Thursday, September 24, 205

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THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 2015

IDS INDIANA DAILY STUDENT | IDSNEWS.COM

HALEY WARD | IDS

COURTESY PHOTO

Top From the sideline, Al Carpenter watches the game against Western Kentucky on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Carpenter volunteered with the team while Lee Corso was head coach and has only missed one game in 40 years. Bottom Carpenter is pictured in IU’s annual team photo in 1979. The Hoosiers went on to defeat the BYU Cougars 38-37 in the Holiday Bowl for Corso’s only Bowl victory.

Big Al By Taylor Lehman trlehman@indiana.edu | @trlehman_IU

If Big Al were to have a heart attack and die, he would want to die in the north endzone of Memorial Stadium next to Hep’s Rock. “I bleed IU,” Big Al said. “I have ever since I can remember.” “Big” Al Carpenter has cerebral palsy, which has not only prevented him from learning to read or write, but it has also always prevented him from playing the game he loves: football. When you meet Carpenter, though, he’ll shake your hand, introduce himself as “Big Al,” and then bring his hands together and reveal a championship ring from the 1979 Holiday Bowl. His name will never appear on the Hoosiers’ 1979 roster or on that coaching staff, but, thanks to former IU Coach Lee Corso, Carpenter was part of the program he longed to play for.

“I remember hearing my first game on the radio when I was five years old,” Carpenter said. “I loved IU football ever since. I owe so much to that man, Lee Corso. He’s the greatest man I know.” Carpenter has never been able to walk, so, beginning in 1973, he used his crutches to get to the street, where he would continue to struggle down the road until he was able to hitchhike a ride to IU practices. “You know how hard it is to hitchhike a ride when you got a helmet on?” Carpenter said. “And when the cars or trucks went by, it blew it right off, and it’s round, you know, so it just kept rolling and rolling.” Corso was in his first season as the Hoosiers’ head coach in 1973, after guiding the Louisville Cardinals to a 17th rank in the nation in 1972 and ending his four-year stint with a record of 28-11. With IU having just reached its first bowl game in 1967 — and having lost it to USC 14-3 —

Lost students found in woods By Javonte Anderson ja69@indiana.edu | @Javontea

It was pitch dark. The light emanating from the stars was shaded by thousands of trees. Connor Richardson and Kenzie Denton, both IU students, were lost. Encircled by more than 200,000 acres of forest. They had driven to Hoosier National Forest on Sunday afternoon to hike and see Patton Cave. They left their campsite around 4:45 p.m, Richardson said. “It was a nice day, getting to the cave was no problem,” he said. After leaving the cave, Richardson and Denton attempted to return to the campsite. As the sunlight faded, they started worrying, knowing they would be unable to navigate back in the dark. “At around 8:30 I was like, ‘Yeah it’s time to call in the troops and try to get us out of here,” Richardson said. “It was pretty much pitch dark before we called.” Indiana Conservation Officers received Richardson’s 911 call around 9 p.m. “Connor called in and said they had gotten off the trail, it was dark and they didn’t know how to get back to where they were going,” Corporal Angela Goldman, the responding Indiana Conservation Officer said. The search-and-rescue began.

Al Carpenter tells the story of his experience working with a celebrity head coach and the IU football program that brought them together in Bloomington in the 70s.

Five conservation officers responded. They drove around the area, signaling their sirens to see if Richardson or Denton heard them. Richardson’s cell phone died at 11 p.m., which complicated the search and rescue, Goldman said. “That’s when we started hiking and searching for them,” she said. “We’re stopping every 150 yards yelling and whistling hoping they can hear us and holler back.” At 3:30 a.m., the conservation officers suspended the search. Four of the officers went home. Goldman stayed at the park, just in case Richardson and Denton returned. “We knew that they were OK, in good health, no medical issues, they were just lost,” Goldman said. On average, Goldman said she receives calls about lost hikers and hunters about six times a year. As the reality set in that they would be spending the night in the forest, Richardson and Denton searched for a good place to settle down for the night. “At first we tried to move, but I knew it wasn’t worth it,” Richardson said. “We would just get more lost.” Shrilling of cicadas, hooting owls, clicking bats and the occasional howling of coyotes resonated across the woodlands.

it came as a surprise that Corso took the job in Bloomington following a 9-1 season in Louisville. “Coach Corso came up to me one day and said, ‘You know what? You get people. How would you like to be on the team?’” Carpenter said. * * * Corso had known Carpenter for six years by the time 1979 arrived. The 25-year-old had stood with the team on the sidelines with his crutches in every game. The most success Corso had found with the Hoosiers by that time was a 5-5-1 season in 1977, and during his first six years coaching IU he had recorded a 19-45 record. “I knew Coach Corso worried a lot,” Carpenter SEE BIG AL, PAGE 6

MEN’S SOCCER

Hoosiers shut out Purple Aces By Lionel Lim lalimwei@indiana.edu | @lionelimwx

IU broke its run of three games without a win as it beat Evansville, 3-0, Wednesday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Two goals from senior forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen and a goal from sophomore defender Grant Lillard sealed the biggest win for the Hoosiers this season. “After the game on Sunday we had to pick up the group as a whole, we had to get a positive mindset going for this game,” Hollinger-Janzen said. “The energy before this game was just phenomenal and it just carried into the game.” IU started the match with largely the same lineup as the one that lost 4-1 to Rutgers on Sunday. The only changes were in midfield where redshirt freshman Cory Thomas and redshirt junior Phil Fives started in place of freshman Rece Buckmaster and redshirt senior Kyle Sparks. Thomas made the most of his first start and won the penalty that led to IU’s opening goal in the sixth minute. His shot from inside the box ricocheted off the arm of an Evansville defender, which the referee deemed worthy of a penalty. Hollinger-Janzen stepped up to convert the spot kick and scored his fourth goal of the season. He is NOBLE GUYON | IDS

SEE LOST, PAGE 6

SEE MEN’S SOCCER, PAGE 6

Sophomore defender Grant Lillard celebrates after scoring the Hoosiers’ third goal of the game. IU defeated Evansville, 3-0, Wednesday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.


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