CC deals with early injuries

Topping last season at Corydon Central will be a formidable task.
The Panthers posted another great record, 9-3, and advanced to the sectional championship game for the first time ever, falling to Batesville, 28-7.
In addition to carding its third straight winning season (a first for the program), last year’s bunch was paced by a group of seniors who won 29 games during their four-year careers, another watermark for the club.
In its Friday night scrimmage against Southridge, the Panthers looked like pretenders instead of contenders. Some of the high jinx that took place may have been mental, head coach Jason Timberlake said: ‘On the fourth play of the game, Josh Windell hurt his thumb, and it all went downhill after that.’
Windell, a solid 5-11 junior quarterback, possibly tore a ligament in his right thumb. A broken ring finger on the same hand last year kept him out of the first three games of the season.
‘We had him playing free safety on defense, and somehow he got his hand caught in a facemask,’ Timberlake said. ‘He threw a little bit over there during warm-ups and looked to be doing decent, so, hopefully, that will heal up. I think our kids got down when that happened on Friday night. It was just not a good week for us.’
Five-11 junior running back Kyle White was moved up behind center for a few snaps, and 6-0 freshman Richard Armstrong also took a shot at signal caller.
‘We’ve got some options there if Josh isn’t healthy. Between the two, I would say Kyle has the nod right now because he’s got varsity experience. Kyle’s used to getting the ball ‘ not handing it off. Richard hung in the pocket and threw the ball well and made some nice completions,’ Timberlake said. ‘He’ll definitely get some more reps back there, too.’
The second-year coach said he doesn’t believe the same expectations are being placed on this year’s squad as last year’s.
‘Last year, you had guys who had been in the system a while and had the attitude that they were just not going to lose. I think a lot of people looked at them and believed it.
‘I don’t want to say that this year’s team is any worse or anything like that, but it’s a different team with a different lineup and everything else,’ Timberlake said. ‘I don’t think Friday night was a very good indicator of where we are as a team right now. People have become greedy with wins, and that’s a good thing to have. I believe we’ll be better than what most people think.’
White, 5-6 senior Jason Ward and 5-10 sophomore Mat Carver will split backfield duties in the now-familiar wing-T offense. Another option coming into the season was 5-9 junior James Henderson, but the youngster broke a leg during the preseason and is out indefinitely.
Corydon Central sports eight seniors, including 5-10 wideout Billy Saulman, 6-0 guard/nose tackle David Camp, 6-3 lineman Jeremy Hedden, and 6-4 tight end and strong safety Shaun Walker, who makes a return to the gridiron after sitting out a season.
A tough junior is 5-11 lineman Josh Newton.
‘We’ve got plenty of size there. From the guys we lost, we haven’t lost a lot of size, I don’t think. And we have decent strength,’ Timberlake said. ‘It’s just a matter of getting those guys in a routine of playing in a game situation. Josh and Jeremy have played there, but the rest were mostly backups and fill-ins. I don’t think those other guys have adjusted to the speed of the game yet, and that showed on Friday night.’
In the race for the Mid-Southern Conference championship, Timberlake says the same thing almost every other coach in the league believes: it’s Brownstown’s to lose.
‘Until someone knocks them off, there’s no question they are the team to beat. And as long as (head coach Reed May) is there, there’s not going to be a dropoff,’ Corydon’s coach said.