Junior running back Malachi Mink has played a major role in Indian Creek’s success this season.
Daily Journal file photo
The desired foundation to Indian Creek’s season would have been to establish momentum by defeating its first two opponents.
Casey Gillin wasn’t discouraged by the fact the Braves came up short in both.
“I was thinking that we didn’t have the right guys in the right spots. But in my mind, I felt we would be fine,” said Gillin, referencing losses by the same score (42-28) to Batesville and Greenwood, teams still in the postseason hunt in Class 3A and 4A, respectively.
“I knew we were close. I knew we were getting better. We just didn’t know how to close out games yet.”
Proving once again that football seasons are marathons, not sprints, Indian Creek continues to hover under the state’s gridiron radar despite winning eight of its last nine games.
Tonight, the Braves (8-3) host Batesville (10-1), the same squad that knocked Gillin’s squad out of the postseason in 2022, eking out a 35-34 decision in a sectional final.
Gillin missed that game due to the birth of his daughter, Esa. He’s back now, and so apparently are the Braves, who seek their first trip to a regional in 12 years.
Indian Creek’s growth the past two months entails everything from quarterback Jalen Sauer, a former running back, being asked to line up behind center for the first time since seventh grade, to improved line play and special teams.
Asked which aspect has improved the most, Gillin doesn’t hesitate — defense.
He credits assistant coaches Leland Kinnett (defensive coordinator), Bob Denton (defensive line) and John Butler (linebackers) with the job they’ve done helping shape a unit that is allowing its last four opponents an average of 8.8 points a contest.
Leading the charge are senior linebacker Carter Modlin and senior strong safety Levi Pappas, the Braves’ top tacklers with 103 apiece. Another linebacker, Grady Walker, has emerged as one of the area’s better freshmen with 90 tackles, while senior lineman Curtis Gault is credited with 75 stops.
Offensively, Sauer has called his own number for 1,134 rushing yards, and he has thrown for 2,083 yards and 29 touchdowns working behind a line consisting of four seniors — left to right, Hunter Eader, Tyrus Wolf, center Landon Craig and Logan Porter — and sophomore right tackle Riley Davis.
Four Braves receivers — juniors Malachi Mink and Bobby Emberton, soph Jaxon Ramey and senior Jaxson Palmer — have totaled between 404 and 479 yards receiving this season.
Craig, a three-year starter snapping the pigskin, can’t help but be impressed by what the team is achieving.
It starts, in many respects, with the versatility of Sauer.
“Jalen has played football with me since the first grade, and he used to play quarterback,” said Craig, who also starts on the defensive line. “It’s kind of like a blast from the past. He’s always been, like, the dude. He’ll take a hit, get up and go do it again.”
Seems the Braves have all adopted that mindset.
Indian Creek trailed at Batesville by only one score midway through the final quarter in the opener, and was tied with the Woodmen early in the fourth. The Braves notched their first victory by blanking Owen Valley, 38-0, in Week 3; their only setback since is a 49-35 home loss to 2A No. 1 Triton Central.
The Braves are outscoring opponents by an average of 22.2 points over their current six-game win streak.
“We’re truly a team now. In Weeks 1 and 2, we didn’t necessarily have a defense, but it can handle business now,” Craig said. “Our exterior wasn’t the greatest, but we put in new players, and the game experience has made a huge difference.”
TONIGHT’S SECTIONAL FINALS
Class 6A
Center Grove at Columbus North, 7 p.m.
Class 5A
Terre Haute South at Whiteland, 7:30 p.m.
Class 4A
Greenwood at East Central, 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Batesville at Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
