Ben Davis pounds Lawrence Central 42-12
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
TOUCHDOWWWWWN, Giants…
FIRST DOWWWWWWN, Giants…
The Ben Davis PA announcer wore those words out as the Giants pounded once-nationally ranked Lawrence Central 42-10 on Friday night.
“I just thought our focus was good,” Ben Davis coach Mike Kirschner said. “I think our kids came in with a purpose. We beat a pretty good football team tonight.”
Ben Davis employed a strong rushing attack all night, spreading its carries between three running backs and quarterback Kyle Castner. Dorian Tate had 12 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns, Chris Evans carried eight times for 93 yards and a touchdown and Jamie Akin added 72 yards on eight carries.
“Using all three of them keeps our guys fresh,” Kirschner said. “It keeps everybody healthy and keeps us rolling”.
Ben Davis made the first big play of the night when Tony Allen intercepted a Tyler Redfern pass and gave the Giants great field position at the Lawrence Central 32-yard line. However, a false start penalty and a sack by Jack Pounds took Ben Davis out of any field goal possibility, and the Giants were forced to punt.
Starting from their 17, the Bears mounted what would be their only productive drive of the first half, advancing to the Giants’ 32 yard line. But a sack by Cortez Adams, followed by two straight incomplete passes gave the ball back to Ben Davis after a punt. The Bears would pick up only one first down in the second quarter.
After the punt, Ben Davis started from their 20 after a touchback and marched 80 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run from Castner gave the Giants a 7-0 lead. Castner looked healthy after a shoulder injury kept him out of the previous game against Pike.
The second quarter would belong to the Giants. They found the end zone twice after Lawrence Central gave them two possessions in Bears territory. Starting from the 50, Ben Davis drove to the Bears’ 6-yard line, where Castner found Brennan Gillis on a fade route, and the Giants led 14-0. They would later tack on another touchdown with 33.8 seconds left in the half on a 26-yard run by Tate. The extra point was blocked, but Ben Davis would take a 20-0 lead into halftime.
The Giants owned the second half as well, as they found the end zone just over a minute into the third quarter. Evans found a hole and ran 70 yards to increase the margin to 27-0.
The woes continued for the Bears, as a snap sailed over the head of punter Manny Kantu and through the end zone for a safety.
The Giants would find the end zone on their next two possessions on a 5-yard scamper by Castner and a 1-yard plunge by Tate, and the rout was on, 42-0.
The Bears finally found pay dirt in the fourth quarter, when running back Mark Wilson ran the ball in from the 1-yard line. The kick was blocked, a microcosm of the night for Lawrence Central.
The Bears scored on the final play of the game, a 40-yard touchdown run by reserve quarterback Kyle May.
Lawrence Central managed 11 first downs on offense; Ben Davis had that many in the first half, on its way to 21 for the night. Ben Davis’ spread offense forced standout linebacker Brandon Lee to come outside and cover a wide receiver most of the night, to the delight of Kirschner.
“They have three stud linebackers, we tried to get them out of the box and play in space and use our athleticism to our advantage,” Kirschner said.
Ben Davis is now 4-2, 3-1 in the MIC conference, and they have a date at #1 Center Grove next Friday. The Trojans beat winless Lawrence North 42-10. Lawrence Central, who took a 18 game win streak into week four of this season dating back to last year, is now 3-3, and 2-3 in the MIC.
