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BROWNSTOWN
Coming into Friday night, the Brownstown Central and Silver Creek football teams were almost mirror images of each other.
Two 7-0 records, winning all of their games behind run-heavy offenses and hoping to clinch a share of the Mid-Southern Conference with a victory.
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Behind their staple wing-t offense, the Braves showed the original was superior to the copy, downing the Dragons 22-13 to move into sole possession of the MSC with a game to go next Friday night.
It’s the ninth straight win for the Braves over the Dragons, who have never dropped a game to the orange and blue team from Sellersburg.
Though not exactly the same offenses, the Dragons were trying to take a page out of the BC playbook by controlling the ball with their dominant running attack. They pulled out two passing attempts — equal to the amount the Braves tried — but their ground game was unable to keep up with Derek Thompson and company.
Brownstown Central coach Reed May explained Silver Creek’s offense would have looked a lot different if their starting quarterback at the beginning of the season, Dylan Meyers, was playing in the game instead of Ben Landers.
Meyers, who has been out since Week 3 due to injury, still holds the Silver Creek lead in passing yards with 244.
“I’m not sure how much they would have thrown with him had he been in there, but the quarterback they have now likes to run the ball,” May said. “We thought we had a pretty good gameplan and we did a pretty good job except for that kickoff return, but overall we did a pretty good job to persevere.”
Amidst the wet conditions, both the Dragons (7-1, 6-1 MSC) and Braves made big plays that would decided the game.
May says there are always four or five big plays that decide a ballgame and Friday night was no different. Fortunately for Brownstown Central, they made a few more than the visitors.
Two of the Braves’ big plays came from senior Braeden Walker, making one on each side of the ball.
His first came in response to the Dragons’ score to take the early lead.
With Silver Creek looking to drive down the field and double their lead; Walker had other ideas, picking off Landers and taking it all the way into the endzone for a 35-yard score.
Walker said he saw nothing but green turf to run on after he caught the ball.
“When I catch that ball, I just see wide open field,” Walker said. “All I think about is that endzone, I don’t think about nothing else and just getting around everyone and into that endzone.”
Just three minutes later Walker was on the receiving end of 39-yard bomb from Thompson to give the Braves their first lead of the game with two minutes to go in the first half.
Silver Creeks lone big scoring play was a 74-yard kickoff return from Easton Messer on the very next play following Walker’s score.
All told, Walker contributed mightily on offense plus his big-play presence on defense.
May states they need more production from guys like Walker if they want to keep opponents honest and take pressure off Thompson.
“We’ve counted on him all year and he’s finally made some big plays these last couple of games,” May said. “He’s a good football player and, with him, we need our slots to start doing more … to have some more versatility besides [Thompson].”
The conditions hampered both teams’ offenses and May wasn’t entirely pleased with the amount of fumbles committed by his team. BC put the ball on the ground three times, but only lost it once. That lost fumble came in the closing seconds of the game on the Silver Creek 5-yard line as the Braves were looking to tack on another score.
Still, he was proud of the way they fought and how they continue to check off their goals and work towards getting better.
“Our first goal was to have a winning season, our second goal was to beat Seymour and our third goal was to win conference,” May said. “Now, the fourth goal is to win sectional.”
The Braves (8-0, 7-0 MSC) end the regular season next week in Scottsburg at 7 p.m.
Brownstown Central is 11-4 all time against the Warriors including back-to-back wins since the program returned in 2017.
BC will also find out its sectional fate on Sunday at 5 p.m.
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Dragons;13
Braves;22
Silver Creek (7-1);7;6;0;0 — 13
Brownstown Central (8-0);0;14;0;8 — 22
First quarter
SC-Easton Messer 4-yard run (Jonathan McIntyre kick), 0:49
Second quarter
BC-Braeden Walker 35-yard interception return (Sam Huber kick), 5:13
BC-Derek Thompson 39-yard pass to Walker (Huber kick), 2:53
SC-Messer 74-yard kickoff return (McIntyre kick failed), 2:42
Fourth quarter
BC-Thompson 6 rush (Eli Brown 2-pt conversion good), 11:56
INDIVIDUAL SHS STATISTICS
Rushing: Thompson 24-190, Brown 5-27, Braeden Walker 6-30, Kiernan Tiemeyer 3-9, Lucas Hines 4-12, Sam Huber 2-9
Passing: Thompson 1-2-39
Receiving: Walker 1-39
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