Coming into the last game of the regular season is always an emotional thing for a senior athlete, but you add the “Senior Night” tag and it becomes more so. Walking down the tunnel formed by your teammates, and having your parents or loved ones walk with you is something all Senior Players remember for a lifetime. A chance to share that memory with those who took you to practices as a young kid, or washed your uniforms, helped coach your teams, or helped you learn to catch a football in grade school. It’s something those parents will always remember just as much. The weather, which had been perfect for all previous 8 games, had a severe threat of storms at game time. Heavy rain had pelted the area the night before making the field wet and slippery. But fortunately, the rains did not come until halftime this giving the Parents and Seniors another perfect night for the famous walk.
For Linton at 8-0, it was a chance to go unbeaten and get the team picture put up on the walkway of legends…or whatever it is called, but it’s a lifetime of representation. Someday these 2021 players will show their children this down the road several years. It was also a game that most expected would be quite the tussle as 7-1 South Putnam made the trek south, their only loss to 7-1 3A ranked Owen Valley in week 2. The Eagles came in ranked 7th in Coaches Poll and 5th in AP. Linton was 4th in Coaches and 5th in AP. SP came in winners of 6 in a row, Linton yet to taste defeat in ’21. Linton had beaten Eastern Greene 59-14 last week with a running clock. Two of Linton’s last 3 wins had involved blow-out wins with running clocks. I think many people in the Southern part of the state had eyes on how this game would pan out.
It truly did not take to see Linton came to play. Gabe Eslinger, one of those 12 seniors honored, opened up with a 20 yard jaunt that was patented #2, running through and over two Eagle tacklers. Jr. Hunter Gennicks was also an immediate factor with 2 runs of 8 and 11, with Bracey Breneman (Sr) at running back added a 5 yard run to the Eagle 16. Jr Hunter Johns added 12 more to the 3 where Gennicks plunged in for a Miner Touchdown on their 1st possession, a 7-play 64 yard drive at the 9:25 mark. Eddie Caceres drilled the PAT for a 7-0 lead and threw down the gauntlet to South Putnam right off the bat.
And South Putnam would answer that challenge.
Junior QB and leading rusher Jerimiah Hibblen started with a 5 yard run from the Eagle 36. Junior Luke Switzer added 3, then SP converted 3rd and short on a Hibblen to Sr Santiago Hernandez for yards where Sr Free Safety Jaydan Miller made the stop. Hibblen connected with Jr Peyton Crickmore for 18 yards to the Miner 30 for another 1st down. Linton didn’t make the yards easy as Gabe Eslinger, Aiden Giles and Hunter Gennicks were in on stops that set up a 3rd and 6 at the Linton 16. Hibblen had to deal with a snap over his head, and nearly went to a knee with pressure from Breneman, and just threw the ball away. This resulted in an Illegal Grounding call that pushed the Eagles to a 4th and 14 at the Linton 24. Hibblen lofted a pass to the left corner of the endzone where it appeared Senior Eli Poe had perfectly played defense on Drew Hill, but evidently not as Pass Interference gave the Eagles fresh downs. From the Linton 6, it was Switzer to the 3, then Kibblen to the 1. Eslinger busted though for a stop on the Eagle QB on 3rd setting up the 4th and 1. It was Kibblen 6: keeping to his left, but not finding a hole. Seniors Jackson Lynn and Bracey Breneman along with other Miners pushed #2 back for a loss of 4. It thwarted a red zone change, and wasted a 13 play 61 yard drive that saw Kibblen run 7 times for 20 yards. It also ate up 6:31 of the 1st quarter clock for 0 points.
Linton took over at their own 1, and faced a 3rd and 2 after a short pass to junior Logan Webb got to the 13. As we have seen all year, Hunter Gennicks would make things happen, and as kept to his left and got big blocks from Junior Wrigley Franklin, and Breneman scooted up the middle of the field out-sprinting everyone 87 yards for the TD. Caceras nailed his 2nd PAT and Linton was up 14-0 with 2:18 in the opening quarter. If anything ever showed how football momentum could change in a split second, there it was. In less than 60 seconds S Put had gone from 1 yard away from perhaps a 7-7 tie to a Miner 14 point lead.
The Miner defense put on a show on Friday Night against an offense that was used to putting up big numbers, 40+ point in their previous 3 games, and hadn’t given up 14 points in 6 weeks. As good as Linton’s offense was churning, the Defense was every bit as dominant. South Put had gotten a 1st down to their 48 on a pass to freshman Wyatt Switzer, then Luke Switzer was drilled by Eslinger popping the ball loose, and Gennicks fell on it at the Miner 48. However, Linton didn’t take advantage, and in fact went for it on 4th and 5 from the SP 46 with Gennicks scrambling to this right to the sticks, but a motion penalty brought out the punt unit. The Eagles next series ended with Kibblen on a 9 yard gain but taking a hit from Eli Poe on the Miner Sideline and the ball squirting out just there Jaydan Miller had just laid out to slow up Kibblen. Miller crawled to recover the ball a split second ahead of an Eagle at the Miner 49.
It was another opportunity with back to back turnovers and a chance to increase a lead at home. Eslinger started off with a 14 yard run to the Eagle 37. Gennicks ran for 9 then Breneman got just enough to move the chains to the Eagle 26. South Putnam got hit with a facemask then an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after another Eslinger run of 8. Yet from the 6 the Eagle Defense stood strong with stops of Breneman on 2 plays, then Eslinger was dropped by Hibblen and Crickmore. On 4th and 2, Breneman was stopped by leading tacklers Matthew Good pastor and Aiden Beadles. It was huge stop for Coach Sorrell’s squad already down 14. For Linton, it was a failed Red Zone opportunity that we’ve seen the Miners score on 80% chances (28 of 35). Like South Putnam earlier, it wasted a 10 play drive, but more importantly kept the Eagles in the game.
The Miner ‘D’ would keep South Put in shadow of their own goal post forcing a three and out. Kibblen had tried to catch Linton sleeping on 3rd and 6 with a deep pass for Senior Eli Smith but well covered by Sr. Cornerback Kaulin Padgett. Jarred Bunch’s Punt gave Linton another golden opportunity from the Eagle 31 at 6:26 in the half. And indeed, it would happen in 2 plays. Eslinger ran for 12, then it was Johns with pancakes from Franklin and Sr Tackle Donovan DeBruhl, who motored the final 19 yards to pay dirt. Cecares was good again on the PAT, and Linton had shocked the South Putnam folks with a 21-0 lead.
The Eagles would try to answer a Crickmore caught a Hibblen pass in the middle for 18 yards to the Miner 48. That would be it though. After Kibblen ran for 5 on 1st down, he hit Switzer out of the backfield but met by Breneman for 1 yard. They missed a big play when it appeared Hernandez looked open deep at the Miner 20 but over thrown by Kibblen. On 4th and 4 Kibblen’s dart across the middle for Smith sailed and hit Miller in the numbers for a pick but it bounced off, still giving the Miners the ball at the Miner 42.
Eslinger again got things rolling with a 10 yard run on 2nd and 8, then Gabe got behind the safety and Gennicks shot the ball his way. It would have been a Miner score had Eslinger had a chance to catch it but it was a pass interference call that meant 1st and 10 at the Eagle 31. Eslinger took a late option flip from Gennicks to race for another 10 yards and 1st down. Gennicks and Miller had carries pushing it to the 3, then Gennicks launched in to the end zone for 6 points at the 1:13 point and a dagger it would seem, that with Caceras’ PAT kick make it 28-0 Miners. It would be that way as the clock hit 0 although the Eagles made noise with Kibblen’s arm. He connected with Crickmore for 21 yards to the Miner 33. Then one of the craziest plays I’ve called in the broadcast booth occurred. Kibblen looked deep for Crickmore at about the Miner 10, but found Hunter Gennicks instead for his 2nd pick of the year. Hunter, of course, was thinking 90+ yard Interception got his return and actually was perhaps 1 Eagle from realizing it. That person though was Jeremiah Kibblen, who made the initial hit on Gennicks and then got his hands on the ball and was able to pull it out from Hunter at the Eagle 37. It was strange to watch the direction of the play shirt north of south in matter of seconds! I truly believe the wet ball, because the rain had just begun to come down, and as Gennicks tried to shift the ball from his right arm to left as Kibblen hit it was the perfect opportunity to slide out. The result of the madness was Eagle ball at the Miner 31 with time for 1 play. Kibblen ran to his right looking to pass, but instead kept it for a run of 15 yards where Lynn took his down to end the half.
I think most people would be surprised by the Miner 28-0 margin at half. Perhaps not in the case of Lintonians, but football folks knew South Putnam was a very solid team top to bottom and would have expected more of a contest. But Eagles fans could point to missed opportunity getting stopped at the Miner 1, as well as a pass play that could have been a TD. Add to that 2 fumbles as well as the late interception that was essentially nullified by the only Miner turnover of the night. Linton had been able to move the ball pretty regularly with 278 total offense compared to 146 for the Eagles. Most of the damage coming on the ground on 31 carries for 266 yards and over 8.5 yards per touch. SP had 146 yards total, but only 65 on the ground. Kibblen had thrown for 81 yards on 9 of 16 passing. Gennicks had already run for 130 yards on 8 carries, which featured the 87 yard TD Run. Eslinger was strong as well with 83 yards on 8 carries. The rain would come down densely for several minutes, but would be present throughout the remainder of the game but never any thunder or lightning.
The Second Half started with a band for Eagles’ fans, and brought up the thorn Linton has experience of late in a bunch of roses. The kick off coverage that surrendered 2 TD’s against North Knox 2 weeks back one more allowed what looked like another return TD but for Luke McDonald’s hustle bringing Fisher Jones down at the 10 of Linton. It was a 66-yard return that led to a TD strike from Hibblen to Wyatt Switzer from 10 yards out just 49 seconds into the 3rd quarter. South Putnam went for 2 but that snap was mishandled by Hibblen, and both Hunter Johns and Donovan DeBruhl brought him down short. That made things 28-6, and a perfect way for the Eagles to start off the 2nd half.
Linton looked poised to answer as Gennicks hit Poe for 14 yards to the Miner 44, then Gennicks kept for another 8 yards. Offsides penalties were killer all night for the Eagle Defense. Linton has always excelled at drawing the opposition offsides with count manipulation, but tonight South Putnam jumped six times. This one resulted in a 1st Down for Linton, but that would be the last one on this series, and Miller would punt to the Eagle 11 where Switzer was hit immediately by a host of Miners, but starting with junior Thomas Edwards at the 12. The Eagles could not move the ball as Eslinger and sop DE Ty Boyd teamed up to stop runs of 1 and 0. Then Cody Jackson applied the pressure that cause Kibblen’s pass for Crickmore to be incomplete. Another crazy play occurred on Bunch’s punt which was from the Eagle 14. This high kick pushed Hunter John’s back to his own 47 backtracking looking up into the falling rain. It was nearly impossible to make this catch, and it went through Hunter’s hands hitting the ground, but Johns quickly retrieved it on one bounce despite an Eagle’s efforts to make what would have been a huge play for South Putnam. It was Eli Smith who inadvertently got his hands-on Johns facemask, and he knew it immediately as the flag flew.
Linton started from the Eagle 38 after the penalty yards were accessed. Gennicks would hit Eslinger at the Eagle 31 where he would rumble to the 17 for a 1st down. Bracey Breneman pushed it to the 9 up the middle with Johns getting 2 more for a 1st and Goal at the 7. From there, it was Hunter Gennicks barreling air bound into the end zone with 5:56 on the 3rd Quarter Clock. Caceres’s perfect night on PAT kicks ended with a miss to the left leaving a 34-6 Miner lead. South Putnam started from their own 21 after the kick-off from Jose’ Sevilla-Garcia bounced off Jones’ leg and out of bounds. Franklin drilled RB Switzer with a loss of 1, then Eslinger and Lynn stopped Kibblen for 3 yards. SP converted the 3rd and 8 with a pass for Smith that gained 14 to the Eagle 37. The Miner defense pinned their ears back and came after Kibblen on every play knowing the Eagles were going to the pass game. Jackson Lynn and Gabe Eslinger each had tipped passes leading to incompletions. Facing 4th and 24 Kibblen’s pass down the middle for Zach Dorsett was well defended by Gennicks and Padgett.
I took the Miners 3 plays to put more points on the board that featured a 17-yard run from Johns to the Eagle 21, then Gennicks recreated a TD throw from earlier in the year against Boonville. He rolled to his right looking downfield, then at the last second looking back across the field where Eslinger had found wide open space in the endzone. Hunter put the pass on the money from 21, and with Caceres back on target Linton jumped up to 41-6 lead.
This time the Kick-Off Return unit provided a turnover as Jones took a hit from Sophomore Ashton White and coughed up the ball, where Edwards recovered the ball at the Eagle 34. Gennicks got sacked by Kyle Glasson, but it was a case of him looking to make a short pass, and nobody being there, so he smartly ate the ball. Facing 3rd and 11 Gennicks lofts a high deep pass along the Miner Sideline to the 6 where Eli Poe, as he has done many times this year, leaped over the excellent coverage from #3 (Switzer) and came down with the ball. Hunter Johns got his 2nd rushing score of the night from 7 yards out, his 10th of the season. Eddie Caceres made good on the PAT for a 48 to 6 advantage as the clock expired on the 3rd quarter.
It was a night that seemed to have everything going Linton’s way offensively and defensively. Even the Extra Points were going great as Eddie Caceres made good on 6 of 7 kicks. However, the kick-return phase gave cause for worry again as Sevilla-Garcia’s kick was a little short as Wyatt Switzer took it in at the Eagle 29, turned to his right and got a great block to free a hole in the middle of the field. He hit the gas and was gone 61 yards for another Special Teams score for the opposition. Another 2 Point attempt, this time a pass from freshman Houston Jibe to Dorsett was stopped by Lynn. The score, which would be the final points of the night, was 48-12 with 10:47 left with a running clock in effect.
Linton got a nice return as well from Jaydan Miller that gave the Miners the ball at their own 43. It was Gennicks again with a 21-yard run on a 3rd and 4 to the Eagle 30. On 4th and 8 from the SP 28 Gennicks tried to hit Aiden Rigg leman, but good defense from Caden Switzer and a rush from Bunch combined to squelch that pass. South Putnam would get only 2 plays in before a pass from Jobe for Dorsett on the sideline was picked clean by Jackson Lynn at the Eagle 31. Miner JV entered the contest starting with Edwards on a gain or 4. McDonald looked strong in a 13-yard run to the Eagle 17, but time ran out on the JV effort. There were carries as well from Christian Shank, Bradyn Cox and Eli Scott as well.
Linton ran the ball 52 times for 336 yards, and had an even 100 yards in the air for 436 total yards, their 3rd game in a row 400+ of offense. Hunter Gennicks had his career high in rushing with 162 yards on 13 carries with 3 rush TDs. His previous has been 133 against Tell City in 2020s sectional meeting. This pushes him to 916 total rushing in 2021, which is exactly what he finished with in 2020. Gabe Eslinger ran 12 times for 86 big yards and a TD at 7.2 yards per carry. He is 640 yards for the season. Hunter Johns was key with 2 touchdowns on a 10 for 61 yards night. Bracey Breneman added 17 on 10 carries. Senior Drew Smith, a normal starter at RB and OLB missed his 2nd game in a row with an ankle sprain. He was in full uniform for senior night, but clearly isn’t 100%. Others with carries: Jaydan Miller 2-3, Bradyn Cox 1-1; Thomas Edwards 1-4; Luke McDonald 1-13; Christian Shank 1-(-4); Eli Scott 1-(-7). Hunter Gennicks was 50% in passing with a 6 of 12 performance and 100 yards in the air. Eslinger had 3 of those catches for 49 yards and a TD, Eli Poe 2 for 43, and Logan Webb 1 for 8. Gennicks is now 59 of 102 for 1,156 yards which is a 57.8% mark with 18 passing TDs and just 1 pick from week 2. Poe remains the main target with 36, and he has the most catches at 18, with Eslinger at 16. Poe has 359 yards receiving with 6 scores, and Eslinger 295 with 5 TDs. Logan Webb had 9 catches for 209 yards and 3 TDs.
Linton really strangled the South Putnam run game holding them to just 66 yards on the ground on 24 catches. Another sub 3 yard per carry game at 2.8. Jeremiah Hibblen had 56 yards on 13 carries, Luke Switzer with 10 carries and 13 yards. Peyton Crickmore had 1 carry for (-3). Hibblen went to the air 23 times hitting on 11 for 105 yards with 1 score and 1 pick. Backup Houston Jobe had one pass that was picked by Jackson Lynn. 4 catches apiece from Crickmore and Wyatt Switzer for 58 and 28 yards. Switzer had the TD catch. Eli Smith had a catch for 14 yards, Santiago Hernandez 1 for 4, and Luke Switzer 1 for 1. Over all SP was 11 of 24 for 105 yards, leaving the Eagles at 171 total offense.
Gabe Eslinger once more was all over the football field with 13 tackles, 8 solo. Hunter Gennicks with 7 and .5 sack. Aiden Giles, who saw action at ILB for the 1st time this year, had 7 tackles including .5 sack and 1.5 TFL. Jackson Lynn had 6 tackles, .5 TFL and 2 QB hurries. Linton now has 12 interceptions as a team as Hunter Gennicks (his 2nd) and Jackson Lynn added to that total. They also have recovered 11 fumbles, as Miller, Gennicks and Edwards all had recoveries. These were caused by Eli Poe, Ashton White and Gabe Eslinger. Eslinger leads the Miners with 93 total tackles followed by Bracey Breneman with 45, Hunter Gennicks at 44 and Wrigley Franklin with 43. Tackles for loss are led with 12 from Franklin, 11.5 from Eslinger, 8.5 from Drew Smith. Linton has 16 sacks this year led by 3 from Hunter Johns and 2.5 from Smith. Padgett, Gennicks and Poe each have 2 picks on the year. Linton is led is scoring with 96 points from Eslinger, Johns with 50, Gennicks 42 and Poe with 30. Eddie Caceres is now 10 of 16 on PATs; Jose Sevilla-Garcia 9 of 12, and Jaydan Miller 5 of 7.
South Putnam was led by great efforts on the defense by ILB Matthew Good pastor with 10 stops, 1.5 TFL, followed by safety Caden Switzer with 10 as well. ILB Aiden Beadles added 9 tackles with 2 TFL; 7 each from Kyle Glasson and Uriah Kortz. Ethan Harcourt had 8 from DT. Linton had 24 first downs to SP’s 11. Turnovers obviously a big role as the Eagles gave up 3 fumbles and 2 interceptions thrown for a total of 5. Linton’s only turnover came on a turnover itself- Gennicks with an interception but Kibblen stripping the ball on the return. South Put had 15 penalties, 6 of those offside calls, for 99 yards, while the Miners had just 6 for 48. 3rd Downs Linton was 7 of 12 South Putnam 4 of 9. Linton and Putnam both were 1 of 4 on 4th down. Linton was 5 of 7 in Red Zone, and we stopped at the 1-yard line on downs. This makes the Miners 33 of 42 season long in red zone opps, a 78.6 percentage. Opposition has only had 10 red zone appearances, hitting on 7 of them for scores.
For the Eagles, they fall to 7-2 and head into Sectional 35 in class A still ranked #8/#9 hosting 5-4 North Vermillion. The Miners achieve one of their big goals, which was to run the table in regular season and earn the right for their team picture to be mounted in the walk of fame alongside other great Miner teams through the years. They travel for a rematch Friday at Tell City with Marksmen. Tell City is 5-4 but comes in with tough ballgames in a somewhat surprising loss to 4-5 South Spencer at home 21-14 last week, and having to go to overtime for a 36-30 win over 2-6 1A Tecumseh. They opened their year with a dominating 41-6 over 7-2 1A Perry Central and do own a 43-34 win over 7-1 1A Springs Valley (their only loss of the year). So, it’s a bit confusing to see a 14-10 win over 2-6 Forest Park and the aforementioned South Spencer and Tecumseh results. Coach Mac Webb is in his 2nd year as head coach, and had the Marksmen at 5-0 before a 2-point loss to Southridge. But as is the case this year, they lost to South Spencer and limped into the sectional game with quarantine being a major issue and suffered a 34-0 loss at the hands of Linton in front of the home fans in a monsoon-like torrent. A direct comparison would be their loss 49-17 to the Raiders in week 6, while the Miners earned a 27-13 win over Southridge to start the 2021 season.
Featured photo by Austin Gordon Photography