Rushville 2007 Season

2007 Schedule & Results

 * HOOSIER HERITAGE CONFERENCE GAME |

2007 Stats
Rushing & Receiving

Defensive Points

Sectional 22
Coming off a strong finish to the 2007 regular season, Rushville came into Sectional 22 play with a lot of momentum and was looking to keep it rolling. The Lions got the monkey off their back against Pendleton Heights in week 8 by getting their first win of the season. They followed that by defeating Yorktown in a dogfight that came right down to the wire. The Lions were hoping to get a favorable draw for sectional play as there were 2 very strong teams to contend with in Hamilton Heights and the defending state champion Chatard Trojans.

As it turned out, Rushville drew Beech Grove for round 1 of Sectional 22 play. The Hornets came into the tourney with an identical 2-7 record as the Lions. Rushville was hoping the strength of their schedule, as well as home field advantage, would make the difference in this game. The Rushville offense wasted no time in setting the tone as the Lions were going to put on a rushing display the likes it had not seen in a long time. Four Lions rushed for at least 84 yards each. In the first half, Rushville scored 3 times on touchdown runs by Adam Holstein of 69 and 38 yards, and a James Jones run of 74 yards. Beech Grove put up one TD in the first half to make the score 21-7 at the intermission. Adam Holstein would chalk up another 38 yard TD run to complete the scoring for the Lions. Beech Grove scored two times in the 4th quarter against the Lions JV, and Rushville would move on to the second round of Sectional 22 with a 28-21 victory. Rushville's Adam Holstein ended the night with 193 yards, followed by James Jones with 123, and Anthony Meek and Zach Comer with 84 yards each.

Round 2 of the tourney would have our Lions playing the Huskies from Hamilton Heights. The Huskies had an extra week to heal up as they got the bye in round one. Rushville benefitted by getting the home field advantage as a result. The Huskies brought a 7-2 record with them to Hinshaw Field, with a balanced attack of running and passing. Heavy rains on gameday made for sloppy field conditions, and the Lions were hoping this might effect the passing portion of the HH offense. The Huskies got on the board first with a 27 yard field goal. Rushville was unable to move the ball, and Hamilton Heights took their next possession to the end zone to take a 10 -0 lead early in the second quarter. The Lions got on the board before halftime on a Spencer Comer pass to Anthony Meek for 31 yards and the TD. The extra point failed, and the the Huskies enjoyed a 10-6 halftime lead. James Jones gave the Lions a big lift by taking the second half kickoff back to the HH 5 yard line. The Lions came out in the 'Polecat', and Craig Jones took it the rest of the way. The 2 point conversion failed, but the Lions were on top 12-10. The Lions forced a HH punt, and again came out with the 'Polecat' offense. Four plays later, Craig Jones found a hole and ran 63 yards for another Lion TD. With the PAT, the Lions now had a 19-10 lead with just over one quarter left to play. Hamilton Heights tacked another FG on at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 19-13 in the Lions favor. The Huskies held the Lions on 4th down and took over with less than six minutes to play. Hamilton Heights methodically punched the ball downfield and finally got into the end zone to tie the game at 19-19. The extra point attempt somehow managed to get through the outstretched arm of the Lions, and HH went up 20-19. The Lions were held on downs, and the Huskies ran the clock out to hand the Lions yet another heartbreaking loss to end the 2007 season.

The Black Lions


In 2007, Rushville enrolled their football team to name one deserving player any year to be a "Black Lion" award recipient. The Black Lion award is given in memory of Major Don Holleder, who was a member of the Black Lions, a regiment of the Army's 28th Regiment. Major Holleder was an All-American at the West Point Academy, and later went on to serve in the Vietnam War, where he was killed in the line of duty trying to save his fellow Black Lion infantrymen. The Black Lion Award is given to a team member who exemplifies the character of Major Holleder by displaying leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice and, above all, an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself.

Selecting the first ever Black Lion Award winner at RCHS turned out to be an easy decision. Benji Hall came in to the 2007 season looking to be a starting running back for the Lions on offense, as well as an outstanding outside linebacker on defense. Midway through the 2007 season, the Lions were struggling offensively due to injuries to a couple of linemen. Seeing that the team as a whole was hurting as a result, Benji came forward to the coaching staff and offered his services to help the team by moving to the offensive line. The move paid huge dividends to the team, as they ended the season winning 3 out of 4 of their games. This no doubt would not have happened had Benji not made the sacrifice to learn a new position to help his team.

For more information about the Black Lion Award, Major Don Holleder and the Black Lions of the US Army visit the website by clicking on the link below.

http://www.coachwyatt.com/blacklionhomepage.htm