Local sports roundup: September 28-29

Soccer

Sectional draws revealed

The release of the IHSAA boys and girls sectional pairings on Sunday night unearthed a bounty of potential local matchups, with at least one already set in stone.

In the 3A girls sectional at Columbus East, Center Grove plays Greenwood in a first-round match Oct. 8. The winner gets either Whiteland or Columbus North in one semifinal, while Franklin will play Columbus East in the other after drawing a bye. Indian Creek also got a free pass to the semis at the 2A Speedway Sectional, where it will meet Roncalli on Oct. 10. In Class A, Greenwood Christian opens with an Oct. 8 first-rounder against Indianapolis Washington.

Top-ranked Center Grove hosts a Class 3A sectional and plays Columbus East in the first round on Oct. 7, with the winner to meet Columbus North two days later. On the bottom side of the draw, Franklin and Whiteland could face off in a semifinal if they survive their Oct. 8 openers against East Central and Shelbyville, respectively. Indian Creek opens with Cascade in 2A action at Edgewood on Oct. 7, while Greenwood Christian faces Providence Cristo Rey that evening at Indianapolis Lutheran.

Franklin College

Football rallies for first win

Franklin College pitched a second-half shutout to come back for a 27-14 homecoming victory over Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday.

The Grizzlies (1-3) got an early field goal from Dakota Foerg and a 13-yard touchdown pass from Kai Ross to Owen Wright in the second quarter but still trailed going into the break, 14-10. Garrett Cora’s 7-yard TD run in the third quarter gave the home team the lead for good, with Foerg kicking another field goal in the fourth before Cora capped the scoring with a late 28-yard run.

Cora rushed for a season-best 186 yards in the win, while Ross passed for 207 with Wright (five catches, 87 yards) his main target. Kahari Jackson intercepted two passes and broke up three more to lead the Grizzly defense, while Keegan O’Neill collected seven tackles.

Franklin opens HCAC play this Saturday afternoon at Rose-Hulman.

Women’s soccer edges Quakers

Jetta Norris came off the bench to score the lone goal in Franklin College’s 1-0 win at Earlham on Saturday. Emma Watson made seven saves in her first collegiate start for the Grizzlies (2-4-2, 1-0 HCAC).

Men’s soccer drops HCAC opener

Franklin College got an early goal from Lucas Pereira but dropped a 3-1 decision at Earlham in HCAC action on Saturday to remain winless at 0-9-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Cross country

Warrior girls win Mid-State

Whiteland rode top-five individual finishes from Lena Shipp (second) and Isabella Fuentes (fourth) to victory in the Mid-State Conference meet at Franklin on Saturday morning. Eden Muhlhauser was 10th and Ramya Flaherty 12th for the Warriors, who topped runner-up Plainfield by a 46-68 margin. Franklin was third in the girls race, paced by Ava Ott (fifth) and Hannah Lindsay (seventh); individual champion Lily Rollings ran a time of 18:36 for Greenwood, which was fifth as a team.

In the boys race, the host Grizzly Cubs landed in second behind the efforts of Liam Fennig (second) and Isiah Tunis (fifth). Third-place Whiteland got top-10 runs from Colton Watson (third), William Watson (eighth) and Nolan Edens (ninth), while Jake Squier was seventh in leading Greenwood to a fourth-place team finish.

Football

Lancers remain winless

Edinburgh suffered a 46-0 setback at Switzerland County on Saturday evening, the team’s fifth consecutive shutout loss. The Lancers (0-6), who have been outscored 268-18 this season, host North Central (Farmersburg) in Week 7.

Girls volleyball

Edinburgh drops a pair

Edinburgh took a pair of two-set losses in tournament play at Eastern Hancock, losing to Frankton and Daleville. Kenna Streeval totaled 10 kills and 34 digs on the day for the Lancers.