CORYDON
Brownstown Central’s football team wasted little time getting the 2018 season started on Friday night, scoring on five of its first six possessions and pulling away to a 49-0 victory against Corydon Central.
The Braves (1-0, 1-0 MSC) took command of both sides of the ball immediately against the struggling Panthers.
Defensively, the Braves forced Corydon into negative or zero yards on its first six offensive plays, resulting in consecutive three-and-out punts.
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For the game, Brownstown Central had 10 tackles for loss, three sacks and a fumble recovery while limiting the Panthers to just 47 total offensive yards before the starters were pulled after three quarters.
Offensively, Brownstown generated 537 yards of offense and got touchdowns from five different players.
“I thought defensively, we played really well,” Brownstown Central head coach Reed May said. “They flew around. We didn’t give up many first downs (Brownstown Central allowed Corydon just five first downs). Offensively, we haven’t been hitting on all cylinders, but I thought we executed well tonight. The key was our offensive line blocked well. They’ve been shaky, but played well tonight. I thought we threw the ball well. We know (quarterback Hayden) Kinsler’s got a good arm, but he ran the ball pretty well tonight, too.”
Kinsler scored two first-half touchdowns, ran for a team-high 70 yards, and threw for 159 yards on 8-for-11 passing. The junior got the Braves rolling with a three-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter.
Sam Huber followed Kinsler with his own three-yard touchdown run to give Brownstown Central a 14-0 lead with 3:23 to go in the first quarter.
Three second-quarter touchdowns from Kinsler (four-yard run), Matthew Bell (one-yard run) and Derek Thompson (24-yard run) swelled the Braves’ lead to 35-0 and put the game out of reach.
Bell added his second touchdown of the game with a 17-yard run in the third quarter, followed by a nine-yard scoring run from Braeden Walker to push the score to its final 49-0 count.
The Braves finished with 378 rushing yards. Eight different runners had 30 or more yards on the night, led by Kinsler’s 70 yards. Derek Thompson ended with 63 yards on four carries, followed by Walker (5 carries-46 yards), Caleb Bollinger (4-45) and Grant Stuckwisch (5-42).
Kinsler’s favorite receiving targets were Seth Borden, with 64 yards on three catches, and Eli Brown, who had two receptions for 48 yards.
Brownstown’s special teams also got into the act. In the second quarter, a well-executed pooch kick by Ethan Sevakis allowed a hustling Brandon Wilson to recover the ball at the Corydon 39 yard line, setting up Thompson’s touchdown.
On the next kickoff, Aden Simler recovered a Corydon fumble that allowed Brownstown to run out the first-half clock.
In addition to his kick off duties, Sevakis enjoyed a perfect night, succeeding on all seven of his extra-point attempts.
Walker, Bell, Wilson, Braden Neal, Robbie Branaman, Caleb Bollinger and Jalen Tiemeyer all recorded tackles for loss that resulted in 30 negative Corydon yards. Bell finished with two quarterback sacks, while Walker added another.