GREENFIELD — The new Wishbone offense showed promise, but Greenfield-Central had no answer, defensively, for Plainfield senior bulldozer of a running back Rickey Alsum.
In the season-opener and debut of new Cougars head coach Travis Nolting, the hosts lost to Plainfield, 42-6, at Clayton Myers Field on Friday.
After starting the year against a Class 5A team receiving Top 10 votes in the Indiana Football Coaches Association poll, the Class 4A Cougars, despite the loss, came away pleased with the direction their program is going and enjoyed a different atmosphere at Hancock Health Stadium.
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“I don’t think the score represents how we played,” Cougars junior quarterback Lance McKee said. “We had some little mistakes at the end. If we keep playing (and improving), we’re going to be a scary team to play in the playoffs.
“Coach Nolting, what he’s doing with this program, it’s incredible to see. Last year, no one wanted to watch us. We couldn’t make it to the half with a full student section. (Friday) they all stayed. Coach’s energy is something different.”
McKee finished with 30 carries for 112 yards. He had 15 rushes for 71 yards in the first half.
The Cougars scored on their first possession and were close their next two times before turning the ball over on downs.
Down 21-6 to start the second half, Greenfield-Central took the first possession of the third quarter and ran nearly 10 minutes off the clock. They converted two fourth downs, but freshman Brayden Herrell, who scored the Greenfield-Central touchdown, was stopped on fourth down at the 1-yard line.
“Anybody that says you can’t run the football at this level is mistaken,” Nolting said.
His club rushed for 203 yards on 48 carries, a 4.2 per rush average. It also did a great job of controlling the football, with a scoring drive of 8:11, another drive that went 7:45 and a 9:53 series to start the third quarter.
“We’ve got young kids and they’re tough,” Nolting added. “We had a freshman score a touchdown tonight. We had a quarterback that managed the offense very well. We had linemen that played with grit. We played a great game with a bunch of kids that are sophomores and some juniors and a few seniors sprinkled in.
“We’re going to keep building this thing up. We’re not going to stop working and we are going to get better every day.”
Where the Cougars struggled most on Friday was trying to tackle Alsum, a 5’9, 200-pounder. The Quaker running back bowled his way to three first half touchdowns, scoring on runs of 1, 5, and 1 yard to give his club a 21-6 lead at the break.
In the first half alone, Alsum rushed 16 times for 133 yards. He finished the game with 20 totes for 164 yards.
“That guy was like Derrick Henry. He was huge,” McKee said, comparing the Plainfield back to the physical style of running of the Tennessee Titans standout.
“We’ve got to continue to get better in the weight room,” Nolting added. “We’re playing with a lot of young guys up front, several sophomores and a couple of juniors. Our guys are working hard, but they don’t have a lot of game experience yet, other than tonight.”
In the third quarter, after the Cougars turned the ball over on downs, Plainfield answered just three plays later when quarterback Cael Vanderbush broke through the Greenfield-Central defense for an 80-yard touchdown run.
The ensuing kickoff was fumbled and recovered by the Quakers and they, again, quickly added another score. This time is was running back Jarrett Stephen on a 6-yard rush. It put Plainfield ahead 35-6 with 9:05 left in the game.
It was too much for Greenfield-Central to overcome.
On the Cougars’ scoring drive, Herrell finished a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard rush. Ben Polster’s PAT attempt was blocked. On the initial series, McKee had seven carries for 52 yards.
“I was proud of their fight and I was proud of their effort,” Nolting added. “I can’t say enough about the promise that our future has here at Greenfield. We’re going to keep working. This is a new era in Greenfield football. I realize we got beat 42-6, but I can’t say enough for our effort that we’re giving and are going to keep giving.”
