Indian Creek showed heart, guts and courage on their way to beating a very good Northview team on Friday night in last-second fashion. The Braves’ 22-21 win came courtesy of a quarterback that seemed to make every play down the stretch and a kicker that came through in the clutch.
The game was everything you would expect and more from the two best teams in the Western Indiana Conference before Creek sophomore kicker Aidan Long, with the weight of his entire team and an intense crowd watching, hit a 29-yard field goal as time expired.
“The physicality that we had to play with tonight, those guys are physical, we just didn’t stop,” Braves coach Casey Gillin said. “Every time our defense got put into a position to stop, we just refused to let them score.”
Senior quarterback Jalen Sauer racked up big plays, big numbers and probably a lot of bruises. He had 266 yards on the ground and 158 yards passing with three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. The senior took some big hits from a rough and tough Knights defense, but ultimately led his squad to victory.
“Team needs me, I step up,” Sauer said after the game. “I want to be there for my guys. They make plays for me so I want to make plays for them.”
That “one for all and all for one” attitude kept the Braves (6-3, 4-0 WIC) alive all night. Despite trailing for much of the game, Indian Creek never let the Knights get away, and Sauer was a big reason why.
“Calling plays, I just kept trying to put it in his hands, him and Malachi (Mink)’s hands,” Gillin said. “Our line didn’t back down, and that was championship caliber football with Jalen leading us on offense.”
The victory made the Braves the Gold Division champs in the WIC. That title was on the mind of Indian Creek fans when Long stepped up to kick the game-winner.
“It is funny when these kickers walk out there with all these gladiators and they are the smallest guys, and he walked out there and bangs it through,” Gillin said. “I told him before the game it was going to be close and he was going to win it for us — and he did.”
The first quarter began a long drive by the Knights (6-3, 3-1), which was thwarted when Tyler Lee fumbled near the goal line and the Braves recovered at their own 2-yard line. Indian Creek turned that turnover into points in just two plays, a 9-yard run by Mink and an 89-yard sprint by Sauer that made it 6-0. After Northview scored on the first play of the next drive to make the score 7-6, Creek put together a 10 play, 61-yard drive to retake the lead. Sauer had a big run on third and long to continue that drive, and Palmer caught a 12-yard TD pass on a gutsy play from Sauer, who got crushed by two Northview defenders as he threw. It made the score 13-7 in favor Indian Creek. Northview came back to score on a Kyle Cottee run early in the second quarter and led 14-13 at the half.
The third quarter saw no scoring but lots of action. Both teams drove deep into each other’s territory only to stopped by each other’s defense. Northview had first goal that resulted in a turnover on downs, and Creek fumbled at the 2-yard line. Trailing for much of the game, it was a tough pill to swallow when the fumble gave the ball back to the Knights.
The fourth quarter was like a heavyweight fight with haymakers thrown by both teams in terms of big plays and physicality. It opened with the game’s second 89-yard TD run, this time for Northview as Lee went the distance on a run up the middle. Once again though, Indian Creek hung tough and answered back with a 65-yard drive. Sauer kept that drive alive with an 18-yard run on fourth and 3 and ended it with a 27-yard TD pass to Mink.
Instead of tying the game with a two-point conversion, though, the Braves were called for a holding penalty and their second try from the 12-yard line failed.
The Knights had the ball and were close to icing the game, but a perfect Cottee pass that would’ve been good for a first down was dropped and the Braves were alive again. The drive to end the game for Indian Creek was a methodical one, with Sauer completing passes and making big runs. Sauer was tackled at the 12 and Gillin let the clock roll down to 3.1 seconds to go.
Long then stepped up to etch his name into Indian Creek history.
“I am just so happy for my kids’ it is emotional for me,” Gillin said. “These guys played so hard.”
