CLOVERDALE
For the second consecutive outing, Indian Creek didn’t allow its opponent to reach the end zone.
This time, the Braves shut out host Cloverdale 34-0 Friday night to wrap up the Western Indiana Conference’s East Division title.
Indian Creek (6-2, 5-0 WIC) will host Sullivan next week in the conference championship game. The Golden Arrows won 63-42 in last year’s title tilt.
“It was another great job by our defensive staff,” Braves coach Brett Cooper said. “The kids played hard. With that kind of team, you have to play responsibility football. We cleaned things up at halftime and they didn’t move the ball on us.”
The Braves, who shut out host Cascade 35-0 the previous week, have now outscored league opponents 204-35.
Indian Creek senior quarterback Taylor Voris completed 11 of 17 passes for 100 yards in the first half as the Braves led 14-0 at halftime.
“We’re a run-first football team and when a team comes out and stacks seven or eight guys in the box and plays man-to-man, you got to throw the football,” Cooper said. “We had a good first rhythm drive. Then it was hard to get rhythm.”
The Braves were held in check until late in first half.
Once we got in rhythm, we were pretty good.” Cooper said. “I wish we could start a little faster. But it’s not always about how you start; we finished well the last two weeks. We don’t play our O-linemen and D-linemen both ways. We wear people down and we’re a second-half football team.”
On the game’s opening possession, Indian Creek took an 8-0 lead on Voris’ 8-yard touchdown pass to junior Isaiah Lacey. Senior running back Michael Perkins scored on the two-point conversion run.
With 15 seconds left in the first half, Voris scored on a 1-yard run. The conversion run failed.
Perkins, who had 50 yards on 12 carries, scored on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter to make it 21-0. Voris then connected with Brad Trietsch on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
“Trietsch finally got in; he’s been begging for weeks,” Cooper said. “We disperse the ball evenly and get guys in the end zone, and it’s a positive for us. It makes us more multiple, more dynamic.”
Sophomore Aaron Hart got the Braves’ final touchdown on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Voris competed 4 of 7 passes for 100 yards in the second half.
