Miners to host Warriors in sectional semifinals

Linton-Stockton quarterback Ty Scott (19) runs to the outside, thanks to a block by Evan Magni (3) during the scrimmage against Cloverdale. The Miners (7-3) will host North Knox (6-4) at 7 p.m. Friday in the second round of the football playoffs in Class A Sectional 40. Tickets are $5 and Miner Pride passes cannot be accepted for this Indiana High School Athletic Association tournament event. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

Linton-Stockton football coach Steve Weber and the Miners should send North Knox a thank you letter.

It was four weeks ago when the Warriors limited the Miners to one touchdown and 157 yards of total offense in a 15-7 North Knox victory, ending a 12-game losing streak to Linton-Stockton.

It was at this point when Weber and his staff decided to go back to a wing-T offense, featuring two tight ends.

The Miners have won three straight since, defeating Union (Dugger), North Central and Tecumseh by a combined score of 180-31.

The (7-3) Miners will host North Knox (6-4) Friday in the semifinals of Class A Sectional 40,

"It was at that point we were starting to suspect that we needed to do something different offensively," said Weber. "We needed to change and try to find something that worked better.

"We knew that our defense was playing good enough for us to win, but we were just not scoring enough points. When you hold a team to 15 points or under 20 points, you should have a chance to win the game."

Weber said they were just not executing their other offense well, prompting the change.

"We went to a two tight end offense," Weber said. "We do not use split ends as much.

"By doing this, we tried to reduce the amount of space they were playing in. That was the trouble. We had trouble blocking in the other offense. We tried to reduce the space, which has allowed us to get to our blocks better."

Josh Ivey and Reid Firestone are playing at tight ends while the offense line now features Blake Eaton at center, Brandon Swihart and Blake Scharbrough at guards and Seth Russell and Brock Moore at tackles.

Ty Scott has returned to quarterback after his injured thumb healed while Evan Magni, Kaleb Bridges and former lineman Stefan Sparks are now carrying the load running the ball.

Magni rushed for a school record 322 yards on 12 carries and four TDs in a 68-13 victory over Tecumseh to open defense of their sectional title last week. For the year, Magni has rushed for 1,110 yards and nine touchdowns, 11.2 yards per carry.

In the old offense, he had 15 carries for 70 yards and no touchdowns in the first game against the Warriors.

Bridges rushed for three scores and Sparks one as the Miners rolled up a season-high 482 yards on the ground last week.

"Evan has benefited as much as anyone else from the change," said Weber. "Teams have to worry about Stefan and Kaleb and can't solely worry about him.

"We knew that Stefan could block and he has done a great job of that at fullback. He also has done a good job of running the ball (30 carries for 208 yards and five TDs) and he can catch the ball as well. We have used Kaleb (42 carries, 316 yards and eight scores) more and that has helped make us better."

The Miners are scoring almost 35 points per game while giving up just over 14. They are averaging 338 total yards per game. The defense yields 206 yards each outing.

North Knox, who scores 22 points on average while yielding almost 17, is coming off of a 28-8 victory last week over Union (Dugger).

Coach Shawn McDowell is 31-21 in his fifth year at the school. The Warriors have had to go through some changes as well. They played a significant part of the season without junior speedster Derek Chambers.

The junior was just playing his second game back after an elbow injury, but still had 15 carries for 149 yards. His 54-yard touchdown run in the third quarter against the Miners put the Warriors ahead for good.

Fullback Sam Conrad, who averaged almost five yards per carry in the first meeting, Nick Goodwin and quarterback Dylan Caballero are key skill players in the Warriors' ground-oriented offense.

"It is going to be a tough game," said Weber. "They are a very solid defensive ball club.

"They have some really talented kids on offense. Their quarterback does a nice job of running their offense. Their fullback (Conrad) is a tough runner and the Chambers kid can go to the house any time that he touches the ball."

Weber said both teams are similar in what they try to do.

"Each team has big-play capability, us with Magni and North Knox with Chambers," said Weber. "Magni is coming off of the best game of his career.

"Neither Evan or Chambers need a lot of room to make something big happen. They can turn any play into a 50-, 60- or 70-yard gain."

Weber said that both teams want to force the issue on defense.

"Both of us want to make the other throw," he said. "That would be the goal.

"They want to run it and we want to run it. We can pass out of our offense, but have had more success running it lately. Both teams will crowd the box and make the other throw. The team that can protect the passer and complete a couple of big passes could have an advantage."

Both teams have had to play in poor weather conditions in recent weeks. With the forecast again featuring rain, Weber said they are prepared.

"It looks like it's going to be wet again. It seems like we have had rain in some way or another every Friday," said Weber. "Against Union, the field was pretty wet. Conditions were pretty decent at North Central. Last week at Tecumseh, it was muddy and loose, but not as muddy as it was for North Knox last week at Dugger.

"I hope the conditions don't hurt either team. Our game styles allow us to play in these conditions. They are run oriented and like to play straight ahead. There could be some footing issues. Neither team passes the ball a whole lot."

Kickoff at Roy Williams Field is set for 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets will cost $5. Miner Pride passes cannot be accepted for Indiana High School Athletic Association tournament events.

Notes: The Warriors and Miners have met 41 times since the series started in 1966, with Linton-Stockton having a 27-14 advantage. This will be just the third time the two schools have met in the post season.

Both were in Class 2A in 1993 and 1994, when the Miners won 27-3 at Linton in 1993 and 7-6 in '94, also at Linton.

The Miners participated in the Class 2A playoffs from 1989 to 1996. It was the next year when the Miners were shifted to Class A Sectional 40, where they have remained since.

This is North Knox's first season in Class A Sectional 40. They have primarily competed in the Class 2A playoffs before the shift this year.

INDIVIDUAL AREA STATISTICS

Union (Dugger) Stats incomplete

PASSING

RUSHING

RECEIVING

SCORING

Linton-Stockton vs. North Knox

Football series

Linton-Stockton leads series 27-14

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

1966 -- LINTON 19, North Knox 0

1967 -- NORTH KNOX 26, Linton 7

1968 -- North Knox 44, LINTON 13

1969 -- NORTH KNOX 54, Linton 14

1970 -- North Knox 58, LINTON 6

1971 -- NORTH KNOX 43, Linton 0

1974 -- NORTH KNOX 27, Linton 0

1975 -- North Knox 14, LINTON 0

1976 -- Linton 12, NORTH KNOX 6

1977 -- North Knox 31, LINTON 0

1978 -- NORTH KNOX 48, Linton 6

1979 -- LINTON 13, North Knox 0

1983 -- LINTON 23, North Knox 16

1984 -- Linton 21, NORTH KNOX 0

1985 -- LINTON 18, North Knox 13

1986 -- Linton 33, NORTH KNOX 29

1987 -- LINTON 48, North Knox 0

1988 -- Linton 39, NORTH KNOX 7

1989 -- LINTON 51, North Knox 0

1990 -- North Knox 14, LINTON 0

1991 -- North Knox 48, LINTON 12

1992 -- NORTH KNOX 20, Linton 7

1993 -- LINTON 8, North Knox 0

1993 -- *LINTON 27, North Knox 3

1994 -- NORTH KNOX 22, Linton 20

1994 -- *LINTON 7, North Knox 6

1995 -- LINTON 9, North Knox 6, OT

1996 -- N KNOX 41, Linton-Stockton 12

1997 -- Linton 7, NORTH KNOX 0

1998 -- LINTON 55, North Knox 0

1999 -- Linton 57, NORTH KNOX 7

2000 -- LINTON 28, North Knox 13

2001 -- Linton 46, NORTH KNOX 14

2002 -- LINTON 28, North Knox 6

2003 -- Linton 14, NORTH KNOX 0

2005 -- Linton 49, NORTH KNOX 6

2006 -- LINTON 70, North Knox 13

2007 -- Linton 8, NORTH KNOX 6

2008 -- LINTON 42, North Knox 21

2009 -- NORTH KNOX 15, Linton 7

*Class 2A Sectional