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DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
WOODBURN – Week 8 of high school football across northeast Indiana brought a bit more traditional fall weather and radio stations and talk shows around the Hoosier state spent much of the night debating just how much the rain and the cold affected offenses.
Apparently the South Adams Starfires didn’t get that message.
Owen Wanner’s early success in the passing game (see gallery below) opened up running lanes for Colton Bollenbacher and the South Adams Starfires methodically dismantled the Woodlan defense Friday night, seemingly becoming more successful as the game drew on deep into the night.
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And deep into the night it went. A combination of penalties, injuries, turnovers and 36 completions, coupled with ten successful touchdown-scoring drives by the two teams caused the game to be one of the longest in recent memory. There were seven turnovers in the game, with four coming from the Starfires via two lost fumbles and an interception thrown by both Wanner and backup Ty Lehman.
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Speaking of Lehman, he lined up at quarterback on the first play of a first-quarter drive and calmly delivered a 33-yard strike to Wanner, who was lined up at wide receiver. It was a microcosm for the offensive success the Stars enjoyed early in the game, scoring the contest’s opening four touchdowns.
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When he wasn’t playing wide receiver, Wanner was running the Starfire offense at the tempo prescribed by his coaches, sometimes hurrying the team to the line and other times managing the clock. He finished with 178 yards in the air despite the wind and rain, along with a touchdown. He made up for his interception thrown by picking off Ty Louden from his position in the secondary and going 34 yards to clinch the game. He also had three tackles.
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The Starfire defense (pictured above) was strong early, setting up Wanner & Co. for success. Bollenbacher picked up big chunks of yards, including the opening score of the game, and in their hurry-up offense, Wanner picked out Derek McKean deep in the right back corner of the end zone for a 27-yard bomb and an early 13-0 lead.
When the night was over, Bollenbacher had 221 yards on 30 carries, averaging over seven yards a carry and scoring four times. He also had three catches out of the backfield and four tackles in the secondary.
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Grant O’Dell had a big night, as usual, with a team-high six tackles and an interception. He recovered a fumble on the first play of the second quarter at midfield and Lehman then hit Wanner for the big pass to put South Adams in the red zone. Bollenbacher picked up the next 21 yards for the score and it was 21-0.
Bollenbacher added a third touchdown early in the third quarter before Woodlan finally got on the board.
Jake Ley scored on back-to-back possession with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs to cut the Starfire lead in half at 28-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Ley finished the night with 67 yards and the two scores.
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Needing a score to put the game away in the fourth, Wes Summersett made a great catch and crossed midfield, setting up South Adams for a scoring drive that ended in Bollenbacher’s third TD a minute later. Summersett had three catches for 72 yards. The freshman also ran for 44 yards, 18 of which came in the final minute of the game on the last touchdown of the night.
South Adams will await Sunday’s draw at the IHSAA offices to learn their opponent for sectional before preparing for the Southern Wells in the regular season finale.