Jimtown High School

Late-game heroics crumble for Jimtown football squad By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART - The scriptwriters couldn’t have penned it much better. But life imitated art in high school football Friday night, 9.25.26, as Jimtown’s last-ditch effort to pull out a cliff-hanger victory over Tippecanoe Valley fell short. The visiting Vikings were clinging to a two-point lead as the Jimmies marched down the field in the final minutes. Their offense stalled a bit, and they were forced to attempt a 33-yard field goal. But the hike was a little too high to handle, and Tippe came away with a 17-15 victory, breathing a sigh of relief. “I told the guys you can’t blame a loss on a single play in the game,” bemoaned Jimtown head coach Cody Vincent. “There were any number of times that had an impact on the outcome: a missed tackle, a block that didn’t get carried out, a dropped pass, a fumble, a penalty, lots of stuff.” Friday’s exciting, dramatic contest was played out before several hundred fans under cloudy skies with an autumn chill in the 60’s. Tippy gained sole possession of the top spot in the Indiana Northern State Conference at 3-0 (5-1 overall), inflicting Jimtown’s first loss in the league. The Jimmies stand at 3-3 and 2-1 with Knox calling at Knepp Field next Friday. The Vikings still have to face a tough Bremen eleven. Jimtown was fortunate to even have a chance in the waning moments of the game. Here’s how the scene unfolded: ● The Vikings lost the ball on a fumble in their first series of downs, Jimtown’s Murphy DiPiro recovered at the opponents’ 46. But Tippy’s defense stiffened and forced the Boys of Baugo to kick a 27-yard field goal with 3:47 left in the first quarter. It failed. ● In the second period, TV’s Owen Omondi blasted thru the right side and outraced the Jimtown secondary to score a 43-yard touchdown, and also added the two-point conversion. ● Jimtown found it difficult to get its offense going, and Omondi notched a 28-yard field goal for an 11-0 lead. “We got punched in the mouth in the first half,” Vincent told his crew at half-time. “We need to wake up and play like we believe in ourselves.” And the Jimmies responded. ● Nash Hamby ripped off a 50-yard run to TV’s 15, and Nate Guthrie scored four plays later from the four. Cam Inbody passed to Zander Whitaker for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 11-8. ● The Jimmies forced Tippy to punt on its next series, then tallied another TD on a 26-yard pass from Inbody to Whitaker. DiPiro added the extra-point kick for a 15-11 advantage. ● Then disaster struck the Jimmies’ camp. The snap to Dipiro for a punt sailed over his head, and the Vikings scored three plays later on a sneak by Hunter Randall. A run for the conversion was stopped by Jimtown, but the Vikings led, 17-15, with 11:22 left in the game. ● Neither team could manage any more scoring, and when the Jimmies were forced to turn over the ball with just 2:46 left, the groans in Jimtown’s stands could be heard in South Bend. But wonder of wonders, the Jimmies forced TV’s quarterback to fumble on its first play, Max Ganger recovered, and JHS marched to Tippe’s 17 and set up for what would be a game-winning field goal. Alas, the snap was high, forcing holder Kolton Vitali to rise from his kneeling position, and he was unable to get the ball into position for the kick. “We’ve practiced that hundreds of times,” Vincent said. “Perhaps there was just too much adrenaline pumping.” Scoring: Tippy Val 0 11 0 6 17 Jimtown 0 0 15 0 15 T - Owen Osmondi 43 run (Osmondi run) T - Osmondi 28 field goal J - Nate Guthrie 4 run (Zander Whitaker pass from Cam Inbody) J - Murphy DiPiro 26 pass from Inbody (DiPiro kick) T - Hunter Randall 3 run (run failed) Statistics Tippe Val Jimtown 11 First downs 11 168 Yards Rushing 136 26 Yards Passing 82 2-4-0 Passes 5-16-0 3/32 ave Punts 3/35 ave 3/2 lost Fumbles 2/1 lost 3/35 yards Penalties 4/40 yards Officials: Brian Metcalf (Elkhart), ref; Jay Squib (Elkhart), ump; Tim Corpe (Elkhart), side judge; Jason Metcalf (Elkhart), back judge; Lance Mestech (Wakarusa), line judge; all members of the St. Joseph Valley Officials