E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing
Editor
ROYERTON – Despite a steady rain, the
conditions Nov. 14 for Class 4A No. 5 Delta in its Regional 6
battle of unbeatens with
visiting third-ranked Fort Wayne Dwenger seemed not so bad. The temperature
hovered around 50, and the bone-chilling wind from a week ago was nowhere in sight.
Then the game began … and nearly as quickly
ended. Dwenger used its overwhelming size advantage to place a giant hand metaphorically
around Delta’s throat, scoring the first four times it had the ball to build a
28-0 lead and coast to a 49-20 victory.
Next up for Dwenger is next weekend’s home
showdown with second-ranked defending state runner-up Lowell (13-0) – the
Saints’ second straight tussle against a fellow unbeaten. It will be the third
straight trip to the semistate round and 14th overall for Dwenger,
the 3A state champion in 1983, 1990, and 1991.
Delta (12-1), meanwhile, was seeking its
first semistate berth since the 2001 season, when the Eagles made it to their
only state finals before falling 35-20 to Jasper.
Big play after big play – and a couple of
costly third-and-longs that got away from Delta – pushed Dwenger to a 21-0 lead
not even seven minutes into the game. The trio of scores came on a 30-yard pass
from senior quarterback Trevor Yerrick to 6’5” senior flanker Brian Fogler, a
49-yard option run by Yerrick, and a 23-yard pass from Yerrick to 6’6” senior
tight end Tyler Eifert.
Delta appeared to bounce back from the blackjacking
by piecing together a pair of long runs to move into Saints’ territory at the
Dwenger 35. But the Eagles stalled and turned the ball over on downs, setting
the stage for a nine-play Dwenger drive that actually used up about four
minutes before senior running back Robby Kimes scored on a five-yard run to
make it 28-zip.
The Eagles finally found the scoreboard
when senior Greg Heban’s 49-yard kickoff return was followed on the next play
by a 41-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Brooks Medaris to senior wide
receiver Garth Glore. That made it 28-7 with 8:20 to go before the half.
But Dwenger delivered a knockout punch on
its subsequent 10-play, 65-yard drive by converting a 3rd and 25 with
a 28-yard pass from Yerrick to Kimes. The Saints then reeled off runs of nine,
six, eight, four, three, and five yards – the last one Kimes’ second score from
inside the 10 – to go up 35-7.
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