RAMSEY — Brownstown Central’s football team travelled to Mid-Southern Conference rival North Harrison on Friday night expecting to be tested.

That test lasted for about a quarter and a half before the deeper, more efficient Braves ran away to a 41-3 victory.

North Harrison (3-2) thoroughly dominated early on, controlling the ball for 29 of the game’s first 33 offensive plays and 17 of the contest’s first 20 minutes. The Cougars’ second possession was almost cartoonish, lasting 21 plays and consuming nearly 12 minutes.

With four minutes left in the first half, the Cougars held a 128-20 advantage in offensive yardage. The problem for North Harrison was its good work generated only three points.

During the game’s remaining 28 minutes, Brownstown turned the tables by outgaining NH 358-51 and producing six unanswered touchdowns.

“They had a great game plan,” BC head coach Reed May said. “They won the (pre-game coin) toss and wanted the ball (to start the game). They did exactly what they wanted to do. Defensively, we practiced terrible all week and we didn’t play well tonight. But give (North Harrison) credit. They’re big and physical, and they were able to control the ball. I mean, to go basically, what, 20 minutes and run four offensive plays is kind of weird.”

May and Brownstown’s coaches hoped the game would become a war of attrition in which BC’s 60-man roster and low number of two-way players would eventually wear down North Harrison’s 38-man roster and numerous two-way players.

That hope became reality late in the first half. Brownstown implemented an up-tempo, two-minute offense that resulted in a succession of touchdowns while the Cougars never seriously threatened the rest of the game.

“Once we went to our two-minute offense, especially that last time in third quarter, they seemed to be done,” May said.

Thanks to excellent clock management, the Braves scored 13 points in the final minutes of the first half to gain control of the scoreboard.

After Joshua Waynescott booted a 24-yard field goal to give NH its only lead, Brownstown travelled 81 yards in six plays, capped by Evan Stahl’s two-yard scoring run, to take a 7-3 lead with 2:43 on the clock.

North Harrison appeared intent to run out the first-half clock with three consecutive up-the-gut runs, but BC spent its timeouts to conserve remaining seconds. Pinned on their 29 yard line, the Cougars attempted to punt but were thwarted by a bad snap and a kamikaze run by junior Joe Roberts, who hit NH’s Payton King as he kicked the ball.

Due to Roberts’ hustle play, King’s shanked punt didn’t reach the line of scrimmage. Brownstown took over on the Cougars’ 25 and scored with just two seconds left when quarterback Micah Sheffer found slotback Gregory Hutcheson on a 15-yard fade to the right corner of the end zone.

In less than two minutes, the Braves had flipped the game’s momentum and took a 13-3 lead into halftime. May credited his assistant coaches for his team’s rapid change in fortune.

“Cam (Cockerham) called the touchdown pass,” May said. “That’s really not a play in the two-minute offense, and it’s not a play on the goal line either. But Cam suggested it, and we tried it. Coach (Jeff) Settle suggested we go to the two-minute offense, and that was a great suggestion. Our defensive coaches, Clay (Brown) and Todd (Brown), made some adjustments with our defense and we played much better defensively in the second quarter and second half. Our coaches do a great job.”

North Harrison tried to reclaim the momentum by opening the second half with a well-executed onside by Waynescott, who nearly recovered his own kick. But Trevor Branaman fell on the ball to preserve possession for Brownstown and effectively ended the Cougars’ hopes.

The Braves outscored NH 28-0 in the second half and, improbably for what had been a three-point game with four minutes to go in the second quarter, forced the mercy-rule running clock for the fifth time in five games.

“This was the first time we’ve really faced some adversity, scoring-wise,” senior lineman Jaden Disque said. “But we really picked it up. The team came together. We kept each other up even when we were making some mistakes out there.”

From his left tackle position, Disque helped spring BC’s running backs as they outgained North Harrison on the ground during the second half by a 245-45 margin.

The biggest beneficiary of the blocking by the Braves’ offensive line was Hutcheson, who ran for a game-high 104 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. The senior has four 100-yard performances and 10 rushing TDs in five games this season.

“I love blocking for that guy,” Disque said of Hutcheson. “He’s doing great this season. I’m happy just doing my job out there and getting him into the end zone.”

Hutcheson opened the second half with a 21-yard touchdown run to push BC ahead 20-3. Jack Pace then scored consecutive TDs on runs of 14 and nine yards. Branaman scored the Braves’ final touchdown with a 43-yard burst up the middle with eight minutes left in the game.

Sheffer had his most active game running the ball, finishing with 63 yards on five carries. Pace, Stahl and Branaman followed with 52 rush yards each.

North Harrison’s Bryce Fessel, who entered the game as the leading rusher in the state, ended with 26 carries for 100 yards, half of his per-game average (203.5).

Brownstown defenders had nine tackles for loss, led by Ernest Harrison and Branaman who each had two. Harrison led all tacklers with eight, while Grayson Cassidy, who recently rejoined the Braves after departing the team last season, added six tackles while filling in for injured middle linebacker Owen Wischmeier.

Friday’s victory was Brownstown’s seventh straight over the Cougars and gives the Braves a perfect 5-0 record heading into next week’s intra-county rivalry game with Seymour (2-3).

“(Seymour’s) a tough opponent, always,” Disque said. “No matter what the records are for each team, we always step up and play our best whenever we’re going against each other. So we’ll be really locked in at practice this week.”

Braves 41, Cougars 3

Brownstown Central (5-0);0;13;14;14;—;41

North Harrison (3-2);0;3;0;0;—;3

Second quarter

NH-Joshua Waynescott 24 field goal, 4:26

BC-Evan Stahl 2 run (Nathaniel Conyer kick), 1:43

BC-Gregory Hutcheson 15 pass from Micah Sheffer (kick failed), :02

Third quarter

BC-Hutcheson 21 run (Conyer kick), 11:25

BC-Jack Pace 14 run (Conyer kick), 5:13

Fourth quarter

BC-Pace 9 run (Conyer kick), 11:53

BC-Trevor Branaman 43 run (Conyer kick), 8:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Brownstown-Hutcheson 9-104, Sheffer 5-63, Pace 7-52, Stahl 3-52, T. Branaman 2-52, Lindan Lanier 1-13, Preston Garrison 2-10, Landon Ault 1-5, Isaac Hampton 1-0, Mason Cowan 1-(-1), Hunter Toppe 1-(-5), Totals 33-345. North Harrison-Bryce Fessel 26-100, Payton King 14-30, Colten McKinney 4-11, David Langdon 3-9, Totals 47-150.

Passing: Brownstown-Sheffer 2 for 3, 33 yards, 1 touchdown. North Harrison-Langdon 2 for 2, 19 yards; Grayson Clunie 1 for 1, 10 yards.

Receiving: Brownstown-Lane Pendleton 1-18, Hutcheson 1-15. North Harrison-Clunie 2-19, Langdon 1-10.