INDIANAPOLIS — When Eli Wischmeier played for the sectional championship against Lawrenceburg on Nov. 5, 2021, he thought it was his last time representing Brownstown Central on the football field.

That was until early March when Wischmeier was informed he was selected to compete in the 56th Murat Shrine North/South All-Star Classic, presented by the Indiana Football Coaches Association.

The game took place Friday at Ben Davis High School, and Wischmeier got to play football one more time after graduating from BCHS this past spring.

“It was an experience of a lifetime,” he said. “I almost never would’ve thought after my last game at Lawrenceburg, I would’ve thought I had no chance to put pads on and go play again. It was definitely an experience.”

Wischmeier was part of the South All-Stars, who were the winning team on the night, 14-0. South now holds a 29-26 overall lead in the series, and the shutout was the third in series history and first one since 1996.

As a defensive player, Wischmeier was pretty pleased with that outcome.

“It was pretty good stuff,” he said.

Wischmeier played on special teams and was in the rotation on defense, where he played inside linebacker. Both teams were a compilation of the state’s top seniors.

“Met a lot of new people, made a lot of new friends. It was a good time,” Wischmeier said.

The graduated Brave also had a lot of familiar faces in the stands at Ben Davis. He had a huge showing of family, friends, coaches and teammates.

“That was great to see all them guys come to watch me,” he said. “It meant a lot seeing them.”

Wischmeier’s senior season last fall consisted of winning the Mid-Southern Conference title, going 11-1 with an undefeated regular season and being named The Tribune’s All-County Defensive Player of the Year. He topped the Braves in points with 93 and total tackles with 94.

His impact on the field led to his All-Star selection.

Before running out there on Friday, Wischmeier knew it would be his last time, saying, “It felt good. You get that cold feeling there before you run out. This is for sure the last time I’m going to do it.”

In about a month, Wischmeier will head to Purdue University to study agriculture.

“I’m excited to see what the future holds,” he said.

He admits it has been weird this summer not having weights or any practices with the Brownstown football team. But Wischmeier plans to stay in contact with his teammates and come back to see the Braves play this fall, especially because his younger brother will be a freshman on the team.

When reflecting back on his time with the Braves, some of Wischmeier’s favorite memories came from the Jackson Bowl games, including the one from his junior year where Brownstown pulled off a thrilling 43-42 victory, and then from his senior year when the Braves won in dominant fashion, 48-13.

“Jackson Bowls were some of my favorite memories, especially from my junior year. The ending of that game, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Wischmeier said. “I’ve just had a lot of good memories. It’s hard to point out specific ones.”