Sectional Survival: Brownstown Central staves off Heritage Hills to advance

BROWNSTOWN

Defensively, two evenly matched teams went toe-to-toe on Friday night at Blevins Memorial Stadium in the first round of the Class 3A Sectional 23.

In the first half, both teams made field goals to force a 3-3 score at halftime.

Over the final 24 minutes, though, Brownstown Central outscored Heritage Hills 24-21 to claim the 27-24 win and advance to the second round of sectional action.

“They are a great football team with a great tradition,” Braves coach Reed May said. “I thought our kids showed a lot of heart when (the Patriots) got up 3-0, and we were not slowing them down at all. Our kids then sucked it up defensively.

“The first half was a defensive battle, but offensively, we figured out what we could do, and we thought we could do some things against them, and the coaches did a good job of giving me ideas at halftime. It was a gut check, but our kids got the win.”

Nick Stahl kicked a 38-yard field goal with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter to give the Braves a 6-3 lead.

After each team had to punt on their next possession, the Patriots were just shy of midfield when quarterback Logan Wilkerson was rushed by the Braves’ Jacob Jackson, which caused him to throw an interception. Dylan Patman picked it off and ran 61 yards for the touchdown as time expired in the third quarter for a 13-3 lead.

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