Southside wins shootout (09/20/2008)

Any college in need of a quarterback could have seen two great options Friday night.

Any fan who enjoys offense was in high school football heaven.

Anyone who wanted to get home early was out of luck.

Jay County and Muncie Southside staged a shootout for the ages at Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium, racking up a state yardage record as the visiting Rebels beat the Patriots 63-54.

The Olympic Athletic Conference rivals combined for an unofficial total of 1,251 yards, surpassing the state record of 1,210 set by Pendleton Heights and Mount Vernon in 2004.

"It was unbelievable," said Southside coach Mike Paul, who has been leading the Rebel program for 31 years. "I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like that.

"I mean, whoever stopped whoever was going to win the game. ...

"I've been coaching 36 years at Southside and I've never seen that."

With so many big offensive plays, including 17 touchdowns, the outcome came down to down to a pair of defensive stands by the Rebels in the fourth quarter.

Jay County had gone to a running attack in the fourth, an effort to both give its defense a rest and keep quarterback Jamil Smith of the Rebels (3-2) off the field. The Patriots pushed into the red zone, but were left with fourth-and-2 from the 12-yard line.

They kept the ball on the ground, but Michael Daniels was stopped at the 11 to give possession back to the Southside. It was just the third defensive stop of the game.

The Rebels knocked nearly six minutes off the clock in marching back down the field, taking a two-score lead when Jeron Sharp reached the end zone on a 23-yard run.

In the game of high-powered offense the Patriots still had time to rally, but after reaching the Southside 12-yard line Tyler Barrett intercepted Billy Wellman to seal the game.

"I don't know what to say. I don't know," said JCHS coach Shane Hill, whose team is now 1-4 despite averaging more than 40 points per game. "I'm at a loss. One stop, and it's a different ball game.

"Convert the fourth down, and you know, if we punch that one in, that might charge the defense up with only a few minutes left to go on the clock.

"I mean, I don't know. ... There's no hiding it anymore. We definitely have some gaping things that we need to correct, and we need to correct them in a hurry ..."

The game was a showcase for two of the best quarterbacks in the state, and their stables of receivers.

Wellman, who ranked second in the state in passing yards through four games, broke his own school record of 402 set just two weeks ago with 433. And the Rebels' Jamil Smith, who finished with 491 passing yards, had a shot at the state record of 563 before both teams went to more of a ground-based attack in the fourth quarter.

"I threw that?" Smith asked when told of his yardage total after the game. "I didn't know. I was just playing. They were scoring, so we had to score too. ... The line was giving me good protection the whole game.

"I told the ref over here, 'Man, this is a love-hate situation.' I love it, but I hate being in this predicament, because we have to score every time."

Southside's Jeron Sharp fell one reception short of the state record, catching 16 balls for 248 yards.

Those numbers all helped contribute to the total of 117 points, which was a new record for a JCHS game. It surpassed the Patriots' 76-20 sectional quarterfinal loss to Northrop in 1996.

Smith threw four touchdown passes, and had another TD on the ground. He ran the ball 30 times for 107 yards, giving him a hand in more than 89 percent of the Rebels' offense.

"The thing I think everybody would love to see is a hybrid of them both," said Hill of the two QBs. "You put a little bit of Jamil's wheels on Billy with his arm and his strength and wow. What could he do? ...

"That was what this night was about, showcasing and seeing who could come out and really wow the people. There were some great throws by both quarterbacks, and really amazing catches by their receivers too. ... It was definitely a good display of what his area has as far as talent at the quarterback position."

Wellman completed 19-of-26 passes and had five TDs - four of which went to Brandon Reynard - before being picked off to end the evening. He also ran for 45 yards.

"That's a big-time arm," said Paul of Wellman. "I've coached against Jeff George, I've coached against Mark Hermann ... Matt Pike, who was from Huntington and went full ride to Purdue, and his arm is every bit as strong as theirs, if not stronger."

George played at Purdue and Illinois before becoming the first overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 1990. Hermann also played at Purdue and for five different NFL teams, including the Colts.

Southside scored the game's first two touchdowns, never trailed in the first half, and led 28-27 at halftime. But Jay County took the lead less than a minute into the second half on a 7-yard TD run by Lance Franklin.

That score started a frantic third quarter, which saw the teams trade eight TDs back and forth as the Rebels posted 29 points and JCHS had 27. But Southside posted the only points of the fourth quarter, getting the pair of defensive stops to earn the victory.[[In-content Ad]]