For The Tribune
Brownstown Central’s football team gave its coaching staff the perfect season-opening gift on Friday night: a comfortable victory with lots of teaching opportunities.
Thanks to a fast start that resulted in a 15-0 first-quarter lead, the Braves’ eventual 43-6 victory over Corydon Central was never in doubt. But a defensive lapse here, a slew of big-play-nullifying penalties there and an out-of-sync passing game left BC head coach Reed May looking forward to grading out his team with a red pen.
“We’ve got new guys at a lot of new positions,” May said. “For a first game, I’m glad we had a game like this. We need to play some games to learn. I think we’ll get better as the season progresses.”
One player who looked comfortable with his new position was senior slotback Kiernan Tiemeyer, who last season started at quarterback. The senior ran for a game-high 144 yards on just 11 carries and scored two touchdowns.
One of Tiemeyer’s scores came on a 90-yard kickoff return.
“Last Christmas, I decide we had to make the switch,” May said of moving Tiemeyer. “Some people thought I was crazy, but it made sense with the players who graduated last year. Kiernan had a great night tonight.”
Another senior slotback, Jake Pauley, wasn’t too bad, either, running for 74 yards on 10 carries and scoring three TDs. Including a two-point conversion, Pauley ended with a game-high 20 points.
The Braves’ offense started the game methodically, alternating run plays to the left and right while dissecting Corydon’s defense. Pauley and Tiemeyer picked up first downs on each of BC’s first four plays before a two-yard touchdown run by Pauley gave the Braves an 8-0 lead.
Senior fullback Jonathon Garvey followed moments later with a five-yard run up the middle to extend Brownstown’s lead to 15-0.
Corydon struck back when quarterback Nolan Adams ran 45 yards along the right sideline to narrow the score briefly. Tiemeyer responded immediately, however, with his 90-yard kickoff return to restore the lead to 22-6.
Two more Pauley scores and a 12-yard TD run by Tiemeyer swelled the lead to 43-6 and triggered the mercy-rule running clock with a minute to go in the third quarter.
Brownstown finished with 406 rushing yard and 22 first downs on 47 attempts.
BC quarterback Carson Darlage finished with 18 yards on 4-for-11 passing, modest stats caused by a rash of dropped passes.
“Carson threw the ball well tonight, we just didn’t catch it,” May said.
Besides giving up Adams’ TD run, the Braves’ defense enjoyed a dominant night, limiting Corydon to three first downs and 110 total offensive yards. Of the Panthers’ nine possessions, eight ended in punts or turnovers on downs.
The Braves combined for 10 tackles for loss. Junior linebacker Ethan Fultz was BC’s busiest defender, ending with nine tackles, four of them for loss.
Friday’s win is BC’s 10th straight over Corydon and 28th in 30 meetings since May took over in 1993. The Braves have won their last 16 season openers, their last loss coming in 2005 to Mitchell.