FB SEMISTATE: 2A #5 Heritage Christian holds off #11 Brownstown, 24-16

Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS – After racing out to a 24-0 first-half lead, Class 2A fifth-ranked Heritage Christian had to hang on for dear life Nov. 21 in its home semistate battle with No. 11 Brownstown.

The Eagles came up with a big stop on 4^th and 3 from their own 5-yard line with just over four minutes to play, and defending state runner-up HC was able to run out the clock to preserve a 24-16 victory.

Heritage Christian needed only two minutes to jump on top of Brownstown with a five-play, 71-yard drive. Jackson Kirtley capped the early strike by finding Morgan Cook on a four-yard touchdown and early 7-0 lead.

Neither team, however, was able to heat up on this (smart alec alert!) beautiful November evening for the remainder of the first quarter. It was not until 6:45 remained in the half that Heritage Christian scored again, this one coming on a 26-yard field goal by Alex Butterworth to push the lead to double digits at 10-0.

The ensuing kickoff must have found the Braves still frozen as the kick was mishandled and recovered by Heritage at the Brownstown 28-yard line. It took only two plays for Kirtley to find Tommy Eggleston (six catches, 73 yards) on a 14-yard touchdown, and the Eagles took what seemed to be a commanding 17-0 lead with 5:58 remaining before halftime.

Brownstown should have considered some additional heaters on the sidelines to try to get back in the game. With just under three minutes till the break, Heritage Christian running back Austin Olvey (18 carries, 109 yards) scored from two yards out to make the score 24-0.

Time to warm up that bus for the long ride home, right?

Hold on. Brownstown finally showed some life on 3^rd and 8 with a 59-yard pass from Cam Cockerham to Blaze Hurley, and Teddy Stucker's one-yard run with 0:49 on the clock made it 24-7 heading to intermission. 

Things quickly got interesting when Hurley (20 carries for 78 yards rushing, four receptions for 84 yards receiving) burned through the HC kickoff team for 98 yards and an apparent touchdown to start the second half. The play was nullified by an illegal block in the back, but it provided a huge spark for the struggling Braves.

After the HC defense rose to the occasion and stopped the Braves on downs at the HC 3, the Brownstown “D” answered back when the ubiquitous Hurley picked off a Kirtley pass. Two plays later Stucker (20 rushes for 90 yards) scored again from a yard out, but the PAT was blocked to make it 24-13.

Now the Braves where catching fire and getting their offense in rhythm – it looked like there just might be an upset brewing. A 30-yard field goal for Brownstown at the beginning of the fourth quarter made it a potentially one-possession game at 24-16.

Compounding the comeback effort was the fact that after surrendering more than 200 passing yards to Kirtley in the first half, Brownstown prevented the stellar HC QB from a single completion in the second.

But for the second straight game – HC had slammed the regional door on Speedway last week by keeping the Sparkplugs out of the end zone on seven plays inside the 6-yard line in a 27-21 victory – the Eagles made another big stop late.

This time it was the two-way Eggleston making a huge defensive play, stopping Hurley for no gain on fourth down.

“When the bend-but-don’t-break defense works, it’s awfully nice,” said Heritage Christian coach Ron Qualls, who started this rapidly rising program seven years ago. “We’ve brought a lot of energy the last couple weeks when teams have been inside our 5 and the game’s been on the line.

The HC offense turned to the ground game, handing the ball to Olvey on eight straight plays to run out the clock.

Brownstown had a great run, winning 11 of its last 12 games. It was a tough loss to take as the Braves played a great second half and came up just a few plays short. Congratulations on a terrific season!

Now that I have finally thawed from this frigid November night, I can check for frostbite knowing that next week’s game will be indoors. Heritage Christian will face fourth-ranked Cass (13-1) at 7 p.m. ET the day after Thanksgiving at brand-new Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2A state title.