Vandalia hosting Pana in playoffs

The Vandalia High School football team learned on Saturday night that it will be hosting conference foe Pana in the first round of the playoffs this Friday night at 7 p.m.

“It’s something we probably didn’t expect,” said coach John Stout of playing at home. “It’s always good to start the first round at home, and I think it’s a big advantage for us.”

Just two weeks ago, Pana (6-3) came to play in Vandalia, with the Vandals (6-3) holding on for a nail-biting 20-14 win.

Vandalia is the No. 4 seed in the Class 3A upper bracket, which includes the No. 1 overall seed, Greenville (9-0), which defeated Vandalia, 41-31, last Friday.

If the Vandals again beat the Panthers, it could set up another South Central Conference rematch, this one against the Comets, who would need to beat Robinson (5-4) in the first round.

It is possible that the winner of the second-round game could meet another SCC team, No. 2 seed Marquette Catholic (7-2), in the third round.

“For personal preference, I’d rather play somebody different, but it’s playoff football, so you’re going to play good teams anyway,” Stout said. “You have to play like it’s a faceless opponent.”

And while the bracket's alignment (see Page 4B) is somewhat frustrating, getting a rematch against Pana gives at least one Vandalia player the chance to redeem himself.

“Their two touchdowns (in the regular-season game) were both to my side,” said senior Quenten Austin. “I hope they come at me again, because I’m ready.”

In the regular-season battle, the Vandals got out to an early lead and maintained it throughout the game, but in the playoffs, the hope will be to score more than 20 points.

Pana quarterback Max Mosely threw for more than 200 yards last time out, and Stout thinks that his defense will have a better idea of how to keep him in the pocket after seeing how he operates.

Senior defensive lineman Daniel Edwards is one of the players who will be after Mosely all night long, and he said that a team effort will propel the Vandals to a win.

“They’re a hard-hitting team,” he said. “It’s going to be a good game, but we can beat them because we’re a team.”
Pana is coming off a narrow defeat of Hillsboro, 22-16, from last Friday night.

Friday, Oct. 21
Vandalia at Greenville
Senior Levi Ulmer bulled his way to 201 rushing yards and three touchdowns, but the high-flying Greenville offense was able to build an early lead and then maintain it during a 41-31 win last Friday night.

“When we got down in the first quarter, we made some adjustments that got them shut down,” Stout said. “Then, our kids would never say die.”

Vandalia trailed 27-6 after the first quarter, but the defense held Greenville scoreless in the second and third quarters, while the offense slowly chipped away at its deficit.

In those two quarters, Greenville was able to gain just two first downs in six drives.

“We were able to get a pass rush on them,” Stout said. “We tried making them run the ball, and they did. Then, our four-man line was able to get a rush, and that allowed our secondary people to break on some balls.”

On the first drive of the second half, Greenville quarterback Brady Huber had three straight incompletions, and the typically accurate senior was just 6-for-15 with a sack over the second and third quarters.

When Ulmer, who now has 1,202 yards on the season, carried the ball in from 12 yards out with 34 seconds left in the third, the Comets' lead was cut to just two, at 27-25, sending the visiting crowd into a frenzy.

“The fans were great,” Stout said. “A lot of time you couldn’t hear yourself communicate on the sidelines. The kids appreciate that, and I appreciate that.”

Greenville finally got its offense back on the move in the fourth quarter, getting a long touchdown pass to Brad Perry 1:14 into the fourth.

But just about as quickly, Vandalia struck back.

On second-down-and-6, junior quarterback Tim Ritchey lofted a deep pass to senior Quenten Austin, who continued running after the catch and was tackled at the 6-yard line, for a 67-yard gain.

“Generally, that’s not a passing down for us,” Stout said. “We saw the cornerback scooting up, and we thought maybe we could get him to suck up so Q could get by him.”

Two plays later, junior Ryan Ambuehl reached the end zone on a 4-yard push, but the point-after was blocked to leave the Vandals behind by a field goal.

Less than a minute later, Greenville had scored again, with Cameron Walter scoring his fourth rushing touchdown of the game from 22 yards out.

With 4:23 left in the game, the Vandals faced a 93-yard field, and on the first play of the drive, Ritchey was knocked out of the game after a late hit from a Greenville defender.

The hit was the last of several big blows Ritchey had taken throughout the game, and Stout praised the 150-pounder's toughness.

“Tim’s a gamer,” Stout said. “He’s tough for being his size, and he’s not going to come out of there unless you drag him out.”

On Monday, Stout said it will be up to the medical staff whether Ritchey plays on Friday.

The Comets were able to stop the Vandals at the 40-yard line, and ran out the final 2:36 on the clock to secure an undefeated regular season and their 12th straight win against Vandalia.

Stats
Rushing: Ulmer, 30-201, 3 TD; Ambuehl, 9-72, 2 TD; Luke Smith, 6-45; Hosick, 9-22; Ritchey, 4-(-4).
Passing: Ritchey, 6-13, 92 yards, INT; Hosick, 2-3, -1 yard.
Receiving: Austin, 1-67; Hosick, 2-21; Ambuehl, 2-8; Smith, 1-3; Ulmer, 2-1.
Defensive: Ulmer, 2 sacks, 2 QB pressures; Blake Mills, 5 tackles, sack, pass deflection; Alex Newsom, 4 tackles, tackle for loss; Hosick, 5 tackles, pass deflection; Smith, 4 tackles; Chase Woolsey, 3 tackles.

Week 10 Preview

Time and place: Friday at 7 p.m. at Vandalia.

Last time out: Vandalia won a close game, 20-14, during the regular season on Oct. 14. The win gave the Vandals an automatic berth to the playoffs.

Trends: The above win was the first against Pana in the past three games. Vandalia won its last home playoff game in 2008.

Quotable: Coach John Stout said, “The game is still fresh in everyone's memory. We pretty much know it's going to be the same thing that was going on two weeks ago. Our kids have confidence that we beat them before, but we're going to have to keep (Max) Mosely from getting on the edge and making plays. And we'll have to be mistake-free."

Last week: Vandalia lost to Greenville, 41-31, and Pana defeated Hillsboro, 22-16. On the season, both teams are 6-3.