Jimtown High School

Jimmies knock off Knox in football thriller By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART - It was another nail-biter. This time Jimtown came out on top. The Jimmies football squad scored a late touchdown on a new pass play to stop Knox, 27-20, Friday night (10.2.26) on a crisp fall night in Baugo. It was senior night at Knepp Field, and seniors Cam Inbody, the Jimtown quarterback, and Nash Hamby, a runningback, certainly proved their worth. A beaming Jimtown coach Cody Vincent likened the game to a chess match. “We know Knox is going to run the ball a billion times for the season, so we have to figure out how to stop them,” he said. (Actually the Jimmies out-rushed the ‘Skins in the game, 277-254.) “We called some adjustments at half time we needed to make. They kept us guessing how they were going to run the ball, first one side, then the other.” With less than two minutes left in the game and the score tied at 20, the Jimmies had the ball at the Redskins’ 25. Vincent called a pass play Jimtown had never run before. With Hamby in a new formation, he sprinted down the middle, and Inbody made a perfect aerial, laying the ball right in his arms, and Hamby ran the final 15 yards without a touch. The victory lifted the Jimmies record to 4-3, including 3-1 in the Indiana Northern State Conference. The Redskins suffered their fifth loss in seven contests (2-2 in the league). Researchers are still trying to determine the last time Jimtown has beaten Knox on the gridiron. It was the first since the conference began four years ago, and must date back to the ‘70s or ‘80s when they competed in the Northern State Conference. This was Jimtown’s final home game. It will travel to LaVille next Friday and will face new opponent Dowagiac (MI) the following week to close out the regular season. A pair of electric TD runs sparked Jimtown’s offensive attack. Inbody raced 68 yards to paydirt on a sprint-out play to the right. He dodged a couple of would-be tacklers and out-paced the Knox secondary. Lawson VanHoozer’s point-after kick gave the Jimmies a 14-6 lead at 6:40 in the third period. Just over four minutes later, Hamby duplicated his feat, another 68-yard ramble on a trap play to the left. VanHoozer’s kick was partially blocked, but the Jimmies grabbed a 20-12 advantage. Knox knotted the score with 7:27 left in the game on a 94-yard march, all on the ground. That set up the dramatic finish. “It was great,” Vincent chortled. “A senior throwing to a senior, just like playing football in the backyard.” He noted that Hamby has been hampered all season with a hamstring injury. “He hates to be limited,” he said. “Tonight was a good sign.” Hamby, not the biggest guy on the field at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, racked up 146 yards in 19 carries (unofficial) to lead his team in rushing. Scoring: Knox 6 0 6 8 20 Jimtown 0 7 13 7 27 K - Maddex Olejniczak 1 run (PAT run failed) J - Nash Hamby 4 run (Lawson VanHoozer kick) J - Cam Inbody 68 run (VanHoozer kick) K - Olejniczak 4 run (run failed) J - Hamby 68 run (kick failed) K - Olejniczak 7 run (Olejniczak run) J - Hamby 25 pass from Inbody (VanHoozer kick) Statistics Knox Jimtown First downs 14 13 Yards rushing 254 277 Yards passing 0 27 Passes 0/4/0 2/6/0 Punts 3/31ave 1/25 ave Fumbles 0/0 lost 1/1 lost Penalties 4/45 yds 4/35 yds Officials: Charles Thomas, Chris Wengerd, Greg Branda, Patrik Hare, Russ Schutz