Kyle Hill (@Coach_Kyle_Hill)

Scout & Writer

Newburgh, Indiana: The calendar has now flipped to October, and with it brings colder weather.  The race for conference championships, and the opportunity to generate momentum for the State Tournament, though, is heating up.  The homestretch of the high school football regular season in Indiana is upon us.  

Week 7 of the 2020 season brought me to Castle High School, and John Lidy Field, to take in the Jasper @ Castle game, an important one in the SIAC race.

Jasper took the opening possession of the game and completed a 12-play, 71-yard drive with a 7-yard TD pass from Blake Mann to Caleb Burger.  After forcing a Castle 3-and-out, Jasper embarked on a 16-play, 62-yard drive, which ended with a 28-yard field goal from Alex Sermersheim, giving Jasper a 10-0 lead with 7:15 remaining in the first half.  These would prove to be the final Jasper points on the night.

The Knights, on the ensuing possession, finished a 7-play, 70-yard drive with a 13-yard TD run by Peyton Guerzini.  After forcing a Jasper punt, the Knights were able to drive into field goal position.  Castle’s field goal attempt was no good as the Half ended, and Jasper led 10-7 heading into the locker room.

The game remained a 10-7 stalemate until the fourth quarter, when Castle Sophomore QB Cameron Tilly provided the Knights with a spark with a 38-yard run, and added an important 12-yard completion to Weston Aigner.  These plays, plus Peyton Guerzini and the Knights offensive line on the ground, led the Castle drive to the Jasper 1-yard line, where Tilly punched it home on a quarterback sneak.

Castle’s defense was able to turn the Wildcats over on downs on the ensuing possession, sealing the game for the Knights.

This game fully lived up to the expectations I had going in, that being one of a physical and hard-fought battle in the trenches.  Two very good defenses.  Castle’s front seven defensively, in particular, stood out.  Let’s also give a ton of credit to the Jasper defense, as well.  Very fundamentally sound.

Quite simply, this was late-regular season high school football at its best.  I cannot wait to see what the final two weeks bring prior to the beginning of the State Tournament.