Knights' alone

UNION CITY, Ind. – Northeastern's run to history during the high school football regular season ended successfully here Friday.

But not without a first-half challenge by host Union City on Senior Night.

A competitive game late in the second quarter turned into a 59-13 win for the state-ranked Knights as Northeastern finished the first unbeaten regular season in school history and earned its first outright Tri-Eastern Conference football championship.

Senior quarterback Joey Claypoole keyed the offense as usual, running for more than 100 yards, and a number of other players added scores, including two touchdowns on an interception return and a blocked punt.

The 9-0 Knights ended 7-0 in the TEC, while the host Indians finished at 4-5 and 3-4, respectively. NHS, ranked third this week in the Class A rankings, begins the postseason in Sectional 45 at Wes-Del next Friday. Union City plays at Hagerstown next week in the same sectional field.

Claypoole ran for a pair of 11-yard touchdowns in the first half, plus a two-point conversion, and passed for two other two-point conversions as the Knights took command right before halftime on a touchdown by interception return from Jake Slinker.

A third-quarter touchdown by the Knights sealed the outcome, and the Knights were very strong on both sides of the ball the rest of the way.

"We had some guys out tonight, but we have a tight team, and it just is that the next man comes up, gets in and does the job," Claypoole said, speaking of sophomore Ryan Hartmann stepping in for slightly injured senior Kelsy Kirkland, who was held out of the game.

"We have accomplished our first goal, but we have more that we think we can do," said longtime coach Mike Roeder. "We knew that this would be a really tough contest. We remember last year (a narrow 16-14 NHS win at home versus Union City), and I think we came out well, but Union City came back. For this group of seniors, it is four years of hard work resulting in a nice payoff. It's great to see for them and all of our underclassmen as well."

Roeder and Claypoole both expect Kirkland to be ready to play next week at Wes-Del as he returns from a high ankle sprain.

For Union City, senior Mason Wine had another big night running the ball as the Indians kept the game close for a half.

"I thought we played a very solid quarter-and-a-half, but we didn't take advantage of all our opportunities," said UC head coach Keith Maloy. "We made some mistakes, and against a team as good as Northeastern, they take advantage of your mistakes. And when they get ahead of you, they take you out of the game, and that is what they did to us tonight.

Hartmann had a big night in scoring two touchdowns and running 14 times for 121 yards, unofficially.

For Union City, Wine ran for 177 yards on 26 carries and had a touchdown. Quade Carpenter caught a scoring pass from Taylor Moore for the other Indian touchdown.

Dakota Green of the Knights recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a NHS touchdown in the third quarter, and the team's last two scores came on runs from Josh Tudor and Alec Hughes.

KNIGHTS 59, INDIANS 13

First Quarter

N - Joey Claypoole 11 run, Craig Dingwerth pass from Claypoole, 8:54.

N - Ryan Hartmann 5 run, Hartmann pass from Claypoole, 7:39

U - Mason Wine 2 run, kick blocked, 2:10.

N - Claypoole 11 run, Claypoole run, :13.7

Second Quarter

U - Quade Carpenter 13 pass from Taylor Moore, Roberto Sanchez kick, 9:37.

N - Jake Slinker 31 int. return, Hartmann pass from Claypoole, :38.4.

Third Quarter

N - Hartmann 17 run, pass failed, 9:23.

N - Dakota Green recovered blocked punt in end zone, pass failed, 7:48.

N - Josh Tudor 7 run, Claypoole run, 2:46.

Fourth Quarter

N - Alec Hughes 1 run, Garret Dill kick, 5:58.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING- NE: Claypoole 12-124, Hartmann 14-121, Tudor 5-20, Sandlin 4-47, Hughes 1-1, Wagers 3-20, Auger 1-10, Bray 1-1, Retter 2-(-3). U, Wine 26-177, Burk 7-24, Moore 1-2, Baker 1-1.

PASSING- NE: Claypoole 3-10-30-0-0. U, Moore 4-12-31-1-1.

RECEIVING- NE: Hartmann 2-14, Dingwerth 1-16. U, Carpenter 2-16, Wine 2-15.