BROWNSTOWN — Thirty-five unanswered points by Brownstown Central’s football team turned a back-and-forth shootout with Indianapolis Scecina into an unexpected rout for the home-standing Braves.

The second-half explosion gave the Braves a comfortable 56-27 victory in the first round of the Class 2A Sectional 39 tournament and moves BC into an anticipated matchup with Triton Central next week.

And, oh, by the way, the win also pushed Brownstown head coach Reed May into elite company. The 31-year coach earned his 300th career victory, becoming just the 12th man in Indiana high school football history to reach that milestone.

Yes, it was an eventful night for Brave nation.

Scecina (5-5) seemed to turn the game’s momentum its way when on fourth-and-19 at midfield, it decided to run a pass play out of punt formation. The fake worked to perfection as Crusader quarterback David Mendez connected with tight end Keegan Ray on a 48-yard pass play.

Ray ran into the end zone untouched and tied the game at 21 with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.

The Braves (9-1) didn’t flinch, however. In fact, they took over the game and never looked back, scoring five straight touchdowns and amazingly triggering the mercy rule running clock for the sixth time this season.

“(Scecina) did a great job on that fake,” May said. “I watched it on film. They just made an adjustment and executed well. We just started executing our offense after that. They were having a hard time stopping us. The good thing about our offense is no one else runs it, so we tend to have an advantage.”

Indeed, in the first half, the Braves ran for 230 yards and consistently confused the Crusaders’ defense with double-handoffs and misdirection.

After the fake punt, Brownstown’s run game constructed an 11-play, 85-yard drive as an answer.

With a 28-21 lead, the Braves turned to their passing game, getting a season-best performance out of quarterback Micah Sheffer, who completed three of eight passes for 136 yards.

The biggest play was a 77-yard completion to Hudson Fritz, who ran 65 yards after the catch and outran Scenina’s defense for a touchdown that gave BC a 35-21 lead.

“That was a big play for us,” May said. “(Fritz) has great speed. His play was a game changer.”

Sheffer followed up with another TD throw to Lane Zike, this one for 21 yards, on a fourth-and-9 play, pushing BC in front 42-21 and sealing the win.

Fullbacks Evan Stahl and Chick Tiemeyer added up-the-gut touchdown runs that padded the Braves’ advantage and started the running clock with just a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Braves finished the game with 311 rushing yards, led by Zike’s 141 yards on 26 carries. Greg Hutcheson followed with 60 yards and two first-half touchdowns on seven carries.

Defensively, Brownstown was paced by Joe Roberts with 11 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and, best of all, an interception that he returned 32 yards.

BC’s Jack Pace was similarly active, ending with six tackles, two tackles for loss and a first-half interception. Owen Wischmeier added nine tackles, while Isaac Hutchinson had three tackles, a TFL, a sack and a quarterback hurry.

“Our defense really started making plays in the second half,” May said.

Next week, the road to a sectional title gets tougher as the Braves hit the road for a battle with Class 2A No. 1 Triton Central. BC is 6-1 all-time against TC but lost to the Tigers in last year’s sectional.

“They’re No. 1 in the state, and a lot of people pick them to win it all,” May said. “But that’s why you play the game. We’ll have to play our best.”

For May, getting win No. 300 was humbling as his team celebrated with him on the field.

“God has blessed me,” May said. “My parents and family have support me throughout. Think about the number of players and coaches we’ve had over 31 years. The support from the community has been great. It’s a great achievement, but just celebrating 300 wins for the coach doesn’t acknowledge all of the support and contributions that had to come from so many.”

Braves;56

Crusaders;27

Scecina (5-5);7;7;7;6;—;27

Brownstown Central (9-1);14;7;14;21;—;56

First quarter

BC-Greg Hutcheson 5 run (Bryce Peak kick), 6:38

S-David Mendez 12 run (Owen Weinzierl kick), 4:57

BC-Hutcheson 26 run (Peak kick), :30

Second quarter

S-Masyn McClellan 6 pass from Mendez (Weinzierl kick), 10:00

BC-Lane Zike 6 run (Peak kick), 1:04

Third quarter

S-Keegan Ray 48 pass from Mendez (Weinzierl kick), 8:10

BC-Chick Tiemeyer 1 run (Peak kick), 3:51

BC-Hudson Fritz 77 pass from Micah Sheffer (Peak kick), :28

Fourth quarter

BC-Zike 21 pass from Sheffer (Peak kick), 8:49

BC-Tiemeyer 5 run (Peak kick), 4:38

BC-Evan Stahl 10 run (Peak kick), 1:50

S-Ray 11 pass from Mendez (no kick), :00

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Brownstow-Zike 26-141, Hutcheson 7-60, Preston Garrison 11-54, Stahl 5-40, Tiemeyer 5-19, Isiaah Engle 3-(-3), Team 57-311.

Passing: Brownstown-Sheffer 3 for 8, 136 yards, 2 touchdowns

Receiving: Brownstown-Fritz 2-115, Zike 1-21.