Southside ends Patriots' season (11/01/03)

MUNCIE — Unlike their first trip to the Rebels’ home, Jay County did manage to hold a 6-0 lead Friday night. But, it didn’t last very long.

Marlon Isom returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for the touchdown and a 7-6 lead, and Muncie Southside controlled the rest of the contest for a 36-12 victory.

The Sectional 12 sectional football semifinal win advances the Rebels (4-7) to the championship game at city rival Muncie Central Friday. The No. 3 Bearcats earned their bid to the finals with a 16-9 win over the Delta Eagles.

Isom’s kick return followed two strong drives by Jay County (3-8).

The first resulted on a turnover on downs at the 21-yard line. But, after a quick defensive stop, Steven Castillo took the first play of the next drive 50 yards for a touchdown.

However, the Patriots botched the extra point try and Isom wasted no time putting his Rebels on top. He took the kickoff straight up the middle, made one quick juke on kicker Trent Bailey and outran Justin Gilbert the final 50 yards to the end zone.

Luis Soares’ extra point gave Southside a 7-6 lead which it never relinquished.

“That changed everything,” said Rebel coach Mike Paul, whose team defeated the Patriots 21-12 during the regular season. “(Marlon Isom) is the fastest kid we have out on the field.”

Hill agreed that after marching down the field twice, the special teams snafu was crushing.

“We kicked the ball right to them and all of a sudden we were down 7-6,” said Hill, who watched his team give up a pair of kick returns for touchdowns against Southern Wells and Indianapolis Broad Ripple this year. “It was kind of all downhill from there.”

The Southside lead came even though they didn’t pick up a first down until the second play of the second quarter. Soon after they added to the advantage when quarterback Nick Robey found Kyle Cranmer on a 9-yard wide receiver screen.

Robey added a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:42 left to cap a 40-yard drive and put the Rebels up 21-6. Then came the next defining moment of the game.

The Patriots returned the kickoff to the 44-yard line and methodically drove towards the goal line. With just seven seconds remaining and no time outs left they faced a third-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

Alex Loucks took the ball, but was stopped at the 1-yard line as the clock expired.

“That was huge,” said Paul. “We had a little stunt when they went to that set. They had one play they could run, and we stunted right into it.”

Jay County scored first in the second half when Steven Castillo — who set a career high with 126 yards in the first half — ran in a 9-yard touchdown. But, the 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving Jay County still two scores behind.

The Patriots still had one last chance to keep things interesting as the rain came down in the fourth quarter. But, facing fourth-and-one at their own 40-yard line, Justin Gilbert was stopped for no gain.

Southside promptly drove to the end zone on four plays, with Robey diving one yard for the score.

Ruben Torres picked off a Gilbert halfback option pass on the next Patriot drive, and Tommy Isom took the next play 59 yards for the final score.

Tommy Isom was again the key to everything the Rebels did, despite finding the end zone only once. (He had another 54-yard touchdown run called back on a clipping penalty which occurred 20 yards behind the play). He carried the ball on nearly half of his teams plays, picking up 167 of his team’s 227 yards (74 percent).

The effort came after he put up more than 130 yards in Southside’s trouncing of Greenfield-Central a week ago.

“He’s very quick, elusive and extremely strong,” said Paul, also mentioning the same qualities in Cranmer and Torres.

Jay County had its fair share of milestones despite the defeat.

Alex Loucks broke the 1,000-yard barrier late in the fourth quarter, finishing with 64 yards on 13 carries on the night. Castillo finished with 137 yards on 21 attempts.

Hill spoke proudly about Loucks and fellow seniors Justin Adams, Tony Minch, Chris Moles, Robbie Rodgers, Marcus Bailey, Tyler Bash and David Stith.

“It’s a group of eight that’s just amazing,” he said. “That’s the group that met me at the school board meeting when I got hired. That’s something I’ll remember forever.

“They’re a bunch of great guys.”[[In-content Ad]]