards on five catches.

Berkey finished 15-for-30 for 177 yards and two interceptions. He now has 11 TD passes and two picks on the season.

“It was a good battle. I didn’t think the score was indicative of the game,” said Lietz, who added that Gumerov should be available next week for the start of district play. “They made an adjustment, and we didn’t make our adjustments to that soon enough.”

The L-S defense was led in tackles by Vander Leest with 5 1/2 and Squires and Wyma with five each. Senior Caleb Barnett and Stock both had a sack.

Junior Andrew Meinhart led Colfax-Mingo with 8 1/2 tackles. Senior Skyler Aikin had six tackles and a sack. Schroeder had a first-quarter interception and also had 5 1/2 tackles.

Lynnville-Sully opens district play against Wayne at 7 p.m. Friday in Corydon. Colfax-Mingo begins its district season with a home game against Pleasantville at 7 p.m. Friday in Colfax.

Colfax-Mingo 10-0-0-0 — 10

Lynnville-Sully 0-8-22-13 — 43

C-M — Brady Berkey 32 field goal

C-M — Holister Koenig 35 run (Berkey kick)

L-S — Tyson Vander Linden 92 interception return (Nate Stock run)

L-S — Gage Vander Leest 26 run (Stock run)

L-S — Vander Leest 48 run (Vander Leest run)

L-S — Vander Linden 86 pass from Vander Leest (kick failed)

L-S — Vander Leest 10 run (pass failed)

L-S — Ethan Wyma 9 run (Vander Leest kick)