BATESVILLE
Indian Creek’s season ran out of time with a first down on Batesville 20.
The Bulldogs had scored on a 2-yard pass from Will Jaisle to Bobby Weiler to tie it at 34-all with 14 seconds left. Freshman kicker Bobby Wonnell ‘s extra point then lifted the Bulldogs to a 35-34 victory Friday night in Class 3A sectional semifinal action.
Indian Creek (7-4) took over on its own 35 and Arj Lothe scrambled for 30 yards, leaving 4.1 seconds left. Lothe couldn’t find anyone open again, had to run for it and was finally stoped at the 20.
The Braves were without head coach Casey Gillin, whose pregnant wife went into labor on Friday afternoon. Defensive coordinator Leland Kinnett led the coaches by committee, and Gillin kept in touch by texts from the hospital.
“There are thousand things you can think about that could have changed the outcome of the game,” Kinnett said. “The thing we’re most proud about is under not ideal circumstances, our boys showed up and gave us everything they had. They played their hearts out and we love them for that. Our seniors laid a foundation for this program we can build on. I feel the worst for them. We have to pick our heads up and love on each other. Hats off to Batesville — they made a big play when they needed to, and we didn’t.”
Sophomore running back Malchi Mink scored three touchdowns for the Braves.
Jaisle rushed 126 yards to lead Batesville (6-5), who advanced to the sectional championship game. After his 68-yard run gave the Bulldogs the ball on the Indian Creek 6, he took the next four carries, scoring on a fourth-down QB sneak to make it 28-20 with 8:17 left in the third quarter.
Mink’s 7-yard touchdown run closed the deficit to 28-26 with 7:23 left in the third quarter; the two-point conversion failed. With 1:41 left in the fourth quarter, Indian Creek grabbed the lead at 34-28 on Mink’s 4-yard TD run and a two-point conversion shovel pass from Lothe to Gerson Coroa.
Unfortunately for the Braves, the Bulldogs had one more drive left in them, helped by a 39-yard kickoff return by Bryson Bonelli that put the ball on the Indian Creek 46-yard line. A 27-yard pass from Jaisle to Cade Kaiser put the ball on the 2, setting up the score.
The end of the first half was wild, too.
Batesville took a 21-20 halftime lead on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jaisle to Damien Dance with 21 seconds left before intermission. That came 30 seconds after Indian Creek had taken its first lead with a 33-yard TD pass from Lothe to Jaxon Ramey.
The Bulldogs had scored first, with an opening drive of 6:20 capped by Jaisle’s 1-yard quarterback sneak.
A 3-yard TD run by Indian Creek’s Levi Pappas narrowed the deficit to 7-6 before a 1-yard touchdown run by Gage Pohlman put the Bulldogs ahead 14-6 with 10:07 remaining in the second quarter.
Mink’s 6-yard touchdown run narrowed the Braves’ deficit to 14-13 with 3:58 left in first half. That set the stage for the final-minute fireworks.
Kinnett said Gillin did a great job getting the coaches ready.
“He had complete faith in all of us,” Kinnett said. “He made sure everything was aligned that we needed. Obviously, your family is more important than football sometimes. It was important for him to be there for the birth of his child. We understand that as a team. We wish we could have done more to keep the season going.”
The Braves had beaten the Bulldogs 37-25 in the season opener, which was played at Franklin College because of a delay in the installation of Indian Creek’s field turf.
