BEECH GROVE
Two fourth-quarter touchdowns gave host Greenwood Christian a thrilling and impressive 33-30 come-from-behind victory against Indianapolis Shortridge on Friday evening at Beech Grove Middle School.
The win extended the Cougars’ win streak to a school-record four games and improved them to 7-2 overall, extending their school mark for wins in only their third year of football — and giving them, for the first time, the best record of all the Johnson County schools.
In another side note, it was Greenwood Christian’s first win over a Class 4A school, though Cougar coach Andre Dobson doesn’t pretend to like playing larger schools.
“Why are we playing 4A schools? I have no clue,” Dobson said. “I want to play 1A and 2A schools, and there’s no need to play a 4A school.”
Don’t get Dobson wrong, though. He was happy with the result and the way the Cougars didn’t panic when falling behind after the Blue Devils scored two unanswered touchdowns.
The win also ended Dobson’s fears and erased a bad memory from the Cougars’ first season. Two years ago, Shortridge utterly dominated Greenwood Christian, coming away with a 50-0 win that still remains the worst loss in Cougar history the only time Greenwood Christian was shut out.
“They remembered that (loss). I was scared all week long thinking how are we going to stop these guys,” Dobson said. “They’re big and physical and run right at you.”
But so did Greenwood Christian. The Cougars scored twice in the first quarter courtesy of junior quarterback Trey Dobson, who scored on runs of 34 and 13 yards.
After a Shortridge touchdown, on which Tom Campbell did indeed run at the Cougars and over them for a 24-yard run, the Cougars’ Bo Campbell kicked a 31-yard field goal shortly before the half to give GCA an 18-8 lead.
Shortridge’s Campbell scored twice in the third on runs of 1 and 43 yards, again bulling over a few Cougar defenders, to give the Blue Devils their first and what turned out to be only lead, 22-18, with 1:20 left in the third.
Then came Greenwood Christian’s poise and big-play payoffs on both sides of the ball.
The first was when Trey Dobson fired a 55-yard touchdown strike to Isaiah Johnson to retake the lead. Shortridge was then driving in Cougar territory when, on fourth and 2, GCA’s Ryder Knox sacked Blue Devil quarterback James Edmonson at the 49 to give the Cougars the ball.
Nine plays later, Dobson hit Dan Honeycutt from 14 yards out with 1:59 left in the game.
Shortridge’s Campbell scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 11 seconds left, but any chance of a Blue Devil miracle died when the onside kick skittered out of bounds, allowing the Cougars to win in victory formation.
“The big sack that got us the ball, but there were big plays all over the board,” Andre Dobson said. “I’m so thankful we stepped up and made the plays when we had to. It feels absolutely amazing, and thank goodness these guys just wanted to come out and play football.”
Trey Dobson spent most of the night running for his life thanks to the Blue Devils’ pass rush. He was sacked six times, losing 63 yards in the process, but he was able to gain enough back to end up with 34 yards rushing. It was his arm, though, that led the way, as he completed 15 for 24 for 254 yards, two touchdowns and a pick.
Campbell rushed for 221 yards — but killing the Blue Devils were 13 penalties for 115 yards. One of those, a holding call, thwarted what would have been Campbell’s fifth touchdown, potentially costing Shortridge a win.
Coach Dobson isn’t nervous anymore, even with the first-ever IHSAA tournament game looming, a Class A sectional quarterfinal against Eastern Greene.
“I’ll be a lot calmer,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll be on turf (at Beech Grove High School) and our guys are beyond excited. We’re a fast team, and knowing we have solid turf underneath us will be great.
GCA’s sectional bracket includes two Class A powers in No. 5 North Decatur and Milan, which beat the Cougars in a shootout last month.
“We will have to be ready and be prepared,” coach Dobson said. “But we’re excited to get to host and are looking forward to it.”
