Schools

McCalley Leads Tigers On And Off Field

Hamilton County Sports Daily

 Connor McCalley comes off the field after a big play and yells encouragement and hollers and pumps his chest. Most times he even stands on a bench and raises his helmet toward the Fishers High School student section, all along jumping around and talking to himself.

 He’s wired. He’s animated. He’s just being himself.

 “Yeah, OK, I guess you could call it that. Things I do just help motivate me during good times as well as bad times,’’ said the 5-10 stutter-stepping, hard running senior tailback who scored on two electrifying runs in the Tigers’ 28-0 victory over Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival Westfield.

    Well, he was motivated during all the good times in this one. On the second play from scrimmage, he broke left, eluded one would-be tackler and raced into the end zone from 63 yards out. That stood up for a 7-0 halftime lead.

     Struggling to get much done offensively the rest of the first half, mainly because of a solid Westfield defensive effort that twice stopped the Tigers deep in Shamrocks territory, the flood gates opened in the third quarter.

     And the defense pretty much set the stage for what would occur. It constantly pressured quarterback Wade Burtron, one of the top passers around. He spent much of the night running for his life and lost 12 yards. He also completed only 12-of-25 passes for 100 yards, well below his average for the Shamrocks, who fell to 0-3.

      Fishers’ Taylor Halstead had eight tackles and eight assists and three sacks. Jordan Willly also sacked Burtron for an 8-yard loss. And Brian Sutton, Cody Moore and Patrick Weiler each had five solo tackles and as many assists.

    After two passes late in the third quarter, Fishers quarterback Koby Orris hit Dakota Slaughter up the middle for 21 yards on a 4^th-and-nine play, then sophomore Mitch Sliga bulldozed up the middle for a 7-yard score. Sutton followed with an interception with 1:17 left in the third quarter and Orris hit R.C. Hauser with a short pass that resulted in a 76-yard score, most because of Hauser’s moves and speed.

    That left it up to McCalley to add the finishing touches. He broke off right tackle and was off to the races, scoring on an 87-yard run at the 9:37 mark of the fourth quarter.

     McCalley’s coach, Rick Wimmer, has been impressed with his tailback from the get-go. He thought it was just a matter of time before he would break a long run. His play certainly did not disappoint.

      “It was the game of my life,’’ said McCalley, who rushed 17 times for 220 yards and caught a 21-yard pass.

      Not bad for a youngster who was a defensive back/safety when he was healthy last year.

      “We (coach and me) had talked about me taking the tailback job for quite some time,’’ said McCalley, who was injured during preseason and didn’t return to the lineup until the eighth game a year ago. I like being the man.’’

       When Wimmer talked to his team several moments after the game, McCalley also displayed some leadership. He raised his hand and asked his coach if he could say a few words.

       “We struggled some and were a little slow getting things done in the first half, but you guys were on fire. We came out and kicked some butt. We need to play that way all the time. Then we’ll really be something,’’ McCalley said.

       Guess you could add cheerleader and team leader to his role for the Tigers.

       “It’s important to show team leadership,’’ he said, matter of factly. “I think it especially helps our young guys. You have to lead by example on and off the field. That’s what I try to do.’’

       (Go to Scoreboard for scoring summary.)

Sports Shots

Posted: Sept. 3,  2010

Carmel Protects No. 1 Ranking;

HSE Lone Ranked County

Football Team To  Lose

Hamilton County Sports Daily

   It was nearly a perfect night for ranked football teams in Hamilton County. Only Hamilton Southeastern failed to land a knockout punch.

    In a battle of Class 5A unbeatens, top-ranked Carmel (3-0) held on for a 21-14 victory at No. 2 Center Grove in the state’s marquee match-up; Class 3A No. 7 Hamilton Heights (3-0) buried Maconaquah 59-7; Class A No. 5 Sheridan (2-1) came from behind to beat Twin Lakes; 5A No. 5 Hamilton Southeastern fell on the road to 5A No. 10 Brownsburg 16-7.

• For the Royals (2-1), who had beaten Brownsburg in nine of the past 10 meetings, it marked only their fourth Hoosier Crossroads Conference loss in four seasons.  HSE, coming off a big victory over in-town rival Fishers, got off on the wrong foot with a safety and fell behind 9-0 before quarterback Jake Jones hit Tyler Duffy for a 13-yard score in the fourth quarter. Jones, who was 14-of-29 passing for 145 yards, 36 of those hauled in by Gary Harris on four receptions, lost two fumbles. The Royals did block a field goal.

On The Calendar

Football Schedule

Sept. 10

Avon at Fishers

Brownsburg at Westfield

Cass at Hamilton Heights

Clinton Central at Sheridan, 7:30 p.m.

Guerin Catholic at  Laf. C. Catholic

Noblesville at Lafayette Jeff, 7:30 p.m.

TH South at Carmel

 Sept. 11

Hamilton SE vs Zionsville at Lucas Oil Stadium, 4:30 p.m.

(7 p.m. kickoff unless noted)

Some Key Dates to Note

 Sept.    2–Cross Country: Landes boys/Girls Invitational at Hamilton Heights, 5 p.m.

Sept.    9–Cross Country: All-Catholic boys/girls championships at Guerin, 5 p.m.

Sept.  11–Soccer: Westfield Boys Invitational, 9 a.m.; Volleyball: HSE Showcase, 9 a.m.

Sept.  16–Cross County: Husky Quad Boys/Girls Invitational at Hamilton Heights, 5 p.m.