Indian Creek’s Jalen Sauer, left, tries to stiff-arm Greenwood’s Cooper Smith during Friday’s game.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
The Justin Boser era at Greenwood hasn’t lacked for excitement.
Just one week after opening the season with a 51-49 triumph at Seymour, the Woodmen went back on the road and took part in another shootout — this time riding a balanced offensive attack and a big fourth-quarter turnover to a 42-28 win at Indian Creek.
With the game tied at 28-28 in the fourth quarter, Greenwood (2-0) marched 65 yards in nine plays to take the lead for good. Alan Burnett, who rushed for 165 yards, punched it in from 4 yards out with 5:54 left in the contest.
Senior linebacker Cooper Smith then took most of the remaining wind out of the Braves’ sails with a nail-in-the-coffin interception; that set up a 21-yard insurance TD from Burnett with 3:29 to go. Indian Creek then turned the ball over again and the Woodmen killed off the remaining time.
The Braves (0-2) were ready at the outset, with senior Bryce Turner fielding the opening kickoff at his own 20, finding a seam and tearing his way up the right sideline for a touchdown just 13 seconds in. Greenwood answered quickly with an 11-play, 70-yard scoring march that ended with Brock Riddle patiently waiting for receiver Chase Monroe to come free in the end zone. That 8-yard TD pass, followed by a Riddle shovel pass to Brady Cave on the two-point conversion, put the Woodmen in front 8-7 at the 7:31 mark of the first period.
Indian Creek’s first offensive possession of the night appeared to stall near midfield, but Jalen Sauer completed a fourth-down pass to Bobby Emberton to keep the drive alive. The senior quarterback then finished off the march with runs of 21 and 12 yards, the latter putting the home team back in front with 1:22 left in the opening quarter.
Following a punt swap that took the game into the second period, Riddle went over the top to Tanner Crouch for a 61-yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 14-14 with 8:03 to go before halftime. The Braves went right back to work, using a pass interference flag and a 21-yard Jaxon Ramey grab to quickly advance into Woodmen territory.
A Sauer toss to Malachi Mink moved the ball to the Greenwood 6-yard line with 5:39 remaining before a lightning flash to the east halted the action just before 9 p.m. Once play resumed, it took Indian Creek less than a minute to regain the lead, with Mink scoring on a 2-yard run.
Greenwood, though, struck back yet again. The Braves’ defense stiffened in the red zone and forced the Woodmen into a fourth-and-1 at the Creek 8, but Riddle kept it himself and got all the way to the end zone with 58.1 seconds left. He followed with a two-point run to give the visitors a 22-21 advantage going back into the locker room.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the period was not devoid of drama. A 34-yard heave from Riddle to Crouch got Greenwood right back into the red zone, but an attempted quarterback sneak on first and goal from the 1 was fumbled and recovered by the Braves. Sauer then gave his offense some breathing room with a 37-yard chuck to Ramey, but Indian Creek was stopped on fourth down at the Woodmen 42.
Riddle — who was 13 of 20 passing for 236 yards — took advantage after the defensive stop. Facing fourth and 5, he went back to Crouch and the pair connected for a 39-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter. Creek quickly answered with four straight completed passes, the last going from Sauer to Emberton for an 8-yard score. Aiden Long’s fourth PAT of the night evened the score at 28-28 with 9:37 left in the game.
From there, the Woodmen took over, taking the lead on Burnett’s 4-yard TD run and securing it when Smith picked off Sauer shortly after the clock ticked past the six-minute mark.
Crouch caught 10 passes for 197 yards to lead the Greenwood receiving corps. For the Braves, Sauer finished 7 of 14 through the air for 112 yards, while Mink rushed for 45 yards.
