treasure washington, evansville courier & press
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NEWBURGH, Ind. — Doug Hurt vividly remembers the Thanksgiving practice his Castle Knights experienced at the RCA Dome in 1994.
Then a senior center and defensive end, he and the Knights were preparing for the Class 5A IHSAA state championship against nationally ranked Portage. Hurt, who had never stepped foot inside the RCA Dome before, soaked in a "Hoosiers" moment. The lights powered on as the team walked around the field, something the current Castle head coach will never forget.
Two days later, Castle defeated Portage 30-12 to clinch its second state championship. That Knights team is one of 11 from Southwestern Indiana to win a title in the last 30 years.
The 1994 team will be honored at halftime on Friday against Central to commemorate what still stands as the program's most recent state championship.
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"The fact that it's been 30 years, it seems really almost impossible," Hurt said. "Time flies. Now being 30 years removed and having a son (Bo) that's a junior on the team, it wasn't just yesterday, although maybe sometimes it feels like it."
Tony Salpietra, a running back, and longtime Castle assistant Matthew Holweger, a cornerback, were also seniors that fall. They were guided by former wrestling coach Bob Harmon and softball coach Pat Lockyear (who was a center and linebacker on the 1982 state championship team) as freshmen and knew something special would happen in their program.
The Knights finished 7-3 in 1993 after back-to-back losing campaigns. Their expectations remained high heading into '94.
"As seniors, we got together and tried to come up with a team name," Salpietra said. "We presented it to coach (John Lidy), and coach told us, 'No, we're calling your class Blue Crush 2,' because the 1982 team called themselves the Blue Crush. I guess the expectation was put on us at that time that, 'You guys were Blue Crush 2. Because we're going to do it again.'"
Castle embraced the high-level competition from its Southern Indiana Athletic Conference opponents. It fell to 1-2 on after suffering a pair of close losses to Bosse and Central. The Knights then traveled to North, who boasted Deke Cooper and became the state runner-up the following season in 1995.
An overtime victory against the Huskies was a turning point as the Knights knew they could hang with the best. From there, Castle won its final 11 games by an average of 31.5 points per contest.
"Coaching staff-wise on the defense side, we were trying to figure things out, and I think that was stabilizing a little bit," Holweger said. "We changed some things offensively, too, to simplify the offense, and that's when we started to hit our stride. Definitely by the last quarter of the season, I think we had things figured out."
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While some players from the 1994 team are scattered across the country, many maintain strong ties to the community.
Holweger and Salpietra also have sons on the team this fall with junior Reid Holweger and senior Izach Salpietra. Hurt called Salpietra's oldest son, Ayden, one of the finest football players he's ever coached. The three men recently went to Lake Tahoe together, and their favorite memories go way beyond the football field.
They enjoyed that postseason run 30 years ago and still reminisce upon a thrilling come-from-behind victory against Carmel at semistate. Their senior season bonded them together for life.
"Those friendships and those bonds were forged through the beauty of high school football, which is why I think every kid should play high school football," Hurt said. "It's a great unifier in a society that's so divided. It brings people who are very different together for a common cause."
It's a blessing for them to see their children now succeed in the blue and gold. Hurt's daughter, Gretchen, is a student at Navy after qualifying for state in volleyball and track and field. And perhaps this milestone anniversary leads to another: Castle is ranked No. 8 in Class 5A with a share of the SIAC crown still in reach.
Hurt sees some similarities between this team and the 1994 squad. The Knights plan to keep battling to reach their ultimate goals.
"It wasn't that long ago that I was walking up and down these stairs and sharing a locker and a locker room and on a bus going to the same schools that I've played," Holweger said. "Now here we are. It's certainly special, and not many people get that experience and are able to do that."
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Castle football celebrates 30th anniversary of state championship team