Brownstown Central Ryan Branaman completes a sack to force a punt on a third down play by Scottsburg on Friday night during the Braves’ 48-21 win on the road.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Brownstown Central Bryce Peak kicks a PAT with teammate Trevor Branaman holding on Friday night during the Braves’ 48-21 on the road at Scottsburg.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Brownstown Central’s Isaac Hutchison brings down the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage Friday night during the Braves’ 48-21 win at Scottsburg.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Keeton Burcham-Jones (50) and Isaac Hutchison with a tackle at the line of scrimmage on Friday night during the Braves’ 48-21 win at Scottsburg.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Brownstown Central defenders swarm a Scottsburg ball carrier Friday night during the Braves’ 48-21 win on the road in the final regular season contest.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
SCOTTSBURG— A second-half surge lifted Brownstown Central’s football team to another dominant victory on Friday night.
Led by Lane Zike’s four-touchdown performance, the Braves scored 34 points after the half and pulled away to a comfortable 48-21 victory.
Zike’s night was highlighted by a video-game stat line in the third quarter. The senior ran the ball nine times during the period, scored three touchdowns and gained 178 yards.
For the game, Zike finished with four scores and 183 yards on 13 carries.
As usual, Brownstown’s defense delivered another strong performance, shutting out Scottsburg on its first eight possessions. The Braves forced six punts and a turnover on downs to go along with a Gregory Hutcheson interception to keep the Warriors off the scoreboard.
BC limited Scottsburg’s run game to just 40 yards on 25 carries, turning the Warriors into a pass-first, pass-second offense. Scottsburg ended the game with 34 pass attempts, two of which the Braves picked off.
Friday’s win gives Brownstown a perfect Mid-Southern Conference record, a feel-good three-game winning streak and sets up an epic first-round Sectional 39 matchup with Indianapolis Scecina next week.
By itself, the sectional showdown offers intrigue. Both teams have been ranked as the Class 2A No. 1 team this season in the weekly AP Poll.
Another interesting storyline is the opportunity for Reed May to earn his 300th victory as BC’s head coach. Should the Braves pull out a victory over Scecina, May would become just the fifth active coach and the 12th all-time coach to reach that milestone in Indiana.
Next week’s meeting, the first-ever between the two schools, will be played at Brownstown’s Blevins Memorial Stadium.
Though Friday night’s final margin on the scoreboard was comfortable, Brownstown’s offense didn’t open the game with its typical firepower. Scottsburg’s defense was quick, stingy and hard-hitting.
The Braves ended the first half with a relatively modest 115 yards, about a third below its normal output.
Despite the sluggishness, BC built a 14-0 lead by the break thanks to a one-yard TD run by senior fullback Chick Tiemeyer and a 37-yard burst by senior slotback Isiaah Engle.
In the third quarter, Zike took over. The senior broke off runs of 32, 18, 10, 53 and 47 yards during the period. His first two TDs, on runs of eight and 18 yards, gave BC a 28-0 lead with 5:05 left in the third quarter.
Scottsburg made the game interesting with an inspired two-minutes of play, during which the Warriors generated two long passing touchdowns (of 25 and 29 yards), blocked a punt, and executed a perfect onside kick.
Unfortunately for the home team, the onside kick was nullified by an illegal procedure call and the Warriors never got their momentum back.
Instead, Zike scored two more touchdowns, on runs of 53 and one yard, pushing the lead to 41-14.
Engle added a 14-yard scoring run later in the fourth quarter to pad the advantage to 48-14, locking down the win.
Engle followed Zike’s lead with 85 rushing yards on 10 carries. After that first-half start, Brownstown ended with 353 rush yards on 45 attempts.
With Scottsburg’s active passing game, defensive back Jack Pace led BC with six tackles. He also added a pass break up, along with Tiemeyer and Preston Garrison.
The Braves got two tackles for loss each from Ryan Branaman and Joe Roberts. Hutcheson also contributed a TFL, while Branaman added a sack for a 17-yard loss. Garrison, like Hutcheson, intercepted a pass.
High School Football
Braves;48
Warriors;21
Brownstown Central (8-1);7;7;20;14;—;48
Scottsburg (5-4);0;0;14;7;—;21
First quarter
BC-Chick Tiemeyer 1 run (Bryce Peak kick), :57
Second quarter
BC-Isiaah Engle 37 run (Peak kick), 5:36
Third quarter
BC-Lane Zike 8 run (Peak kick), 7:34
BC-Zike 18 run (Peak kick), 5:05
S-Lucas Toppe 25 pass from Nathan Byrd (Toppe kick), 3:55
S-Toppe 29 pass from Byrd (Toppe kick), 1:55
BC-Zike 53 run (kick failed), :56
Fourth quarter
BC-Zike 1 run (Peak kick), 9:30
BC-Engle 14 run (Peak kick), 9:11
S-Braelyn Kleehammer 1 run (Toppe kick), 2:45
INDIVIDUAL BC STATISTICS
Rushing: Zike 13-183, Engle 10-85, Gregory Hutcheson 5-36, Tiemeyer 6-21, Evan Stahl 3-13, Brock Dean 1-8, Micah Sheffer 2-4, Preston Garrison 3-2, Trey Sweany 1-1, Grayson Vague 1-0, Totals 45-353.
Passing: Sheffer 7 for 10, 78 yards.
Receiving: Hudson Fritz 3-64, Stahl 1-11, Grayson Cassidy 1-5, Hutcheson 1-3, Tiemeyer 1-(-5).