Friday’s first quarter of football was anything but crisp for East Central’s offense, but the Trojans got back in sync and defeated host Franklni County 37-8.
While there were some missed assignments by the Trojan offense, credit a fired up and determined Wildcat defensive unit which held the Trojans to only a Sophie Browndyke 37-yard field goal in the first quarter. EC’s starting field position on its first two drives were the Franklin County 17 and 30-yard lines.
The Widcats struggled to move the ball against a stout Trojan defense as FC crossed the 50 only twice in the first half. Two Franklin County drives over the first 24 minutes ended with an interception- one by Sam Ringer and one by Jack Rinear. For Rinear, it was his second pick six of the season.
Meanwhile, The Trojan offense started to click and posted a 30-0 score at halftime.
East Central’s first touchdown of the night spanned about 4 minutes, 20 seconds and covered 80 yards on 11 plays. Trae Ohmer capped it with a 20-yard run. Browndyke’s kick after made it 10-0 Trojans with 9:39 showing in the second quarter.
The interception return for a TD by Rinear and Browndyke boot bumped the lead to 17-0 about 20 seconds later.
With 4:55 left in the half, it was the Ryan Brotherton drive. After he recorded runs of 27 and 21 yards plus a 9-yard recption down to the 1-yard line, Brotherton was rewarded with the TD plunge on the next snap. The kick was good and it was now 24-0.
The EC D forced a three-and-out then the EC O scored once more before intermission, a Grant Ernst 4-yard rush with 1:45 showing. The point after try missed.
Rinear then intercepted his second Wildcat pass of the half to effecitvely bring the half to a close with East Central comfortably in front 30-0.
Scoring was minimal in the second half. East Central scored on a short, 28-yard drive which was finished on a 2-yard run by Cole Burton. Browndyke kicked her final PAT of the night as the St. Leon lads now led 37-0 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.
Franklin County did not end the night empty handed as the Wildcats scored with 1:52 to go. Quarterback Brady Morehead hit Kristian Prows on an 11-yard TD pass. Andrew Merritt ran home the two-point conversion run.
The Trojans 37-8 victory moves their overall record to 3-1 and their EIAC (large school) record to 1-0. The Wildcats fall to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
East Central will play at Batesville next Friday in a game you can hear on 103.9 FM WRBI, online at WRBIradio.com and on your smartphone using the free TuneIn app. Franklin County will travel to Lawrenceburg and play on the Neary Field turf.
Individual stat leaders from East Central’s Jake Meiners and Franklin County’s Gary Bradburn:
- Pass comp/att/yds/TD- (FC) Brady Morehead 8/23/55/1; (EC) Cole Burton 5/17/50
- Rushes/yds/TD- (FC) Bridger Bolos 13/37, Jacob Schatzle 3/24; (EC) Trae Ohmer 12/83/1, Hunter Sohns 10/77, Ryan Brotherton 5/50/1, Grant Ernst 4/21/1, Burton 4/13/1
- Receptions/yds/TD- (FC) Kristian Prows 6/42/1, Tyreke Carr 1/11; (EC) Brotherton 2/41
- Total tackles- (FC) Austin Hill 7, Sam Westerfeld 4; (EC) Louis Gray 9, Brayden Rouse 9, Jack Rinear 9, Cooper Hoog 8
- TFLs- (FC) Bolos, Hill, Peyton McCreary; (EC) Louis Gray 3, Rhett Smith 2, Rinear 1, Sam Ringer, David Nash, AJ Garrison, Sean Behrle, Jake Blake, Connor Kuhn, Ryan Bovard, Andrew Roy
- Sacks- (EC) Garrison, Behrle, Sohns, Ethan Greiwe
- Def. interceptions- (EC) Rinear 2 (1 TD), Ringer
- Fumble recoveries- (FC) Hunter Geis, McCreary
Team stats for FC, EC:
- Rush yds 57, 252
- Pass yds 55, 50
- Total yds 112, 302
- 1st downs 7, 13
- 3rd down eff 3/13, 4/11
- 4th down eff 1/5, 2/3
- Turnovers 3 (3 int), 2 (2 fum)
- Penalties/yds 8/107, 7/90
- Punts/avg yds 6/28, 1/24