The Crawfordsville football team entered Friday’s conference matchup against Western Boone 2-0 for the first time since 2014. With the Stars bringing in an undefeated record of their own, one team was left destined to lose their perfect record. And when the clock struck zero, Western Boone (3-0, 1-0 SAC) remained unbeaten and took the contest in dominating fashion, shutting out Crawfordsville (2-1, 0-1 SAC) 49-0.
While the Stars entered Friday averaging 39.5 points per game and 416.5 yards, the opening quarter was not pretty for the Stars offensively. After an opening-drive touchdown courtesy of a Trevor Weakley run, both teams went back-and-forth for much of the first quarter. Crawfordsville struggled on offense as well, but the Athenian defense stood tall throughout the opening period against the Stars. Crawfordsville held its own on a fourth down attempt with just over six minutes remaining and forced a three-and-out on Western Boone’s next drive. At the end of one, Western Boone held a tight 7-0 lead over Crawfordsville.
In the second quarter, the Stars’ offense woke up. A 5-yard Rowen Turbin run in the opening minutes pushed the score to 14-0. Moments later, Weakley’s second touchdown of the evening gave Western Boone a 21-0 lead. And just before half time, another touchdown gave the Stars a big 28-0 lead over the Athenians courtesy of 27-yard touchdown completion from Weakley to Ethan Bayles. Crawfordsville continued to be stout defensively. The Athenians made multiple big tackles up front, and forced Western Boone into multiple third-down situations. But on offense, Crawfordsville could not get any momentum. The Athenian offense struggled to win the battle at the line of scrimmage. Senior quarterback AJ Hall was rushed and hit multiple times, while running backs Zack Bowman and Ezekiel Cardenas could not find open running lanes.
Much of the same story continued in the second half. Crawfordsville began the third quarter with a punt, and Western Boone marched down the field to score once more, with Turbin throwing his second touchdown to Ryan Taylor. Stars’ kicker Philip Talbott put the extra point through, extending the lead by 35. The scoring did not stop there. Western Boone added two more touchdowns before the night was done, giving the Stars a 49-0 victory to open their conference slate. The Athenians produced just two first downs in the game, both of which came in the second half. Cardenas had multiple solid carries for Crawfordsville, and junior wide-out Ashton Wilson flashed his speed on a bubble screen pass from Hall, resulting in a first down. While the score did not reflect the fight the Athenians gave, Crawfordsville continues to improve.
“I think Crawfordsville’s getting better,” Western Boone Head Coach Justin Pelley said. “They have some pieces there, and you can tell they have some confidence right now. [...] It was a tough first half, they were stacking the box and making it hard on our kids up the middle.”
“Western Boone has built themselves into one of the best programs in the state,” Crawfordsville’s Head Coach Brad Clark said. “I think that’s where every program wants to be, and that’s where we’re trying to get to. We’re starting to see some success down in our youth leagues and at our middle school, so hopefully we can sustain that, carry it through, and a little bit from now have that pay off in the long run.”
After three-straight state championship titles, Western Boone still has yet to win the conference in that stretch. But Pelley retained a week-to-week focus, with the Stars taking on Tri-West next week: “We haven’t won the conference in several years, but I’m not even looking at that,” he said. “We’ve got Tri-West next week. [...] We’re just trying to get better. We’re going to play our brand of football, and our brand of football is a pretty good brand of football when we play how we’re capable.”
Clark laid out some closing comments of his own: “I think our kids are tough,” he said. “We talk about adversity quite a bit. This is one of those things, it’s like a life lesson. Things don’t always go your way but how you respond and how you bounce back says a lot about your character.”
Western Boone looks to continue its unbeaten start at Tri-West (2-1, 1-0 SAC) next Friday, while Crawfordsville looks to bounce back on the road at Danville (1-2, 1-0 SAC).
