LIZTON
Prior to this football season, Tri-West senior Kai Ross had been used almost solely on defense.
Made the Bruins quarterback this fall, Ross was at his best Friday night as the Bruins defeated Indian Creek, 25-14, in the opening round of a Class 3A sectional.
Ross ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as eighth-ranked Tri-West (8-2) advanced to the semifinal round matchup at Greencastle (6-4).
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Braves finish the season with a 6-4 record under first-year coach Steve Spinks, who, looking back, might see the game as a microcosm of his team’s season. Indian Creek fell behind by two touchdowns on the muddied surface, but demonstrated the grit to eventually tie the score before falling short at the end.
“I’m just reminded tonight that I am in charge of a bunch of kids that fight,” Spinks said. “These kids went 6-4 with basically 12 weeks of prep because I got sick and missed two weeks. And we made it this far, but lost to a good football team.”
With 3:19 remaining in the third quarter, Braves quarterback Aidan Neathery was being flushed out of the pocket on fourth-and-4 when the junior alertly flipped a short pass to Connor Fruits, who took it in from 31 yards to bring the Braves to cut the lead to 14-12.
Fruits converted the 2-point conversion on a run, and, suddenly, it was a new ball game.
To its credit, Tri-West, playing minus the services of injured senior Bryce Hendershot, the wildcat quarterback for the Bruins, scored on the ensuing drive. The hosts also hit paydirt on fourth down, Ross finding a wide-open Nikolas Joiner in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown nine seconds into the final period.
Tri-West later clinched it on Ross’s fourth-down strike from 6 yards to a sliding Skyler Marlowe with 4:29 showing.
Ross rushed for 104 yards on 25 carries and completed 7 of 11 pass attempts for 71 yards. Fruits rushed for 90 yards on 17 carries for Indian Creek. Neathery drove the Braves to the Tri-West 38 late, but his final pass attempt was tipped and intercepted.
After addressing his team postgame, Spinks huddled with his seniors onto the all-weather track nearby.
“I won’t go into detail with what I just told them, but this is a family. And where I’m from, the westside of Indianapolis, a tough area where football was everything to everyone, and it’s still everything to me,” Spinks said. “It’s why I do what I do. I just try to let them know I love them very much and I always will.
“The seniors have paved the road here. The next step for us is to get into the weight room to get stronger with what I want to do. I want to pound the ball. I want to run people over. We’ve got to get stronger.”
The Bruins led 14-6 at halftime, using a pair of touchdown runs from Ross before Fruits busted loose for a 57-yard scoring scamper late in the second quarter.
Indian Creek ventured into Bruins territory on its first three offensive series, resulting in two lost fumbles, a five-yard punt on fourth down and no points.
Both Braves fumbles were recovered by Tri-West junior linebacker Evan Elgin, the second setting the table for game’s first points. The Bruins covered 28 yards in four plays, Ross calling his own number for a 5-yard run behind the right side of his line.
