Tiger Cubs tame Lions

Saturday, September 14, 2013
Greencastle quarterback Tyler Scott airs it out during a game earlier this year. Scott had 211 yards and two touchdowns on Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The Greencastle football squad welcomed an unfamiliar foe to town Friday in the form of the Noblesville Home School Lions. It took the Tiger Cubs two and half quarter to find their footing against the Lions, but from there they cruised to a 48-27 victory.

Like two heavyweights slugging it out in the early rounds of a prizefight, the Tiger Cubs and the Lions traded points through the first half and well into the third quarter. But in the span of 19 seconds, the bad luck that plagued GHS was erased.

With 19 seconds left in the third, and his team down 27-25, senior Alec Pettit executed a run that not only put his team out front, but changed the face of the game. Pettit took the handoff from quarterback Tyler Scott and bulldozed his way into the middle of the field. He was quickly met by a throng of Lion defenders. Pettit kept his legs moving and instead of plowing forward, the senior quickly spun, found the sideline and found the end zone 19 yards later.

Following the two-point conversion, GHS held a 33-27 lead and looked to be shifting the momentum back to the Tiger Cub' sideline.

Greencastle's defense rose to the occasion on the Lions' next possession, forcing quarterback Graham Lindman to throw three incompletions. The Lions set up for the punt, but the ball sailed over the kickers head and rolled into the Lions' end zone. Form there it was a sprint, with Greencastle senior Evan Coble getting to the ball first to give his team another score with no time remaining in the third.

After another two-point conversion, the Tiger Cubs enjoyed a 16-point turnaround in 19 seconds and took a 41-27 lead into the final quarter.

In the final quarter, Greencastle added another touchdown when Pettit rumbled in from five-yards out with 7:15 remaining.

Noblesville had one final shot to score when Caleb Tate took a reverse handoff on the ensuing kickoff and raced down the GHS sideline, only to step out at the seven-yard line.

The Greencastle defense made a huge stand on a fourth and goal at the two-yard line. It stopped the drive and any shot the Lions had of clawing their way back into the game.

Greencastle head coach Josh Luis acknowledged the power shift that occurred in the fading seconds of the third quarter.

"I told our kids at halftime, at some point you're going to stop taking it and it just so happened to be at the end of the game they stopped taking it," he said. "It was good seeing adversity. We had no idea about this team. We had no idea about their opponents, so it was hard to judge how good they were going to be.

"You could see on film that No. 9 (Lindman) could throw it, but he came out here tonight and had a heck of a game."

In the first half, Noblesville found the end zone first when Lindman hit Tre Johnson on a four-yard strike. But Greencastle was able to respond when Scott hooked up with Seth Brown for a 25-yard touchdown on a fourth and seven play with 5:11 left in the first.

Greencastle took the lead just before the second quarter when Scott and Brown teamed up once again, this time for an 18-yard touchdown strike.

From there the GHS offense went cold and watched at the Lions rolled off two scores to take a 21-14 halftime lead.

Scott passed for 211 yard and two touchdowns, with Pettit adding 185 rushing yards and three scores of his own. Brown led the receivers with nine catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

Lindman tossed three touchdowns and 185 yards for the Lions. Buis was impressed with Lindman's game and had nothing but praise for the opposing QB.

"That No. 9 is a heck of a quarterback and I always say if you have a quarterback and can throw it around the yard a little bit, at the high school level, it makes it very difficult," he said. "They came in here ready to play, we didn't. They were at the top of their game. That No. 9, he's got a chance to play at the next level. Extremely intelligent, reads coverages, has a quick release and you can tell they're very well coached."

After collecting it's fourth win of the year, Greencastle now shifts its sights to a more familiar foe -- South Putnam. Buis said it will be nice to get back to an offense he's familiar with preparing for.

"We know how to prepared to stop the run," Buis said. "It's going to be a different game. It's going to be ground and pound. It's going to be ground and pound, play-action pass, hit people real quick out in the flat -- it's a totally different offense.

"To be honest with you, I'm looking forward to getting back to playing teams that don't throw the ball. It's tough as a defensive coordinator to stop the pass because you don't see it much. This is the only team that throws the ball around the yard that we face all year."

With all the talk of the passing game, Buis focused in on one player his team will be keeping a close eye on come Friday.

"Right now I'm concerned about stopping Lucas Lorian," he said smiling. "The kid is an extremely talented player, they're coached extremely well and it's a great game. I don't know where I'd rather be on a Friday night than Greencastle versus South Putnam. It's a great rivalry. You've got guys on each staff that know each other real well. It's going to be fun for the fans."

Greencastle will travel to South Putnam Friday at 7 p.m.



At Greencastle
Noblesville Home school.............7 14 6 0 -- 27
Greencastle...............................14 0 27 7 -- 48

First Quarter
N 7:23 -- Lindman 4-yard pass to Johnson (kick good), 0-7
G 5:11 -- Scott 25-yard pass to Brown (kick good), 7-7
G 0:12 -- Scott 18-yard pass to Brown (kick good), 14-7

Second Quarter
N 7:51 -- Lindman 15-yard pass to Stewart (kick no), 14-13
N 1:46 -- Lindman 15-yard pass to Johnson (2 pt good), 14-21

Third Quarter
G 6:21 -- S. Weinschenk 32-yard FG good, 17-21
G 5:07 -- Pettit 1-yard run (2pt. conv. good), 25-21
N 2:11 -- Baker 2-yard run (kick blocked), 25-27
G 0:19 -- Pettit 19-yard run (2-pt. conv. good), 33-27
G 0:00 -- Coble recovered endzone (2-pt conv. good), 41-27

Fourth Quarter
G 7:15 -- Pettit 5-yard run (kick good), 48-27

Stats
Noblesville Home School
Rushing -- Lindman 10-33, Tate 2-17, Jennings 5-(-5), Baker 5-10 TD, Brown 1-3
Passing -- Lindman 15-33 185 yards, 3TD, INT; Jennings 0-1
Receiving -- Johnson 7-116 2TD, Baker 4-56, Tate 1-5, Stewart 2-26 TD, Jennings 1-(-8)

Greencastle
Rushing -- Pettit 25-185 3TD, Scott 9-11, Coble 3-8
Passing -- Scott 16-28 211 yards, 2TD
Receiving -- Brown 9-133 2TD, Gierke 4-59, Cook 2-14, Tesmer 1-5

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