Pendleton is on a roll and perhaps no clearer evidence of that is their imposing victory over Indiana rivals Westside Black Swarm over the weekend.
A year ago these teams went through overtime and their state final was decided on penalty kicks.
Pendleton Takes Indiana Via OT Kicks
Saturday’s game was somewhat different.
The Arabians passed on the opportunity for points on an early Black Swarm penalty two minutes into the match. That decision might have been the only one the coaches could question from the players for the entirety of the first half. Pendleton did, in fact, score soon thereafter with Nick Trout securing a turnover and work from Peyton Pollock and Zane Davis setting up Sam Rhea.
Pendleton had a chance after the restart but a forward pass ended that And when Dresden Roberts ws yellow-carded for a tackle the Arabians were playing a man down. The resulting penalty kick to touch did not find the sideline and eventual man-of-the-match Jacob Rowley returned the wayward kick, setting up an attacking platform. Trout popped a kick into the Black Swarm end of the field and the Pendleton defense did the rest—pushing Westside back and finally seeing Pollock force a turnover and set up JJ Kissick for a try. Trout was good on the extras and it was 14-0.
The kick-and-defend approach worked again after the restart. Rhea booted the ball deep and a boule tackling by Davis and Eli Libler led to another turnover and Nate DeRolf linking with Trout to set up speedster Jacob Rowley. Now it was 21-0 after 12 minutes.
Westside had some opportunities after the restart but little mistakes undercut them. And it was, infact, Pendleton that would score next. An attempt at a penalty goal by Trout missed by when Westside countered out of their in-goal, the ball was turned over, and Kissick was over.
Turnovers once again set up the chances for the Arabians. After Kissick ran into the referee on a promising attack, the Pendleton scrum set up a looping move between Reese Reddington and Trout to put Reddington over. That made it 33-0.
The following restart saw strong runs from Pollock and Steven DeVault, and when Rowley chased down a Trout kick and jarred the ball loose in the tackle, Garrett Pederson was there to nab the ball and score.
On more try in the first half. Pederson forced another Swarm turnover that ended up in Trout’s hands. He eluded a Black Swarm defender and found Rowley for his second of the day. Trout converted and it was 47-0 at halftime.
04.10.2024HS Boys
In the second half, the visitors were able to get more players in the game. One of the stalwarts was Eli Arthur, who made the tackle on the opening kickoff. The Arabians turned the ball over, but quickly retained it when Pederson had another takeaway that led to Judah Dentel passing to Trout. He linked with Kissick who found Isaac Wilson for the try. The conversion made the score 54-0.
Westside earned a penalty in Arabian territory and chose to take a penalty kick. The kick was good and Black Swarm got some points on the board.
More subs came in for both teams as the game went. Jacob McKinley added early second half physicality with a big tackle. Dentel cleaned up a lineout that ended up with a handling mishap for the Arabians and a scrum to Westside. The ensuing put showed once again that the Arabians were defensively motivated as Wilson pressured the wing and the ball was dropped and regained again, this time by Trout who kept the ball and forced his way across the goal for the try. The conversion failed and the score was 59-3.
A weaving run from Reddington put him in at the corner. Elijah Pimental capped off the scoring for Pendleton in a dominant 69-3 victory.
