BROWNSTOWN
The Transitive Law still exists, it just wasn’t enforced during Brownstown Central’s overwhelming 52-14 victory against Silver Creek on Friday night.
To review, earlier this season, Silver Creek beat Seymour by 13, then Seymour beat Brownstown by two, promising, under the Transitive Law, a Silver Creek win or at least a close game versus the Braves.
Instead, Brownstown (7-1) went on a first-half scoring binge while Silver Creek (4-4) was dominated by Brownstown’s defense.
The Braves held a 45-0 lead at halftime and played the second half under a running clock.
“I was really surprised,” Brownstown head coach Reed May said. “If someone had told me we would be up by 45 at half, I would have been shocked. We thought we’d have trouble with their defense. But, we had a decent week of practice and the kids played well tonight.”
Aiding Brownstown’s cause was the absence of Silver Creek’s top player, running back Jacob Garrett. Helping Brownstown Central even more, however, was the presence of its top running back, senior Gavin Bane.
Bane produced another strong performance for the Braves, rushing for 214 yard and scoring four touchdowns — all in the first half.
The 24 points boosted Bane’s season total to 154 points, just 23 points shy of Clayton Beard’s single-season school record of 179, set in 2001.
“Since junior year, I’ve wanted to break either the touchdown record or the scoring record,” Bane said. “Either would be great.”
Bane’s first two touches resulted in scoring runs of 41 and 79 yards. He added two more TD runs of 19 and 12 yards, helping Brownstown amass its first-half lead.
“I feel like every time I get the ball, the line is going to do its job and all I have to do is make one move,” Bane said. “The line has been doing a great job.”
Paced by Bane, the Braves scored on their first six possessions. Kyle Kramer and Derek Rieckers added touchdowns runs in the first half.
Lance Goecker, emblematic of Brownstown’s strong defensive effort, provided the Braves’ last touchdown by recovering a Silver Creek fumble and returning it 45 yards for a TD and a 52-0 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Goecker’s was just one of many big plays by the defense. After forcing punts on Silver Creek’s first three possessions, Rieckers ended the fourth with an interception that he returned 37 yards to the Dragons’ 23 yard line.
Andrew Murphy took over after Rieckers, first forcing and recovering an SC fumble at midfield and then intercepting a Dragon pass that he returned 45 yards to Silver Creek’s 13.
Friday’s victory improved Brownstown’s record in the Mid-Southern Conference to 6-0, clinching at least a share of the conference title.
Brownstown concludes its regular season at Corydon Central next Friday.