FOOTBAL: Athenians fall to Tiger Cubs in opener

Noah Allen carries the ball for the Athenians.

Crawfordsville's Andrew Martin snags a pass. The junior caught the Athenian's lone score on the night.

Cale McCarty tosses Greencastles Jake Overstreet to the ground.

Posted Friday, August 23, 2019 8:05 pm

Jared McMurry | jmcmurry@jrpress.com

Crawfordsville’s home opener was spoiled by Greencastle in a 34-6 Tiger Cubs win on Friday night to kick off the 2019 season.

Greencastle took advantage of a short field midway through the first quarter and took a 7-0 lead on Brayden Baxter’s 26-yard strike to Connor George. The Tiger Cub’s (1-0) defense also did their job in the first half, forcing the Athenians into punting situations on all four of their first half drives.

Crawfordsville pieced plays together on the defensive side, but Greencastle continued to find holes, pushing the lead to 14-0 at halftime on another touchdown pass from Baxter to Logan Carrington. A rushing touchdown from Michael LeBlanc and another from Baxter broke things open for the Tiger Cubs, building a 27-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t put enough pressure on them,” first-year Crawfordsville coach Kurt Schlicher said. “And they continued to put pressure on us, so I give them credit for that.”

Greencastle out-gained Crawfordsville (0-1) 403-202 in total yards from scrimmage.

“We are a little surprised of how balanced it was,” Greencastle coach Mike Meyer said. “We’ve been a little concerned with our running game, and our guys did a nice job, and we got some yards on the ground that we didn’t plan for.”

Senior Jake Overstreet led all rushers with 121 yards on 11 carries, while the Athenians only managed 104 total rushing yards.

Crawfordsville got on the board midway through the fourth quarter on a 34-yard pass from Cale McCarty to Andrew Martin.

Athenians Lack Consistency

Crawfordsville had spurts off offensive promise, picking up 12 first downs in the loss, and compiling seven plays of 10 yards or more, but never had a drive with more than two first downs.

“We’ve gotta be more consistent,” Schlicher said. “You know we had some good plays there. Individual plays, but we didn’t stack plays together. Offensively right now we are searching for our identity, and we’ve got to find one. To be successful you’ve got to have something you feel comfortable doing.”

McCarty completed 8-of-13 passes for 98 yards, and threw two interceptions to go along with his touchdown. Noah Allen was the leading Athenian rusher with 68 yards on 23 carries.

As Baxter Goes, So Do Tiger Cubs

Baxter, a senior, threw for more than a quarter of all his passing yards during his junior season on Friday night. Completing 17-of-26 passes for 245 yards, two touchdowns and a pick.

“I’m very very happy with him,” Meyer said. “We told him at the beginning of the season and the offseason that if we are going to be successful, it’s on his back, and coach Gibson and his staff have done a good job of getting the offense in for us, and he played very well today, so we are very happy.”

Baxter’s top target was Dakota Campbell. The senior wide-out caught eight balls for 128 yards.

The Little Things

In order for the Athenians to build off Friday’s defeat, Schlicher knows they must clean up the little things that end up costing the most. Crawfordsville had nine penalties for 60 yards, and lost the turnover battle 2-1.

“No one plays a perfect game,” he said. “But you want to play a game that doesn’t hurt yourself, and tonight I think we made some mistakes that probably hurt us.”

Greencastle 34, Crawfordsville 6

GC 7 7 13 7 — 34

CHS 0 0 0 6 — 6

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

GC: Connor George 26-yard pass from Brayden Baxter (Hector Lezama kick), 6:55

Second Quarter:

GC: Logan Carrington 27-yard pass from Baxter (Lezama kick), 4:56

Third Quarter:

GC: Michael LeBlanc 6-yard run (Lezama kick), 2:07

Fourth Quarter:

GC: Baxter 5-yard rush (Kick failed), 10:05