For The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN
The Brownstown Central football team scored two or more touchdowns in each of the first three quarters and crushed Paoli 51-27 in the season-opener for both teams Friday night at Blevins Stadium.
The Braves piled up 443 yards yards of offense and held the Rams to 121.
“We changed our offense, we went back to what we used to do years ago, but we’re doing it out of the shotgun,” Braves coach Reed May said. “We do a lot of shifting, a lot of motion, things like we used to do 15 years ago. From that respect, it’s nice to get back to our roots, but its’ a work in progress. I’ll watch film and see what we did right and what we did wrong.
“We executed OK. I thought we got better as the game progressed. (Kyle) Kramer did well.”
Kramer, a sophomore making his varsity debut as quarterback, completed 9 of 12 passes for 158 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions
“I was pretty nervous before the game since this was by first varsity start at quarterback,” Kramer said. “I wasn’t as nervous once I started getting out there. I started getting my confidence up and I wasn’t as nervous.”
The Rams received the opening kickoff and took a 7-0 lead on a 34-yard run by Garrett Tolen.
The Braves came right back and scored on an 8-yard run by Devin Stuckwisch and took the lead on an 88-yard gallop by John McKinney.
Kramer threw two interceptions in the second quarter and both were returned by Tolen for touchdowns on 85- and 50-yard returns.
Ryan Benter scored on a 40-yards run with 1:38 left in the second period to put the Braves on top 30-19 at the half.
Kramer said that on the first interception there was a missed blocking assignment on the line and he was pressured and threw the ball before he wanted to.
The quarterback ran three yards for a score while also intercepting a pass on defense and returning it 32 yards in the third period for another score.
“Our offense wasn’t bad for the first game,” Kramer said. “It was a little rough at first but I felt like we got into it.”
Bane topped the Braves in receiving with three catches for 116 yards and two scores.
Stuckwisch led the Braves defense with two solos tackle and five assists. He also rushed four times for 17 yards.
After Paoli’s opening drive, the Rams didn’t gain another first down until late in the second quarter, and they didn’t complete a pass until late in the third quarter.
“They came out with a different kind of look that we weren’t expecting, a different play that we hadn’t gone over in practice this week,” Stuckwisch said. “I paid attention to my keys and read a lot of blitzes to try to get to the quarterback, and it worked out. I thought our defense did really well.”