Class 6A No. 1 Ben Davis used a dominant short passing game to sustain several long scoring drives, wearing down the fifth-ranked Trojans en route to a one-sided 40-7 road win Friday night in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference play.
Four of the Giants’ scoring drives lasted 10 plays or more.
“They attacked us at every weakness, and they did a great job,” Center Grove coach Eric Moore said. “I’ll take my hat off to that. We have not played a team that can make you look as inept as they made us look tonight.”
The Giants (4-0, 2-0 MIC) got on the board first, moving 66 yards and 10 plays and taking a 6-0 lead when Reese Taylor scored from 13 yards out on a quarterback keeper midway through the first quarter.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Click here to purchase photos from this galleryCenter Grove (2-2, 1-2) went three-and-out on its next two possessions, and Ben Davis then put together another long drive. Taylor’s 5-yard pass to Johnny Adams with 6:34 left in the half capped a 16-play, 85-yard march and stretched the Giants’ lead to 13-0.
This time, the Trojans had an answer, going 79 yards in 14 plays to get on the board for the first time with 49.3 seconds before the break. Jackson Moore found an open Sam Hohlt in the right side of the end zone, sending Center Grove to the locker room within six points.
The momentum wasn’t with the home team for long. Ben Davis converted a fake punt coming out of the half and scored three plays later on a 23-yard draw by Adams.
Taylor then helped Ben Davis pull away by eluding the rush on a couple of big plays. Dancing his way out of a sack, he found Jermaine Hoskins for 25 yards on a third-and-9 play to the Center Grove 40, and eight plays later he again escaped trouble and hit Adams for a 3-yard score.
“He’s a great athlete,” Center Grove defensive end Austin Daming said of Taylor. “He’s got tons of speed. We’ve just got to get better; that’s all there is to it.”
The Giants, who came in averaging more than 56 points a game, sealed the deal with fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Taylor to TieKwon Henderson and Broc Thompson.
Taylor finished the night 28 of 31 passing for 217 yards and four scores. He and Adams combined for 137 more yards on the ground.
“We’ll fight back,” Eric Moore said. “You can’t define your season by one game, and we’ve got to fight back now and we’ll see who really wants it. That’s part of the fun of high school football; it’s not over.”
