With sectional title in hand, Riverton Parke looks for more

Perhaps, some things truly are worth waiting for.

After back-to-back years of heartbreak and coming up short in the past, the Riverton Parke football team finally broke through, capturing its first sectional title since 2005.

The Panthers (12-0) turned back a pesky Cloverdale team, 49-21, to capture the Class A Sectional 47 title and now turn their attention to North Daviess (12-0) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at home. 

"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity, and I am super happy for the kids. They have worked their tails off, and a lot of kids laid the foundation. We had a lot of teams chip away at it over the years and establish our program. I am extremely grateful for the kids before. It means a lot, and I am excited, but also ready to try and make history this week and do something no team at Riverton has ever done," head coach Brad Sanders told The Parke County Post. 

Sanders said his team grew tired of the outside noise regarding their inability to win in November. 

"It was more the outside looking in. We heard it from people in the community about how we couldn't win a meaningful game in November. There is one gentlemen here locally on the old Gridiron Digest that all the guys get on and hide behind. A local guy said Riverton Parke would never win a sectional with me as the head coach and if we did, he would donate half his year's salary to the football program. He can make that check payable to Riverton Parke football or the Panther Touchdown Club. I'd appreciate it, and would love that money if he'd like to donate half that salary. We had been to a lot of sectional championships and never got it done, but the kids focus has been on the goal of getting to Lucas Oil. That is what we are working for, and their motivation is the same as it was last week," Sanders admitted. 

We are going to give our best effort Friday and see what happens. 

Against Cloverdale, the Panthers got off to a hot start. 

Riverton Parke saw Derek Collom score on an 11-yard touchdown run to open the game and then added another score from Collom, stretching the lead to 14-0. 

The Clovers would respond with two scores of their own to knot the game at 14-14 before Riverton Parke made adjustments and pulled away. 

"We like to man people up and be physical. If you are going to get in a fight with someone, I like to throw the first punch. I don't want to sit there and let them bring it to me, and we tried to get after it. Hats off to Cloverdale. They've got some dudes and really good athletes. They got back in it, and we made some adjustments," Sanders admitted. 

The adjustments paid off, as a pair of touchdowns from Brody McConnell pushed the lead to 28-14 at the half. 

As a unit, Riverton Parke rushed for 392 yards, as Vickter Shoopman accounted for 171. 

At 12-0, Sanders hasn't taken a moment to stop and enjoy all his team has accomplished yet. 

"I don't think much about it. Someone told me our record over the last two or three years, and it is a great accomplishment, but it seems like I don't know if was supposed to feel better than it did, but I was ready to get back into film," Sanders admitted. 

Next up is North Daviess, who defeated Forest Park last week to capture its sectional title. 

Sanders knows his team faces a stiff challenge from the Cougars, who average 42.4 points per game and allow just over 12 points. 

"They are 12-0. We know they are going to come swinging and play hard, and we will see what happens. They do a lot of good things. They are good at what they do. They are simple in the things they do, but they do them well. The quarterback is the guy for them and leads them in rushing and passing. He is their guy. They run a lot of quarterback runs, and they have a couple good kids on the edge. Defensively, they get 11 guys to the football well. We have to win the battle up front like always," Sanders said. 

As for what it will take for the Panthers to win a regional, Sanders said it will hinge on several things. 

"We have to do what we do. It is about us and what we do and how we do it. We have to be more physical than them on both sides of the ball and we have to be able to slow them down and get some stops. It is no secret what we are going to try to do. If we can do what we usually do, I feel pretty good about it. They are a scrappy team. They have never won a regional. We've never won a regional, and someone is going to make history," Sanders said.