Photo by TRAVIS DAVID | Sullivan defenders William Hollifield (57), Levi Hollifield (70) and John Taft (3) converge on a tackle in the second half of Friday's game against West Vigo.

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BY TRAVIS DAVID

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SULLIVAN — Following  last season’s Week 9 loss at home to Western Indiana Conference rival Sullivan, the West Vigo football team could not wait to get back on the field against the Arrows.

The 48-0 loss marked the 11th straight defeat against Sullivan and it did not sit well with the Vikings.

Despite entering Friday night’s regular season finale at Sportland Field as a three-touchdown underdog — according to prep guru John Harrell — the Vikings were ready.

The visitors punched in a touchdown in the final 30 seconds for a 12-7 win, stunning the Arrows.

The win also gave West Vigo head coach Aaron Clements his first win against his alma mater.

“This game is not about me,” the Sullivan grad quickly pointed out. “The credit for breaking this streak all goes to the kids and all of our coaches. They all had a great week and I could not be more proud.”

Sullivan had defeated the Vikings by a combined score of 90-6 over the past two seasons. Clements said his team did not forget about those scores.

“There’s a few things that have stuck out to us in the past couple of years that our kids were upset about,” the Vikings’ coach stated. “I am just very proud of them for what they were able to do tonight. This is a huge win for our program.”

The Vikings (4-5) led 6-0 at the half and the score remained the same until late in the fourth quarter.

After two previously failed possessions inside the Vikings, 10-yard line, Sullivan finally was able to break through and find the end zone with just over five minutes remaining on the clock. 

Laytin Huff scored on a 6-yard rush, capping an 83-yard scoring drive. Logan Ketterer split the uprights on the point after touchdown for a 7-6 lead.

The score looked like it would hold up when the Vikings lost a fumble — recovered by Sullivan junior Ty Hamilton — with just over three minutes left on the clock.

West Vigo had burned two timeouts on its previous drive which stalled inside the redzone and was left with just one.

But the Arrows ran a pair of passing plays, including a failed attempt on third down, which allowed more time for the Vikings.

After Sullivan was whistled for a personal foul on the punt, West Vigo wasted little time taking advantage of excellent field position in Arrows’ territory. Vikings’ signal Landon Fields hit Connor Wallace for a 27-yard on the first snap. The Arrows appeared to have the pass covered, but Wallace won the battle for possession against a pair of Sullivan defenders.

“You have to give him credit, he simply made the play,” Sullivan coach Mike Caton said of the reception. “I thought we had it defended well, he just took it away.”

The drive would end when Jacob Dewey plowed through the Arrows’ defense from just inside the 1 on fourth-down-and goal.

The go-ahead score came with 21.5 seconds left in the game.

West Vigo secured the win when Fields came down with an interception two plays later which sent Clements and the entire Vikings’ team into celebration mode.

The loss sends Sullivan into postseason play with a 3-6 record matching its lowest win total since a 3-7 mark in the 2010 season.

“We just have to move on to the next one,” Caton said of the loss. “This sucks for all the players and all of the coaches. No one wants to come out here and get beat. But the main thing is how you respond to adversity. Everyone is 0-0 now, the regular season is over. We got Linton-Stockton next week and everyone knows what they are about. We just have to put this behind us and have a good week of practice. It all starts out here on the field.”

Sullivan travels to Linton in next week’s Class 2A sectional opener at Roy Williams Field against the No. 8 ranked Miners.

Linton-Stockton (7-2) won the regular season matchup 42-20 in Week 4, also at Roy Williams Field. 

Thanks to the Kevin Arnett Family and the Indiana Chapter of the National Youth Advocate Program for the sponsorship of this story