11/04/2025
Recap... Miners and Tigercubs!
Greencastle win toss and defer. Miners open up from own 42 and get a first down on back to back runs from Smith and Goodman to the GC 47. The first of many Offsides calls against GC moves in 5 more. Oliver busts for 8, with another Smith run moved the chains again to the GC 25. GC’s Proctor, Grove and Welker make plays to force a 3rd and 4 and Grove and Linneweber stop Sparks 2 yards short of needed yards. 4th and 2, and a huge offside jump on the Tigercubs gives Miners 1st down at GC 17. Oliver churns to the 2 almost getting in the endzone but it would take 3 plays to push in from the 2 as a great stop by Blodgett on a Smith run to the 1. Oliver took it from under center and got a healthy push from Sparks and Lyons to get the Miners on the scoreboard at 7:18 in the 1st. Goodman ran in the 2 point play to the right corner to make it 8-0 Miners. But the good start only got better as Wilson’s kick-off travelled 48 yards where Long picked it up at his own 12. Making his way across the field, Gamble came screaming from his left and drill Long and in the process popped the ball out. 3 other Miners were around the play, but it was James who corralled the ball at the Tiger cub 19. Frist play it’s Oliver behind Sparks and Lyons on the right, but darts to his left, gets a block from Franklin and Andrews while bouncing off 2 Tigercubs and into the end-zone. The 2 point attempt fell short, and Linton was up 14-0 just 5 minutes into the game with Greencastle’s potent passing offense yet to take the field.
When that high powered offense got their chance, they showed their potency. The Miners were taking away the deep threats, so Stephens made quick short passes hoping for the one on one ability of his receivers to make the big play. Stephens hit his first 6 passes but the biggest gain was 13 yards on the opening play to Blodgett. Franklin and Gamble stuffed 6’2 235 Welker forcing a 4th and 2, which saw Stephens run under center at the last second to gain the needed yard only. The first incompletion was costly for Linton as yet another Miner went down to injury , in this case senior RJ Wilson. Initially it was Sparks who forced Stephens from the pocket to his left and looking deep. Credit the Miner secondary and he had nobody open, and Wilson charged in from OLB chasing Stephens to the Miner sideline where he dumped the pass out of bounds. However as R J tried to change direction with Stephens he suffered a knee injury that had him on crutches the remainder of the game. Once Welker tried the interior off The Miner line on 3rd and 3 and was stopped by Franklin a yard shy of the 1st down marker. Like before, it was Stephens on a keeper to get fresh downs. From the Miner 26, Stephens pumped and let fly were Long was behind Miner Defense for a catch and score. Tucker tackled on the PAT kick, and Greencastle had answered on a 12 play 76 yard drive consuming 6:05 of the clock. They had converted two 4th downs in the process with Stephens 8 for 9 for 72 of those 76 yards. The scoreboard read 14-7 Linton with 0:56 in the opening quarter.
Almost a game changing play was thrown out by Coach Stephens with a surprise on side kick. It appeared to be perfectly executed, as Tucker’s squib bounded off the extended hand of Montgomery at the Miner 46. It rolled back toward the oncoming Tigercubs in full steam, and as I look at it, they numbered 5 purple jersey and only a white #18 in the mix. 2 Tigercubs had a bead on the ball at the Miner 48, but as they are diving to the ground, Ivan’s arm reaches out and somehow pulls it in, and the freshman was able to keep possession in a pile of hands trying to pull it away. The Miners were their own worst enemy on this possession with 2 penalties, one a hold that negated an 11 yard run. Facing 4th and 9, Oliver booted a high punt that stayed up in the air due to wind, only downed at the Tigercub 30.
Greencastle immediately back in full pass more with two more short pass completions to King and Sorrells that put the TG up to their 40. Linton nearly got a pick when Stephens pass intended for Long bounded off Gamble who was running to cover Welker in flat. It more likely would have been a pick 6. However 2nd down saw Linton breakthrough will pressure initially from Haynes, then Scharbrough chasing Stephens to his right to the Miner sideline. At the last second Stephens fires down the sideline where Oliver Stephens timed his leap perfect and snagged the ball at the Miner 48 and ran it back to the Tigercub 39; a return of 13 yards.
Linton went for the jugular and almost achieved it as Oliver laid out a perfect pass to Stephens who had a few steps behind Sorrells inside the 5. It would have been a 39 strike on the first pass attempt of the night, but in full speed looking up at the lights made it a tough catch, and it bounded off #7’s hands in the end zone. Miner back to the grind with Smith bounding through a huge hole behind FB Sparks, and blocks from Franklin and Lyons as well as downfield. Smith was knocked out of bounds after a 23 yard sprint to the TG 16. Linton’s 3rd trip to the red zone would be their 3rd score and Goodman ran over Tigercubs and put a spin move at the 3 to avoid another for the 3rd Miner score. This time it was Haynes lead block it his first start at TE of the year. Oliver rolled to his right on the 2 point play and hit the freshman Montgomery coming across the back of the end zone for a 22-7 margin at 9:16 of 2nd.
From their own 36 Stephens dumped a pass to Long who was manhandled by Scharbrough for a yard gain, followed by another procedure call left Greencastle with 2nd and 14. The screen seemed to be the best play for the Tigercubs, and this one went to Welker but to Andrews and Stephens (Oliver!) held him to just 3 yards. 3rd and 11 and Stephens looked to pass but Linton had ears back and Haynes forced the QB to abandon the pass and try running out of the pocket. Problem was that Franklin and Sparks hit him from both sides, and what would have been a sack ended up a gain of 1. Hanks booted the punt to Goodman at the Miner 35, and he boosted it up to the 41 with 6:43 before the half.
Linton continued to pound the ball with Smith and Goodman, but Sparks was stopped on 3rd and 1 at Midfield by Grove and limewater. Miners go for it on 4th and 1, and busts through the left side just as Andrews flattens a Tigercub lineman, as well as just enough of a block from Stephens gave Oliver the space to roll 39 yards until Long had the angle on Paul at the TC 11. Cooper Smith took the ball in the final 11, as well as the 2 point conversion with 4:17 on the clock for a 30-7 lead of the home standing Tigercubs. At this point Linton has a 184-91 total offense margin.
Stephens hit 2 short passes both met with big hits from Gamble then Oliver. On 3rd and 3 Stephens pass to Sorrells who got the first down at midfield, then officials tossed a flag for evidently excessive activity, which moved the ball to the Miner 35. Yet they shot themselves in the foot with a hold pushing them back to Miner 45. It all led to a 4th and 13 at the Miner 38, and again it was Sorrells on the catch at the Miner 41, and he reached the 20, and 18 yard conversion. Stephens kept the ball on the next play and appeared to be heading in for the score when Linton’s Stephens kept him a yard out despite Cole reaching out with the football. This set up the TG with 1st and goal as the clock is winding down. Welker would actually punch it in on the next play, but the TC called timeout beforehand with exactly a minute remaining. 1st down saw Welker again but met straight up by Andrews and Gamble; then more self-destruction with another procedure call pushing them back to the 6. Another Time out with 0:16 left, then Stephens tried to loft a pass to the left corner for Blodgett, in fact a perfect throw but it appears Oliver either got a finger on it, or blocked Blodgett’s sight of the ball as it fell off his hands in the endzone. 3rd down with 12 seconds, Stephens is forced out of pocket on a powerful push from Tanner Scharbrough, then Aiden Sparks and Corey Andrews boxed him in. He fired a laser to the back of the endzone where Blodgett was tip toeing the back border with Oliver on his hip. Blodgett made the catch but was ruled out of bounds. Curiously with just 0:05 on the clock and down 20, Greencastle sent in kicker Turner who nailed the 23 yard field goal. Keep in mind the TG’s would get the ball to start 2nd half. After a short kickoff, the half ended with Linton up 30-10.
The thing is. A 20 point lead seems like a lot; being a 3 score advantage. However, Greencastle averages over 37 points per game. They can score quickly and in bunches. Nobody knows that more than Linton fans given last year’s contest. With that last drive, Greencastle closed the total yardage gap which still was in Linton’s advantage 184-150. Linton’s yardage had all come via the ground. 23 carries, averaging 8 yard a carry and led by Oliver-s 88 yards on 6 carries and 2 TDs. Smith, in his first game back since week 6, 9-63 (TD), Goodman 5-31 (TD). Oliver had only thrown 1 pass, and it should have been a TD. Linton though had not needed the pass game, having scored on 4 of 5 possessions. Greencastle, as expected, had passed 25 of their 31 plays, and accounting for 133 of their total yardage on 18 completions, Stephens was hitting on 72% of his passing, but 17 of the 25 passes were thrown 10 yards or less. In fact only 2 of his passes where thrown 10+ yards, so a definite shoutout to a Miner Secondary decimated by injury. Greencastle had so many receivers who can make big plays, and they had four who each had at least 3 catches by half. Blodgett with 5 for 35, Sorrells 4-37, Long 3-33, Welker 3-15, Dobbs 2-9 and King 1-4. The rushing game produced 17 yards with Stephens earning the bulk at 14 on 3 keeps, Welker 3-3. Defensively Linton was led with Andrews 7 stops and Franklin with 6. Paul Oliver, who started at Safety for the 1st time was a major player in breaking up passes, and making big hits. In fact, the physical side of Linton was evident as with every catch made there was a big hit. I feel that would be a factor going forward. Grove had 6 stops for TC with 4 each from Welker (who came in with 141), Blodgett, Linneweber and Sorrells.
Greencastle starts the 2nd half from their own 31 with a different formation that looked like double wing. They ran a shuffle pass with Blodgett but he was met by Scharbrough and Franklin for just 3 yards. Another false start pushed them back 5. Dobbs, TG TE dropped the 2nd down pass due in part from Smith’s hit as he tried to make the catch at the 42. 3rd and 12 pass for Sorrells was also hampered by Scarborough’s rush as well as Goodman nearly making the pick. Hanks punted the ball to the Miners. It took 1:02 for Linton to eat up 62 yards and end much thought of a TC rally. It started with nearly a picture perfect play with Goodman taking the pitch going right behind a pancake block for fellow senior Smith, then twin blocks from Smith and Haynes to give Russell the lane. Franklin and Stephens both continued blocks downfield, and any pursuit back side was sealed off behind the play. Goodman ran 36 yards before being dragged down by Proctor and Linneweber at the TC 26. Essentially Linton ran the same play to the left side with Smith with much the same result. Franklin with another pancake block and Cooper with a nice cut and surprising speed and power as he plowed over Archer at the TC 4. Smith would finish it off next play and put Linton up 36-3. Oliver added the 2 point run to up it to 38-3 at the 9:21 mark of 3rd quarter.
The next 3:59 of the game was not the prettiest as Greencastle amassed 20 yards in penalties, had 2 dropped passes, and ended at their own 4 for a net gain of (-18) in 7 plays. It also had a high snap over the punter’s leaping attempt to catch that saw Hanks pick up the ball at the 1 and manage to get the punt off, then was hit which is ruled a roughing the punter penalty. However it was 4th and 10, leaving it 4th and 5. Stephens calmly fired to Sorrells for a gain of exactly 5 yards to their 32, but then a hold, and a procedure, but losses of 7 and 5 including a Scharbrough sack set them at their 4 to punt again. Linton looked to be moving the ball at will with the ball at the TC 27 in 3 rushes from Goodman, Smith and Sparks. However Oliver had the ball punched out by Dayhuff and recovered by Proctor at the Greencastle 24 to quell the Miner possession. Things didn’t go any better for Greencastle as they started on their 24 and tried a trick play with Sorrells on a reverse that negated by a singular effort from Tate Gamble in the open field for no gain. Corey Andrews dropped Stephens on a sack losing 9 more. Facing 3rd and 24, the screen to Long was read and stopped again by Andrews for 7. Hanks punted again from his own 17.
Suddenly the Miners could not hang on to the ball. After two Smith carries garnered 13 yards to the TC 36, Goodman had the ball knocked away by Linneweber with Welker recovering at the TC 41 with 0:24 left in 3rd. The Tigercubs had their biggest play since the TD pass in the 1st quarter as Stephens hit Sorrells at the 47, and he broke 3 tackles to reach the Miner 31 with a gain of 28. Stephens scrambled away from Sparks and got another 9 to the Miner 22. Another dropped pass, this time by Blodgett with Andrews closing in, but Stephens kept on 3rd and 1 to get the first down as the 4th quarter ended. The promising Tigercub drive ended on 4 straight incompletions, another drop included. It was their first trip into the red zone, but passes to Long, Blodgett and twice to Dobbs all hit the ground. Andrews had jumped and nearly had it intercepted on 3rd and 10. 4th and 10 saw pressure again from Scharbrough leading to the incompletion. Linton took over at 11:42 at their own 19.
Goodman open it up with an 8 yard jaunt up to the 27. Then Paul Oliver turned into a tunnel opened by Dresden Kenworthy and Tanner Scharbrough and bolted past the LB’s only to be out of gas at the TC 14 and dragged down by Proctor. Greencastle defense still fought though, with stops by Hanks, Welker, Blodgett, and Dayhuff forcing 4th and 4 at the 8. Oliver faked handoff and rolled to his left with Chris Lyons providing protection. He spotted Smith coming across back endzone right to left and loft a strike to him to the final points of the game at the 9:11 mark and a running clock. Oliver ran in for the 2 points, their 5th in 6 tries. Linton 46 Greencastle 3.
At this point the winner was determined, but with 9:11 still on the clock and temperatures dropping most were looking for it to be over, and without any further injuries. The Cubs next drive had Welker with an 8 yard run, then Stephens was pile driven by Andrews but still got a first down. Another dropped pass cancelled what looked like a big play down the seam, by my count a total of 7 drops hindered the efforts of Stephens. Gamble chased Stephens all over the field on 3rd and 6, which cause Cole to fire downfield into coverage; that being Cooper Smith who made the pick at the Miner 28 and got it back to the 39. Linton once more put the ball on the ground, their 3rd fumble lost in 3 of their last 4 possessions. This time it was a bubble screen from Oliver to Stephens that was picking up speed when Blodgett’s hit knocked the ball lose with Linneweber recovering at the Miner 46. Appropriately enough the game ended on back to back TC penalties, a hold and the seldom seen offensive pass interference on a pick play away from the ball. However it started with another Andrew QB sack of Stephens. The clock hit zeroes and Linton advances with a convincing 46-10 win that really could have been more if not for 3 fumbles in the later stages of the contest.
First off, a huge appreciation for what these Miner coaches, from Head Coach Brian Oliver through Coaches Mark Gennicks, Jake Gennicks, Wes Franklin, Zed Gentry, Nick Trabant, Mickey Tostig, Evan Magni for constantly coming up with ways to get the best 11 on the field, and being able to adjust on the fly. The injuries late season have been a test for sure, but you know this coaching staff is working 24/7 to make the Miners as competitive as possible. Brian wins his 135th game against just 30 losses, and while he’s not a numbers/stat guy at all, that’s an 81.8% winning rate in his 13th year at Linton.
Cole Stephens is definitely as advertised, came in averaging over 350 passing yards a game. 3,511 yards this year, 8,998 in his career with 103 TD passes with another year to go. He had six 400+ passing games this year, and a couple others at 390. The offense as a whole averaged 462.2 per game of offense. The Miners defense, with players moving to different positions and the return of Cooper Smith refused to give Stephens the deep ball. He put it up 45 times, completing 26 (that should have been 33 as there were 7 drops). Of those 45 attempts 28 were thrown under 10 yards, and another 8 were screens or shuffles behind the line. Only 9 were thrown 10 yards or more, and he completed just 1 long ball (26 yard TD pass). 2 factors in that stat: 1-the defensive backs and linebackers had the field covered deep so Stephens had to throw to other options. 2-Linton got pressure on Stephens which did another 2 things: 1- Stephens almost immediately threw short when he got the snap. Greencastle had 139 Yards after Catch. So they made their yardage essentially on running after making the reception. They were looking for a receiver to break away for the long run, but 2: the pressure forced Stephens to run out of pocket being chased and led directly to two interceptions. He’d thrown only 5 this year in 314 pass attempts, and Linton had 2 Friday (and actually could have had 2 more!). In short, it was a tremendous job defensively to hold an explosive Tigercub offense to 217 total yards, and just 191 passing. Both of those were season lows for Greencastle, as well as just 26 rushing yards in a game. Consider that South Putnam held GC to 294 and Cascade to 272, I’d say that’s good company.
Linton came out strong in this game. The Oline of Tanner Scarborough, Corey Andrews, Dresden Kenworthy, Chris Lyons and Tyler Franklin dominated. Add to that Tripp Haynes who changed jersey # to 33 and became a tight end for the 1st time. 345 yards on the ground on 37 attempts for a 9.3 per carry average. 12 rushing plays each over 10 yards including five that went 20+. The Miners had only 2 negative plays of the 37 runs they had. Paul Oliver with only 8 carries had a team high 150 yards, and 2 TDs. Cooper Smith lifted the Miners in his return to WB with 14 for 116 and 2 TD. Russell Goodman, solid as ever, with 11 for 74 and 1 TD. Aiden Sparks added 4 for 5. There wasn’t much need to pass the ball, but all three could have been completions. 1 was a TD strike to Smith from 8 yard out, the other a bubble screen to Oliver Stephens for 7 that ended up being a fumble. The 3rd was a 39 yard strike that could have been 6 more. All together Paul was 2-3 for 15 yards with the TD. As a receiver it isn’t always about the catches, but downfield blocking is key to the success of plays busting for big yardage. Several times you can see #7 in that mix downfield. That gave the Miners 360 total offense. The one negative would be having 3 fumbles from the late 3rd quarter into the 4th. Linton had lost only 5 all year!
Greencastle’s offense certainly had options on every snap with up to 6 possible receivers on any play. As mentioned Stephens was 26-45 for 191, 1 TD and 2 Int. Owen Sorrells led in yardage with 78 on 7 grabs, with Cayden Blodgett 42 on 7 catches as well. Trevin Long, who came in with 70 catches on the season, had just 4 for 40 yards, one of which was a 26 yard TD. Parker Welker was active with 4 catches for 24 yard out of the backfield. Nash Dobbs added 3 for 3 yards and Tevin King with a single reception for 4 yards. Stephens was under pressure (11 pass plays) and sacked 3 times for -21 yards. That would have been two more but Stephens was just able to get back to line of scrimmage or gain 1. Tanner Scharbrough, Tripp Haynes, Aiden Sparks and Tate Gamble all made plays to force Stephens from his comfort zone. Corey Andrews was imposing figure as well with 2 sacks, with Scharbrough the other. There wasn’t much to talk about in the rushing department for the Tigercubs. Parker Welker had just 16 yards on 5 attempts, Stephens with 10 on 9. Stephens totals included -21 lost on the sacks, as he had 31 yards discounting the sacks. 217 total offense is an awesome performance by the Miner defense in a road environment.
As mentioned, Andrews was in Menace Mode with 14 tackles, giving him 98 on the season. Tyler Franklin had a big night playing full time at DT with 9 stops. Tate Gamble had 7 as well as the forced fumble on the kickoff after the first Miner score, that led to another Miner score. Russell Goodman and Tanner Scharbrough with 5 each. 4 each from Wright, Stephens, Oliver and Haynes. Props to senior Jimmie Wright, not only playing with pain, but in a new position at OLB after the injury to Wilson. The secondary was big with Goodman and Oliver at safeties, Stephens and Smith at corner. With Andrews, Gamble, and Wright in coverage as well Linton broke up 7 passes, and included interceptions from Smith and Stephens. Perhaps the biggest thing was the tackling. Most every reception was met with an immediate hit, and several were big hits. I believe this had an affect on the game in the 2nd half. Physicality made its presence known and balls that should have been caught were not.
The Tigercubs were led in tackles by both Alex Grove and Cayden Blodgett with 10 each. Parker Welker with 9, C J Proctor with 7. Grayson Linneweber and Owen Sorrells each with 6. Greencastle did force 3 fumbles. Blodgett, Linneweber and Dayhuff each caused a fumble with Welker, Proctor and Linneweber making recoveries.
First Downs were even at 15 each. 3rd Down: Linton 1-5, Greencastle 3-14. 4th Downs: Linton 3-3 Greencastle 4-5;
Red Zone: Linton 6-6 all TDs Greencastle 1-2 (FG); Time: Linton 17:28 Greencastle 30:32. Plays: 60-40 Tigercubs. Both teams with 3 turnovers.
Linton needed this win. Yes Greencastle was 5-5, now 5-6, but their losses have come to 9-2 South Putnam 11-0 Cascade, 10-1 Southmont, 6-5 Eastern Hancock and 6-5 Western Boone. Sullivan is next, and this should be another game for the ages between these two old foes.
