Jimtown High School

Jimtown Foils Tippy Effort, 14-0 By Red Williams Freelance Sports Writer ELKHART - A stifling Jimtown defense stepped up in full force Friday night in high school football at Knepp Field, and pitched a shutout as the Jimmies knocked off Tippecanoe Valley, 14-0. A strong cross-wind buffeted the grid iron, but didn’t seem to cause much of a problem for either team, and the rain held off till after the final time ticked away. It was the fourth win in a row for the Jimmies (now 4-2 and 3-0 in the new Northern Indiana State Conference. The Vikings are 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the league. “Our defense prepared really well all week,” said Jimmy Coach Cody Vincent, “and tonight they got the job done.” He singled out the play of Brodric Kaler, Jack Kite, Trasean Baldwin and Cole Dutton. He also cited Ty Zartman for his hard running in the game. (He gained 86 yards in 21 carries and scored both Jimtown touchdowns, each a one-yard plunge.) But the key to the game may have been Tippy’s self-destructive play. The Vikes fumbled four times, losing the ball three times, and the Jimmies’ Javen Johnson intercepted a pass. Baldwin recovered two of the fumbles, and Cooper Dillenbeck snatched the other. Both teams came up with blanks in the first half, but the Vikings mounted up a strong march in the second period, driving from their own 22 and reaching Jimmy territory at the 29. But the snap was muffed on fourth-and-one, and Baldwin recovered it. The Jimmies had no momentum in the first half. They didn’t fare much better in the third period, but finally took advantage of Tippy’s ineptitude when a punt went just to its own 38. Mason Armstrong hit Javen Johnson with a 21-yard strike, and followed with a deep toss in the end zone to Johnson, where the Vikes were charged with pass interference, putting the ball on the 11. Four plays later, Zartman powered the ball in for the goal. Baldwin’s fumble-recovering set up the second Jimtown TD with 7:27 to play. The Jimmies milked the clock when Zartman finally crossed the goal line at :39. Brayden Fox kicked both extra-points. “Field position was a problem the whole game for us,” said Vikings mentor Steve Moriarty. “Seemed like we had our backs to the wall.” Much of it was due to Jimtown’s “gritty” attack, he said. Jimtown has another tough conference foe to battle next week at home, the Knox Redskins, who were 3-2 and 2-0 entering Friday’s play. SCORING Score by Quarters Team 1 2 3 4 Final Tippy Val 0 0 0 0 0 Jimtown 0 0 7 7 14 Scoring Plays J: Ty Zartman 1 run (Brayden Fox kick) J: Zartman 1 run (Fox kick) STATISTICS Teams Tippecanoe Valley Jimtown First downs 11 10 Rushing Yardage 117 112 (attempts/average) 43/2.7 34/3.3 Passing Yardage 7 58 (completions/attempts/intercp) 1-6-1 5-11-1 Punts/Average 3/21 2/43.5 Fumbles Made/Lost 4/3 1/0 Penalties/Yardage 2/21 5/35