Indian Creek had victory within its grasp late in each of its first two games, only to see it slip away both times.
At Owen Valley on Friday, the Braves left nothing to chance, scoring twice in the first five minutes of play and rolling to a 42-0 win.
“I was really happy with our demeanor throughout the entire week,” Creek coach Max Goodin said. “We knew Owen Valley had struggled quite a bit this year, but our real main area of focus was on ourselves and cleaning some things up. We didn’t turn the ball over tonight, which was a step in the right direction. I still felt like we had way too many penalties, but … I’m really proud of how we showed up.”
The Braves (1-2, 1-0 WIC) didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard, striking on a 40-yard run by Malachi Mink with 9:58 left in the opening quarter. Less than three minutes later, freshman quarterback Evan Clark called his own number and scored from 7 yards out, stretching the lead to 14-0.
Clark then got Indian Creek into the end zone via the air, hitting Levi Pappas from 10 yards out with 2:39 still on the first-quarter clock. Mink got his second rushing TD of the night to make it a 28-0 game just 42 seconds into the second quarter, and another touchdown from Drew Pingleton at the 6:35 mark of the second ensured a running clock for the final 24 minutes of play.
A 9-yard scoring run from Clark stretched it to 42-0 before halftime. The score remained unchanged from there, as the Braves played junior varsity players for the entire second half.
Goodin was happy with the growth he saw from Clark.
“Our big point of emphasis for Evan this week was learning to just take what the defense is giving you,” Goodin said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to tuck and run. That cost us a couple of times against Greenwood, obviously, and against Owen Valley he pulled the ball down a few times and learned from it and got a week better. That’s all you can really ask from a freshman quarterback.”
The Braves host Lapel in a nonconference affair in Week 4.
