PENDLETON — It was a battle of unbeatens, it was a battle of two teams more than familiar with one another, and it was a battle between a state-ranked Class 4A team, and one receiving votes.
But more than anything, it was a battle between one of the top defenses in the state against one of the top offenses.
At Pendleton Heights’s John Broughton Field, it was the offense that prevailed on Friday night.
A second-half 15-point comeback by the No. 6 Greenfield-Central Cougars (4-0, 2-0) led to a 43-38 victory over the Arabians.
The Arabians came in with the No. 1 defense in all of Class 4A. The Cougars had the top offense.
“The kids came out and responded. I’m proud of their effort, and the way they respond to being challenged. We’ve got a great ball club,” Greenfield-Central head coach Travis Nolting said. “Pendleton is a heck of a team. They’re a super competitive team and we’re probably going to have to play those guys again.”
Greenfield-Central came into the night averaging 49 points per game, while the Arabians defense had pitched three straight shutouts to begin the season.
The Cougars wasted no time in putting the hopes of a fourth shutout to rest.
They took the opening drive 65 yards, capped off by a Dallas Freeman 2-yard quarterback keeper.
Penalties, and four G-C turnovers, though, led to the Arabians scoring the next 24 points.
Due to the turnovers, the four scoring drives all started near or beyond midfield.
A fumbled punt led to the Arabians starting at the G-C 35, their first scoring drive.
The next drive started at the 44 following an interception, a fumble recovery and return led to the Arabians next possession starting at the G-C 10, and the final scoring drive of the half for Pendleton Heights started at the 18 after another interception.
Isaac Wilson ran in the first score, and Colton Frank threw two touchdowns before the Cougars held the Arabians to a field goal.
A two-minute drill by the Cougars led to a Lane Wadle 12-yard touchdown pass from Freeman with just three seconds remaining in the half to trim the lead to 24-16 entering the break.
“We were in the opposite position a few years ago here where we had a big lead at halftime and Pendleton came back on us, so I just told our kids that we weren’t out of reach.” We just had to execute on both sides of the ball, and on special teams,” Nolting said. “We had some bad mistakes in the first half, some miscues and things that we have to fix, but the message was pretty clear, we’ve got to be better.”
The Cougars did just that, in all three aspects.
The offense put up 27 second-half points, the defense limited Pendleton Heights to just two scores, and on special teams, the Cougars recovered two onside kicks.
“At halftime, our defensive coordinator, coach (Josh) Holden, came in and made some adjustments,” Nolting said. “He did a great job of changing some things, and we were able to keep it out of their hands.”
After the Arabians opened the second half with a score on just four plays, the Cougars took over.
A 10-play drive of all running plays, led to the first of four straight G-C scores. Freeman punched in his second score of the night from 1-yard out.
Trailing 31-22, Nolting decided to make a game-changing call. The Cougars caught the Arabians off guard with an onside kick and recovery.
“I’m a gambler and I felt like it was the right time to do it,” Nolting said. “Aaron Lee is a fantastic kicker. When he looks me in the eyes and tells me that we got it, I trust him. He did a great job. It’s something we practice and it worked out tonight.”
The Cougars took advantage of the recovery and after running the ball on every play the previous possession, Freeman hit Kirk Knecht for a 29-yard touchdown.
After the defense stood strong following a long return by the Arabians on the next kickoff, a Cooper Hinton 4-yard touchdown run with just over 10 minutes left gave the Cougars their first lead since 8-0.
The second recovered onside kick by the Cougars in the half, allowed them to pad the lead. Jacob Hinton ran in his first score of the night from 12 yards out, and a successful conversion gave the Cougars a 43-31 lead with just six minutes remaining.
The Arabians added a score late, but a fourth down conversion by Freeman, and then a tough run on third down by Jacob Hinton sealed the win.
“Dallas did a great job under adversity and came back and played hard in that second half. He came over to me and said “coach, we got this, I got you,” and he did,” Nolting said. “He got it done, and we ran the ball with authority. The offensive line kept telling me to run the ball, so that’s what we did.”
Greenfield-Central will look to stay unbeaten next Friday at home at 7 p.m. against Shelbyville.
–
Greenfield-Central 43, Pendleton Heights 38
Greenfield-Central (4-0, 2-0);8;8;13;14; — ;43
Pendleton Heights (3-1, 1-1);7;17;7;7; —;38
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
G-C – Dallas Freeman 2 run (Jacob Hinton run), 9:14
PH – Isaac Wilson 5 run (Dominic Apo kick), 5:10
2nd Quarter
PH – Caden Sims 14 pass from Colton Frank (Apo Kick), 10:39
PH – Nate DeRolf 10 pass from Frank (Apo kick), 6:33
PH – Apo 33 FG, 2:37
G-C – Lane Wadle 12 pass from Freeman (Braylen Benavente run), :03
3rd Quarter
PH – Keaton Jones 15 run (Apo kick), 10:14
G-C – Freeman 1 run (conversion failed), 6:48
G-C – Knecht 29 pass from Freeman (Aaron Lee kick), 2:47
4th Quarter
G-C – Cooper Hinton 4 run (conversion failed), 10:05
G-C – Jacob Hinton 12 run (Knecht pass from Bradley Malet), 6:21
PH – Wilson 1 run (Apo kick), 4:47
