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Strong Danville attack defeats Cubs
DANVILLE — Danville’s Warriors used a strong passing game and an impenetrable defense to shut out Greencastle 44-0 on Friday night in the championship game of Class 3A Sectional 30.
The still undefeated and No. 3-ranked Warriors defended their 2016 title and eliminated Greencastle from the tourney for the second straight year.
The Warriors will host Bishop Chatard of Indianapolis in the regional round on Friday.
“They have a great football team,” Greencastle coach Mike Meyer said. “We didn’t have an answer for them.”
Senior quarterback Toby Hiland got Danville on the board first, hitting senior receiver Ben Stevens on a 62-yard pass play on Danville’s fourth play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead.
Greencastle had been held without a first down on the game’s first drive, and got two of its four first downs on the night on its second drive, which was halted after crossing midfield into Danville territory.
Danville tight end Alec Burton, who will play for Division I Ohio University next year, began inflicting his influence on the Tiger Cubs and they had no one who could stay with the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder.
Burton caught a 12-yard pass for a first down on the first Danville drive of the second quarter, and caught an 18-yard TD pass with 8:18 left in the first half for a 14-0 Danville lead.
Hiland hit Burton again with 1:24 left in the half for a 14-yard score and a 21-0 lead. The Warriors were able to stop Greencastle without a first down and took back over on their own 31. Hiland hit Stevens for a 38-yard pass and Burton for a 7-yarder, then came on to easily kick a 40-yard field goal on the last play of the half for a 24-0 lead.
Hiland hit Burton again on Danville’s first drive of the second half, and the burly tight end carried several Tiger Cubs downfield on his way to a 38-yard gain.
Greencastle’s defense held, with Hayden Pettit picking off a tipped pass to stop the Warriors from scoring again.
Hiland marched his team right back down the field again, hitting Burton for a third time on a 16-yard score with 6:11 left in the third period and a 31-0 lead.
With its offensive starters still in the game, Danville poured on another touchdown with 5:07 left as Hiland scored on a 1-yard TD run with 5:07 left.
After holding Greencastle on downs and leading 37-0 with 3:04 left to play, Danville then refused to let up and blocked a Tiger Cub punt.
Tanner Knotts ran the punt back 32 yards for another unnecessary score to make it 44-0.
Danville racked up 293 yards passing, with Burton collecting 154 of those on 10 catches. Stevens, who caught the long touchdown pass that defeated Greencastle last year, added 114 receiving yards on four catches.
The Warriors also added 148 rushing yards on 31 carries.
Greencastle, meanwhile, could manage just 77 rushing yards and three passing yards against the tough Danville defense.
Meyer was proud of his team for not giving up.
“I am proud of our kids, they played hard,” said Meyer, whose team finished 7-5. “We just didn’t have enough. It was a very good season. We will lose a lot of good players from this team, and we have a lot of people back.”
Greencastle 0 0 0 0 — 0
Danville 7 17 7 13 — 44
D — Stevens 62 pass from Hiland (Gerber kick)
D — Burton 18 pass from Hiland (Gerber kick)
D — Burton 14 pass from Hiland (Gerber kick)
D — Hiland 40 FG
D — Burton 16 pass from Hiland (Gerber kick)
D — Hiland 1 run (kick failed)
D — Knotts 32 return of blocked punt (Gerber kick)
Individual statistics
Rushing — Greencastle: Moody 28-77, Bollman 4-0, Costin 5-0, Campbell 1-0, Buttery 2-3. Danville: Skinner 16-81, Hiland 6-11, Gearld 2-47, Schubert 7-9.
Passing — Greencastle: Costin 2-8-0 3. Danville: Hiland 16-26-1 293.,
Receiving — Greencastle Campbell 2-3. Danville: Stevens 4-114, Burton 10-154, Luken 1-10, Cowart 1-1.