Gallery by Tina Laney
Setting and breaking records have come fairly commonplace on the football field in Coal City the last few years.
Friday night at George C. Covey Field, Independence established two more milestones in a 57-14 win over Summers County.
The win secures at least one home playoff game for the Patriots who battled through injuries and adversity all season.
“We played the toughest schedule in the state of West Virginia,” Independence head coach John Lilly said. “A lot of things happened in the off-season, but that was the off-season. It is pretty sweet right now. Last year we traveled 300 miles and this year we traveled 1,700 miles. Our boys rose to the occasion every week.”
“They played hard every week,” Lilly went on to say. “Even in games that we weren’t successful in, we battled to the end. I am just really proud. We had a lot of injuries going late in the year. Even tonight we had four freshman starting and they played really well. I am really pleased.”
One of the new milestones came via the arm of quarterback Brock Green. Needing 309 yards entering the night to set a new single season record at Independence, the freshman gunslinger threw for 315 yards and five touchdowns in the win.
“I was here while Trey (Bowers) was breaking the school record himself, so it is a really big achievement for me to do it myself as well,” Green said. “That offensive line really works their butt off for me and the receivers do too. They have been working all season and it really shows out here.”
The fireworks started early for the Patriots who took a 7-0 lead on the opening drive that lasted only three plays.
A 61-yard pass from Green to Christian Linksweiler capped the 80-yard march.
“We knew we could throw on them and we did,” Lilly said. “We knew what they were going to do and that was what I would have done if the shoe was on the other foot. They wanted to try and keep our offense off of the field.”
While the game plan for the Bobcats was solid, the visitors could not execute the plan against the stingy Independence defense. All four offensive series in the opening half ended in a turnover on downs and Summers never entered Patriot territory.
After missing on its second possession of the first half, Independence made good on its next three to take a 29-0 lead at the break.
Green and Linksweiler connected twice from 23-yards out and from four yards out before Sylas Nelson scored on a six-yard jaunt with 25 seconds left in the opening half.
Nelson was back in the end zone early in the third quarter. Appearing to be stopped behind the line of scrimmage, the Indy junior found his way through several Bobcat defenders for a 22-yard touchdown run.
Two more touchdown passes from Green later in the quarter, 28 yards to Dalton Adkins and 44 yards to Linksweiler gave him five for the game and made it a 50-0 lead for the Patriots.
The record setting pitch came on a 35-yard pass to Brady Rose.
“He is special and I think everybody sees that now. He didn’t do anything that we knew he wasn’t going to do,” Lilly said about Green. “He has been on this field since he was in the fourth grade. He was a ball boy in the first state championship game. He was a ball boy in the second championship game. He has been with me since he was in sixth grade. He has been with me the whole time and I am really proud of him.”
The Class AA No. 4-rated Patriots finishes the regular season with a 6-3 record against a schedule that included four Class AAA teams.
“We have a lot of things to work on, but right now we are just going to enjoy it. Their kids battled hard and they played really hard. They have two or three really good kids,” Lilly said about Summers County. “I think God really blessed us. I thought the schedule might be a little too much for us, but it turned out the strength of schedule points gave us home field. It paid off and rewarded us for playing a tough schedule.”
The trip to the 2024 WVSSAC State Football playoffs will be the fifth consecutive season for the Patriots, which is also a new school record.
SC: 0 0 0 14 – 14
I: 7 22 21 7 – 57
First quarter
I: Christian Linksweiler 61 pass from Brock Green (Micah Cuthbert kick)
Second quarter
I: Linksweiler 23 pass from Green (Sylas Nelson rush)
I: Linksweiler 4 pass from Green (Cuthbert kick)
I: Nelson 6 run (Cuthbert kick)
Third quarter
I: Nelson 22 run (Cuthbert kick)
I: Dalton Adkins 28 pass from Green (Cuthbert kick)
I: Linksweiler 44 pass from Green (Cuthbert kick)
Fourth quarter
SC: Franklin McClaugherty 11 pass from Eli Franklin (Pass failed)
I: Tyson McGinnis 5 run (Cuthbert kick)
SC: Cody Snavely 28 pass from Franklin (Adkins rush)
Stats
Rushing: (SC) Tyson Adkins 21-54, McClaugherty 21-63, Eli Franklin 1-0; (I) Nelson 9-59-2, Green 2-26, Dalton Adkins 1-4, McGinnis 2-21-1
Passing: (SC) Franklin 9-14-0-102-2; (I) Green 13-20-0-318-5
Receiving: (SC) Grady Allen 1-(-1), Evan McGuire 1-(-9), McClaugherty 3-16-1, Adkins 2-43, River Hatcher 1-25, Snavely 1-28-1; (I) Adkins 2-47-1, Nelson 2-0, Brady Rose 3-86, Linksweiler 5-146-4, Cuthbert 1-39
