BEDFORD— A week after struggling in its annual red-and-black intrasquad game, Brownstown Central’s football team enjoyed an improved offensive performance on Friday night in a controlled scrimmage with Bedford North Lawrence.
During the varsity portions of the scrimmage, the Braves ran for 213 yards and five touchdowns on 27 attempts to earn an unofficial 30-24 win over the Stars.
“Compared to our red-black scrimmage, it was a lot better,” Brownstown head coach Reed May said. “We moved the ball much better tonight against good competition.”
Senior Gregory Hutcheson led BC runners with 68 yards and a touchdown on five attempts. His 30-yard run was the longest of 10 Brave runs of 10 yards or more.
Junior Preston Garrison followed with 49 yards and the night’s first TD on six rushes. Jack Pace (18-yard run), Trevor Branaman (one-yard plunge) and Mason Cowan (22-yard run) accounted for BC’s other touchdowns.
While the running game found its footing, the passing attack was mostly kept under wraps. Quarterback Micah Sheffer attempted six passes, completing two of them for eight yards.
Brownstown’s defense, meanwhile, had a solid showing, especially against Bedford’s ground game. The Braves limited the Stars to just 10 yards on 12 attempts. Eight of those rushes went for zero or negative yards.
“I liked how we flew around on defense,” May said. “We should have a pretty good defense. We have seven starters returning from last year.”
Junior linebacker Owen Wischmeier led with three tackles. Caden Wischmeier recorded a sack, while Isaac Hutchinson recovered a fumble. Recording tackles for loss were the Wischmeiers, Hutchinson, Ernest Harrison, Sloan Stuckwisch, Pace and Lindan Lanier.
With the Braves clamping down on the running attack, Bedford relied on quarterback Dayson Kirby’s right arm to move the ball downfield. The junior completed 11 of his 23 passes for 102 yards.
Four of Kirby’s completions found the end zone, including three scores on consecutive snaps during the “red zone” segment of the scrimmage in which Bedford ran 10 plays from Brownstown’s 10 yard line.
“We’ve got some new guys in our secondary,” May said. “Also, we’re short (in stature). (Bedford’s) got some tall receivers. Corydon (BC’s season-opening opponent) has some tall receivers, so that’s a concern on the goal line.”
In the scrimmage segments set aside for the two teams’ reserves, Brownstown scored twice, once on the ground (a six-yard run by Hunter Toppe) and once in the air (a 34-yard pass from quarterback Eli Hutchinson to Hayden Davis).
Friday’s scrimmage marked the first time in nearly 20 years that the Braves didn’t play Jennings County in the preseason scrimmage. Jennings asked out of the relationship, prompting Brownstown’s coaching staff to look west along for a new scrimmage partner.
“It worked out,” May said. “I’d much rather come this way on Hwy 50 instead of going through Seymour to Jennings County. Bedford’s a quality opponent. We do a lot of things with them. They come to our lift contests. They come to our seven-on-sevens. If we had to add a tenth game to our schedule, I would love to add Bedford.”
With the preseason officially over, Brownstown will prepare for next week’s season-opening trip to Corydon Central, a Mid Southern Conference rival. The Braves have a 12-game winning streak against the Panthers and an 18-year win streak in season openers.