Greensburg and South Dearborn come up short in for the EIAC small school division
Kunkel tosses three scores in loss
The South Dearborn Knights started 0-1 after a loss to a talented Jennings County team.
SD matched the Panthers with a touchdown each in the first quarter. Quarterback Adam Kunkel tossed his first of three passing TDs when he connected with Ryan Richard for a 45-yard score. The Knights took the lead in the second quarter when Taytum Barker hit a 25-yard field goal to make it a 10-7 game. The Panthers finished out the half scoring on a nine-yard run, then Panthers’ quarterback Parker Elmore’s second touchdown toss sent the Knights into halftime, down 19-10.
The lone score in the third stanza was another Jennings County rushing TD. The fourth frame began with Elmore tossing another touchdown from seven yards out and SD was down 34-10. The Knights attempted a comeback scoring twice in the final quarter. Kunkel led SD downfield scoring on a nine-yard pass to Olli Babcock, Hudson Shackelford ran in a two-point conversion, and the Knights’ final touchdown was a Kunkel to Shackelford touchdown from 13 yards out. The Panthers got a fourth quarter rushing touchdown, and the final score was Jennings County 41, South Dearborn 25.
SD displayed a good mix of runs and passes putting up 300 yards of offense. Kunkel was 24 of 40 for 224 yards and three touchdowns. CJ Evans led SD on the ground pounding out 98 yards on 19 carries. Kunkel hit five different receivers with three of them each getting to the end zone. Babcock caught seven passes for 104 yards, Richard 6-76, Evans 4-13, Reid Thornton 3-15 and Shackelford 3-11.
Brady Ballart, a sophomore, was all over the field with seven total tackles and one for a loss. Tyeler Gulden picked off the Panther QB and Brayden Johnson recovered a fumble for the SD defense. Caden Thompson and Elliott Meek each made plays behind the line of scrimmage and the pair each finished with two tackles for a loss. Barker was 2-for-2 on extra points and hit one of her two field goal attempts. The Knights were plagued by penalties throughout the contest, getting whistled 15 times for 112 yards.
The Knights will look to pick up a win this Friday when they host Madison (0-1) who was shut out last week by Greenfield-Central.
Greensburg falls to Shelbyville
The Golden Bears took a 26-0 lead into halftime against the Bucs on Friday and parlayed that into a 39-14 win.
Kaden Acton was finally able to get Greensburg on the board with nine minutes to go in the third quarter. The junior rumbled for a 47-yard score and it was 26-6. Shelbyville scored again to match the Pirate touchdown, connecting on a 17-yard pass as they went up 32-7. Acton added another score in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Bears matched that score also and defeated the Bucs to open the season.
The Bucs’ new signal caller, sophomore Bryson Abplanalp, completed 50% of his passes going 14 for 28 with 119 yards in his debut. Acton finished the game with 126 yards on 24 carries. Junior Carson Miller and freshman Myles McKinsey both grabbed five receptions and Hunter Springmeyer and Camden Loudin grabbed two catches each. Springmeyer also led the Greensburg defense in tackles, tying senior Brayden Rankin with five each. Acton had four tackles with two for a loss. Freshman Jacoby Miller was 2-of-2 on extra point attempts.
Coach Wes Anderson had this to say about his Pirates after Friday’s game. “Acton played well. It’s good to have him back at full strength. He’s a difference-maker when he gets to the second level of the defense. Overall, a solid first career start for Abplanalp at QB. He made good reads and delivered the ball on time and on target.”
Anderson added, “In the first half, we honestly played about as poorly as I’ve seen us play. Too many mistakes on the offensive line and in the secondary.
“I was incredibly proud of us for coming out of halftime and playing hard. We got two quick scores on our first two drives of the second half. We battled and didn’t quit. We just couldn’t overcome that size of deficit quickly enough.
“The team everybody saw after halftime is a more accurate representation of the team, we can be than what we put out there early in the game. We must be more consistent and execute better. Neither of those things were up to our standard Friday night.”
The Bucs will host Greenfield-Central (1-0) this Friday; the Cougars blanked Madison 49-0 this past Friday and swiftly defeated Greensburg a season ago by a score of 44-0. They went on to finish the season 7-4 and lost in the sectional semifinals to New Palestine.
1 2 3 4 F
Shelbyville 13 13 6 7 39
Greensburg 0 0 7 7 14