Indians' ball-hawking defense plays big part in 30-0 area win
ROBINSON –The Sacred Heart Indians were not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The Indians thrived on Sacred Heart Muenster turnovers in a 30-0 TAPPS Division IV area playoff game at Rocket Stadium Friday night.
The Indians turned four of the Tigers’ miscues into 17 points and the defense supplied two goal line stands to preserve the fourth shutout of the season.
“Overall, very pleased with the effort of our kids. They played extremely hard all game long with great belief and desire,” Indian head coach Alex Seydler said. “They continue to accomplish amazing things as a team. I couldn’t be prouder of them. It was important for us to get off to a good start and seize the momentum early. Our kids did just that with our defense generating a take way on the first play of the game and then the offense putting it in the end zone on the very next play. of the game. Our defense carried the night for us, recording its fourth shutout of the season.”
Nic Angerstein was the big factor in the game for the Indians. Angerstein scored on field goals of 34, 42 and 35 yards and returned an intercepted pass 55 yards for a touchdown. The most impressive was the 42-yarder into the wind. He had three interceptions on the night - his eighth, ninth and 10th of victory the year - and accounted for 18 points besides punting twice for a 47.0 average.
Quarterback Andrew Steffek was held out of the game (not because of an injury) and Hudson Kutac again stepped in and ran the offense smoothly. Kutac was 6 of 8 passing for 37 yards. Kutac also gained 48 yards rushing.
Halfback Brady Haas led the Indians with 89 tough yards on 18 carries.
The game pretty much was a defensive struggle with the Indians totaling a season-low 209 yards to the Tigers’ 191. The Tigers made 13 first downs to the Indians’ 8.
Haas scored on a 23- yard run and halfback Cade Steffek on a 50- yard sprint.
The Indians forced the Tigers to throw the football with quarterback Zach Hennigan completing just 6 of 16 passes for 67 yards.
The Indians got a steady dose of Tiger halfback Gus Gazon, who rushed for 84 yards on 20 carries.
On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Gaz on fumbled and Lance Barton fell on it at the Tiger 23. Haas scored on the very next play and Angerstein kicked the extra point for a quick 7-0 lead with only 12 seconds elapsed in the first stanza.
The Indians’ next scoring drive started on their own 36. Haas had a 19-yard run and a pass interference call gave the Indians possession on the Tiger 22. The drive stalled at the Tiger 17 and Angerstein kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:52 remaining in the first period for a 10-0 lead.
The Indians made it 13-0 at the half on Angerstein’s 42-yard field goal.
Time had expired in the first half when the Indians stopped the Tigers on the one-yard line, a key play in the games.
The Indians started distancing themselves from the Tigers at the start of the third quarter when Steffek fled 50 yards for a touchdown for a 20-0 advantage.
Following the touchdown, the Tigers lost a fumble on the Indian 10-yard line.
Angerstein kicked a 35-yard field goal and returned an interception for a score for the final points in the game.
Linebackers Haas and Josh Terry led the defense with 14 and 9 tackles respectively.