Triton Central came to Indian Creek having won the last two meetings between the schools comfortably.
Nothing was comfortable for the Tigers on Friday night.
The Braves’ defense turned in an aggressive and dominating performance, Roman Purcell rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another and newcomer Connor Fruits ran for well over 100 yards in a 21-13 triumph that never felt quite as close as the final score.
"We talked all week that we needed to mature a little bit and run to the football," Indian Creek coach Brett Cooper said. "(Triton Central) was going to be very physical and aggressive, and we just had to match it and exceed it and run to the football."
Up by 7-0 after a low-scoring first half, the Braves (3-2) finally got their offense untracked midway through the third quarter, as Roman Purcell and Connor Fruits combined for 47 yards on eight consecutive rushes. Purcell pushed the ball across on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 1:24 left in the third quarter, stretching Indian Creek’s lead to 14-0.
The defense then stepped to the fore again, coming up with consecutive big plays after Triton Central (3-2) had marched across midfield. First, Trent Davis and Brandon Murray come up with a sack on an attempted flea-flicker; then, Murray intercepted an Erick Hebauf pass to give the Braves the ball back with 11:07 left in the game.
After another Indian Creek defensive stop, Purcell put the game away by escaping third-down pressure in the backfield and wriggling free for a 51-yard touchdown with 5:14 left. The senior quarterback finished the night with 95 yards rushing; Fruits, who enrolled at Indian Creek after playing for Center Grove last Friday, picked up 135 on 25 carries.
"The guys up front … just stayed down and stayed engaged," Cooper said of his offensive line, "and we have a couple of dynamic players and they did a very good job."
The Tigers finally broke up the shutout with 4:24 remaining, after a reception of a tipped ball and a pass interference flag set up an 11-yard touchdown pass. A bad snap on an Indian Creek punt then gave the visitors a short field, leading to another score with 2:06 to go, but the Braves were able to recover the onside kick attempt and run out the remaining clock.
Cooper was happy to see his team rise to the occasion with a tough, physical performance against a team that has had its number since the series resumed in 2016.
It was time for us to grow up," he said. "We needed to be a mature team, and we showed it tonight."
Though the Tigers who came out of the gate clicking through the air, with Hebauf completing his first four passes for 48 yards, penalties and a stout Indian Creek run defense kept the visitors from putting any points on the board. Triton Central’s seven first-half possessions resulted in five punts, a missed field goal and a turnover on downs.
The Braves, meanwhile, had their own troubles moving the ball, going three and out five times in their first six possessions. But a single big play made the difference, with Purcell finding Owen Neathery up the left sideline for 56 yards and a score late in the first quarter. That hookup accounted for more than half of Indian Creek’s 103 first-half yards and sent the home team into the locker room with the edge.
