GREENFIELD — The task for Greenfield-Central’s football team, on Senior Night, was to send the senior class out with what they’ve done more than any other four-year class in program history — accumulate wins.
The Cougars had their share of miscues Friday — penalties and turnovers they’ll work to clean up before next week’s sectional — but they were able to bounce back from the mistakes and come away with a decisive 49-14 Hoosier Heritage Conference victory over visiting New Castle.
“A great sendoff for our seniors,” Greenfield-Central coach Travis Nolting said. “Proud of their efforts. This is one of the most successful groups in school history as far as cumulative wins. I’m proud of their efforts and can’t say enough good things about them.”
Greenfield-Central rushed for over 400 yards and six touchdowns and added a Pick-6 from senior defensive end Zach Blevens to put the final topping on the class’s 30th win in four years.
Junior Cooper Hinton rushed for three touchdowns, and had 149 rushing yards on only eight carries. His touchdown runs were from 35, 17 and 55 yards.
Three backs had 85 or more rushing yards. Senior Payton Foley, who opened scoring on the game’s initial drive with a 22-yard touchdown, had six carries for 85 yards. Senior quarterback Dallas Freeman had 16 rushes for 86 yards and had a second-half 5-yard run.
Junior fullback Braylen Benavente scored on a 1-yard run and rushed for 31 yards on 12 carries.
“All the seniors, we wanted to win this game more than anything.” Foley said. “We come out with a first-drive score, it was an instant morale boost. This is a huge win, I’m excited to go into the sectional with the guys.”
The Cougars had their share of issues, too. Nolting was disappointed in committing too many penalties. They also had two first-quarter drives stalled deep into Trojan territory.
After senior defensive end Josh VanOsdol recovered a fumble forced by Blevens, the Cougars turned the ball over on downs inside the New Castle 5. The next drive got to the New Castle 21 before ending in a Freeman interception.
“The penalties, the turnovers, a couple times we had opportunities where we didn’t capitalize off their mistakes,” Nolting said. “We have to fix that stuff. The kids ran the ball hard, they blocked hard, they tackled. They did everything we asked of them to do tonight. We had some adversity, but they did a good job of overcoming it.”
The 49 points equaled the second-most points in a game this season. They scored 50 in the season opener against next week’s tourney opponent Beech Grove and had 49 in a 49-6 win at Shelbyville. It was the most points on the home field this year.
And the seniors couldn’t have asked for a better way to cap off the win.
With just under three minutes left in the game, Blevens picked off a Carson Bell pass on the G-C 45 and went the distance for the Cougars seventh touchdown of the game.
“That’s pretty special. He’s a special player,” Nolting said. “He was a soccer player most of his life and as a sophomore decided to play football. I’m glad he did. He’s been a phenomenal young man for us.”
Classmate and fellow defensive end Foley, couldn’t have been happier for his teammate.
“I can’t even describe the feeling after seeing a defensive end run down the field on a Pick-6,” Foley said. “That’s been a dream of Zach and mine for a long time. It didn’t feel real. A Pick-6 by a 6-4, 240-pound defensive end? When’s the last time you’ve seen that? It was amazing.”
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Greenfield-Central 49, New Castle14
New Castle (4-5, 4-4);7;0;7;0;-;14
Greenfield-Central (7-2, 5-2);13;15;14;7;-;49
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
G-C – Payton Foley 22 run (Andrew Trabel kick), 9:42
G-C – Cooper Hinton 35 run (run failed) 1:09
NC – Cade Logston 52 pass from Carson Bell (Owen Barrett kick), :00
2nd Quarter
G-C – Hinton 17 run (Hinton run), 6:12
G-C – Hinton 55 run (Trabel kick), 2:41
3rd Quarter
NC – Logston 59 pass from Bell (Barrett kick), 11:13
G-C – Braylen Benavente 1 run (Trabel kick), 7:02
G-C – Dallas Freeman 5 run (Trabel kick), 4:21
4th Quarter
G-C – Zach Blevens 55 interception return (Trabel kick), 2:59
