Indian Creek’s Jaxson Palmer runs the ball during Friday’s sectional game against visiting Greensburg.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Indian Creek opened Class 3A sectional play at home against Greensburg Friday night. After the first half, the Pirates may have wished they had never gotten off the bus.
To say the Braves were efficient would not aptly describe their play, as they scored six first-half touchdowns on a total of just 16 offensive plays on their way to a 49-7 blowout victory.
“We came out and did what we were supposed to do tonight,” Indian Creek coach Casey Gillin said. “They have a new coach who is trying to build a program right now, so they are in transition. I think we played well and pretty smart overall.”
Indian Creek (7-3) wasted absolutely no time in getting to the end zone, as receiver Jaxson Palmer took a Jalen Sauer screen pass 65 yards on the first play from scrimmage to put the Braves up 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game.
After forcing a three and out for Greensburg, the Braves quickly struck again. This time they needed two plays and 40 seconds, as Sauer found receiver Jaxon Ramey streaking down the middle of the field for a 50-yard touchdown.
Following another punt by the Pirates, Indian Creek once again found the end zone in lightning-like fashion as Palmer took a shovel pass from Sauer from 2 yards out on the fifth play of the drive, putting the Braves up 21-0 with 4:50 remaining in the opening quarter.
Indian Creek was still not done, however. After once again forcing a Pirates punt, the Braves struck paydirt again, and again they struck quickly. Sauer found Malachi Mink on the second play of the drive for a 24-yard score, and with 2:14 left in the first quarter, the rout was officially on.
The Pirates looked as if they were going to stop the bleeding for a bit, as they put together a drive that ate up over five minutes of clock and moved the ball down to the one-yard line, but Indian Creek’s defense stepped up in a big way, stopping Greensburg three different times to preserve the shutout.
“We don’t make that stop last year,” Gillin said. “We are more mentally and physically tough than we were a year ago. I was happy with that stand by the defense.”
On the ensuing play, it looked as if the Braves would continue their quick-scoring ways when Mink took the handoff 99 yards for an apparent touchdown, but a block in the back negated the score. Indian Creek was not deterred, however. Four plays later, following a 41-yard connection from Sauer to Bobby Emberton, Elijah Guyer took the handoff 50 yards for the score, and Indian Creek was up 35-0 with 4:51 remaining in the first half.
“There are still some mistakes we have to clean up for next week,” Gillin said. “That penalty took away what was probably a school record rushing touchdown. But we played pretty cleanly throughout the game.”
Following a Greensburg turnover on downs, the beat continued for Indian Creek. Sauer found Palmer once again for a touchdown, this time from 41 yards out. And once again, it was on the first play of the drive, extending the Braves’ lead to 42-0 with 46 seconds left in the first half.
The second half began with a running clock, but the results were no better for the Pirates, as Indian Creek’s Bryce Turner intercepted Greenburg quarterback Bryson Abplanalp on the second play and returned it to the 14-yard line. From there, Guyer took the handoff on the Braves’ next snap and scored to make it 49-0 with 8:00 remaining in the third quarter.
Greensburg was finally able to find the end zone with 10:20 left in the game when Abplanalp found receiver Owen Meadows from 11 yards out. Gillin decided to give the starters the rest of the night off in preparation for next week’s semifinal game at Franklin County.
“We got out of here pretty healthy, so we should be ready to go next week,” Gillin said. “They play a tough, physical brand of football down there, so we are going to have to come ready to play.”
