By Kevin Leibrock
INDIANAPOLIS — Taking on their third ranked opponent in as many weeks, Terre Haute South faced another tough task Friday at Class 5A No. 5 Ben Davis.
Unfortunately for the Braves, Friday’s rainy contest featured a familiar result.
Terre Haute South committed five turnovers, fell behind early, and couldn’t catch up en route to a 50-0 defeat — the Braves’ third straight.
“I thought we competed pretty hard for two and a half quarters,” Terre Haute South coach Mark Raetz said. “We moved the ball, got into their territory a couple times, and just shot ourselves in the foot. That’s kind of been the theme of the season.”
It was a frustrating offensive night for the Braves (1-5, 0-4 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference), who mustered just 87 yards of total offense.
Ben Davis (4-2, 3-1) amassed 577 yards of offense, including 98 yards on 18 carries from Phillip Dudley.
“I’m happy with the result, but we’ve got to clean up some things,” Ben Davis coach Mike Kirschner said. “I know (the Braves’) record is what it is, but they’re a good football team. They’re physical, they’re big, and you can tell they’ve been in the weight room.”
Starting from their own 30, the Braves marched their opening drive to the Ben Davis 30, where they faced a 4th-and-7.
The Braves went for it.
But the next play proved to be costly, as Terre Haute South quarterback Bryn Schwartz saw the snap sail over his head. Schwartz recovered near midfield, but Ben Davis took over on downs.
“We moved the ball and executed well, but then we had a botched play,” Raetz said. “We had a 4th-and-1, then a penalty turned it into a 4th-and-7 and we snapped it over the head. We can’t do things like that against a team like Ben Davis.”
The Giants took advantage of the short field.
Quarterback William Barksdale capped a six-play, 53-yard drive with a 16-yard scamper into the end zone. An Andrew Kashman extra point made it 7-0 Ben Davis with 4:49 to go in the first quarter.
Terre Haute South drove into Ben Davis territory again on its next drive, but committed another costly mistake. On 3rd-and-11 from the Giants’ 46, Schwartz passed over the middle to Logan Buske. But a vicious hit from a Ben Davis defender popped the ball loose, and safety Jeffrey Garrett recovered at the Giants’ 29.
Ben Davis took the field for another lengthy drive, and Dudley made it 13-0 with a 1-yard TD plunge with 8:27 left until halftime. The Giants added to the lead on their next drive, when Barksdale floated a 40-yard scoring strike to Devin Summerville.
Terre Haute South faced a 20-0 deficit at halftime.
As the rain began to pour in the second half, turnovers became more common for both teams. Ben Davis lost a fumble on it’s opening drive, but Terre Haute South lost two fumbles in the second half, setting the Giants up for scores each time.
“In the second half, we started turning the ball over and really struggled,” Raetz said. “I don’ t think we had a first down in the second half. But Ben Davis is a good team and we’ve got to make plays to beat teams like that.”
Brave fumbles enabled a 14-yard touchdown run from Bryce Turner and a 37-yard TD pass from Barksdale to Tiyrai Fuller that pushed the lead to 37-0 with 9:41 to go in the fourth.
“I was really pleased with the way we responded in the second half,” Kirschner said. “We got a couple scores, got up 30, and they kind of fell apart a little bit. When you start getting the turnovers like that, the scores get easier.”
Ben Davis reserves took the field at that point, and produced. Backup quarterback Antonio Heard rushed for a 34-yard touchdown on his first play of the game, and tailback Tashod Miller scored a 9-yard TD that made it 50-0 with 4:29 left in the game.
The Braves look to rebound Friday at Indianapolis North Central.
“We just have to regroup and learn from our mistakes that we made tonight,” Raetz said. “We’re going to put together a week of practice and planning for North Central.”
Ben Davis 50,
Terre Haute South 0
Terre Haute South 0 0 0 0 — 0
Ben Davis 7 13 10 20 — 50
BD — William Barksdale 16 run (Andrew Kashman kick), 4:49 1st
BD — Phillip Dudley 1 run (kick failed), 8:27 2nd
BD — Devin Summerville 40 pass from Barksdale (Kashman kick), 2:26 2nd
BD — Jordan Holder 31 FG, 3:44 3rd
BD — Bryce Turner 14 run (Kashman kick), 1:58 3rd
BD — Tiyrai Fuller 37 pass from Barksdale (Jordan Holder kick), 9:41 4th
BD — Antonio Heard 34 run (kick failed), 8:25 4th
BD — Tashod Miller 9 run (Holder kick), 4:29 4th
BD THS
First downs 20 6
Rushes-yards 51-422 23-65
Passing yards 155 22
Comp-Att-Int 11-14-0 4-11-1
Penalties-yards 5-63 1-5
Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-3
Punts-avg 1-40 4-25
Individual statistics
Rushing: Ben Davis — Phillip Dudley 18-98, Bryce Turner 9-53, William Barksdale 8-74, Jordan Cole 7-67, Antonio Heard 3-91, Tashod Miller 4-30, Troyel Brigham 2-9. Terre Haute South — P.J. Montgomery 9-27, Bryn Schwartz 9-2, Tre Stephens 2-24, Tyler Evans 3-12.
Passing: Ben Davis — Barksdale 11-14-0, 155 yards. Terre Haute South — Schwartz 3-9-0, 16 yards; Jimmy Maxwell 1-2-1, 6 yards.
Receiving: Ben Davis — Dudley 4-41, Cole 1-9, Devin Summerville 3-54, Andrew Kashman 1-5, Tiyrai Fuller 2-46. Terre Haute South — Logan Buske 1-21, Jeremiah Argudin 1-6, Stephens 1-minus 4, Kevin Bracken 1-minus 1.
Next — Ben Davis (4-2, 3-1 MIC) plays Friday at Center Grove. Terre Haute South (1-5, 0-4 MIC) plays Friday at North Central.
