Led by a pair of touchdowns each from Trey Goodman and Hunter Gennicks, Linton rolled over visiting North Vermillion in a convincing 45-point win.
The opening quarter was about as even as it could get with both teams moving the football into the other’s five-yard line. The only difference being that the Miners would score on Goodman’s 3rd down 3-yard run, while the Falcons would fail on a 4th-and-2 from the Miner’s 3. The favored Miners scored on their firs two possessions with a 10-play 52-yard effort to start the game, and then a 98-yard march on just 8 plays, culminated on a Kaulin Padgett 47-yard run to put Linton up 12-0.
It looked as though Linton was heading for their third score in a row when Gennicks’ pass to Tight End Jackson Lynn downfield sailed high and into the arms of Klayton Bailey instead. Bailey returned the interception 30-yards to the Miner 38, giving NV a great opportunity at 7:22 in the quarter.
The Falcons converted a 3rd-and-14 on a nice run by 5’7 140-pound QB Evan Naylor, then a horse-collar tackle penalty tacked on. They would reach the Miner 9, then go to the passing attack for the first time with no success. Two Carter Edney passes for the endzone were too high for Landon Naylor with tight defense from Eli Poe on both occasions. The Miner defense had twice stopped the Falcons inside the 10-yard line. That led to the Miners 91-yard drive on 11 plays, including a 22-yard Drew Smith run up-the-middle, a 1-yard Padgett run outside, and a 22-yard Gennicks keeper.
It would be Gennicks going in from 3 with just 36 seconds left in the half. The Miners had clearly decided to try to kick PATs this night, and they had been 0-2 thus far on efforts by Lynn and Goodman. On the third attempt Goodman was true, though, and the Miners took a 19-0 lead into the locker room at half. Linton had racked up 256 yards of offense at the half. Despite North Vermillion’s opportunities in that opening half, they only had 96-yards total — all on the ground — and 70 of those yards from 5’11 and 210-pound Junior Edney.
Any hope North Vermillion fans had for staying in the game ended early in the third quarter when Naylor was stripped on the ball while trying to get extra yardage with Drew Smith recovering at the Falcon 35 at 9:46. Gennicks hit Eli Poe with an 18-yard pass, then Goodman ran for 7-yards, and the finally 10 more for a Miner score. Those three plays took exactly a minute, and Goodman then hit his 2nd PAT in a row for a 26-0 Linton lead.
NV would get into Miner territory on their next series, but only a single yard before having to punt. The snap sailed over the punter’s head where he fell on the ball with Jaydan Miller in hot on pursuit at the Falcon’s 31. Again, it would be three plays and a Miner touchdown, but this time on a powerful run by Smith of 25. Goodman was good again on the PAT; and with 4:20 in the third, Linton pulled away to a 33-0 tally.
It got no better for NV as Edney lost the ball at the Falcon’s 44, as Levi Grounds recovered on the next Falcon possession. The Miners went for it all with a pass to Poe that just was barely out of reach in the endzone. After carries from Bracey Breneman and Miller reached the 22, Gennicks twisted and turned through the NV defense for his second score on the final play of the third quarter. This time, Goodman’s PAT was wide-right, but Linton now led 39-to-0.
The following kickoff return was fumbled with Freshman Ty Boyd falling on the ball at the NV 25. A running clock would make the final period go by quickly, but the Miner JV team got to see their first action under the Friday Night Lights on both sides of the ball. It took the Miners just two plays with the JV line of Ethan Myers, Cody Jackson, Nathan Watson, Blaine Kirkman, and Fields leading the way. Miner Sophomore Logan Walker rambled 20-yards to the Falcon’s 4 where Boyd scored his first points as Miner with 8:58 left.
The Falcons quickly got on the board with a long run from Owen Burns of 53-yards at 6:34 time remaining. NV senior McKenzie Crowder put the PAT throw the uprights for a 39-7 score. Crowder then tried an on-side kick, but Linton Freshman Drake Fields snagged the ball at the Miner’s 38 to the cheers of the Varsity players on the sideline.
Hunter Johns nearly took the first play to the house, but was stopped at the NV 30 after a 32-yard burst. A couple plays later, it was another Freshman, Christian Shonk, who busted through the NV defense for a 21-yard TD run with 3:04 left. That put Linton up 52-to-7. NV would turn the ball over again on a fumble recovered by Myers, but the Miners took a knee to end the game.
The Miner ran for 316 yards with ten different Miners carrying the ball. Padgett led with 67-yards on five carries, and Gennicks with 61 on eight carries. Smith had 54 on just 4 touches, Goodman with 36-yards on 6 carries.
Clearly, the Miners were intent on working on the passing game. Gennicks hit on 10 of 14 passes, mostly short patterns, for a total of 121-yards: connecting eight times with Poe for 100 yards, as well as one each to Smith (13-yards) and Goodman (8-yards). He did throw his first interception, and it was just a hair off on several incompletes.
The Falcons were able to move the ball on their initial two drives, but self-destructed from then-on in the game. Of course, this was due to the Miner defense, led this night by Dline play. Damien Giles and Donovan DeBruhl were in on seven tackles, and six each from Drew Smith and Gabe Eslinger (back after missing last week’s game; and only playing defense). Jackson Fields, Dalton Carpenter, and Jaydan Miller all had five tackles. North Vermillion only attempted three passes, and all on consecutive plays on the first drive of the game.
The run-heavy offense was led by Carter Edney’s 90-yards on 20 carries. Owen Burns had 57 (53 on one play) on 2 carries with Evan Naylor carrying 12 times for just 15 yards. As a whole the Falcons had 179 rushing yards on 43 carries. Defensively, Naylor was in on 9 tackles from his Safety spot with Edney in on 5 from linebacker.
Special teams were a high-point Friday night, as well as Drew Smith able to kick away on kick-offs to the tune of a 41.7 average on 9 kicks. The coverage team got a fumble recovery (their 2nd of the year), and several stand-out plays by Freshmen Shonk, Boyd, and Colten Riggleman. Trey Goodman connected on 4 of 6 PAT kicks, the first of the year for Linton. Credit also to long-snapper Breneman and holder Gennicks. Naturally, the 437 total offense would not be possible without the work of Center Damien Giles, Tackles Landon Giles and Aiden Giles, Guards Wrigley Franklin and Donovan DeBruhl, as well as Tight End Jackson Lynn.
Linton has won three-in-a-row since the opening week loss at Top Ten 3A ranked Southridge 28-0. The Miners head to Boonville this Friday to face the 4A 2-2 Pioneers. Boonville is 2-2, but coming off a 43-35 shootout with 3A 2-2 Gibson Southern in Fort Branch last week. They have wins over Washington and Heritage Hills, both 1-3 teams, but fell to Southridge by the same margin as Linton 28-0. Linton defeated Boonville last year 27-16 at Roy Williams Field. The Pioneers were 5-5 last year after a record breaking 11-1 2018 campaign.
Scoring Plays:
Linton-Trey Goodman 3 Yard Run (PAT Kick Fail) 8:11 1st
Linton-Kaulin Padgett 47 Yard Run (PAT Kick Fail) 9:52 2nd
Linton-Hunter Gennicks 3 Yard Run (Trey Goodman PAT Kick) 0:36 2nd
Linton-Trey Goodman 10 Yard Run (Trey Goodman PAT Kick) 8:56 3rd
Linton-Drew Smith 25 Yard Run (Trey Goodman PAT Kick) 4:20 3rd
Linton-Hunter Gennicks 22 Yard Run (PAT Kick Fail) 0:00 3rd
Linton-Ty Boyd 3 Yard Run (Trey Goodman PAT Kick) 9:27 4th
N.Vermillion- Owen Burns 53 Yard Run (McKenzie Crowder PAT Kick) 6:27 4th
Linton-Christian Shonk 21 Yard Run (Boyd Run Fail) 3:04 4th
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
| North Vermillion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Linton-Stockton | 6 | 13 | 20 | 13 | 52 |
Rushing
Linton: K.Padgett 5-67 (TD); H.Gennicks 8-61 (2 TD); D.Smith 4-54 (TD); T.Goodman 6-36 (2 TD); H.Johns 2-33; C.Shonk 1-21 (TD); L.Walker 1-20; J.Miller 2-14; T.Boyd 2-8 (TD); B.Breneman 1-2; Team 1-0; TOTAL 33-316
NVermillion: C.Edney-20-90; O.Burns 2-57 (TD); J.White 6-20; E.Naylor 12-15; K.Bailey 3-13; E.Peaslee 1-(-16); TOTAL 44-179
Passing
Linton: H.Gennicks 10-14-121-0-1 NVermillion: C.Edney 0-3-0-0-0
Receiving
Linton: E.Poe 8-100; D.Smith 1-13; T.Goodman 1-8
| Rushing | Rush | Yds | Avg | TD | ||||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 43 | 179 | 4.16 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 33 | 316 | 9.58 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Passing | Pass | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | |||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 14 | 10 | 121 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| First Downs | Total | Rush | Pass | Pen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Conversions | 3rd | Att | Conv | |||||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 50.00% | 10 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 85.71% | 7 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4th | Att | Conv | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0.00% | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 100.00% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnovers | Total | Fum | Int | |||||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Penalties | Flags | Yards | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 3 | -15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 3 | -25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Red Zone | % | Total | Score | |||||||||||||||||||||
| North Vermillion | 0.00% | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Linton-Stockton | 100.00% | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Defense:
| # | MINERS | TOTAL | Solo | Assist | Pts | Sack | Solo | Ast | TFL | Solo | Ast |
| 69 | Giles, Damien | 7 | 1 | 6 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
| 58 | Debruhl, Donovan | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Eslinger, Gabe | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Smith, Drew | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Miller, Jaydan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| 77 | Carpenter, Dalton | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Fields, Jackson | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Johns, Hunter | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Shonk, Christian | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Breneman, Bracey | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Goodman, Trey | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Grounds, Levi | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Boyd, Ty | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| 62 | Jackson, Cody | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Franklin, Wrigley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Poe, Eli | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Padgett, Kaulin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 | Kirkman, Blaine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | McKinnon, Colten | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Lannan, Braymon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Featured photo of Linton v North Vermillion game submitted by Daniel Phillips