A big crowd watched Connersville and Rushville battle in the War on 44 Game Friday. It was also Homecoming for the Lions with Rushville naming Makenna Ripberger Homecoming Queen and Brody Owens Homecoming King at halftime.
Following the final horn, Rushville celebrated its first win of the season, 32-28 over the visiting Spartans.
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Rushville jumped out to an 8-0 lead on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Owen Zachery to Ryder Hatten. Zachery’s pass to Quinn Barada added the 2-point conversion.
Connersville answered with a 7-yard TD pass as the first quarter ended with the Lions up 8-7.
Rushville’s second score was set up by an interception from Zachery. At the 10:16 mark of the second quarter, Sam Pavey broke tackles and found daylight for a 76-yard touchdown run. Zachery’s pass to Kai Parnell added the 2-point conversion to give the Lions a 16-7 lead.
Connersville’s Parker Flanigan scored on a 3-yard run to get the Spartans within 16-14 with 4:23 to play in the half, but Rushville answered with a 12-yards TD pass from Zachery to Parnell just before the half. Hatten caught the 2-point conversion pass to put Rushville on top 24-14 at the half.
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Connersville added a third quarter touchdown to close the gap to 24-21 entering the fourth quarter. Despite Connersville getting another touchdown in the final frame, another Sam Pavey touchdown and Rushville 2-point conversion sealed the 32-28 victory.
Zachery passed for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sam Pavey rushed 11 times for 119 yards and two TDs. Barada carried the ball 14 times for 58 yards. Pernell had 88 yards receiving with one touchdown. Eli Pavey caught one pass for eight yards. Hatten finished with three receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Eli Pavey and Sam Pavey both tallied 13 total tackles. Zachery and Andrew Wilson both had six tackles. Hatten and Ty Ellis both added four tackles. Zackery and Hatten both had one interception.
North Decatur 27 Switzerland Co. 0
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In a battle of undefeated teams at Switzerland County, North Decatur stood tall as the top-ranked Chargers shut out the Pacers 27-0.
The win moves the Class A No. 1 Chargers to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Mid-Indiana Conference. The Pacers drop to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the MIFC.
The Chargers opened the scoring on a Matthew Fields to Corbin Thackery 8-yard touchdown pass. Logan O’Dell’s kick made it 7-0 with 3:48 to play in the first quarter.
North added a 3-yard touchdown run by Thackery at the 7:34 mark of the second quarter to make it 13-0. The Chargers took that lead to the break at the half.
Both defenses stood tough in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Simon Barber’s 1-yard run and O’Dell’s point after extended the North lead to 20-0.
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With 6:23 to play in the game, Fields connected with O’Dell for a 19-yard TD. The point after made the final score 27-0.
For the Chargers, Fields was 11-16-0 for 233 yards. Thackery had 93-yards rushing and 45-yards receiving. Barber rushed for 52 yards. Hunter Meister had 77 yards receiving. Eli Trenkamp (42 yards), Bryson Abplanalp (40 yards) and Hayden Koehne (10 yards) all had one reception.
The Chargers’ defense held the Pacers running game to just 118 yards. Conner Larison led North with 5.5 total tackles. Tyler Dean added 5.0 total tackles and Meister had 4.5 tackles.
South Decatur 26 Brown County 20
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On the road at Brown County, South Decatur’s offensive line opened up holes for Jayden Jackson-Ray to exploit and the junior running back took full advantage. Jackson-Ray rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns in the Cougars’ 26-20 victory against the Eagles.
South improves to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-Indiana Football Conference. Brown County is 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the MIFC.
Jackson-Ray’s first touchdown came with 5:30 to play in the first quarter. After another Jackson-Ray touchdown, the Eagles scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 9:00 remaining in the second quarter. The Cougars answered right back with a 36-yard touchdown run by Jackson-Ray at the 7:52 mark of the second quarter. Brown County added a touchdown pass to close the half with South leading 20-12.
At the 5:05 mark of the fourth quarter, Brown County quarterback Quentin Bell scored from inside the 10-yard line to knot the game at 20-20. South had the final statement as Jackson-Ray found paydirt for the fourth time to give the Cougars a 26-20 win.
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Jackson-Ray finished with four touchdowns on 217 yards rushing and 15 yards receiving. Quarterback Ryker Martin passed for 71 yards and rushed for 37 yards. Joshua Winkler caught three passes for 38 yards and Keaton Troutman had two catches for 18 yards.
Defensively, the Cougars were led by Elan Phelps with 14 total tackles including four tackles for loss. Jackson-Ray added seven tackles and two interceptions. Dalton Smith had six tackles and an interception. Winkler and Kyler Leary both had five tackles. Kagen Wren and Ladd Hampton both added four tackles.
South Dearborn 39, Greensburg 16
Visiting South Dearborn improved to 4-1 on the season with a 39-16 victory at Greensburg. The Pirates are 0-5 and travel to Franklin County (3-2) for Week 6.
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South Dearborn’s Mason Lane opened the scoring with a 5-yard TD run. Greensburg took an 8-6 lead on a Carson Kilgore 12-yard run and Pirates’ 2-point conversion. Brady Ballart’s 1-yard run gave the lead back to the Knights. A Griffin Sturgeon 31-yard pass to Tyler Christian extended the Knights’ lead to 18-6.
In the second half, the Knights scored on a Colton McClure 11-yard run to push the lead to 25-8. The Pirates closed the gap to 25-16 in the third quarter, but South Dearborn scored 14 unanswered point to close out the victory.
For the Pirates, Austin Cruz rushed for 86 yards. Levi Muckerheide rushed for 12 yards. Kilgore had 11 yards rushing and one touchdown to go with 17 yards receiving. Myles McKinsey rushed for nine yards and Ethan Bishop had nine yards receiving.
Kilgore led the defense with eight total tackles. Cruz, Eli Powers and Jeremiah Alexander all had seven tackles. Kameron Parkison and Tyson Bockover both added six tackles.
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East Central 45, Batesville 0
The Trojans rushed for 422 yards en route to knocking off Batesville 45-0.
East Central’s ground game was led by Colton Bellman with 229 yards on 19 carries with three touchdowns. Zamir Whitaker added 96 yards rushing and one TD. Elijah Sehlhorst had two rushing touchdowns.
Batesville’s Kaden Vogelsang led the defense with 11 tackles. May Meyer and Ethan Schneider both had eight tackles.
