Sandwich continues hot start

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:08PM

Derek Avery is low key, his voice monotone. You don't hear too much excitement, or too much disappointment, when talking to him.

He can also be very upfront and honest about his team, so it was with little surprise that he said there was some well deserved skepticism surrounding his Sandwich team's 4-0 start.

The doubters had a leg, perhaps two, to stand on because of the Indians recent inability to finish not only games, but seasons.

Friday's resounding 32-7 win over Interstate Eight Large nemesis Coal City should put those doubters to rest.

Sandwich improved to 5-0 overall and now is not only playoff eligible, but has the edge in the conference title race with a 3-0 I-8 mark and did so in dominating fashion on both sides of the ball. The Coalers (3-2, 2-1) were held to just one first down in the first, third and fourth quarters for a total of seven while managing just 166 yards of total offense. Coalers QB Cody Onsen was also intercepted twice.

"The story was our defense, really," Avery said. "They played really well. We thought all along if our defense could play our offense was good enough and tonight we made some big plays."

Offensively, it was Sandwich football at its finest. The Indians ran for 416 yards, led by P.J. Crotty's 188 and followed by Connor Voss' 158.

Crotty was the big play back, with TD runs of 88, 44 and 30 while Voss added scoring runs of 47 and 3.

While there were plenty of big play highlights, this was a statement game for this Sandwich team and boy did the Indians make one.

From the start of the game it was clear that this team was tired of not finishing what it has started.

Several key moments:

· Crotty took the opening handoff 88 yards for a score, putting Sandwich up 7-0 in just 20 seconds.

· Fullback Tyler Crane took a second quarter handoff up the middle and bowled over Coal City's Michael Czaja, which not only knocked Czaja's chinstrap off but earned Crane another three yards after contact.

· On 4th-and-goal from the Coalers' 3-yard line with 1.2 seconds left in the first half, Voss took a pitch right and followed a big push into the endzone to put the Indians up 13-7 for what proved to be the game winning TD.

Then defensively, late in the third with the Coalers trying to muster some kind of rally, the Indians held strong on 3rd-and-3 and then 4th-and-2 at midfield to force a turnover on downs.

"We really put the screws to them in the second seniors on this team that really understand what this is all about and we're playing with confidence and that's something we haven't had a lot of the last few years. But this year we have confidence and its showing a little bit," Avery said.

It was a tremendous all around performance and cemented the Indians as not only the lead dog in the I-8, but now a potential top seed in all of Class 4A.

There are some injury concerns however. Star FB Tim Schmitt will return from a sprained knee at some point, but he has been out since Week 2. And on Friday, big sophomore left guard Logan Lee is after being taken off the field on a backboard and Voss came up from his last carry hurting.

But, to be 5-0 at this point shows this team's resiliency, and now this win has proven they can finish big.

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