YORKTOWN, Ind - Rain, rain and yes, more rain.
That was what the Yorktown Tigers and fellow Hoosier Heritage Conference (HHC) team Shelbyville Golden Bears had to face in this evening’s contest at Yorktown High School. With the Tigers being the only Delaware County and HHC team to have a grass field, the elements were felt by both contestants on every level.
However, the Tigers believe it aided their chances.
“I felt like a little kid again,” senior Wilson Webster said. “It gives us the advantage in a game like that.”
Yorktown – who was coming off of a HHC defeat to New Castle – found the win column by defeating Shelbyville 33-0.
“I told our guys that they will remember this game 30 years from now,” Tigers’ head coach Mike Wilhelm said. “You’re gonna talk about the mud game and playing in Hurricane Helene.”
Yorktown’s (4-2, 2-2 HHC) homecoming game started similarly for both teams. After the Golden Bears turned it over on downs, the Tigers followed by doing the same thing. Yet, the green and white used that sequence of plays to find a game plan.
“We just talked about smashmouth football,” Wilhelm said. “That’s how you have to play on nights like this and we didn’t try to overthink that.”
After Shelbyville turned the ball over on downs for a second consecutive time, Yorktown senior Ephraim Daugherty put the Tigers on the scoreboard with a 15-yard touchdown run. The Tigers’ momentum continued when the defense recovered a Shelbyville fumble, which set up a rushing touchdown by Yorktown senior Wilson Webster.
Later in the second quarter, junior Cole Perdue joined Webster – who finished the game with two touchdowns and 125 rushing yards – and Daugherty – who also had had two touchdowns, 24 rushing yards and 40 receiving yards – with a rushing score of his own.
While their offense was clicking, the Tiger defense also did their job, only allowing Shelbyville to record 78 total yards of offense.
“It makes [our job] way easier knowing that you can get 10 yards to the goal line every time,” Daugherty said. “I mean, how do you not score?”
To Wilhelm, the performance by his defense is what this year’s roster is all about.
“When we are the aggressor, we’re a pretty solid team,” he said. “When we’re not, not so much. It’s been up and down on both sides of the ball and we have to learn from that and try to maintain some consistency.”
Yorktown will try to make it back-to-back victories when they face Greenfield Central (5-0, 2-0 HHC) Friday, October 4. The game will start at 7 p.m.
The matchup could be a potential preview of Yorktown’s playoff schedule as Greenfield-Central is in the same sectional. To Wilhelm, it will be another tough battle.
“Every game is tough in this conference,” he said. “We will have to bring it against Greenfield next week because they’re one of the best 4A teams in the state. It’s a gage for us, and we must continue getting better.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at Zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on X via @ZachCarter85.
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