BROWNSTOWN — Brownstown Central’s football team ably hurdled the last obstacle between it and the Mid-Southern Conference title by dominating an overmatched Silver Creek squad 45-14 on Friday night.

The victory leaves BC alone atop the standings, ensuring an outright conference crown even if the Braves stumble unexpectedly next week at Scottsburg.

The Braves now own 24 MSC titles in program history, their last coming during an undefeated regular season in 2021. While a perfect regular season escaped BC’s grasp after the loss to Seymour two weeks ago, a perfect conference record can be accomplished with a win next week.

“Winning the conference was our goal and we accomplished that,” BC head coach Reed May said matter of factly. “Our next goal is the sectional.”

For the fifth time this season, the Braves tripped the mercy-rule running clock. Playing most of the second half under a running clock against the second-best team in the conference was anything but expected.

Silver Creek entered Friday’s contest riding a four-game win streak, during which they were scoring 35 points per game. BC appeared to be blissfully unaware of those facts, stone-walling the Dragons on both counts. Besides stopping the win streak, the Braves held SC 21 points under their recent average.

“We were clicking both defensively and offensively,” May said. “Defensively, we not only played well, we practiced well all week. After one of our practices this week I said, ‘I don’t think we’ve made any mistakes.’ Which is unusual for me to say.

“Offensively, the credit goes to our offensive line. They’re really starting to gel. A couple of times tonight, we reviewed plays on the sideline and when I looked at the iPad, there was nothing to discuss. I just said, ‘You must be doing a good job if there’s nothing to talk about.’”

Since their 41-20 loss to Seymour two weeks ago, the Braves have outscored their opponents 101-20 and have looked unstoppable on both sides of the ball.

“Looking back, getting beat by Seymour has waken us up,” May said. “Sometimes a loss wakes you up. We’ve just got to keep improving because we’ve got such a strong sectional.”

The Braves’ defense looked alert from the first snap and wasted no time announcing its intentions.

On the game’s first play, Silver Creek’s talented running back Jamari Powell was popped by linebacker Owen Wischmeier and separated from the ball. BC defensive lineman Keetan Burcham-Jones outhustled two SC players and recovered the fumble.

That play was an indication of things to come. The Braves limited Silver Creek to just 11 yards on 11 plays in the first quarter. When the varsity left the field in the third quarter, the Dragons had managed just 108 yards of offense, six first downs and seven points on 39 plays.

Wischmeier led the Braves with seven tackles, while Isaac Hutchinson paced the defense with two tackles for loss.

Chick Tiemeyer, Jack Pace, Ryan Branaman, Linkan Brittain and Burcham-Jones each contributed a tackle for loss. Isiaah Engle added an interception.

While the defense was locking down Silver Creek, Brownstown’s offense kept up the production it showed during a 56-point performance at Madison last week.

The Braves scored on seven of their first eight possessions while generating 463 offensive yards. Five of their touchdowns came on plays of 20 or more yards.

Behind an offensive line consisting of sophomore Drew Shelton, juniors Jaden Disque and Cash Zumhingst, and senior Carson Darlage and Trent Lowery, the Braves finished with 375 rush yards on just 35 attempts (10.7 average).

Preston Garrison led all runners with 124 yards on six carries. Engle followed with 73 yards on seven attempts and Zike added 62 yards on six rushes.

Kicker Bryce Peak’s foot started it all with a 27-yard field goal following Burcham-Jones’ fumble recovery. Preston Garrison snaked through Silver Creek’s defense for a 20-yard touchdown run to give BC a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

Brownstown then dropped 21 points on the Dragons in the second quarter to take full control of the contest.

Four carries for 61 yards by Engle set up a one-yard scoring plunge by BC quarterback Micah Sheffer. On the Braves’ next drive, Sheffer connect with Lane Zike on a 61-yard TD pass that gave Brownstown a 24-0 lead.

After Silver Creek found the scoreboard for the first time late in the second quarter, BC responded immediately with a 54-yard Garrison run that restored the Braves’ lead to 31-7 just before the halftime buzzer.

Brownstown added a 28-yard touchdown run by Tiemeyer and a 22-yard Zike run to cross the 40-point mark for the sixth time in eight games.

Sheffer ended the game with 88 yards and a touchdown on 4-for-6 passing.

Friday’s win continued May’s march to the 300-victory milestone. The 31-year head coach now owns 298 wins while helming the Brownstown Central program. If the Braves continue their winning ways, No. 300 will come in the first round of the sectional, the draw for which is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 6 p.m. (The IHSAA’s pairings show will be streamed live at ihsaatv.org.)

High School Football

Braves;45

Dragons;14

Silver Creek (5-3);0;7;0;7;—;14

Brownstown Central (7-1);10;21;14;0;—;45

First quarter

BC-Bryce Peak 27 field goal, 8:54

BC-Preston Garrison 20 run (Peak kick), 5:26

Second quarter

BC-Micah Sheffer 1 run (Peak kick), 6:06

BC-Lane Zike 61 pass from Sheffer (Peak kick), 4:09

SC-Ethan Rothstein 2 pass from Kedon Ward (Boaz Ndaruhutse kick), 2:11

BC-Garrison 54 run (Peak kick), 1:06

Third quarter

BC-Chick Tiemeyer 28 run (Peak kick), 10:59

BC-Zike 22 run (Peak kick), 5:36

Fourth quarter

SC-Samuel Conn 35 run (Ndaruhutse kick), 10:20

INDIVIDUAL BC STATISTICS

Rushing: Garrison 6-124, Engle 7-73, Zike 6-62, Sheffer 6-54, Tiemeyer 3-35, Evan Stahl 2-22, Brock Dean 1-4, Greg Hutcheson 2-3, Trey Sweany 1-(-1), Hunter Toppe 1-(-1), Team 35-375.

Passing: Sheffer 4 for 6, 88 yards, 1 touchdown; Trevor Branaman 0 for 1.

Receiving: Zike 1-61, Hudson Fritz 2-18, Tiemeyer 1-9.