By Sam Findley
For the Daily Journal
BATESVILLE
Batesville didnt want a repeat of last year’s game against Indian Creek, a 40-13 blowout win for the Braves.
A 71-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass from Travis Lecher to Bryson Bonelli put the host Bulldogs up by 15 and helped doom Indian Creek to a 35-13 defeat.
The first quarter was a close one, with Indian Creek getting two big defensive plays — a fumble recovery by Nick Perkins on Batesville’s first run of the game and an interception by senior Sam Creek. The Braves capitalized on Creek’s pick, cashing in with a 7-yard run from
Batesville responded with Vonley Hund’s 7-yard run touchdown to make it 7-7. Lecher then added a 29-yard touchdown run later in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead.
Senior Brandon Murray’s 20-yard TD run put Indian Creek back within striking distance, but Batesville’s Jacob Meer blocked the point-after attempt to keep the advantage in the hands of the Bulldogs at 14-13.
Batsville then closed the second with a Bryson Bonelli score with 17.8 seconds left in the first half to go into the break up by eight.
The Braves came into the third quarter with a much more deliberate and run-based offense and were able to finish off the third quarter at the Batesville 26, but quarterback Aidan Neathery threw an interception to end the drive.
Lecher then effectively sealed the Braves’ coffin with his long touchdown throw to Bryson Bonelli, putting the Bulldogs up 28-13. Indian Creek then turned the ball over on downs, and Lecher got his second rushing touchdown of the night from 7 yards out to cap the scoring.
Indian Creek coach Steve Spinks believes the team must put the loss behind them and get back to work in order to succeed over the rest of the season.
“Well, the sun comes up tomorrow and we get to work,” he said. “That’s what it is. I tell the kids that football is a metaphor for life and there are days were things don’t go your way. Today things did not go our way; that’s the bottom line. Guess what happens when a construction worker has a bad day? He wakes up the next day, puts his boots on, he puts his hat on and goes back to work. So that’s what we’re going to do.
“We’re going to go home, we’re going to watch the film — and the other thing is we’re going to condition. They are going to learn the meaning of conditioning.”
