Outside The County-Maconaquah

Results from Maconaquah for Friday, September 30th and Saturday, October 1st

The 12th-ranked Tippecanoe Valley Vikings took sole possession of first place in the Three Rivers Conference chase here Friday night by defeating the Maconaquah Braves, 57-14.

 Valley halted Maconaquah's four-game win streak and inched closer to its second straight league championship with the convincing win.  The 7-0 Vikings are now 6-0 in TRC play with games vs Wabash and at Southwood remaining.  The Braves are now 5-2 overall (5-1 in TRC) and will finish regular season play by entertaining Manchester and Rochester.


 With two weeks remaining, Maconaquah, Southwood and Rochester are each sitting at 5-1 in the league with key battles looming.  


 Seeking its first conference title since 1991, the Braves fell behind early as Tipp Valley bolted to a 22-0 in the opening five minutes and never looked back.  After leading 29-7 at the end of the first period, the hosts tacked on a pair of second quarter scores and led 43-7 at halftime.  The second half was played with a running clock. 


 Maconaquah scored its first touchdown with 3:58 left in the opening and cut Valley's lead to 22-7 when Braxton Birner teamed up with Fuddy Kile on a 17-yard touchdown pass.  Kyler Hanson booted the PAT. 

It was Kile’s 14th career TD reception, breaking the previous mark (13) set by Steve Shine in 1988. Shine later took his talents to Northwestern University and was the third-round NFL draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1994. It was his 52nd catch of the season, breaking Brayden Betzner’s single-season record set a year ago.

When the Birner-to-Kile duo hooked up again on a 34-yard play late in the second quarter, Kile broke Shine's career receiving record of 1210 yards.  Kile, only a sophomore,  finished with a game-high 85 yards on eight receptions and now has 1237.  AJ Kelly grabbed seven passes in the first half and finished with 80 yards.


 Ethan Farnell, soph linebacker, also etched his name in the record book when he forced a fourth fumble of the year, setting up a deep MHS drive into TV territory that ended at the four before time expired to end the first half. Eli Price recovered the loose pigskin for the Braves.  Farnell led the Braves with seven tackles.  Jackson Garber was credited with five stops, while Kaleb Shelton and Carsten Hollars each had four.


 The Braves final points came midway through the final stanza when Birner hit Shelton with a 10-yard TD strike.  Hanson added the PAT kick.  Birner hit on 22 of 36 passes on the night, good for 223 yards and both Mac touchdowns.  His two interceptions led to Viking scores. He now has thrown 22 TD passes this year.

**

For the first time since joining the Three Rivers Conference, the Maconaquah Lady Braves have earned the title of champions!

The Lady Braves dominated the meet, with all 6 of their runners earning All-Conference medals and all finishing in the top ten places!

Abby Jordan defended her crown as individual champion, finishing just 4 seconds short of the Maconaquah school record with a time of 19:12.

Freshman Zoie Laber joined the Sub-20 club by finishing under 20 minutes (19:51) and placing 4th overall.

Lucy Loshnowsky had a 5th place finish and took 40 seconds off her best time (20:40).

Chloe Jordan (7th, 21:06) cruised along with Samantha Jones (9th, 21:34), running well while preparing for next week’s race.

Aubrey McClain rounded out the the top ten (10th, 21:39) and took over 45 seconds off her personal best time!

The Lady Braves will go to Logansport High School Saturday to compete in the IHSAA sectional. The girls will race at 10:30 AM.

**

The calendar turned, and so did the weather! The Maconaquah boys cross country team ran very well at the Three Rivers Conference Championship, placing 2nd out of 7 complete teams!

Junior Isaiah Wittenberg defended his individual crown from last year by winning again, this time crossing the line in 16:54.

Daylen Schrock was the second Brave to cross the line, doing so in 17:37 and placing 9th.

Kaden Miller was the third Maconaquah boy to finish in the top ten, finishing in 10th place (17:42 PR).

Freshman Kaden Hanson just missed a top-12 and All-Conference medal by placing 13th while running his best time of the season, 18:23.

Isaiah Moore had a HUGE PR performance, shaving over 30 seconds off his best time (16th, 18:40).

Jacob Sayger (56th, 23:36) and Luke Abbott (60th, 26:52) also raced for the Braves.

The Braves will travel to Logansport High School next Saturday to compete in the 2022 IHSAA sectional. Start time for the boys is 11:15 AM.