YORKTOWN — As it wraps up the regular season Friday and prepares for the postseason, beginning Friday, Oct. 22, Pendleton Heights must move forward and put last week’s loss at Yorktown in the rearview mirror.
Arabians head coach Jed Richman called last week’s 14-10 loss to the Tigers “frustrating.”
Pendleton Heights had a touchdown called back because of a penalty. Its defense had both a third-and-27 and third-and-17 converted against them. To close out a trying night, which was interrupted by a long weather delay, the Arabians had their final opportunity, with five seconds remaining from the Yorktown 20, end in an interception in the end zone.
“We expected to win,” Richman said. “I heard a college coach say this weekend, ‘You have to respect winning.’ We were on a real high after that Delta victory. We’ve got to be consistent. We’re learning that, starting 13 sophomores. Now, it’s Week 9. They are sophomores but they have a season under their belt. They have to understand situations. We coach those situations and simulate them. Our guys have to apply those situations.
“Our tackling was sloppy. It was great the week before, but we reverted back to some bad habits — our blocking, too. It’s the basic fundamentals we need to hone in on and clean up.”
All the first half scoring came in the final minutes of the second quarter. Yorktown quarterback Mason Moulton connected with Adam Morrow on a 7-yard touchdown strike prior to the Arabians’ Dom Apo hitting a 30-yard field goal.
When the game resumed after its weather delay, Moulton completed a 52-yard touchdown pass to Kolton Nanko.
Pendleton Heights’ touchdown came on a 30-yard run by Dresden Roberts early in the fourth quarter.
The loss dropped the Arabians back to .500 on the season, at 4-4 (2-4, Hoosier Heritage Conference).
Sophomore running back James Malone rushed 23 times for 134 yards. Classmate Roberts had seven carries for 58 yards.
Senior quarterback Luke Candiano was 8 for 21 for 89 yards with two interceptions. He also ran the ball six times for 22 yards.
Malone and senior receiver Marvin Jones each had two catches for 20 yards. Junior Jalen Jordan had the longest reception of the night, at 23 yards.
Defensively, junior Sidiki Traore had a sack and two tackles for loss. Sophomore Eli Arthur had two tackles for loss, and sophomore Nick Trout had a team-high 10 tackles.
The regular-season finale is Friday against Shelbyville (1-4, 0-3). It is the final home game of the year.
“Their (first-year) coach (Brian Glesing) has come in and changed the culture,” Richman said. “He has done a nice job, and their kids play hard. They have some things that will cause people problems. He has them going in the right direction.
“We’re going to have to compete to win. Anybody that thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.”
Pendleton Heights won last year’s matchup at Shelbyville 56-8 and has won the past four meetings, including one sectional game, against the Golden Bears. Shelbyville’s last win in the series came in 2017.
“We have a chance this week to have our fifth winning regular season in a row,” Richman said. “There are little victories right now. We’ve got to focus on us and take care of this week.”