Cubs take third in WIC

Greencastle quarterback Brayden Baxter takes off around the left end to pick up yardage against Edgewood on Friday night.

Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

Balanced effort paces Greencastle in 34-6 blowout of Edgewood

Two of the state’s top 27 rushers met at Greencastle on Friday night.

Tiger Cub standout Damon Moody entered the game ranked 15th in rushing yards with 1,348, while Edgewood’s Levon Bellemy was 27th with 1,204 yards.

Yet neither was the game’s leading rusher, as Greencastle’s Gavin Bollman took advantage of an increased workload and ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Tiger Cubs to a 34-6 rout of Edgewood in the Western Indiana Conference third-place game.

Moody carried the ball 14 times for 76 yards, while Bellamy had 91 yards in 21 attempts.

Greencastle coach Mike Meyer stopped short of calling Moody a “decoy” on the cold, wet night, but admits it was nice to have such a capable second runner such as the 6-5, 230-pound Bollman.

“We tried to mix it up a little bit,” Meyer said. “I think the mixup did a nice job of keeping them on their heels.”

Greencastle did not take long to establish its superiority, marching 59 yards in seven plays on its opening drive and getting a two-yard TD run from Bollman.

The Tiger Cubs took advantage of Bollman and some costly Edgewood penalties on their next drive to double their lead.

Taking over on their own 24, the Cubs got 30 yards on a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the Mustangs and Bollman had runs of nine, 17 and 19 yards.

Quarterback Brayden Baxter carried it into the end zone untouched from three yards out for a 14-0 lead at the first stop.

After a scoreless second period, Bollman recovered an Edgewood fumble at the Mustang 25 on the third play of the second half.

Moody scored from 17 yards out on the fourth play from scrimmage, and Greencastle led 21-0.

The Mustangs took over on their own 29, and marched downfield for their only score as quarterback Schuyler Curtis hit Bryson Smith with an 11-yard TD pass with 1:33 left in the third period.

Bollman continued to be unstoppable for the Cubs, catching a 62-yard pass from Baxter on the last play of the third period and scoring again from two yards out on the first play of the fourth period for a 27-6 lead.

Moody added an 11-yard TD with 6:59 to play to conclude the night’s scoring.

Meyer was happy his team was able to limit Bellemy’s production.

“We did a nice job of containing No. 7 [Bellemy],” Meyer said. “That’s a heckuva running back. We did a nice job of containing the quarterback, too.

“We did a nice job on both sides of the ball,” he added. “We moved the ball really well and controlled both lines of scrimmage. I’m very happy with how it turned out; that’s a good football team.”

Rain fell early in the game but slowed down as the evening progressed. Edgewood, which plays its home games on a new artificial turf field, had numerous problems with center-quarterback exchanges.

Baxter and center Trey Wood were flawless in the less than ideal conditions.

“They definitely had some problems holding on to the ball,” Meyer said. “I don’t know if the field mattered or not; we did a nice job of keeping them in check regardless of the [kind of] field.”

The Tiger Cubs finished the regular season 8-1 for the second time in the past three years, and have a week to prepare for their sectional opener next week at bitter rival Danville.

The Warriors have eliminated Greencastle from the sectional the past two seasons, including in the championship game last year.

“It was a great way to end up the season on Senior Night,” Meyer said. “We are looking forward to the sectional.”

First quarter

G — Bollman 2 run (Lezama kick)

G — Baxter 3 run (Lezama kick)

Third quarter

G — Moody 17 run (Lezama kick)

E — Smith 11 pass from Curtis (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

G — Bollman 2 run (kick blocked)

G — Moody 11 run (Lezama kick)

Individual statistics

Rushing — Edgewood: Bellemy 21-91, Jacobs 9-41, Curtis 12-(-3), Brown 1-3, Wilson 2-9, Bay 2-22. Greencastle: Moody 14-76, Bollman 16-111, Baxter 5-(-8), Fajt 1-(-2).

Passing — Edgewood: Curtis 6-10-0 48. Greencastle: Baxter 4-5-0 100.

Receiving — Edgewood: Hall 1-5, Schwartz 1-6, Brown 3-27, Smith 1-11. Greencastle: Bollman 1-62, Sanders 1-13, Campbell 2-25.