BROWNSTOWN
Brownstown Central’s football team put on an offensive show on Friday night, scoring touchdowns on each of its eight possessions and racing away to a 55-13 Class 3A Sectional 31 victory over Corydon Central.
Six different Braves scored touchdowns, all but one of which came on a play of 19 or more yards. BC scored its 55 points on just 27 offensive plays while possessing the ball for just 11 of the game’s 48 minutes.
By contrast, Corydon’s offense ran 64 plays in 37 minutes of possession.
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“Offensively, we played really well,” BC head coach Reed May said. “We had a feel for what they were going to do defensively, so we basically stayed in our unbalanced formation and pounded the ball.”
Friday’s win advances the Braves (9-1) to a semifinal matchup next week against Salem, a surprise 27-20 winner over Charlestown. Brownstown defeated Salem (6-4), 48-13, in Week 4 of the regular season.
Against Corydon (3-7), the Braves generated two 70-yard TD runs, a 49-yard scoring run and three touchdowns of 30-plus yards.
Derek Thompson scored three times for Brownstown on runs of 19, 49 and 77 yards. The junior finished with a team-high 199 yards on just seven carries.
“He’s got good speed and height,” May said of Thompson. “And he’s starting to do the little things better, especially blocking. Once he becomes a better blocker, he’ll be a more complete back.”
Thompson said his big night was the result of the offensive line’s effort.
“It was just really good blocking,” Thompson said. “I can’t thank the linemen enough. They created holes and spaces, then I would hit the seams with a burst of speed.”
Corydon opened the game with an impressive 10-play, 50-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead, but BC answered quickly with a 32-yard Sam Huber touchdown run that tied the game with 4:29 left in the first quarter.
Brave kicker Ethan Sevakis followed with a long kickoff that pinned Corydon on its own 4 yard line. Because of the poor field position, the Panthers were forced to play conservatively and, three plays later, suffered a shanked punt that travelled only to the Panthers’ 28 yard line.
Brownstown took advantage, getting a 27-yard run by Thompson that set up a one-yard scoring plunge by Braden Neal to give BC a 14-7 lead.
Seth Borden ended Corydon’s next drive when he recovered a fumble by Panther quarterback Noah Windell at the Corydon 24 yard line.
Thompson followed by carrying the ball 19 yards for another BC touchdown, expanding the Braves’ lead to 21-7.
Thompson later scored on a 49-yard TD run and Caleb Bollinger added a 30-yard scoring run that gave BC a 35-13 lead at halftime.
The Braves kept the pressure up offensively, scoring on a 71-yard Hayden Kinsler run just 43 seconds into the second half.
Brandon Wilson’s 31-yard touchdown run and Thompson’s capstone 77-yard TD run pushed the score to its final 55-13 margin.
Defensively, the Braves were led by Lucas Hines, who finished with nine tackles, including three for loss. Huber, Neal, Luke Shelton and Jalen Tiemeyer also added tackles for loss for BC.
“It’s just great to move on,” May said. “That’s what I love about the tournament. It’s hard to beat the same team twice.”
Friday’s game was the 80th postseason contest in May’s 26-year run as BC’s head coach. With the win, his teams are now 55-25 in the tournament, with 12 sectional titles and three regional titles.
Despite that long history, Friday’s matchup was just the second postseason game with Corydon. In the two teams’ first tourney tilt, Corydon took down the Braves, 35-13, in 2011.