PENDLETON — With seconds remaining, the Pendleton Heights football team avoided overtime and snagged the win on opening night. The Arabians downed Mississinewa 21-14 on Friday, Aug. 20, at John Broughton Field.
With 17 seconds remaining in the game, Luke Candiano’s pass to Caden Sims for a touchdown broke the 14-14 tie and gave the Arabians their first win of the season. Sophomore Sims was the top receiver of the night with 97 yards receiving.
“Tremendous team win,” coach Jed Richman said. “With all the adversity we fought through, I don’t know if I’ve to earn one like this.”
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Richman said he wasn’t sure if the Arabians were a good team yet or not, but what they are is a group of fighters.
“They’re willing to do what it takes to get it done,” Richman said.
The Arabians, also celebrating Senior Night, hit the scoreboard first.
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In the opening quarter, Ethan Ross’s 25-yard run ended just short of the goal line, but Candiano took it in for the score on the next play. Ross had 97 yards rushing to lead the Arabians. The Indians tied the game in the second quarter when Carson Campbell ran 60 yards for the score.
Late in the third quarter, Eli Arthur put the Arabians back on top with his run for the end zone, making the score 14-7. The Indians tied the score late in the fourth quarter before the Arabians were able to pull out the victory.
“We were up and down in the passing game tonight, the same with running,” Richman said. “We made mistakes. It was not a clean game, but these guys showed a lot of mental toughness.”
Because of Covid tracing, the Arabians had only 43 players practicing on the previous Wednesday.
“They showed a lot of resiliency,” Richman said. “In crunch time, after things didn’t go well, they got it done. That was pretty awesome.”
Team depth is a plus for the squad this season as five Arabians took the ball on runs, and four of those players worked the defense as well.
Ross also served as the team punter in the game with three punts for 59 yards, and freshman Dominic Apo went 3-3 for PATs.
On Friday, Aug. 27, the Arabians travel to face Anderson, which lost its first game of the season to Yorktown 46-6.