Today’s TribeSportsReport Written by Dalton Bishop. You may contact Dalton at his email dalton_bishop@olemiss.k12.in.us. Featured Image by John Carper

A season where many doubted, a season where no one had expectations, and a season that no one will ever forget. Yes, that describes the 2021 Mississinewa Indian football season. On Friday night the Indians traveled 109 miles to the north to Middlebury, Indiana to take on the Northridge Raiders in the Regional 10 championship in Class 4A. Frigid cold temperatures along with snow to start the game would havoc the passing games of both the Indians and the Raiders. But it was the 6 yard Ridge Howard TD run with 1:07 remaining in the opening quarter that would give the Raiders a 6-0 lead after a missed Raider PAT. The next score would also be a Raider TD with 34.6 left in the first half, Tagg Gott would connect on a 17 yard TD pass to Junior Kade Sainz. The Raiders did not get the two point conversion and would take a 12-0 lead into the halftime break. In the second half the Indians defense would step up to make a huge stop to give the Indians the ball for the first time on offense. With 3:51 left in the third quarter Sophomore QB Nolan Quaderer would complete a 54 yard TD pass to Junior wide receiver Jayden Crick to put the Indians on the board trailing 12-7. With 2:34 left in the third Tagg Gott was looking for Jethro Hochstettler when the pass was intercepted by Mississinewa’s Brayden Biddle. The Indians were unable to capitalize on the Raider mistakes down the stretch. The Indians season came to an end falling to the Raiders 25-7, although that was the score it doesn’t reflect the competitive game that everyone saw. The Indians ended the season 9-3 and made Indian Nation very proud. We can’t thank the Senior class enough for the legacy they are leaving behind within the Mississinewa football program.

Girls Basketball

This past Thursday the Mississinewa Lady Indians welcomed the Lady Apaches from Wabash to Gas City for the home opener. This game was very competitive with two teams who seemed to be matched up pretty evenly. Mississinewa would lead 13-12 at the end of the first quarter of play. Wabash would play step for step with the Indians in the second quarter to only trail 26-24 at the halftime break. The Indians would extend there lead at the end of three quarters by five leading 36-31. In the fourth Lady Apache guard Libby Mattern would carry some momentum for Wabash by scoring 9 of her 16 points in the 4th quarter. Late in the ball game a missed Wabash layup with 3:19 remaining would allow Freshman Jaci Crick to pull down the rebound and find Senior Megan Stanley at the other end for a bucket to give Crick the assist. Mississinewa was leading 41-38, a pair of Libby Mattern free throws would bring the game back within one 41-40 with 2:35 remaining in the ball game. Wabash would then force an Ole Miss turnover that lead to a basket and the foul for Kierra Wilson to give Wabash the lead 43-41. With 1:19 to play Mississinewa would have the ball underneath there own basket, on the inbounds pass it was Freshman Jaci Crick knocking down the floater to tie the game at 43. A blocking foul against the Indians would lead to Rylee Yoakum connecting on one of two free throws to give Wabash the lead again with 53 seconds remaining. With 40 seconds remaining it would be Crick again but this time from the charity stripe knocking both free throws down to regain the Lady Indian lead at 45-44. Kierra Wilson would score in a hurry for Wabash with just 20 seconds left in the game. Mississinewa would see a full court press off of the Apache made bucket that would then lead to a Megan Stanley bucket off of an assist from Mia Catey. That bucket would be the “game winner” for Mississinewa giving them a 2-1 record. The Lady Indians are back in action tomorrow night at Bluffton.