East Olympians Blog

Just a few quick thoughts on the East-Seymour sectional opener:

It was good to see Nick Olds back in the lineup for the Olympians. He had just one catch, but it was a spectacular highlight-reel style 39-yard reception. It was also good to see that East’s passing game is more than just Olds and Duwyce Wilson. Of course, it’s been that way for some time, but Shane Henderson continues to impress and Clayton Miller made his presence known with an 81-yard scoring pass from Dusty Kiel.

The East defense got tested a little bit by the Owls, who put together some good drives. But some big sacks and a couple of key turnovers helped ensure another easy victory.

One last item to note: I forgot to mention this in the story in Saturday’s paper, but I’ll point it out her as well as in Monday Morning QB — Matt Wilson became the fifth player in school history with 200 career points. Wilson’s six extra points on Friday give him exactly 200 points for his career. Duwyce Wilson and Joumeel McLaurine each have 188 points in their careers; it’s pretty likely they’ll join the 200-point club as well.

Next up, Madison.

A couple of things have kept me from blogging the last few weeks: my father-in-law passed away earlier in the month, then this week, I decided — based primarily on where I live and where our stringer lives — to send our stringer from Bloomington to cover East at BNL while I went to the Greensburg-North Decatur game. I expected to see a much closer game than I’m used to, but the Pirates had to go and make me feel “at home” with a blowout of the Chargers. Thanks.

But you’re here to read about the 4A No. 1 Olympians, who finished a 9-0 regular season and enter the tournament as one of the favorites to battle for the state title at Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 29.

The sectional draw certainly helps. All due respect to Seymour and  other teams in Sectional 15, but let’s face it: the favorites are East, East Central and Shelbyville. And while the Trojans and Golden Bears are in the top half of the bracket, the O’s are in the bottom half.

The tournament begins with East hosting Seymour. Should the O’s prevail — and keep in mind, the Owls did stun the O’s in the first round of the 2005 sectional — then East has a long road trip ahead of them.

Regardless of who wins between South Dearborn and Madison, that team will host East in the second round of the sectional.

Personally, I’m hoping for the Cubs to pull the upset, because Madison is a lot easier to get to than South Dearborn. Trust me, we’ll be printing directions in the paper if East should have to travel to Dearborn.

Of course, should East reach the sectional championship, the game will be played at the friendly confines of John Stafford Field.

And beyond that? Well, if I’m reading the IHSAA site correctly, East should hit the road yet again for the regional.

That’s right. Another trip to the Reitz Bowl, anyone?