South Warren’s defense held firm – mostly – until the offense could really get going in Friday’s home matchup against district rival Greenwood.
And get going it did, as Spartans senior quarterback Caden Veltkamp passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in South Warren’s 42-14 win that sewed up the Class 5A, District 2 championship and a guaranteed home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the state playoffs.
“It was the same thing last year, we’ve just got to finish it off,” Veltkamp said. “We know how it’s gone the past couple years. We expect to see Bowling Green again (in the playoffs). If we don’t, we’ll see these guys again. Either one who shows up, we’re going to be ready.”
Veltkamp, the Spartans’ strong-armed QB and a Western Kentucky commit, finished his night completing 15-of-25 passes for 236 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s been stringing together five or six games in a row where he’s making really good decisions,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “That’s the big thing for him is getting comfortable in decision-making. He always throws a nice ball, but his decision-making has really improved and it’s showing and helping our offense.”
Veltkamp had a slow start, connecting on just one of his first five pass attempts – that one completion was a big one, a 50-yard touchdown strike to Keegan Milby that put South Warren (8-1 overall, 3-0 district) in front 7-0 with 6:32 left in the first quarter.
Coming off a disappointing 38-8 loss to Bowling Green the week before, Greenwood (6-3, 1-2) had a pair of time-consuming drives stall in the first quarter before breaking through with a quick-strike drive in the second.
Gators senior running back Marquese Trussell laid out for a spectacular catch on James Salchli’s pass for a 37-yard completion, and two plays later Lofton Howard pushed through the middle on a 1-yard touchdown run. Howard also bulled in for the two-point conversion, giving his team an 8-7 lead with 10:51 left in the first half.
“I told the guys that Greenwood has a really good team, I think it’s one of the better teams that they’ve had in awhile and I think it kind of caught us off guard the first quarter or so,” Smith said. “But the guys rebounded nicely and got into the flow of the game. Once we kind of got that momentum going, it just kept on.”
That advantage lasted less than three minutes, as the Spartans answered with an eight-play scoring drive featuring their own fantastic catch when Avrin Bell came down with a juggling reception from Veltkamp for 33 yards to the Greenwood 1-yard line. Kobe Martin finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown run to put his team back up 14-8.
After forcing a Gators punt, the Spartans put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive capped by Veltkamp’s 1-yard touchdown plunge to go up 22-8.
It got worse for Greenwood on the ensuing possession when South Warren’s Jaden Stephens picked off a Salchli pass at the Gators’ 27. Three plays later, Veltkamp connected with Bell for a 5-yard touchdown pass to put South up 29-8 with 42 seconds left in the half.
The Spartans built on in the second half, as Veltkamp hooked up twice with Tyler Snell on touchdown strikes – first a 21-yarder in the third quarter, then again on a 24-yard toss in the fourth.
“We knew they were going to come out firing – their offensive line is really good,” Snell said of Greenwood. “But we just practiced really hard and made it work.”
The Gators tallied the night’s last score when Tel Tel Long hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Salchli with 4:11 to play. It was one of a few big plays for Greenwood, which just couldn’t produce enough against the Spartans.
“That’s what I told our guys afterward – there were probably 10 50-50 balls and they made eight (plays) and we made two,” Gators coach William Howard said. “So I think that was kind of the difference in it. We were in positions – we’ve just got to I guess go up and make those plays when it’s that time.
“Both teams played really well up front defensively and stopped the run and forced the teams to pass a little bit.”
Salchli was 10-of-27 passing for 150 yards with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. The Gators finished with negative rushing yardage.
Martin paced the Spartans with 96 rushing yards and a score. Milby had four catches for 86 yards and a TD, and Snell had two touchdown catches for 45 yards.
Both teams close the regular season with non-district road games. The Gators visit Apollo on Oct. 28, while South Warren will be at Logan County on Oct. 29.
GHS 0 8 0 6 – 14
SWHS 7 22 7 6 – 42
First quarter
SWHS – Keegan Milby 50 pass from Caden Veltkamp (Eldar Dervisevic kick), 6:32
Second quarter
GHS – Lofton Howard 1 run (Howard run), 10:51
SWHS – Kobe Martin 6 run (Dervisevic kick), 8:28
SWHS – Veltkamp 1 run (Luke Burton run), 2:36
SWHS – Avrin Bell 5 pass from Veltkamp (Dervisevic kick), 0:42
Third quarter
SWHS – Tyler Snell 21 pass from Veltkamp (Dervisevic kick), 4:47
Fourth quarter
SWHS – Snell 24 pass from Veltkamp (run failed), 7:41
GHS – Tel Tel Long 30 pass from James Salchli (pass failed), 4:11{&end}
