Osgood Journal Sports
October 9, 2007

'07 JCD Eagle varsity soccer team delivers ORVC co-championship title

GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO Eagle team members pictured front, from left are: Shane Adams, Brandon Wilhoit, Heather Linville, Becca Meister, Megan Hardy, Alissa Stolze, Josh Forbes and Joe Rangel. Row 2: Head Coach Mark Jones, Steven Douglas, Justin Stepleton, Michael Luers, Jeremy Wagner, Eric Horan, Zach Simon, Brock Billman, Gerald Hardesty, Spencer Purdy, Trevor Arnett, Danny Meister, Kellen Stolze, David Busch, Assistant Coach Loren Stolze and Eric Wirth. Not pictured are Coty Horn and Renee Meister.

Indian uprising catches Raiders off guard
Gary Franklin, Sports Editor

Results of the opening game of the 2007 Jac-Cen-Del High School hosted sectional soccer games was somewhat of a surprise by games end, as the Milan Indians won the right for the first time in their schools history to advance to play in the championship round game.
Game two was also somewhat of an upset as the hosting Eagles were defeated by the Jennings County Panthers.
The first round of the sectional opened on Thursday evening, October 4, slating Milan against South Ripley. Milan only recently won their first game in four years so were thought by most to be a likely first round elimination to the Raiders who have proven to have a solid team which included nine senior players.
As the saying goes, "It ain't over, til it's over" once again rang true. The Indians drew first blood when senior John Burgan scored at the 36 minute juncture of the opening 40 minutes of regulation play. The Indians again struck for a goal at 34:57 on the clock, but the goal was erased for an off sides call.
The Raiders quickly sprang into the offensive mode with senior Nathan Hensley scoring at 33:58. Alex Walter of the Milan Indians, son of new head coach Kevin Walter, struck for the tribe to put them back on top 2-1 at the 25:38 juncture of the contest.
A third score for the Indians came off an out-of-bounds kick in which Michael Pruss managed to drive it into the net for 3-1 at the 19:27 mark of the first half.
Raider senior Nathan Hensley was once again able to motor his way to the goal for a score, thus 3-2 with 16:42 yet remaining in the first half of regulation.
The teams battled frantically for the remainder of the half, with neither able to get an advantage on the other. Thus the score at halftime remained Milan 3-2 South Ripley.
Milan's Michael Pruss struck for the first goal of the second half at the 26:53 mark to advance the Indian lead to 4-2.
With 18:02 remaining in regulation play, Raider senior Mitch Krall put a header into the Indian goal net. It drew the Raiders again to within one point.
With Raider senior goal keeper Kyle Taylor in the game, Indian senior John Burgan was the striker on a penalty goal kick, of which he nailed. The Indians were back up by two points with just 3:41 remaining in the contest.
The never say die attitude of the Raiders saw one more point scored by the South Ripley crew as Nathan Hensley capitalized on a goal shot with 1:39 left, drawing the Raiders to a mere one point deficit.
Neither team could gain an advantage on the other for a score for the remainder of the game, thus Milan won the final score of 5-4 over South Ripley, with the Indians advancing to the championship game.
A first time ever for a Milan Indian soccer team to get to a championship sectional contest.
The South Ripley Raiders all boys' team will lose nine of their team members to graduation. They are; Isaac Everage, Daniel Fix, Nick Grider, Nathan Hensley, Mitch Krall, Jake McConnell, Russ Steinhauer, Paul Swango and Kyle Taylor.
The Indians coed soccer team by the same token will graduate eight of its team members. They are John Burgan, Josh Dickey, Todd Edwards, Aaron Gutzwiller, Janin Hesch, Jasmine Vetma-Holins, Craig McKittrick and Tyler Reese.
Championship match
Milan vs Jennings County
The championship match between the Jennings County Panther boys' team and the Coed Jac-Cen-Del Eagles got underway on Saturday night, October 6, at 7 PM.
The Indians and Panthers battled feverishly for the first 22 :33 of the game, resulting in a 0-0 tie. At the 17:27 mark, the Panthers drew first blood with a score on the Indians to take a 1-0 lead.
Continuing with battle form, the teams worked their way down to the :59 second mark, where the Panthers managed to score a second goal. The heart stopper came with just :01 second remaining in the first half and the Panthers managed to add a third goal for a 3-0 halftime lead.
Resuming play following the ten minute halftime break, the Panthers struck once more. At 36:48 and again at 24:51 the Panthers took their lead to 5-0.
Neither team was able to put together a score in the final minutes of play. Coach Kevin Walter of the Milan Indians substituted his entire team in to allow his seniors to leave the field at :07 left.
The Indians have established a new expectation for their soccer teams of the future and hope to build off this year's new experiences of which winning a single game was a start and making it to the sectional championship round a second.


Lady Eagle Volleyball update
Gary Franklin, Sports Editor

The Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagle varsity volleyball team took charge of their match at South Dearborn against the Lady Knights to win in three straight. The scores were 25-21, 25-10 and 25-19.
Kaylin Ploeger was 14/15 hitting with 7 kills, 3 block kills, 16/17 digs and 11/14 serving for 9 points. Chelsea Abplanalp served 20/20, including 2 aces, for 15 points. She was 50/52 setting with 10 assists and 20/20 digs.
Audrey Huffmeyer went 11/12 hitting with 4 kills, 2 block kills and 8/8 serving for 4 points. Danielle Leighty was 9/9 hitting with 3 kills, 1 block kill, 10/11 serving including an ace for 6 pints.
The Lady Eagle JV team however, went down in their set of three games. JV serving was at 92% as Sierra Pope managed a 12/12 to pick up 6 points.
Setters were credited with a great performance at picking up the second ball and setting up the front line. They were 49/54 for 91%. The back row also hustled to do a fine job of digging out the hits by the Lady Knights. They were 60/75 for 80%.
The front row went 54/61 with 13 kills. Kristina Hartman went 24/24 with 5 kills on the night.
JV Eagles vs Franklin County
The Lady Eagle JV lost in a three game set to Franklin County on Thursday, October 4. Game scores were 19-25, 25-17 and 11-15. Serving 100% on the evening for the Lady Eagles was Melissa Horan with Kayla Kohlman going 13/14 to earn 8 points.
The Lady Eagles were 38/49 with 12 kills. Lacey Derringer and Janae Horn each had three. Elisha Menchhofer, Hailee Sizemore and Danielle Wagner each added two apiece.
Chelsea Hooton was credited with digging out 22 hits in the back row.
JCD varsity vs Greensburg
The Lady Eagles fell to the Lady Pirates in four games 4-25, 26-24, 11-25 and 13-25.
JCD varsity vs South Decatur
The Lady Eagles fell to the Lady Cougars in four games 28-30, 25-19, 15-25 and 14-25.