Brownstown Central's Eli Brown on a 30 plus yard carry on a punt return.

BROWNSTOWN

Brownstown Central’s football team scored on its first offensive play, recorded two defensive touchdowns, added a special teams touchdown and posted 43 points — all in the first half — en route to a 43-14 victory over Corydon Central on Friday night.

“Nice way to start the season,” Brownstown head coach Reed May said. “Offensively, we sputtered a bit (11 penalties for 95 yards), but we have a lot of inexperience. I thought our special teams looked good and, defensively, we played well.”

BC quarterback Derek Thompson, who was restricted from carrying the ball a week ago during the Braves’ scrimmage at Jennings County, showed what his legs add to the offense when he ran 79 yards for a score on the game’s first play.

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Following a three-yard Braeden Walker TD run, Thompson then showed off his arm when he hit Eli Brown on a 37-yard touchdown pass.

Brown, a senior, proved to be a Swiss army knife for Brownstown throughout the night.

In addition to his TD reception, Brown returned an interception 44 yards for another touchdown, returned a punt 37 yards to set up Walker’s score and, as BC’s holder on extra points, threw for a two-point conversion when an extra-point attempt went awry.

“I was pleasantly surprised by his punt returning,” May said. “He showed a lot of courage. Defensively, he started last year, so we’re expecting a lot from him. As for holding (on kicks), he’s a pitcher in baseball, so we know he can throw. It’s good to see something we work on in practice (responding to broken plays on extra point attempts) actually works in a game.”

By half time, the scoreboard showed the Braves with a 43-0 lead, though the stat sheet was even less forgiving to Corydon. BC ran 26 first-half plays for 250 total yards, while Corydon’s 25 plays netted negative-12 yards.

The Braves’ defense dominated the second quarter, starting with Logan Overshiner recovering an errant Corydon snap in the end zone that gave BC a 28-0 lead.

Brown followed quickly with his interception return, which then led to a blocked punt that the Braves’ Justin Brewer recovered in the end zone for another score.

During one stretch of the second quarter, Corydon had four straight possessions and ran 13 consecutive plays, nine of which went for negative yardage.

Lucas Hines and Nathan Steinkamp led the Braves with five tackles each. Hines, Steinkamp, Walker, Overshiner, Brewer, Sam Huber and Jalen Tiemeyer all recorded tackles for loss.

Offensively, Thompson led BC’s attack with 117 yards on nine rushes. Warren Franklin followed with 36 yards on six attempts.

Thanks to the Braves’ first-half explosion, the second half was played under a mandated running clock as part of the IHSAA’s new mercy rule.

With Friday’s victory, Brownstown extended its winning streak in season-opening games to 14. The Braves last started a season 0-1 in 2005 (after a 22-20 loss to Mitchell).

Since May took over in 1993, the Braves are a remarkable 25-2 in openers.

“It’s important to win openers,” May said. “It gives the kids confidence, especially this year. We have a lot of inexperienced guys who had jitters before the game.”

And, by the way, Friday’s win also marked another milestone in May’s career — his 260th victory. In his 27 seasons as a head coach, all of them at Brownstown, May owns a 260-52 record.

“It’s a win,” said May. “The main thing now is to get ready for Charlestown next week.”

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Braves;43

Panthers;14

Corydon Central (0-1);0;0;0;14;—;14

Brownstown Central (1-0);21;22;0;0;—;43

First quarter

BC-Derek Thompson 79 run (Cooper Wolka kick), 11:32

BC-Braeden Walker 3 run (Wolka kick), 5:10

BC-Eli Brown 37 pass from Thompson (Wolka kick), 1:50

Second quarter

BC-Logan Overshiner 10 fumble return (Wolka kick), 8:47

BC-Brown 44 interception return (Wolka kick), 7:56

BC-Justin Brewer blocked punt recovery in end zone (Brandon Wilson pass from Brown), 5:49

Fourth quarter

C-Noah Denbo 62 run (Dylan Higginbotham kick), 8:48

C-Chandler Money 19 run (Higginbotham kick), 6:08

INDIVIDUAL BC STATISTICS

Rushing: Thompson 9-117, Warren Franklin 6-36, Kiernan Tiemeyer 7-27, Wilson 2-20, Carson Darlage 2-15, Lucas Hines 1-10, Thad Goecker 1-9, Sam Huber 1-5, Eli Wischmeier 1-5, Walker 1-3, Adam Wayt 1-2, Justin Howard 1-(-6).

Passing: Thompson 2 for 3, 36 yards; Tiemeyer 0 for 1.

Receiving: Brown 1-37, Tiemeyer 1-(-1).

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