FOREST PARK 44 SOUTH SPENCER 22
If South Spencer coach Jeff Daming could pick one song for his football team to emulate, it might be the 1981 Olivia Newton-John hit “(Let’s Get) Physical”.
Why?
Because he didn’t feel his squad was ‘phyiscal enough’ against PAC rival Forest Park. The Rebels couldn’t overcome the Rangers’ physicality and potent running attack, eventually dropping a 44-22 decision last Friday night in Ferdinand.After South Spencer went into the locker room with a 22-21 edge, Forest Park outscored the Rebels’ 23-0 in the second half.
Why the big discrepancy? The Rangers got more physical.
“Forest Park changed their defense, and we didn’t respond to it very well,” explained Daming. “They were more physical than we were up front. Hats off to them. They played an extremely physical football game. They earned the win tonight.”
Early on, it looked like South Spencer may be the team to leave the gridiron victorious. It took the Rebels less than two minutes to score their first touchdown, as South Spencer junior quarterback Ty Brown completed a 35 yard pass to Dawson Rodgers and a 25 yard pass to Denver Epperson. That set up Brown’s six yard TD run to give the Rebels a 6-0 lead at the 10:02 mark of the first quarter.Forest Park responded just under eight minutes later when sophomore Jaxon Lueken capped a 15-play drive with a 20 yard touchdown run to give the Rangers a 7-6 edge. Then on Forest Park’s next possession, Jace Berg broke free for a 52 yard scoring jaunt to put the Rangers ahead 14-6 with less than seven seconds remaining in the opening stanza.Down but not out, South Spencer answered when Brown hooked up with Epperson for a 35 yard TD completion. The two-point conversion tied the contest at 14 apiece midway through the second quarter.
The first half scoring, however, wasn’t done.Berg completed a half-back pass to Joel Bueltel for a 30 yard TD with 2:15 left until the half to give Forest Park a 21-14 lead, only to see South Spencer answer 33 seconds later. Brown capped the first half festivities with a 41 yard TD strike to Garin Kenney, and after a successful two-point conversion, the Rebels enjoyed their 22-21 cushion. Brown completed 12-22 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing 11 times for 37 yards and a score.
Both Daming and Forest Park coach Terry Riggs praised the Rebel QB for his effort. “Ty’s our main weapon. I think everybody knows that. He made a lot of plays. He did a lot of things,” said Daming. “We knew that if we were going to be successful, we’d have to put the ball in Ty and Garin’s [Kenney] hands. After a while you can only scheme so much. It wasn’t good enough to get it done tonight.”
Read more on this story in this week’s issue of the Spencer County Leader!
Story by Brian Bohne, Photos by Sierra Bruggeman
