Miners shine in second half against Tiger Cubs

Greencastle's Cayden Blodgett tries to find any running room in the middle of the Linton defense Saturday afternoon. Blodgett ran for 27 yards on 14 carries as the Tiger Cubs fell to the Miners 46-14.

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A power failure Friday night wasn’t enough to put off Linton when the Miners arrived back in Greencastle Saturday afternoon.

It took some time for the visiting offense to light up but once the Tiger Cubs scored the first touchdown of the game, Linton made a change at quarterback and proceeded to shine bright the rest of the way in a 46-14 win.

The Miners started off the game with three first downs but stalled once in Greencastle territory and punted away.

The Tiger Cubs picked up a pair of first downs of their own before punting away.

Neither team recorded a first down until the second quarter, including a failed fourth down conversion for the hosts after a short punt left them to start in Linton territory.

Greencastle struck first with four minutes left in the half when Cole Stephens slung a screen pass to Trevin Long and the latter sprinted 83 yards for a score and a 7-0 lead.

Linton, frustrated by the lack of offensive progress, made a change at quarterback, moving Paul Oliver, who was injured in the opening game of the season, to the position in lieu of Braylon McBride.

Oliver led the Miners down the field and finished the drive with a one-yard sneak, McBride hitting Oliver for the conversion, for an 8-7 lead at halftime.

The Tiger Cubs regained the lead less than a minute into the second half as Stephens hit Anthony Adams for a 59-yard score two plays in for a 14-8 lead.

A sack of Oliver on fourth-and-five kept the Miners out of the endzone for a series but a promising counter drive for the hosts was ended when Stephens was intercepted by Hayden Feltner.

Oliver needed two plays to connect with Russell Goodman for a 41-yard score to retake the lead for good at 16-14 following a McBride-to-Oliver conversion.

Greencastle punted away on its net possession and Linton scored four plays later when Oliver hit Feltner on back-to-back passes of 20 and 31 yards, adding the conversion with a toss to Cooper Smith.

McBride intercepted Stephens three plays later and Oliver scored on a two-yard run to start the fourth quarter, hitting Feltner for the conversion and a 32-14 lead.

Feltner added a second interception off Stephens before hauling in a 20-yard pass from Oliver to make it 38-14, the only score without a conversion on the night.

The Miners saw a 64-yard scoring run wiped out due to holding but Smith would cap the scoring with a 10-yard run five plays later with McBride adding the conversion, prompting the reserves to finish out the afternoon.

Linton (4-2) hosts North Knox next week while Greencastle (2-4) hosts Cloverdale.

Scoring

2nd Quarter

G — Long 83-yard pass from Stephens (Williamson kick) 4:17 7-0

L — Oliver 1-yard run (McBride-Oliver conversion) 0:25 7-8

3rd Quarter

G — Adams 59-yard pass from Stephens (Williamson kick) 11:07 14-8

L — Goodman 41-yard pass from Oliver (McBride-Oliver conversion) 5:25 14-16

L — Feltner 31-yard pass from Oliver (Oliver-Smith conversion) 3:01 14-24

4th Quarter

L — Oliver 2-yard run (Oliver-Feltner conversion) 11:55 14-32

L — Feltner 20-yard pass from Oliver (conversion failed) 9:55 14-38

L — Smith 10-yard run (McBride conversion) 5:23 14-46

Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Linton — 44-262, 3 TD — Oliver 15-64, 2 TD; Voigtschild 10-93; McBride 6-5; Goodman 5-19; Smith 3-30, TD; Walker 2-20; James 1-13; Crynes 1-10; Reed 1-8

Greencastle — 26-20 — Blodgett 14-27; Stephens 5-(-12); Jordan 3-1; Adams 2-(-1); Welker 1-3; Monroe 1-2

Passing

Linton — 14-21-201, 3 TD — Oliver 10-11-187, 3 TD; McBride 4-10-14

Greencastle — Stephens 12-26-222 2 TD, 3 INT

Receiving

Linton — Feltner 6-111, 2 TD; Goodman 3-73, TD; Oliver 3-16; Voigtschild 1-(-2); Smith 1-3

Greencastle — Adams 6-86, TD; Long 4-113, TD; Williamson 1-12; Blodgett 1-11