Published: November 07, 2009 12:53 am         

Transformed Miners take out No. 5 Cougars for third straight sectional title

LINTON — Linton completed the comeback few believed possible Friday night, coming from behind in the fourth quarter to upset Class A No. 5-ranked North Daviess 28-24 at Roy Williams Field in Linton.

Trailing 24-14 in the third quarter, the same Miners that lost to North Daviess 34-6 on Sept. 25, scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarter, then made two huge defensive plays to win their third straight Sectional 40 football championship.

“Especially this year. We started out slow, we were supposed to be rebuilding and to come out here and change [our offense and defense] in week seven and win the sectional for the third time in a row, it’s something special,” Linton running back Stefan Sparks said.

Trailing 24-21 with 2:58 left in the game, Linton faced a fourth down and four. Kaleb Bridge took the football straight up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown play that put the Miners ahead.

Dyllanne Deischer, Linton’s freshman kicker, capped a perfect 4-for-4 kicking night that put the Miners up 28-24.

North Daviess, led by quarterback Jano Davis, who threw for 104 yards and rushed for 68, broke loose for a 32-yard run across and up the field to the Linton 14-yard line.

On second-and-10 from the Linton 14, senior tackle Kyle Smith and sophomore Blake Scarbrough sacked Davis for a five-yard loss. Looking at third-and-15, the Cougars tried a pass and Linton’s Evan Magni made the biggest interception of his record-setting career with 49 seconds left on the clock.

“My eyes got huge. I got a good break on the ball. I ran my butt off, got to it and made the play,” Magni said.

In the third quarter, it sure looked like a rebuilding year for the Miners. Linton led 14-12 at halftime, but North Daviess scored on the opening possession of the second half, then capitalized on a Linton fumble to go ahead 24-21 with 4:54 left in the third period.

“I told the team right before the third quarter was over one big play could turn this game around. Sure enough the next play they fumble the ball, we get it and score,” Magni said.

With 49 seconds left in the third period, Linton quarterback Tylor Scott, not known for his passing, hooked up with Magni for a 40-yard touchdown pass play. It was Scott’s second TD pass of the night, as he found Reid Firestone for a 14-yard score in the first quarter.

“We haven’t thrown the ball forever. We knew they were going to stop our powers with something so we needed something else. So we started passing [in practice] this week. So it worked out for us big time,” Scott said.

With just under 10 minutes left to play, Bridges, who led the balanced Miner offense with 86 rushing yards, sacked North Daviess’ Davis for a five-yard loss, forcing a punt.

Starting from their own 27-yard line, the Miners put together a 14-play touchdown drive. Sparks came through with the big plays on the drive, running for 13 yards on third-and-five, then converting on a fourth-and-inches, that eventually led to Bridges’ 25-yard touchdown run.

“The guys don’t believe that [rebuilding year story]. They don’t buy into that. They played hard. I’m more proud of this team of any team I’ve had so far [and] we’ve had some great teams here,” Linton coach Steve Weber said.



Linton 28, North Daviess 24

North Daviess 0 12 12 0 — 24

Linton 7 7 7 7 — 28

L — Reid Firestone 14 pass from Tylor Scott (Dyllanne Deischer kick) 8:56 1Q.

ND — Jess Tribby 33 pass from Jano Davis (kick failed) 11:34 2Q.

ND — Tribby 91 run (pass failed) 4:43 2Q.

L — Evan Magni 30 run (Deischer kick) :51 2Q.

ND — Ryan Webster 5 run (pass failed) 7:53 3Q.

ND — Davis 1 run (pass failed) 4:54 3Q.

L — Magni 40 pass from Scott (Deischer kick) :49 3Q.

L — Kaleb Bridges 25 run (Deischer kick) 2:58 4Q.

ND L

First downs 16 17

Rushes-yards 45-296 43-236

Passing yards 104 109

Com-Att-Int 6-13-1 4-7-1

Total offense 58-400 50-345

Return yards 59 36

Punts-avg. 2-29 2-28.5

Fumbles lost 3-2 3-3

Penalties-yards 2-13 3-15

Individual statistics

Rushing — North Daviess: Webster 27-126, Davis 13-68, Tribby 2-98, Sellers 3-4. Linton: Bridges 14-86, S. Sparks 12-85, Magni 11-46, Scott 6-19.

Passing — North Daviess: Davis 6-13-1--104; Linton: Scott 4-7-1--109.

Receiving — North Daviess: Tribby 3-59, Harkness 1-28, Wittmer 1-12, Sellers 1-5; Linton: Magni 1-40, Ivey 1-35, Morin 1-20, Firestone 1-14.

Next — Linton (9-3) will host Fountain Central next Friday. North Daviess finished 10-2.