HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Athenians fall to Tiger Cubs

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Greencastle’s Keifer Wilson was tough to stop on Friday night.

The senior quarterback ran for 207 yards on 26 carries as the Tiger Cubs erased an early 6-0 deficit to down Crawfordsville 26-6 in the 2021 football season opener.

Wilson’s career game didn’t come easy though. The Athenian defense was tough to crack for most of the first half.

Greencastle’s first three possessions started inside Crawfordsville territory, and the Athenians held them out of the endzone each time — including a fumble recovery at the 1-yard line.

“Our defense I thought really hung in there all night,” Crawfordsville coach Kurt Schlicher said. “We knew they were a big physical team up front and they proved to be that and I thought our kids did a great job. I’m really proud of our defense and that’s a real bright spot.

“Really an amazing job by coach Clark, and coach Ryker and coach Whitecotton also big contributions there.”

Crawfordsville used the defensive stops for offensive momentum — marching 83 yards after forcing the Tiger Cubs to turn the ball over on downs. Zeke Cardenas capped the drive with a 39-yard touchdown run to put the Athenians ahead 6-0 with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

And then Wilson got steamrolling and Crawfordsville had no answer.

The senior first converted a 15-yard touchdown run with 10:06 left in the second quarter, before adding a touchdown run just before half to put the Tiger Cubs ahead 17-6 and another midway through the third quarter.

Greencastle added six more points on a pair of field goals from the foot of Ian Williamson.

The Tiger Cubs out-gained Crawfordsville 354-127 as the Athenians were limited to 41 yards in the second half.

“We just had a couple of big plays on offense, but we didn’t sustain any drives all night,” Schlicher added.

Crawfordsville had a balanced attack offensively. Kaiden Underwood threw for 52 yards, while the Athenian running game accounted for 75 yards on 18 carries, led by Cardenas 43 yards.

“We have to stick to it more, and just watching here tonight, I think we can be better at it then we were tonight and we have to commit to it even more in practice,” Schlicher said. “We are asking our running backs to do a lot and Zeke Cardenas and Kaigen Fields and Alex Hernandez — Nick Busenbark and Brennden Busenbark those kids are giving every ounce of energy that they have on the field.”

Overall Schlicher felt like the Athenians competed and had a look of belief in their eyes.

“I thought our kids really competed well,” he said. “And you felt like at halftime that these kids have a drive to want to succeed. The mentality is strong still.”

Crawfordsville is at West Vigo next week, while Greencastle is at Northview.


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