Black squad routs Gold 28-7 in WVFCA All-Star Game

North Putnam's Brad Hodges makes a block to spring Jacob Earl for the only Gold touchdown during Saturday night's Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Game at Terre Haute North.

Greencastle's Casey Chew makes a hit on Ben Girton of Northview.

TERRE HAUTE -- Northview standout running back Ben Girton rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday night to lead the Black Division team to a 28-7 win over the Gold Division team in the 12th annual Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Game.

The Gold team got on the scoreboard first, as Jacob Earl of North Vermillion scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Travis Adams of Marshall. Earl caught the screen pass just beyond the line of scrimmage, and was able to get into the end zone thanks to a key block from Brad Hodges of North Putnam.

Brayden White of North Putnam tracks down the ball from his linebacker position.

Anthony Rossok of Greencastle lines up at receiver for the Gold Division team.

After that it was all Black Division, going ahead for good late in the first quarter on Girton's first score. The Black Division team added touchdown runs from Logan Grim of Terre Haute North and Girton in the second quarter, and closed out the scoring in the third period on a 9-yard pass from Braden Smith of Mattoon to Northview's Liam Jones.

South Putnam's Brandon Gierke caught the two-point conversion pass from Smith.

Thirteen players from Putnam County competed in the game, with a majority of them performing on defense or as linemen.

Hodges had two carries for seven yards for the Gold Division team and also caught two passes for 24 yards.

Cougar teammate Daniel Huffman also added two catches for 24 yards, and Anthony Rossok of Greencastle had two catches for six yards.

The WVFCA, whose president is North Putnam coach Greg Barrett, awarded $7,500 worth of scholarships to game participants.

Two of those awards, totaling $2,000, went to Putnam County grads Joe Masters of South Putnam and Bobby Scheele of North Putnam.

Masters, along with Girton, will suit up this fall for defending NAIA national champion Marian University in Indianapolis.

He received a $1,500 Pete Varda Sr. scholarship, which was voted upon by the Black Division players following their week of practice leading up to the game to honor the player with the best work ethic and leadership during the two-hour daily practice sessions.

"It's awesome," he said. "Any time that you lead a team like that where they vote for you to win a scholarship, you feel like you're doing something right."

Joe Masters of South Putnam received a $1,500 scholarship for his hard work in practice for Saturday's Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Game. Also pictured is South Putnam coach Nathan Aker.

Masters, who will also participate in the Indiana Football Coaches Association All-Star Game next month with players from all over the state, enjoyed the week with his teammates.

"Preparing for this game is awesome," he said. "You have guys out here who just want to play football all the time. It's the top of the top battling it out, and that's phenomenal.

"You get a taste of playing with guys [like Girton] who you'll play with in college."

Masters knew his team's defense would play well, and it did.

"Our defense was strong all week long," he said. "We busted it all week in practice, and it was just everybody just doing their job. These are just all-around good guys."

Bobby Scheele of North Putnam received a $500 Lineman Scholarship from the the Central Wabash Valley Building and Trades Council. Also pictured is Trent Short of the CWVBTC.

Scheele will play for Wabash, the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference champions, and also enjoyed his week despite not being victorious in the game.

"It was a blast," he said. "You're not going to win every game, but it's the last time I get to play with my a lot of my teammates from high school and that was great. It was a fun time."

If all the linemen in the game were lined up from biggest to smallest, Scheele wouldn't be too close to the "biggest" end.

Still, his drive and determination were enough to impress the scholarship selection committee.

"It means a lot," he said of the $500 scholarship. "The linemen here are all talented, and most of them are bigger than me, but if you just come to practice every day and work hard good things will happen."

South Putnam's Daniel Grundlock gets ready to make a big hit.

Black 28, Gold 7

Gold 7 0 0 0 -- 7

Black 8 12 8 0 -- 28

G -- Jacob Earl 21 pass from Travis Adams (Chad Trent kick) 7-0, Q1 6:51.

B -- Ben Girton 27 run (Hunter Thornton pass from Tucker Stewart) 8-7, Q1 6:09.

B -- Logan Grim 3 run (pass failed) 14-7, Q1 :07.

B -- Girton 2 run (run failed) 20-7, Q2 :35.

B -- Liam Jones 9 pass from Braden Smith (Brandon Gierke pass from Smith) 28-7, Q3 :07.

Individual statistics

Rushing -- Gold: Jacob Earl (North Vermillion) 5-37, Travis Adams (Marshall) 7-29, Dalton Noblit (Oblong) 3-15, Brad Hodges (North Putnam) 2-7, Caleb Summerlot (Owen Valley) 1-7, Trey Thompson (North Central) 1-(-3). Black -- Ben Girton (Northview) 14-113, Tucker Stewart (Northview) 9-52, Logan Grim (Terre Haute North) 9-27, Braden Smith (Mattoon) 2-(-8).

Passing -- Gold: Adams (Marshall) 10-24-1 102. Black: Stewart (Northview) 3-4-0 27; Smith (Mattoon) 7-9-0 112.

Receiving -- Gold: Brad Hodges (North Putnam) 2-24, Daniel Huffman (North Putnam) 2-24, Anthony Rossok (Greencastle) 2-6, Earl (North Vermillion) 1-21, Lane Trimble (Owen Valley) 1-18, Haze Lemmon (Oblong) 1-9, Pierce Jackson (Linton-Stockton) 1-4, Kam Bell (Terre Haute South) 1-1. Black: Liam Jones (Northview) 6-122, Luke Spurlock (Sullivan) 3-15, Hunter Thornton (South Vermillion) 1-2.