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Greencastle alone in second place of WIC West
Spurred by a powerful defensive effort, Greencastle gained sole control of second place in the Western Indiana Conference Western Division with a 14-0 victory over Northview on Friday night.
“It was a great win for us. We played four quarters. The kids played hard and we made some big plays,” Greencastle coach Mike Meyer said.
The Tiger Cubs came up big on special teams and with an aggressive effort to rebound from its first loss of the season last weekend. Greencastle didn’t allow a Northview first down until deep into the second quarter by which time the Tiger Cubs had taken a 14-0 advantage.
The punt unit also came up big for the Tiger Cubs, forcing the Knights to start three of its first four drives of the game inside their own 10-yard line.
Northview went four plays and out after starting on its own four-yard line on its initial offensive drive. The next drive started on the Knights’ one-yard line and resulted in another four and out for Northview.
Following the second Knights’ punt, Greencastle took over on Northview’s 32-yard line and marched to pay dirt on a 10-play drive that culminated in a one-yard run by Devin Clar to start the second quarter. Ben Webb’s extra point put the Tiger Cubs ahead 7-0 with 11:19 left in the half.
The Tiger Cubs defense really began to pin its ears back on the next two drives by the Knights as Alex Costin snagged an interception on the first play of Northview’s next offensive possession. Elijah Williams recovered a Trey Shaw fumble after a ringing hit on the Knights’ QB.
The recovery set up the Tiger Cubs at Northview’s four-yard line. One play later it was QB Nick Costin hitting J.T. Matthews for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Greencastle’s first challenge on the defensive side came after a fumble recovery by the Knights and a 15-yard penalty on the Tiger Cubs set Northview up at the 15-yard line.
An eight-yard run by the Knights’ MJ Shelton moved the ball to the Tiger Cubs’ nine-yard line, but Greencastle buckled down and forced fourth down and six yards to go. Greencastle then snuffed out a reverse play by the Knights to take over on downs.
The Tiger Cub defense came up big time after time in both halves, limiting the Knights to just 57 yards rushing on 31 carries and only 29 yards passing.
Gavin Bollman had seven tackles, two sacks and a first-half interception. Williams had eight tackles and a fumble recovery and Cade Winslow added seven tackles for the Tiger Cubs.
“Gavin Bollman played very, very well. Elijah [Williams] and Brayden [Bollman] and that entire defense just played full speed for four quarters,” Meyer said. “It was a great game.”
Northview threatened once more on a 13-play drive to Greencastle’s 44-yard line, but the defense held on fourth down. The Knights wouldn’t gain another first down over its final two drives of the game.
Clar helped the Tiger Cubs run out the clock, bursting through the line for a 51-yard gain that helped cap a 167-yard rushing performance on 30 carries.
“Field position in the first half, it kind of flipped on us in the second half. We hung in there and kept plugging and made some big plays,” Meyer said. “Tonight kind of proved that last week (the loss to Sullivan) just happens,” Meyer said. “It was one of those days. The kids came back and played a great game this week.”
Greencastle improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the WIC with a trip to North Putnam on Friday.
Northview 0 0 0 0 — 0
Greencastle 0 14 0 0 — 14
G — Devin Clar 1 run (Ben Webb kick) 7-0, 11:19 Q2.
G — J.T. Matthews 4 pass from Nick Costin (Webb kick), 14-0, 9:43 Q2.
N G
First downs 5 8
Rushes-yards 28-39 43-192
Passing yards 29 20
Comp-Att-Int 4-9-2 4-10-0
Total offense 47-68 53-212
Return yards 78 60
Punts-Avg. 5-31.4 4-38.2
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 2-10 2-20
Individual statistics
Rushing – Northview: Shelton 10-33, Hyatt 10-23, Schane 1-8, Shaw 6-(-25). Greencastle: Clar 30-167, Ummel 7-14, N. Costin 5-9, A. Costin 1-2.
Passing – Northview: Shaw 4-19-2—29. Greencastle: N. Costin 4-10-0—20.
Receiving – Northview: Schane 3-21, Hyatt 1-8. Greencastle: Edwards 2-14, Matthews 2-6.
Next game – Next Friday, Northview (4-3, 2-2 in WIC West) will host South Putnam (3-4, 0-4 in WIC West) and Greencastle (6-1, 3-1 in WIC West) travels to North Putnam (5-2, 2-2 in WIC West).