Indian Creek junior quarterback Aidan Neathery made the most of his shot to air it out.
“We gave him the chance to make plays and he made ‘em,” Indian Creek coach Steve Spinks said.
Neathery completed 11 of 14 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns in host the Braves’ 49-8 rout of Brown County Friday night in Western Indiana Conference football action.
“The offense was flowing great,” Neathery said. “My line was amazing all night, giving me a pocket to pass. My receivers ran their routes well, they beat the corners and gave me a look every single play and it was easy.”
Spinks said the protection up front was solid.
“Kudos to Brown County,” said Spinks, whose team improved to 3-1 and 2-0 in the conference. “They stuffed us early, but we can also air it out if it needs to be. We saw the openings and Aidan delivered. He played a heck of a football game. Except for the bonehead interception he threw at the end of the half, Aidan is a kid who is pretty level-headed. He doesn’t get down on himself, and he’s also able to run the ball.”
Neathery also ran for two touchdowns to help the Braves take a 34-8 lead at halftime. Indian Creek senior running back Connor Fruits ran for touchdowns of 30 and 35 in the third quarter to give the team a 49-8 cushion with 2:03 left in the third quarter. It was a running clock the rest of the way.
Fruits, who needed help limping off the field during the second quarter and missed some plays, rushed for 120 yards on 11 carries.
“Connor started trusting his ankle more,” Neathery said. “He’s been having those problems, but he put his head down and started running hard. He showed us what he’s about.”
Spinks said trainer Tim Lappin deserves credit for the way he taped Fruits’ ankle, making him feel more comfortable.
“Tim is phenomenal,” Spinks said. “He takes care of Connor when he gets rolled up. Connor wasn’t trusting his cuts at first, but he did there at the end.”
Fruits gave Indian Creek a 6-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run early.
Neathery threw touchdown passes of 49 yards to Fruits and 37 yards to Jordan Gorham to boost the lead to 19-0 with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
Gorham hauled in seven passes for 170 yards.
“Gorham is a playmaker, a lot of speed, blocks hard, too,” Spinks said. “He does a lot of the little things we ask him to do.”
A 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown by Neathery boosted Indian Creek’s lead to 26-0 in the second quarter.
Brown County (3-1, 1-1) got on the board with a 17-yard TD pass from Seth Oliphant to Kody Walsh. The same two hooked up for a two-point conversion pass to slide the deficit to 26-8 with just under 5 minutes left before intermission. The Eagles could never get the offense going again.
Neathery’s 6-yard touchdown run, followed by a 2-point conversion pass to Tyler Ross, provided the 34-8 halftime margin with 1:56 left in the second quarter.
“They’re a good team,” Brown County coach Randy Minniear said. “We didn’t play good pass defense. We’re missing three starters on defense, but there’s no excuse. It just happens, we had few kids sick. You can’t play a good team when you are short-handed. That’s not taking anything away from them.”
Oliphant was intercepted four times by Brandon Murray.
“He’s a ball hawk,” Spinks said of Murray. “You talk about a guy who is Mr. Do Everything. He came in and kicked a PAT. We lean on him for everything. In a lot of ways, he’s the backbone of what we are doing here. He’s a tough kid.”
