{"id":5455,"date":"2023-08-19T14:39:27","date_gmt":"2023-08-19T18:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=5455"},"modified":"2023-08-19T14:39:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T18:39:31","slug":"starfires-pass-first-test-in-win-over-tipton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/19\/starfires-pass-first-test-in-win-over-tipton\/","title":{"rendered":"Starfires pass first test in win over Tipton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STAFF REPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming into Friday night\u2019s game with Tipton on a neutral field, the South Adams Starfires had allowed just one score in a Week One game over the past five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That trend of making big statements to open the season continued in Marion at Indiana Wesleyan with Owen Wanner controlling the game and the Stars answering some of their biggest questions coming into the contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colton Bollenbacher ran for 130 yards and a touchdown and Owen Wanner was 10 for 14 in the air to lead the Starfire attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenging itself with a strong program like Tipton in the opening week, the team will now prepare for another non-conference game next week against Bellmont. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDefense I thought played really really well,\u201d praised coach Moser. \u201cCoach Steiner has his guys ahead of our offense right now in being prepared probably.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur run game was really really good, the line blocked well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Starfire coaching staff had their team ready to play Friday night against Tipton. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Blue Devils had no problem running the ball and keeping the clock rolling, but coach Grant Moser\u2019s defense made the stops when they needed to and created two turnovers, not allowing backup QB Dallas Capshaw any room to complete a pass. Capshaw finished 4 for 12 with just 27 yards passing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owen Wanner opened the scoring on the game\u2019s first drive, commanding the field as the Starfires rushed back to the line of scrimmage after each play to keep Tipton from preparing for what was to come next.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Owen Wanner did what the Starfires needed him to do Friday night, beating the Blue Devils with his arm and with his legs. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wanner hit Isaac Dee, who could become his new favorite target, and got a couple of nice runs from Caiden Neuenschwander around the end and Colton Bollenbacher up the middle, but it was Wanner himself who did the most damage on the ground. The senior had runs of 14, 9 and the eventual 15-yard score.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the Starfires needed just three minutes to score on the game\u2019s first possession, neither team was able to find the end zone the rest of the first half. New kicker Jackson Garcia\u2019s PAT attempt was wide left and the score remained 6-0 until into the second half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stop on defense and a good punt return by Isaac Dee set the Starfires up for success on their second drive, but Peyton Tragesser collapsed the pocket on Wanner on third down.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Feeling confident after their first scoring drive, the Stars went for it on fourth down after a time out and spread things out, but it was a screen pass that yielded a big gain, with Wanner hitting Bollenbacher for a 30-yard gain into the red zone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two plays later, Bollenbacher was six feet away from his first TD of the year with a punishing run up the middle, but Wanner kept it on the next play. The quarterback was crunched at the goal line by Cole Hussey and held up just long enough for Landon Spidel to steal the ball away from him for the game\u2019s first turnover.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Isaac Dee led the Starfires receiving corps with three catches for 27 yards. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pinned up against the end zone, the Blue Devils could not manage a first down and South Adams was quickly back on offense, driving to the same end zone for the third time in the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bollenbacher rumbled to the five-yard line on the final play of the first quarter and the Stars seemed to be in position to score again, but the kicking team could not convert on a short field goal and the score remained 6-0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tipton went with a heavy dose of Calvin Condict on the next drive, knocking off a huge chunk of time from the clock, but they had nothing to show for it after failing to convert on fourth down at midfield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big return for Tipton to start the second half put the Blue Devils in position to score, but they managed just a short field goal to cut the lead in half at 6-3 with four minutes left in the third quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaac Dee found running room and got to midfield and that was where Bollenbacher took control of the game, scampering 50 yards for a touchdown to help the Starfires take a stranglehold on the game. Garcia\u2019s PAT was good and South Adams led by ten points.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colton Bollenbacher’s 50-yard touchdown was the biggest play of the game for the Stars. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was a big turning point,\u201d said coach Moser of Bollenbacher\u2019s run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next Tipton drive stalled near their own 20 and on the punt, Hayden Brown came around the right end untouched, blocked the kick and then scooped it up, adding an exclamation mark to the night to seal the game for South Adams.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hayden Brown takes the ball into the end zone after a blocked punt against Tipton. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coach Moser noted that the game with an unfamiliar opponent came out of the North-South All-Star, where he met Tipton\u2019s head coach, Aaron Tolle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndiana Wesleyan didn\u2019t charge us a dime for the game,\u201d said Moser after the game. \u201cThey gave us suite tickets, they treated us really well and took care of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STAFF REPORT WZBD.com Coming into Friday night\u2019s game with Tipton on a neutral field, the South Adams Starfires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15,54,28,26],"class_list":["post-5455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-featured","tag-football","tag-southadams","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/DN2A2862-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C2112&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}