We saw a great defensive effort from Greenfield-Central tonight, and a big wrench thrown into the Hoosier Heritage Conference standings.
G-C played a very efficient game, and was letter-perfect on defense in beating Mt. Vernon 14-6 tonight at Mt. Vernon Stadium, spoiling Senior Night at MV. It also knocked the Marauders from a first-place tie in the HHC, and clinched G-C's first winning regular season since 2002. The Cougars have had a really rapid turnaround and tonight was their signature win. It nearly came when they lost 6-0 to Delta in Week 3, but it came tonight.
The game started with G-C's triple-option offense rolling downfield, and Matt Dickerson catching a tipped ball in the end zone, to make it a 29-yard TD catch from Carl Ellison on the first drive. G-C's defense and field position game took over from there -- the Marauders managed just 46 rushing yards and 151 overall -- of those, half came on two plays -- and four first downs. That said, MV's defense was solid, too. The defenses really controlled things tonight. The key was field position -- G-C was able to drive to midfield and punt MV deep in its own territory. Five of MV's 10 drives started inside the 15 yard line. The Marauders were able to move it on one -- a 92-yard march that ended with a 44-yard TD pass to Corey White. However, the PAT was wide right, preserving a 7-6 Cougar lead. MV stopped G-C on the next possession, but a roughing the punter penalty gave the Cougars another shot. They didn't score, but punter Jordan Conley pooched it to the 5-yard-line, where MV was stopped and the Cougars used the field position to put the game away on Dickerson's 1-yard TD. He then intercepted MV's last shot to preserve the win.
G-C ran for 120 yards, but no one player had more than 27 -- tremendous balance for the Cougars. Ellison also threw for 84 and a TD.
The Cougars (5-2, 4-2) host HHC leader New Palestine next week as they try to extend their winning streak to five games -- and spoil NP's six-game streak. MV travels to Delta in a matchup of the HHC's second-place teams, as both have 4-1 conference records.
New Palestine 31, Shelbyville 6: The Dragons' defense stands out again as they beat Shelby big, building an early lead and cruising. NP has been very impressive in its five HHC wins -- beating Delta, being the first team in years to keep Pendleton Heights out of the end zone, and posting lopsided victories over Rushville, Yorktown and now Shelby. Since Week 3, NP's No. 1 defense has allowed two touchdowns. NP is now 6-1 (5-0), Shelby is now 2-5 (1-4).
Delta 33, Rushville 7: The Eagles are back on a roll, and back in the hunt for the title, although they'll need help. Delta (6-1, 4-1) has to win out against Mt. Vernon and Shelbyville and hope New Palestine loses. Rushville drops to 2-5 (0-5).
Pendleton Heights 49, Jay County 0: Nice win for the Arabians tonight, as they post a shutout and boost the HHC's non-conference record. PH's offense has been very solid all year, and this team could *very* easily be 6-1 right now. But it's a 4-3 team that will be very dangerous in the tournament.
Yorktown 34, Gary Bowman 0: The Tigers had struggled against HHC competition, and then step out of conference play and post a rout. Nice win for Mike Wilhelm's crew as they move to 1-6 on the year.
In Hancock County:
Wes-Del 20, Eastern Hancock 0: The Royals remain winless as Wes-Del posts its second straight victory. EH plays unbeaten Shenandoah next week before closing against Edinburgh.
HHC standings
New Palestine 5-0 HHC; 6-1 overall (next week@ G-C - LISTEN LIVE!; W9 vMV)
Delta 4-1 HHC; 6-1 overall (next week vMV; W9 @Shelby)
Mt. Vernon 4-1 HHC; 5-2 overall (next week @Delta; W9 @NP)
Greenfield-Central 4-2 HHC; 5-2 overall (next week vNP LISTEN LIVE!; W9 vChatard)
Pendleton Hts. 3-3 HHC; 4-3 overall (next week @Rush; W9 vFW Concordia)
Shelbyville 1-4 HHC; 2-5 overall (next week @Yorktown; W9 vDelta)
Rushville 0-5 HHC; 2-5 overall (next week vPH; W9 @Yorktown)
Yorktown 0-5 HHC; 1-6 overall (next week vShelby, W9 vRushville)
Title scenarios
New Palestine
*-Clinches at least a share of title with win over G-C in Week 8.
*-Clinches title outright with two wins OR a win next week, a Delta win over MV in Week 8 and a Shelbyville win over Delta in Week 9.
*-Could be in a 3-way or 4-way tie even if two losses, IF Delta beats Mt. Vernon in Week 8 and Shelbyville beats Delta in Week 9.
Mt. Vernon
*-Clinches at least a share of title with wins over Delta and New Palestine.
*-Clinches title outright with two wins AND a New Palestine loss to Greenfield-Central.
*-Could be in a 3-way or 4-way tie if it loses to Delta, beats New Palestine and Shelbyville beats Delta in Week 9.
Delta
*-Clinches a share of title by winning out AND a loss by New Palestine in either of its final two games.
*-Wins title outright by winning out AND two losses by New Palestine.
*-Could be in a 3-way or 4-way tie if it beats Mt. Vernon, loses to Shelbyville, Mt. Vernon beats New Palestine in Week 9 and Greenfield-Central beats New Palestine in Week 8.
Greenfield-Central
*-Clinches a 4-way share of the title with win over New Palestine, coupled with Delta victory over Mt. Vernon, Mt. Vernon victory over New Palestine and Shelbyville victory over Delta.
All other teams have been eliminated.
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