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Tigers' defense improves, beat Breese Central

HERRIN - Senior Night turned out to be a memorable one for the Herrin Tigers Friday. Not only did they earn their seventh win of the regular season against a quality opponent, but did so with a much improved defensive effort.

Herrin won the game 34-24 over visiting Breese Central (6-3) and actually pitched a first-half shutout at 24-0 . The Tigers are a team that has routinely allowed 300 or more yards on the ground.

On Friday, however, they limited the Cougars to 161 yards on 33 carries. There were sacks and forced fumbles and much better tackling. Matthew Brandon, Elijah Mason, Trent Mabry, Cameron Damico, Eric Hosmon, Darian Anthony, Reice Hartline and Nolan Montgomery turned in some of their better performances of the season.

The Tigers were more vulnerable through the air, allowing 188 yards and a touchdown to go along with one interception.But overall, it was clearly a win for the defense.

"I thought we played well in all phases of the game tonight, but especially on defense," said Herrin head coach Jason Karnes.

The kicking game was also a key as junior Jake Baumgarte, after missing his first field goal attempt of the night, bounced back to make a pair from 45 and 44 yards out. He also kicked the ball into the end zone twice for touchbacks.

"A lot of people underestimate the kicking game in high school," Karnes said. "Jake is a weapon. He's special. When he kicks that ball, you hear that boom. Tonight was not a good night to kick the ball with the weather the way it was, but he got the ball up in the air quickly. He showed off his strong leg."

Herrin scored in its second possession of the first period when senior halfback Jackson Yates broke loose for a 39-yard touchdown run. Baumgarte's point-after-kick was good for a 7-0 lead at the 2:23 mark.

The Tigers increased the lead to 14-0 with 5:24 to play in the half when another senior, fullback Jeff Rock, scampered to paydirt from 33 yards out. Rock was at it again a few minutes later, scoring on a one-yard dive with seven seconds to play before intermission for a 21-0 lead.

The Cougars fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Herrin recovered with one second left. Baumgarte made Breese Central pay for the miscue, drilling a 45-yard field goal as time expired to up the spread to 24-0.

Tyson Lobb finally got the Cougars on the board with 9:44 to go in the third period on a 34-yard run right up the middle. The conversion fun failed.

Baumgarte answered at the 2:26 mark of the third period with a 44-yard field goal to make the score 27-6.

Jordan Spangenberg countered with a 1-yard touchdown run and the PAT failed, leaving the score, 27-12.

On their next possession, the Cougars scored again to make it 27-18 on a 29-yard pass play from Max Kampwerth to Garrett Richter. And again, the conversion failed, this time an errant pass.

Herrin then solidified its lead when Yates scooted to the right, found a seam and scored from 47 yards out at the 3:56 mark of the fourth period.

Lobb added a 1-yard TD run with 34 seconds left to account for the final margin.

Yates, who like teammate Tate Johnson, was battling leg cramps and an ankle injury, finished the night with a whopping 213 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. For the season, he has amassed over 1,400 yards on the ground.

Rock followed up with 91 yards rushing on 16 tries. Johnson, in limited time, chipped in 21 yards on eight carries and Karnes had 21 yards on six attempts.

Spangenberg led the Cougars with 86 yards rushing while Lobb contributed 85. Kampwerth completed 12-21 passes for 188 yards, one score and one pick.

The victory was also the 100th in the coaching career of Herrin head coach Jason Karnes. Now in his 13th season and having recovered from triple bypass heart surgery, Karnes is winning at a pace of 7.7 games per season.

As is tradition, he was doused with water at the conclusion of Friday night's match.

"Ricky Branch (senior offensive tackle) told me before the season that the team was going to get seven wins for me to get to 100," Karnes said. "And I said, 'What?' That's not what I care about.

"It's not even on my radar. I just want to make sure we're getting better every week as a team, and even more important than the wins, make sure that these young men learn from this experience," Karnes said. "I want them to become good husbands and fathers someday. I want them to be successful citizens in the real world."

For now, Karnes will settle for getting a win in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs next Saturday.