BROWNSTOWN — Friday’s Class 2A Sectional 31 football championship matchup is a rematch from last year.

Last year saw Brownstown Central defeat Paoli 28-21 at Blevins Stadium, and this year the action shifts to Paoli’s Cook Field.

The Braves are playing in the sectional championship game for the 11th straight year, and it’s the 14th time playing in the game in coach Reed May’s 17 years.

“We’re very proud of that,” May said. “Eleven years in a row, that’s quite an achievement for our program. Obviously, we don’t want to stop there. We’d like to win the game Friday.”

The Braves enter the game with an 8-3 record, while Paoli is perfect through 11 games. After last year’s game, May expected Paoli to be the favorite this year because of the Rams practically having the same team returning.

“There are just so many similarities between last year and this year,” May said. “Last year, we had the tough draw, and I think this year they had the tough draw. Last year we were an experienced team. This year they are the experienced team. Last year we played at home. This year they’re playing at home.”

May said his team will have to bring its A-game.

“(The Rams) are averaging 41 points a game and averaging giving up 5,” May said. “They’ve done well on both sides of the ball, plus special teams. Anytime you have a big game, it’s going to come down to special teams, come down to who doesn’t turn the ball over and come down to four or five big plays.

“I tell our kids that all the time, you don’t know when the four or five big plays are going to happen, so you need to be 100 percent all the game.”

The Braves are zeroed in on Paoli quarterback Logan Laswell, who last year rushed for more than 200 yards against the Braves.

“Their quarterback is a heck of an athlete,” May said. “He’s going to carry the ball 15, 20 times a game on their option plays, and he hurt us last year. We’ve got to have a better scheme to try and slow him down a little bit anyway.”

The Braves have had to overcome several obstacles this year, including suspensions, injuries, illness, a death close to the team and three losses.

“It’s kind of unusual for our team to lose three football games, and I think everything compounded, it’s been a long year,” May said. “If you win the sectional championship, the three losses really don’t matter a whole heck of a lot. I think just getting here is a great achievement, but obviously winning it is a better achievement.

“To get to the sectional championship, there are a lot of schools that have never been to the sectional championship game. I told the kids to enjoy it. This is a week that you need to enjoy the whole experience.”

Last week

After Lawrenceburg’s early score last Friday, the Braves were able to shut them down the rest of the way for a 14-7 win.

Once the Braves regrouped from giving up the 57-yard kickoff return and 19-yard score, May said, “I thought we played outstanding defense. Offensively, we were able to move the ball quite a bit and were able to control the ball.”

The Braves ran 63 offensive plays to the Tigers’ 29. Overall, May said it was a good team win.

“Coach (Dan) Schwartz did a great job calling the defense,” May said. “Offensively, by controlling the ball, they were not able to get anything started, so it was a team effort. I thought our special teams played better finally, except for the opening kickoff return.”

Seniors’ thoughts on semifinals, finals

Senior quarterback Ryan Shoemaker threw the ball well in Friday’s sectional semifinal game, despite the steady rain.

“I felt pretty comfortable, and the big play to (Michael) Leitzman really helped out and really opened things up,” Shoemaker said. “We’ve got a nice balance running the ball and throwing the ball here in the tournament.”

That, he said, will have to carry into the finals game.

“I think once you get so far in the tournament, you’re going to play better teams every week and you have to be able to throw the ball and have good balance running the ball,” Shoemaker said. “(The Rams) are a really good football team. They score a lot of points. They play really good defense. I think we’re going to have to be able to move the ball and slow them down and give ourselves a chance to win at the end of the game.”

Leitzman, who scored on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Shoemaker, thought Lawrenceburg had a good game plan last week, but he said the Braves executed.

“The weather kind of slowed both teams down offensively, but it was good to win the game,” Leitzman said. “I just think we did a good job of reading our keys on defense and we flew around a lot.”

He expects the sectional finals game to be different.

“It’s going to be a big atmosphere down there,” Leitzman said. “They’ll be pumped up with it being a rematch of last year’s game. They’ve shown that they can pass the ball, too, so they might pass a lot more and they’ve got really good athletes. We’ve got to not turn the ball over, we’ve got to really make our reads on defense and take care of the ball.”

Andrew Allman made two big stops in the fourth quarter of last week’s game, including one on the Tigers’ last possession.

“I think it was really important stopping them right there at the end, not letting any big plays happen,” Allman said. “I thought our defense stepped up really good in that game, and we would just like that to carry over to this week.

“We’re definitely going to have to move the ball really good, and our defensive backs are going to have to do a better job of covering their receivers and knocking down passes. (The Rams) think they are going to state, so it would be nice to get an upset on them. We’re all going to have to play the best that we can, and we’re going to have to have the best game we can play.”

Running back Kaeler Persinger felt once the Braves overcame the kickoff return, they were in control, and this week, he said, “Defensively, we will have to play good and do all of our assignments and not mess up, and stop their running game.”

Guard and tackle Logan Mills said the Tigers had size, while the Rams have quickness.

“I don’t think Paoli is as big, but they are faster and we’re going to have to slow them down,” Mills said, “just shutting down the dive option with the fullback and quarterback and really reading our keys on defense and moving the ball offensively and scoring points.”

All of the seniors are excited about being in the sectional finals, but they realize this is a new year.

“We were there last year, but that was last year and this is this year,” Mills said. “If you’re going to win, you’ve got to prove to yourself that you’re the better team.”

Special awards

Coaches’ special awards from Lawrenceburg game: Kelley Wagner, offensive back most valuable player; Scott Baker, offensive line MVP; Caleb Silvers, defensive line/inside linebacker MVP; Kaeler Persinger, defensive back/dime MVP; Spencer Allman, special teams MVP; Skyler Sitterding, scout team MVP; Persinger, Wagner, Silvers, Justin Lane, black jersey winners.

BROWNSTOWN — Lawrenceburg controlled the first 17 seconds of Friday night’s Class 2A Sectional 31 semifinal. Brownstown Central’s football team dominated the next 47:43.

Stung by a 57-yard opening kickoff return and a 19-yard touchdown run by Lawrenceburg in the game’s opening moments, the Braves (8-3) bounced back to limit the Tigers to zero points and just 73 yards of total offense the rest of the contest.

Brownstown’s offense, meanwhile, scored just enough to claim a rain-soaked 14-7 victory.

“On the opening kickoff, we didn’t do too well and after the touchdown we were concerned with our game plan,” Braves head coach Reed May said. “But then we had a shutout the rest of the game. Our defense played very well.”

Friday’s victory sends Brownstown to the sectional finals for the 11th straight year. The Braves will travel to face a perfect Paoli (11-0) squad next Friday. The Rams defeated Providence 8-7 in Friday’s other Sectional 31 semifinal.

“We feel we’ve got a great tradition here, and to be in 11 straight sectional finals is a great achievement,” May said. “This part of the season is what’s important. We told the kids, ‘We’ve lost three games this season, but people will remember what you do from here.’”

Brownstown has beaten Paoli in the postseason the last two years, including a 28-21 win over the Rams in the sectional final last season.

To earn a matchup with Paoli this year, the Braves employed a defensive game plan that called for loading up the box, sometimes with all 11 defenders, in hopes of stopping Lawrenceburg’s running game. Besides Travis Hawkins’ TD run with 11:43 to go in the first quarter, the plan worked beautifully.

For the game, Lawrenceburg (4-7) managed just 67 rushing yards on 26 attempts. The Tigers had seven possessions during the game, none of which traveled more than 23 yards or lasted longer than seven plays.

“That’s astounding,” Brownstown senior linebacker Kelley Wagner said after hearing the statistics. “(Lawrenceburg) comes out and pounds it. To hold them (under 100 yards) is amazing. Coach May and coach (Dan) Schwartz had a great game plan. They were with us linebackers all week.”

Wagner made his return to the field after a five-game absence because of a knee injury.

Besides recording six tackles, including two for loss, Wagner picked up where he left off as the Braves’ fullback, running for 118 yards on 26 carries.

Contrasted with Lawrenceburg’s stalled running game, Wagner and Brownstown’s running backs were able to navigate a marshy field for 199 yards on 52 attempts.

The ability to run the ball gave the Braves nearly absolute control of the game. Brownstown finished with a 63-29 advantage in the number of offensive plays and twice as much time of possession as Lawrenceburg (32:06 to 15:54).

“Offensively, we moved the ball well, we just couldn’t punch it in,” May said. “Having (Wagner) back gives us a bruising fullback. He gives us another weapon.”

For the second straight week, the Braves’ passing game also shined. With 2:57 left in the first quarter, quarterback Ryan Shoemaker hit a wide-open Michael Leitzman on a 71-yard touchdown pass. Leitzman caught Shoemaker’s pass on the Lawrenceburg 45 and sprinted untouched the rest of the way.

“It wasn’t the prettiest pass, but it got the job done,” Shoemaker said of his TD throw. “I tried to look the safety off. (Leitzman) made a nice catch and outran everyone. Despite the rain, I felt confident throwing the ball tonight.”

In last week’s sectional opener against Mitchell, Shoemaker had a 65-yard TD pass to Braden Scarlett. Shoemaker ended Friday’s game with 112 yards on 7-for-10 passing, all in the first half.

Leitzman’s TD catch got Brownstown to within a point of Lawrenceburg, 7-6. With the defense dominating, the Braves needed just one more score to extend their control to the scoreboard.

That score came on a nine-yard touchdown run by Scarlett with 9:34 to go in the second quarter. Kaeler Persinger secured the two-point conversion, giving BC a 14-7 lead.

Brownstown’s offense never let up, but was undone by untimely penalties that prevented more scoring.

Just before halftime, a Caleb Silvers run to the Lawrenceburg 3-yard line was called back by a holding penalty. Later, deep in the fourth quarter, a Jordan Turpin run to the Tiger 5-yard line also was nullified by a holding call. Both drives stalled without a scoring opportunity.

“The one that hurt was right before halftime,” May said. “It would have been nice to score.”

Nice, but not necessary, thanks to the defense.

Linebacker Andrew Allman produced two of the game’s top defensive plays.

Allman’s first big play came early in the fourth quarter when he forced Lawrenceburg quarterback Luke Brookbank to fumble at the Brownstown 30-yard line. Spencer Allman recovered the fumble, killing the Tigers’ last serious drive and effectively sealing the victory.

Andrew Allman’s second key play was a sack that resulted in a 12-yard loss on the Tigers’ last possession

BROWNSTOWN — Win and move on.

When it comes to postseason tournament play in any high school sport, that’s what it comes down to.

Brownstown Central head football coach Reed May knows plenty about that, and he and the 7-3 Braves have been working this week to prepare for Friday’s sectional semifinal game at home with 4-6 Lawrenceburg.

The Braves got to this week by defeating Mitchell 55-24 Friday at Blevins Stadium, while the Tigers routed Eastern (Pekin) 30-6.

This Friday

In the teams’ last meeting, during sectional in 2005, the game was in the Braves’ hands, leading 24-0 in the fourth quarter.

But in the final six minutes, Lawrenceburg rallied to tie the game and forced overtime. The Tigers ended up taking the 30-24 win, giving them a 1-3 series advantage.

Lawrenceburg is 4-6, but six of their 10 games have been against Class 3A and 4A schools and they’ve played several ranked teams.

“They’ve lost to some good people,” May said. “I think they are the smallest school in their conference, so they are always a hard-nosed, tough team to play, and when we got the draw, everybody said we got a good draw. But Lawrenceburg, they are a tough draw.

“They’ve beat us twice on our field for a sectional championship, so it will be a game that we need to be well-prepared for or next Monday we’ll be turning in our gear.”

Offensively, May said, the Braves need to be able to move the ball. He said Lawrenceburg runs a 4-4 defense.

“They do it well, and they fly around to the ball,” he said. “Their defensive tackles are 305 and 350, so we’ve got to find something that works well for us offensively.”

Looking out for the Tigers’ formation on offense will be key, too.

“It’s one of those teams that’s going to pound, pound, pound, and all of a sudden play-action pass that could be a big play against you,” he said. “They’re definitely an interesting matchup team for us, and it’s definitely different than the last two games. Mitchell and West Washington kind of spread you all over the field, where these guys, they’re going to bunch you up and pound you.”

May said the Tigers’ offensive line averages around 250-260 pounds.

“We’re going to have to be able to slow them down,” he said. “If not, they’re going to control the ball, control the clock and everything else. We’ve got to do a good job playing our defensive responsibilities, and then when we do have the ball, we’ve got to make sure we put points on the board.”

Of course, the third aspect of the game, special teams, is just as important, May said.

“Anytime you get to tournament, I always tell kids there are probably four or five plays that are going to happen during the game that are going to decide the outcome of the game,” he said. “The thing is, you don’t know when these things are going to happen, so you can’t take a play off. There are 160 teams left in the field, and we’d like to be one of the 80 to advance after this weekend.”

Seniors weigh in on this week’s game

Braves center Matt McClintock felt like the Braves won all three aspects of the game last week, and that has to happen again this week.

“We need to keep the offensive line going and make sure they make blocks, keep the defense enthusiastic and make sure they fly around the whole time and special teams fly around and make tackles,” McClintock said.

Left tackle Justin Lane understands the Tigers’ presence up front.

“They are big and strong up front,” he said. “We need to play them low on offense and make sure we keep on our blocks.”

Fullback Kelley Wagner is returning to the lineup for the first time since suffering an injury early in the Sept. 18 game at North Harrison. He said he’s ready to go.

“I probably felt ready for one or two weeks now, it’s just doctor’s precautions,” he said. “It’ll be good to get back in pads and get back out there with the team and help contribute to a win, hopefully.”

After several weeks focusing on offense in practice, Wagner feels defense will be key this week, given the Tigers’ offensive formation.

“They know how to play the big games,” Wagner said of the Tigers. “We’re just going to have to play Brownstown football, be on our assignment, be enthusiastic, always fly around. We can’t take a play off.”

Running back Caleb Silvers agreed.

“Just think, we could only have three practices left and our whole high school career is over,” he said Tuesday. “That just puts it in a different perspective. We have to go out there and leave it all on the field.”

Last Friday

The Braves scored a season-high 55 points to roll away with a first-round victory against Mitchell.

May, however, said both teams had come a long way since their first meeting on Aug. 21.

“They were a much-improved football team, and we also had the four guys that were suspended back and we had Kelley hurt and he played real well against them the first game,” May said. “It was a game that I think we both made a lot of strides from the first game to this game, and fortunately we’re the ones moving on.”

This time around, the Bluejackets made a defensive switch during the game, but the Braves responded to the change.

“They changed to something we had not seen on film, so we had to make some adjustments, and I thought the kids did a great job at halftime adjusting to what they were doing,” May said. “We felt like going into the game that we should win the football game and needed to come out and play like we did to win it.”

For the first time in a few weeks, quarterback Ryan Shoemaker had decent weather in which to throw the ball.

“That was encouraging,” May said. “We had around 160-some yards passing. Mitchell basically came in and lined up like they were going to challenge our run, making us throw the ball, and I thought Ryan did a nice job throwing the ball, I thought the receivers did a nice job and to do well in the tournament you’re going to have to throw the ball some, so that was pleasing.”

Special awards

Coaches’ awards for sectional game against Mitchell: Ryan Shoemaker, offensive back most valuable player; Logan Mills, offensive line MVP; Casey Bowling, defensive line/inside linebacker MVP; Michael Leitzman, defensive back/dime MVP; Spencer Allman, special teams MVP; Evan Eggersman, scout team MVP; Mills, Justin Lane, Andrew Allman, David Baker, Matt McClintock, black jersey winners.

BROWNSTOWN — A funny thing happened to Brownstown Central’s football team on the way to a comfortable win Friday night.

Leading by 21 points with three minutes left in the game, the Braves were left scrambling after visiting West Washington scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick and then score another TD in a 90-second span to pull to within 28-21 with 1:29 remaining.

Aided by the efforts of senior Caleb Silvers, however, BC was able to right itself and pull away to a 35-21 victory.

“I honestly don’t know what happened,” BC head coach Reed May said of his team’s fourth-quarter slide. “All of a sudden, it was a dogfight. West Washington is a good team. If you let a good team hang around, you have a chance to lose the game. You have to give West Washington credit.”

Despite the late-game scare, Friday’s win improved Brownstown’s season record to 6-3 and gives the Braves a three-game win streak heading into next Friday’s sectional opener with Mitchell (3-6).

Brownstown may have been thinking about the sectional a little too soon, judging by Friday’s second half. The Braves manhandled West Washington (5-4) defensively in the first half while building a 14-0 lead.

BC eventually grew its lead to 28-7 in the third quarter and maintained that margin until an 11-yard Kendal Rosenbaum-to-Taylor Proffit touchdown pass with 2:55 to go cut the lead to 28-14.

West Washington then recovered the ensuing onside kick and took over at the 50-yard line. Five plays later, Rosenbaum connected with Proffitt once again, this time from 39 yards out, to shrink BC’s lead to 28-21.

The Senators attempted another onside kick, but this time BC’s Silvers secured the ball. Silvers then sealed the victory on the next snap when he galloped 67 yards down the left sidelines for a TD that gave the Braves a 35-21 lead with 1:17 left in the game.

“He’s a kid who loves to play the game,” May said of Silvers. “He’s a playmaker. He’s done a nice job for us since (Kelley) Wagner went out (with an injured knee).”

Silvers ended the game with three touchdowns and 174 yards on 18 carries.

Silvers' first touchdown—a 1-yard run—came in the first quarter and gave BC a 7-0 lead. Kaeler Persinger followed with a 3-yard scoring run in the second quarter to push the Braves in front 14-0.

Brownstown nearly had a three-touchdown lead when its final drive of the first half reached West Washington’s 4-yard line. Penalties pushed BC back to the 24-yard line, however, and Steffen Lewis’ attempted 41-yard field goal fell just short, leaving the Braves empty-handed on a solid opportunity.

Brownstown recovered on the first possession of the second half, moving the ball 61 yards on 13 plays over a 5:14 span to take a 21-0 lead on a Braden Scarlett TD run.

West Washington finally found the end zone with 4:40 left in the third quarter when Rosenbaum and Proffitt hooked up for the first of their three TD passes, cutting the lead to 21-7.

Brownstown responded immediately when Silvers broke through for a 37-yard touchdown run and a 28-7 lead with 2:14 left in the third period.

Though West Washington found its passing game in the second half, Brownstown thoroughly contained the Senators’ aerial attack in the first half. Rosenbaum completed none of his 10 first-half pass attempts.

Two of Rosenbaum’s first-half attempts were intercepted by BC senior Michael Leitzman, who nearly added a third pick in the second half. Kaeler Persinger added an interception in the second half. Wade Toppe, meanwhile, had four pass break-ups.

Leitzman, who had a two-interception game against Salem during his sophomore season, admitted that West Washington’s surge started to freak him out.

“(The comeback) kind of scared me a little,” Leitzman said. “They caught fire. We knew we had to get a recovery (on the final onside kick). When Silvers scored, that took a lot of pressure off.”

BROWNSTOWN — Matt McClintock gets the best of both worlds when it comes to football.

The Brownstown Central senior, like many on the team, serves dual roles. He’s a center on offense and tackle on defense.

But he had one reason for getting involved with football.

“I just wanted to hit people,” McClintock said. “I had fun hitting people.”

That began in his involvement with the 56ers program, where he played center and middle linebacker. In middle school, he played tackle and defensive tackle. This is his first season as center, but he’s remained a defensive tackle since his freshman year.

“Calling out the defense and how the defense is lined up, making calls to the guards,” McClintock said of his duties at center, which include working with the quarterback. “You have to both know how everybody lines up on the defense. We’ve got to communicate on that, and me getting snaps to him. If we don’t call out the right defense, we’re going to block it wrong, so if we mess that up, the play’s not going to work.”

He said he doesn’t mind filling that position on the field.

“I like being a leader,” he said. “I’ve wanted to be for a long time.”

On defense, he said, “At tackle, I make a lot of down blocks, reach a lot of people getting to the outside. Me and David Baker, he’s my guard, and we made a lot of double teams.”

Up to this year, McClintock said, he preferred offense to defense, but that’s changed.

“I’ve had a lot more fun on defense,” he said. “I’m bigger than I have been, and I like flying around and hitting people.”

Coach Reed May said McClintock has performed well at both capacities.

“Last year, he started as an offensive right tackle for us and did a great job for us to do as well as we did last year,” May said, as the Braves made a run to semistate.

As for the move to center this year, May said, “Chris Hinton graduated last year, so I wanted somebody bigger at center than what our backup was, so last winter, I said to Matt, ‘we’re going to move you to center,’ and he did a great job in the offseason preparing for it. He’s a smart kid, so he makes a lot of our line calls and so forth. He’s an intelligent lineman.”

McClintock said the game that will he will always remember is last year’s regional at Southridge.

“It was awesome, and playing that game was great with the mud,” he said. “Last year, we had a really good offensive line and had a really talented backfield, too, and solid defense.”

He feels the team is the same this year.

“We’ve gotten a lot more positive lately and really picked things up in practice a lot better,” he said.

McClintock said being a part of the football team has made a difference in his life.

“I think Coach May makes you a lot better person,” he said. “He really makes you into more of a man with what we do. If you’re going to do something, do it right and make sure you do it to your best potential.”

Brownstown Central vs. West Washington

Both teams enter Friday’s homecoming game with 5-3 records, and Brownstown has won two straight and West Washington has won three in a row.

“We played Seymour well in overtime, and we won two in a row against teams that we should have won,” May said. “Now, we’ve got a third game, so it would be nice to go into the tournament with a three-game winning streak.”

May said the Senators rely on running shotgun about 95 percent of the time.

“They like to throw the ball around, and they do have a fullback that’s a two-year starter at least, he runs the ball well,” May said. “Anytime a team spreads you out, you’re concerned about the pass, but you’ve still got to stop the run. It’s a lot different than what we’ve seen the last couple weeks, and it’s something else that we’ve got to prepare for, and we have a plan for them.”

He said the Senators also play a variety of defenses.

“Our offense is predicated on what the other team does defensively, so we have to make our calls, make adjustments, based on that,” he said.

Last week at Eastern (Pekin)

The Braves had a 21-0 lead on the Musketeers Friday when the rain began near the end of the first quarter, and they went on to win 31-6.

The victory gave the Braves a third-place finish in the Mid-Southern Conference, going 4-2.

“Starting off with two losses in the conference didn’t helps us, and we had a lot of reason for it, but we don’t believe in making excuses,” May said. “Ideally, you would like to finish better, but it’s over with now, so we move on.”

May was glad to see his team take care of business on Friday.

“It was one of those games that we were the favorite, and we wanted to go down there and take control of the game early, and we were able to do that,” he said. “We played well both offensively and defensively, and we got a win.”

Special awards

Coaches’ awards from Eastern game: Caleb Silvers, offensive back most valuable player; Matt McClintock, offensive line MVP; Casey Bowling, defensive line/inside linebacker MVP; Kaeler Persinger, defensive back/dime MVP; Jake Brown, special teams MVP; Skyler Sitterding, scout team MVP; David Baker, black jersey winner.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Brownstown Central football team will play in the comfort of Blevins Stadium when the Braves play host to Mitchell in the Class 2A Sectional 31.

BC defeated the Bluejackets 31-14 in week three.

Meanwhile, the Seymour football team will take a 2 hour, 40 minute drive to play Evansville Reitz in the Class 4A Sectional 16.

These pairings along with others among five classes were drawn on Tuesday night in Indianapolis. This is the 37th year for the Indiana High School Athletic Association football state tournament.

The first round begins on Oct. 23.

Sectional 31 also has Eastern (Pekin) at Lawrenceburg, Triton Central at Providence and Paoli at Clarksville. Paoli is the only ranked team, as they were No. 3 in Class 2A in Tuesday’s Associated Press poll.

The only other sectional team Brownstown faced during the season was Clarksville, and the Braves won that game 31-7.

Sectional 16 features four ranked teams in Jasper (No. 3), Evansville Reitz (No. 4), Boonville (No. 10) and Northview (No. 14).

Boonville will take on Owen Valley, Jasper will be at Northview and Evansville Central will be at Evansville Harrison.

Seymour didn’t play any of the sectional teams during the season.

Schedules

Class 4A Sectional 16
Game 1: Boonville at Owen Valley
Game 2: Jasper at Northview
Game 3: Seymour at Evansville Reitz
Game 4: Evansville Central at Evansville Harrison
Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6
Class 2A Sectional 31
Game 1: Eastern (Pekin) at Lawrenceburg
Game 2: Mitchell at Brownstown Central
Game 3: Triton Central at Providence
Game 4: Paoli at Clarksville
Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6

PEKIN — Brownstown Central’s football team had a simple plan for its game at Eastern (Pekin) on Friday night.

“We wanted to come down here, take care of business and get out of here,” BC head coach Reed May summarized.

The Braves (5-3) carried out that mission almost to perfection during a 31-6 win over the Musketeers (1-7).

Offensively, Brownstown scored on its first five possessions to build a 31-0 lead.

Defensively, the Braves dominated Eastern, stopping eight of its first 16 plays for zero or negative yardage. Through three quarters, BC limited Eastern to just 48 yards of total offense.

“We knew the weather was going to be terrible, so I was proud of how our kids took care of the elements,” May said. “We’re starting to get healthier. We’re getting wins and starting to get confidence.”

Because of incessant rain and worsening field conditions, both teams relied on their running games. Of the 90 plays run from the line of scrimmage, 88 were running plays.

Brownstown ran for 263 yards on 56 attempts, while Eastern managed just 106 yards on 32 rushes.

On the two passing plays, BC senior Caleb Silvers played a key role. Eastern attempted its one pass in the second quarter, which Silvers intercepted at the Braves’ 47.

Brownstown’s one pass play, meanwhile, was an option pass, which Silvers, from the fullback position, heaved 33 yards downfield to Wade Toppe. That play set up a 1-yard Ryan Shoemaker touchdown run that pushed BC ahead 17-0.

Silvers was a one-man wrecking crew, with game highs in rushing (95 yards on 18 carries) and passing yards (33) to go along with his interception and third-quarter touchdown run.

In the first half, Brownstown had the ball three times and scored on all three possessions.

On their first drive, Braden Scarlett covered the final 15 yards on three carries and ran in from nine yards to give BC a 7-0 lead with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

Steffen Lewis booted a 32-yard field goal with 8:51 to go in the first half to swell the lead to 10-0.

The Braves’ third score was Shoemaker’s run following Silvers’ pass, giving BC a 17-0 lead with 2:46 left in the first half.

Silvers’ third-quarter touchdown increased BC’s advantage to 24-0. Jordan Turpin scored Brownstown’s final touchdown with a 1-yard run with 10:14 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Braves’ defensive effort was highlighted by a Kaeler Persinger sack that dropped Eastern back 11 yards, and by two Nick Derringer fumble recoveries. Derringer has recovered three fumbles in the Braves’ last two games.

Brownstown closes out the regular season Friday at home against West Washington (5-3). It will be homecoming.

BROWNSTOWN — Logan Mills has an important role starting on the offensive and defensive line for the Brownstown Central football team.

Offensively, the senior is a left guard, and defensively, he’s a right tackle.

“I like them both,” Mills said. “On defense, it’s really as a team. It’s not just one person. It takes everybody to make a play.”

His responsibilities on the field include getting to his assigned gap on defense and making blocks on offense.

“It’s really important to make sure you pick up the defensive stunts on offense and just watch for the linebackers splitting and stuff,” he said. “I just work on it in practice and make sure I know my responsibilities.”

His football career began as a fifth-grader at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour. By his sophomore year at Brownstown Central, he was playing a varsity role.

Ever since then, coach Reed May said, Mills has been an asset.

“He’s a really hard-working kid,” May said of Mills. “He works extremely hard in the weight room, and he’s one of those kids, like Caleb Silvers, that likes to practice. He’s out there all the time flying around, and those are the kind of kids that make it contagious in practice so the other kids will practice hard.”

Being a part of the offensive line, Mills is expected to work with the other linemen and make the right move.

“The offensive line works together as a unit, and they’ve got a lot of calls they’ve got to make,” May said. “He’s got to work together with the tackle, and he’s also got to work with the center. The way our offense is designed, there is a lot of combination blocks with those guys, and he and (Matt) McClintock and David Baker play the interior three guys.
“In my mind, you’re only as good as your offensive and defensive line, and if they don’t do well, you’re not going to be a very good football team.”

May said Mills was moved from nose guard last year to tackle this year.

“He’s done a nice job there, and we really have some kids up front that can do a nice job for us,” May said. “We’re going to count on them to perform well the next few weeks for us to do well. He’s one of those kids that always plays consistent. He’s just a good football player, and we really count on him to do his assignment and do his job. He’s a student of the game, he watches film and he’s played well in all games.”

Mills started on the team that went to semistate last year.

“The whole run we made was exciting,” Mills said. “We just really came together as a team, and nobody really got onto anybody. We kept our head up and never had our heads down.”

As for goals this year, Mills said, “I hope we go as far as we can in the tournament and hopefully we get to go to Lucas Oil” where the state finals are played in Indianapolis.

Mills said there’s a sign of motivation in the team's locker room to reach that goal.

“We have a little thing in our locker room that says ‘the games in November are the games you remember,’” he said. “We just want to win once we get in the tournament. It’s like the start of a new season.”

Brownstown Central at Eastern (Pekin)

The Braves shut out the Musketeers 55-0 last season, and this fall, Eastern is struggling with a 1-6 record, with the sole win being the first game of the year against Crawford County.

“A lot of times, when you are playing a team that is struggling, you play down to their level instead of playing your level,” May said. “(Eastern) did play Salem a great game (last week) in the mud, and from my understanding, it’s going to be muddy again Friday night. The Salem game was 7-6 and (Eastern) had a chance to win the game at the end.
“If we go down there and not play the way we are capable of, we could be in for a hard-fought game. If we go down there and play the way we are capable of, I think things will be fine.”

Beyond beating Eastern, May said the team’s focus is on sectional.

“(The season) is winding down, so it could be three weeks and everybody puts their gear up, and that’s something none of us want,” he said. “But also, it could be eight weeks. You never know come tournament time what’s going to happen. Hopefully we get things where they need to be so we can have a long run this year.”

Last week vs. Clarksville

Brownstown improved its overall record to 4-3 and Mid-Southern Conference mark to 3-2 last week with a 31-7 win over Clarksville.

“Watching film, I think we did a little bit better than I thought,” May said. “We are just doing some little things that need to be straightened out. I know what’s in store for us come tournament time, and sometimes when we don’t do the little things correctly that frustrates me.
“We won, but it wasn’t the prettiest win, but I thought defensively we played real well. Under all the circumstances last week, I thought our kids did real well and came out and played the game the way they did.”

Several players also had to move to different positions, and May said they transitioned well.

“They played well, and we were able to handle the adversity we had last week and focus a little bit on the game,” he said.

Special awards

Coaches’ awards from Clarksville game: Jordan Turpin, offensive back most valuable player; Matt McClintock, offensive line MVP; Logan Mills, defensive line/inside linebacker MVP; Michael Leitzman, defensive back/dime MVP; Caleb Silvers, special teams MVP; Jalen Nierman, scout team MVP; Mills, Casey Bowling, David Baker, black jersey winners.

RAMSEY — Brownstown Central’s football team put together a workman-like effort during a 29-7 victory over North Harrison on Friday night.

The Braves (3-2) weren’t flashy or overwhelming, just solid as they claimed their second straight win after opening the season with an uncharacteristic 1-2 record.

“We played pretty well,” Brownstown head coach Reed May assessed. “It was one of those games where they’re (0-5), and we’re banged up and sick. We just wanted to come in and get a win.”

The Braves battled the effects of bumps, sprains and the flu all week. During Friday’s game, leading rusher Kelley Wagner exited the game with an injured right knee early in the second quarter.

BC’s injuries and illnesses didn’t help North Harrison, however. Brownstown scored in each of the four quarters and built a 29-0 lead while the Braves’ defense shut out the Cougars during the game’s first 46 minutes.

Brownstown has outscored its opponents 74-13 over the last two weeks. If they can recuperate over the next week, the Braves appear to be about as ready as they can be heading into next week’s game with county rival Seymour.

“I know Seymour (0-5) is struggling, but you have to consider the teams they’re playing,” May said, referring to the Owls’ brutal early season schedule. “For us, we like this game because we treat it like the tournament. It gives us a chance to get accustomed to a tournament-like atmosphere.”

The atmosphere at North Harrison was more subdued as Brownstown took early control of the game. Senior Caleb Silvers got the Braves started when he capped a 78-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes left in the first quarter.

Quarterback Ryan Shoemaker then showed off his arm with a well-thrown 43-yard TD pass to sophomore Wade Toppe, who was a step behind the defense along the left sideline. Toppe’s grab gave BC a 14-0 lead with 9:32 left in the first half.

Shoemaker nearly added a second long TD pass when his 45-yard throw just eluded the grasp of a wide-open Braden Scarlett. Shoemaker finished with 62 yards on 5-for-9 passing.

Silvers added a second touchdown in the third quarter, this time from a yard out, to swell BC’s lead to 21-0. Jordan Turpin closed out the Braves’ scoring with a 2-yard TD run 9 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Braves stopped North Harrison’s first nine possessions. Three of the Cougars’ drives ended in turnovers – Kaeler Persinger and Andrew Allman had fumble recoveries, while Toppe had an interception.

North Harrison’s lone score came on a 95-yard TD pass from quarterback Matt Bruderle to receiver Michael Cox, who caught the ball at the 35 and outraced four BC defenders over the final 65 yards.

Despite missing nearly three quarters of the game, Wagner was BC’s leading rusher with 71 yards on six carries. Dakota Holman followed with 55 yards on 11 attempts.

BROWNSTOWN — Without a doubt, the highlight of Kaeler Persinger’s football career at Brownstown Central was his interception during last fall’s home game with Seymour.

That play led to a Braves touchdown near the end of the game, and Brownstown went on to defeat its Jackson County foe 31-27 for the first time in the teams’ eight meetings.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it,” the Braves senior said. “I just broke on it, and afterward, I was like, ‘wow, it was pretty amazing.’”

The Braves reached the semistate game last year, but ended up losing to Heritage Christian. It was still a good experience for Persinger.

“The whole team was pumped up and the whole town was pumped up about it that we were good enough to make a run for the state title,” he said. “All of the fans being there, it was just awesome. Hopefully, we’ll make another run toward state.”

This fall, Persinger has switched roles, as he’s an outside linebacker and slot. During his sophomore season, Persinger was a receiver, and he moved to slot and wideout his junior year. On defense, he played corner his first three years but moved to dime this year.

“At slot, I block and make holes for my teammates and pick up as many yards as I can,” Persinger said. “At dime, I make sure (the opponent) doesn’t get any big plays and make as many tackles as I can.”

When it comes to playing offense or defense, he doesn’t have a preference.

“I like both of them pretty evenly, and you can make big plays on both sides of the ball,” he said. “They are both key parts. It’s just making sure all of the underclassmen know what they are doing, and prove that you have to go hard all the time and do the right things.”

Coach Reed May said Persinger has adapted well to different positions.

“He’s one of our better athletes on the team, so we put him at an outside linebacker and a slot this year,” May said. “I think he was a little hesitant at first because usually the slots and outside linebackers catch a little grief from Coach May in practice a lot. I think he thought it would be a tough position, but he’s done a nice job at both.
“One thing about playing running back, if you haven’t done it all your life, it takes some time getting used to. Now, he runs hard in practice, but I think you just have to get a feel for it, and the more he plays there, the better he’s getting.”

May said Persinger’s work in practice has paid off.

“He’s one of those kids that goes 90 miles per hour all the time in practice,” he said. “He’s kind of a vocal kid, too. He gives us some flexibility where we can move him around to different positions on defense. He’s got real good hands and he runs real good routes, and he’s now coming into it where he’s starting to figure out how to run the ball. 
“I think a lot of it is just reps. We lost all of the backfield last year to graduation, so he’s one that had to step up and he’s starting to come into the zone, and I think by the end of the year he’ll be running the ball real well for us.”

Brownstown Central at North Harrison

Weather canceled last year’s game with North Harrison, and the teams last met on the field in 2007, when the Braves won 35-21.

This season, the Cougars are 0-4 and have been outscored 178-46.

“They are a team that’s definitely struggling, but right now I don’t think we can take anybody lightly,” May said. “Right now, we’ve got some health issues, a lot of kids sick, and it’s been a real interesting week of practice. We need to go down there and take care of business.”

This will be the fourth straight Mid-Southern Conference game for the Braves.

“I told the kids we had one good game now, let’s progress on it and get better,” he said. “Our focus this week is just getting better and taking it one day at a time. We didn’t do very well the first time we went on the road to Corydon (lost 17-10), so hopefully our kids will focus a little bit better when we go down there and play.”

Last week vs. Salem

Key to the Braves’ 45-6 win last Friday was having a full slate, as those players who had been out for disciplinary reasons returned.

“Obviously, getting everybody eligible finally, we showed the type of team we could have been,” May said. “What we’ll do from now on is going to determine what we do at tournament time, and it was definitely a big win for us.
“(The Lions) were coming in as one of the conference favorites, and we were able to play that way. We did change our defense to a 5-2 against them, and that worked real well. We took advantage of some things we thought we could against them offensively, and we were able to move the ball quite well.”

Quarterback Ryan Shoemaker threw 8-for-8, and the rest of the offense, defense and special teams were on target.

“We simplified quite a bit in the offense, we really didn’t run a lot of plays against (Salem) and we executed very well,” May said. “It looked like a Brownstown Central football team, and it actually looked like the type of team we had in the past, and it made me happy to see that finally.”

Special awards

Coaches’ special awards for Salem game: Kelley Wagner, offensive back MVP; Matt McClintock, offensive line MVP; Casey Bowling, defensive line/inside linebacker MVP; Caleb Silvers, defensive back/dime MVP; Steffen Lewis, special teams MVP; Evan Eggersman, scout team MVP; Silvers, McClintock, David Baker, Andrew Allman, black jersey winners.

BROWNSTOWN — Brownstown Central football players, coaches and fans are recalibrating their expectations following a feels-like-old-times victory over Salem on Friday night.

After suffering consecutive losses to Charlestown and Corydon Central the previous two weeks, the Braves (2-2) dominated their Mid-Southern Conference foe on both sides of the ball and eased to a 45-6 win.

“We saw a glimmer of hope tonight,” Brownstown head coach Reed May said. “It’s a new day and a new season. We played tonight like we’re capable of playing. If we can continue like this, we could salvage the season. Except for winning the conference, we can still achieve a lot of our goals.”

BC scored on its first four possessions to jump out to an early and insurmountable 24-0 lead. In the first quarter, the Braves outgained Salem (2-2) in total offensive yards by a 112-9 count while building a 14-0 lead.

Making the difference for the Braves was the return of seniors Casey Bowling, Matt McClintock and Logan Mills, who missed the first three games of the season for disciplinary reasons. The three make up BC’s defensive line, which frustrated Salem’s offense all night.

“Having them back helped us dominate the line of scrimmage,” May said.

With his defensive line back, May chose a different scheme to handle Salem’s running game. BC set aside its regular 3-5-3 defense, and installed a 5-2 front with a four-deep secondary.

The Braves executed the new defense flawlessly. Four of Salem’s 11 possessions went for negative yardage, while six generated 10 or fewer yards.

Brownstown punched through the Lions’ line for six tackles for losses of 26 yards. Bowling had three of those tackles for -8 yards while McClintock had one for -9 yards.

BC also forced four turnovers, with Spencer Allman, Dakota Holman and Jordan Turpin recovering fumbles and Jake Brown intercepting a Lions pass.

The Braves offense made good use of the tremendous field position secured by the defense. Of their seven scoring drives, just one went for more than 55 yards.

Senior Caleb Silvers capped BC’s first two possessions with touchdown runs of 2 yards and 1 yard, pushing the Braves in front 14-0 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

Steffen Lewis nailed a 21-yard field goal two minutes into the second quarter for a 17-0 lead. Kaeler Persinger then scored on a 1-yard run to give BC a 24-0 advantage with 5:50 left in the first half.

Salem’s lone TD came with two minutes left in the second quarter when quarterback Christian Chastain found receiver Coty Crady on a 16-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Braves’ lead to 24-6.

The second half belonged to Brownstown. Ryan Shoemaker connected with Allman on a fade to the left side of the end zone from 10 yards out with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

Four minutes later, Silvers added his third TD of the night on a 2-yard run that gave BC a 38-6 lead.

Senior Kelley Wagner closed out the Braves’ scoring when he ran in from 8 yards out with 6:14 left in the game.

Wagner led all rushers with 127 yards on 23 carries.

“This game boosts our confidence and gets us back to playing Brownstown football,” Wagner said. “The O-line blocked amazingly well. Defensively, everyone did their assignments. This is the most fun I’ve had as a senior. It’s still a long season, but if we start playing the way we should, I think we could be a contender (in the sectional).”

Persinger followed Wagner’s effort with 82 yards on 17 carries. Shoemaker was a perfect 8-for-8 passing for 72 yards.

BROWNSTOWN — Being a two-sport athlete at Brownstown Central has worked well for Andrew Allman.

“It’s been hard, a lot of late nights, especially when you’ve got a job, too,” the senior said.

When he’s not on the baseball or football field, he’s working at Rose Acre Farm’s soybean processing plant. Balancing it all can be tricky at times, but he’s right where he wants to be.

“As a kid, we always played football in the backyard, and as soon as I got a chance to play 56ers, I was on it real hard and I wanted to play,” Allman said. “All of my friends were playing and were having a good time and everything.”

In the 56ers program, Allman played fullback and linebacker, and in middle school, he served as a center and linebacker.

When he reached the high school level, he played center and linebacker for the junior varsity team before settling at the left guard and right linebacker positions.

“As a sophomore, I got my first chance at varsity, and once I got to be a junior, I got to start on defense,” he said.

Allman also is the team’s long snapper, and at last year’s regional game against Southridge, he played center because of Logan Mills being hurt.

“All of a sudden, he has to play center in that game, and he did a great job in the muddy conditions,” coach Reed May said of Allman.

While he’s had to play a variety of positions, Allman is most satisfied on defense.

“I love to hit people,” he said. “I like being able to use your hands to tackle people.”

Allman’s most memorable game was two years ago against Providence in the sectional.

“I played dime,” he said. “I hadn’t really started on defense before, and I finally got a chance to step up and play. I feel I did pretty good.”

For the remainder of the season, Allman will mainly focus on defense.

“I hope to set an example tackling, flying to the football, breaking down and making the tackle,” he said. “I’d like to lead the team in tackles, and I’d also like to see us win the sectional. That would be nice.”

To do that, he said, “We’re all going to have to have a lot of pride and a lot of heart to be able to win. We definitely have to be a lot more fired up about the games, especially from the start.”

Allman said football has made a big impact in his life.

“I believe playing football for Coach May has made me a better person,” Allman said. “He has been focusing a lot on developing character. I think a lot more people respect me now, especially since I play football.”

May said Allman has brought a lot to the team.

“He’s the baseball MVP (last spring), so he’s a good athlete both baseball- and football-wise,” May said. “He’s one of those kids that has been here all the time, and he’s played well for us. He’s not a real big kid, but he can fly around and does things well. Hopefully he’ll continue working this year and get better and better. He’s one of our seniors, and right now, I think it’s important all of our seniors step up.”

Brownstown Central vs. Salem

The Braves will be facing a Mid-Southern Conference opponent for the third straight week when they play host to Salem this week.

“I think they were one of the preseason favorites in the conference,” May said of the Lions. “They got out of gate pretty tough against a real good Paoli team (lost 23-0), but since that time they’ve put up a lot of points against West Washington (won 48-12) and North Harrison (won 35-20).
“They execute their offense really well. They run a lot of midline option with their quarterback and he’s a very good runner, and they’ve got some good backs in the backfield with their slots and their fullback. It’s a hard offense to get ready for.”

They’ve typically played good defense, too, May said.

“They’ve basically got eight men up there, and they’re going to try to stop the run, and they are always real aggressive and they fly around and hit you,” he said. “We’re going to have to play a heck of a game or we’re going to go 1-3 out of the gate.”

While he feels the Braves’ shot at the MSC title may be out, the season is not over.

“Basically what I told them Monday was it’s a new season, and we get better every day,” he said. “So hopefully they had the right attitude on Monday morning, and that’s where we’ve got to take it right now. We definitely didn’t start out real well, and let’s get better each day. Our focus has always been the tournament, so we can’t lose focus of that.”

Last week at Corydon Central

Last Friday, the Panthers bunched their 17 points into the second quarter and held off the Braves’ attempted comeback.

“The whole first half, we didn’t play real well,” May said. “Offensively, we moved the ball, but then we turned it over and we ended up in the game having five turnovers. Anytime you turn the ball over five times, you’re not going to win the football game.
“Really, we didn’t play bad defense the whole game. We just gave up a couple of big pass plays and that kind of hurt us, especially the 83-yarder. Special teams-wise, we didn’t do real well. They had a long kickoff return against us, and we just didn’t execute some of the things we needed to and hopefully we’ll go back to the drawing board and get things figured out.”

He credited the Panthers and coach Darin Ward.

“Defensively, they were giving us fits by their aggressiveness, and he’s got them playing real well right now,” May said. “They came ready to play, and our kids, it just didn’t seem like they were ready to play and I’m very disappointed in that. Obviously, we’ve got to figure out something to do differently.”

CORYDON — A valiant, frenzied comeback attempt by Brownstown Central’s football team fell short at Corydon on Friday night.

Brownstown, down by seven points, had the ball and was driving with less than a minute left on the clock when quarterback Ryan Shoemaker was intercepted in the end zone, giving Corydon Central a 17-10 victory.

The victory was Corydon’s first over Brownstown since a 1-0 forfeit back in 1992. Not since 1993 – head coach Reed May’s first year at BC – have the Braves started a season 1-2.

“You’ve got to give Corydon credit,” May said. “They were flying around, they were hungry. They had a great game plan. We’re not executing or playing well right now. I’m the head coach, so this is my fault. I don’t have any answers right now.”

Brownstown was undone by five turnovers and a nine-minute stretch during the second quarter in which Corydon scored all of its 17 points.

After playing to a scoreless draw in the first quarter, the Panthers (2-1) struck for the first time when quarterback Dylan Harl found wideout Brandon Dunaway on an 83-yard touchdown pass with 8:49 left in the first half.

Brownstown fed Corydon’s rally moments later when Shoemaker fumbled while being sacked at the Braves’ 32-yard line. The Panthers drove to the end zone in six plays and extended their lead to 14-0 when Seth Rennirt scored on a one-yard run with 6:27 on the clock.

After another BC drive stalled, Corydon capped its quarter with a 57-yard drive that ended in a 28-yard Dunaway field goal.

After a scoreless third quarter, Brownstown finally made a move in the fourth. Junior kicker Steffen Lewis got the Braves started with a pretty 35-yard field goal with 9:23 left in the game that cut the deficit to 17-3.

Three minutes later, BC followed with its best drive of the night, traveling 63 yards in just five plays – an effort highlighted by a 32-yard Caleb Silvers run. Kelley Wagner finished the drive with a four-yard TD run that closed the gap to 17-10.

After stopping Corydon’s next two possessions, Brownstown started from its 29-yard line with 2:14 remaining. Shoemaker authored a solid drive to Corydon’s 26 before his pass into the end zone was picked off by the Panthers’ Jeremiah Windell with 48 seconds remaining.

Wagner once again led BC’s ground attack with 88 yards on 14 carries. Shoemaker ended with 97 yards on 12-for-24 passing.

The Braves will return home next Friday to play Salem.

BROWNSTOWN — Charlestown shrugged off a quick, productive start by Brownstown Central’s football team and made history with a 35-14 victory on Friday night.

The win was historic for the visiting Pirates (2-0) because it marked the first time a team has beaten Brownstown in three consecutive seasons since BC head coach Reed May took over 17 seasons ago. Four other teams (West Washington, Paoli, Clarksville and Salem) won two straight over the Braves in that time, but no team had won three in a row.

“It means a lot,” Charlestown head coach Jason Hawkins said of his team’s feat, “because Reed May is, by far, the best coach in our conference. He’s been doing this longer and better than anyone else. When I got to Charlestown, Reed was the one I watched. I said at the time, ‘We want to be like Brownstown.’”

The fact that Charlestown, of all teams, would be the first to claim three straight wins over May-coached teams is ironic. Until three seasons ago, May’s teams had a 15-year, 17-game winning streak against Charlestown.

“They got us three times now. It was just a great job on their part,” May said. “They just lined up and kicked our butts. We couldn’t stop them. That was the bottom line.”

Friday’s game ended short of its full 48 minutes when, with 10:46 left in the fourth quarter, persistent lightning in the area forced officials to clear the field and stands.

By that point, however, the game’s outcome was clear.

Brownstown opened the game with a little lightning of its own. On the game’s third snap, sophomore slot back Braden Scarlett connected with wide-open wideout Michael Leitzman for a 60-yard touchdown pass down the right side.

That play ushered in a stellar first quarter for Brownstown. In all, the Braves racked up 204 yards of offense and 14 points during the game’s opening 12 minutes.

Unfortunately for BC, Charlestown never flinched.

After the Scarlett-to-Leitzman bomb, the Pirates struck back on the ensuing kickoff.

Charlestown senior Michael Baines caught Steffen Lewis’ kick at the 15 and galloped 85 yards for a touchdown that knotted the game at 7.

When BC pulled back ahead on a 25-yard TD pass from quarterback Ryan Shoemaker to fullback Kelley Wagner, again Charlestown responded. On their next possession, the Pirates traveled 50 yards on eight plays to tie the game at 14 with 3:38 left in the first quarter.

The turning point for BC came late in the second quarter. The Braves looked promising on a drive into Charlestown territory until Shoemaker was intercepted at the Pirate 33 by Aaron Daniel with 4:17 left in the half.

That turnover set up Baines once again, who scored on an 11-yard run to push Charlestown ahead 21-14 with 2:21 to go in the second quarter.

Brownstown’s fortunes deteriorated thereafter. The Braves had just one possession — covering a mere three minutes — during the weather-shortened second half, generating 36 yards on eight plays before fumbling the ball into the Pirates’ hands on Charlestown’s 29-yard line.

Charlestown, meanwhile, controlled the ball for nearly 10 minutes on two scoring drives and swelled the lead to 21 points.

“They really took it to us,” May said. “Defensively, we played poorly. Until we can line up and play better defensively, it’s going to be a long season. It seems like we’re so used to winning that we don’t know how to work. This was a butt-kicking. We need to wake up.”

Offensively, the Braves were led by Wagner, who ran for 93 yards on 13 carries to go along with his TD reception. Shoemaker finished with 102 yards on 4-for-8 passing.

BROWNSTOWN — Michael Leitzman’s most memorable football game took place during his sophomore year.

Leitzman, now a senior at Brownstown Central High School, said the Braves were playing Salem and had a four-point lead with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

Leitzman intercepted the ball, giving his team possession, but the Braves didn’t get the first down. The Braves then punted to Salem, and on their final drive, Leitzman got his second interception to seal the win.

“It’s the best thing about football,” Leitzman said of interceptions.

He had three his sophomore year and one last year in the semistate game against Heritage Christian.

Leitzman, however, has never experienced another aspect of football—a touchdown.

But this year, he just might get his chance. He will still be playing the cornerback position, but he’s also starting as a wide receiver.

“The thing about corner is everybody sees when you make good plays and everybody sees when you make bad plays,” Leitzman said. “One good thing about it is everybody gets to see you out there. My main goal is to not give up the big play on a pass play, and when you see a run, make a run and make a tackle.”

With wide receiver, Leitzman said, “It’s my first year starting receiver, and we usually don’t pass a lot on offense, but when you get the chance (to make a catch) it’s good to make the play.”

Sophomore Wade Toppe is Leitzman's backup, and since Leitzman is one of the team captains this year, he’s been able to guide Toppe along.

“I like to help him out and make sure he understands what we’re doing,” Leitzman said. “I’m not real vocal, but I like to lead by example for the younger guys.”

Coach Reed May said Leitzman has displayed leadership.

“He’s one of those quiet senior leaders,” May said. “By being here all the time and working hard, I think he shows other kids how to do it, the proper way to do things.”

Leitzman plays basketball during the winter, and May said that helps with his position on the football field.

“We kind of like basketball players to be in our secondary, because they are used to guarding people, like seeing the whole court in basketball and so forth,” May said. “He’s done a nice job for that, and he’s gotten better and better every year.”

Like many of the Brownstown football players, Leitzman’s introduction to the sport began in the 56er program. He continued through middle school and into high school.

“Growing up, I would always watch football games, NFL and college, and I really got into it,” he said. “I liked how it takes more than one guy. I like competition, and it’s not an individual sport. You’ve got to work as a team.”

During Leitzman’s freshman and junior seasons, the Braves won sectional, and they made it to semistate his junior year. To get to that point and beyond, he said, will take teamwork.

“We have some young guys stepping up and playing big positions,” Leitzman said. “We all get along well, and that helps our team out a lot. We’re a pretty strong team this year. We had the highest strength club numbers, but our speed isn’t real great right now. We really need to keep working hard and learning our routes and plays.”

May said Leitzman has proven himself in the classroom, too.

“He’s a good student, and he does a great job academically,” May said. “Those kids are the kind that you want in your program, because they are never a problem in class and they are always doing their homework.
“It’s always nice, as a coach, when (the players) come back a few years down the road and talk about their career here and how they enjoyed playing, and it’s something that you want to go out on a high note your senior year. I hope (Leitzman) has a great career here, a great season, and hopefully the team will have a great season.”

For now, Leitzman is savoring every week he gets to play.

“It’s been a real fun experience,” he said. “I like how every Friday it’s a big deal to the community. It’s really fun playing every Friday.”

Brownstown Central vs. Charlestown

After losing their Mid-Southern Conference opener to Charlestown for the past two years, May said it’s time for the Braves to turn that around.

“It’s a pretty crucial game if you want to have a chance to win the conference,” May said.

May said the Pirates like to run, power the ball and spread the other team out.

“I think one of the main reasons they get your defense spread out is so they are able to run the ball,” he said. “They don’t throw a lot. They are basically a ground team, and defensively, they’ve always had kids that are going to fly around and hit you.”

May said the work of the special teams and no turnovers on offense are keys to victory.

“Last week, we turned the ball over way too many times and had three turnovers,” he said. “Our special teams have to do a nice job. (The Pirates) are going to run the ball, and we need to be able to stop the run, or slow it down anyway. Offensively, we will kind of take what they give us. We’re not for sure that they’ve changed their defensive scheme from last year. That is something we have to feel out the first few series to see what we get.”

Last Friday vs. Mitchell

The Braves won 31-14, but Mitchell had a 65-yard run for a touchdown 13 seconds into the game. The Braves, however, gained a three-point lead at halftime and ended up controlling the ball and wearing down Mitchell’s defense.

“You take away a couple plays on defense, and we’ve got a shutout,” May said. “Offensively, once we calmed down, I think we moved the ball pretty good. Overall, for a first game and with the young kids, we didn’t do bad.”

Of course, he’s not overlooking the start of the game, and he said that can’t happen this week.

The fact that they made a comeback and controlled the football, May said, “Those two things were pluses going out of the game, and hopefully we can build on them throughout the season.”

Special awards for Mitchell game

Offensive back-Braden Scarlett; offensive line-Hank Deckard; defensive line/inside linebacker-Andrew Allman; defensive back/dime-Michael Leitzman; special teams-Steffen Lewis; scout team-Evan Eggersman

BROWNSTOWN — It took Mitchell only 13 seconds to light up the scoreboard in Friday’s football game at Brownstown Central.

The Braves’ players, coaches and fans probably thought they might be in for a long night.

But one could say responding with a 16-play, 86-yard drive resulting in a touchdown put some at ease.

It wasn’t over yet, though.

Mitchell had the first TD of the second quarter and Brownstown tied it up about 6:30 later, but Steffen Lewis’ field goal 4 seconds before halftime put the Braves ahead by three.

The best part? The Braves had the ball first after the half, and they ended up controlling possession, thus wearing down the Bluejackets, and scored two more unanswered touchdowns to open the season with a 31-14 win.

Braves coach Reed May knew Mitchell was good at running its option, and that’s exactly what happened on the opening play.

Thomas Isom ran 65 yards on the first down of the game, and two plays into the Braves’ offense, Mitchell recovered a fumble.

“That’s their bread-and-butter play, and we worked on it ever since live-in camp and we just blew the assignment, that’s the bottom line,” May said. “We went over that and over that and over that, and we played it wrong. But we learned. We learn from mistakes and we go on.”

The Bluejackets, however, didn’t get far off of the recovery, and the Braves had seven first downs in their 86-yard drive. Braden Scarlett ran in from five yards out to tie the game at 7 with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

Mitchell had eight plays to get to the 28-yard line, and seven seconds into the second quarter, quarterback Tanner Powell threw a 30-yard pass to Evan Day to move ahead 14-7.

The Braves ran four plays before a quarterback fumble, but the Bluejackets didn’t move far. Brownstown then had the ball 51 yards out, and on the sixth play, Kaeler Persinger ran in for a 16-yard touchdown to tie the game again.

The Braves’ defense took care of Mitchell on the next drive. Back on offense, Brownstown traveled 73 yards, and with 4.8 seconds remaining in the half, Steffen Lewis kicked from the 24-yard line to take the 17-14 lead.

“We were able to wear them down a little bit because we went with a no-huddle offense and we were able to get a field goal, so it gave our kids a little confidence,” May said. “It’s something we do work quite a bit on. To get a field goal out of that situation was really good.”

Brownstown made a statement coming out of the halftime break. They drove 60 yards in 12 plays, and Scarlett ran in from nine yards at the 6:12 mark.

Once again, Mitchell didn’t get far on their next possession, and the Braves’ Persinger recovered a fumble at 3:15.

The Braves began 67 yards out and got to 2nd and goal as the quarter came to an end on Kelley Wagner’s 22 yards, a 15-yard run from Scarlett and 18- and 10-yard tosses from quarterback Ryan Shoemaker to Spencer Allman and Wade Toppe respectively.

Five seconds into the fourth quarter, Wagner moved his way in for a 3-yard touchdown for the final scoring of the game.

“By us being able to pound it and run and run and run, we just wore them down,” May said. “Our offense can do that. We’ve got a lot of kids going both ways (playing offense and defense). After what we practiced the past few days, I’m glad we played well tonight because we didn’t practice well.”

May would like to see his team throw the ball better.

“Some things that I would like to have worked didn’t work very well, so we’re going to have to improve on that,” May said. “First game, we got it out of the way and we have a new quarterback, we’ve got new receivers, we’ve got new slots, and so everybody’s new. Overall, for the first game, we got a win. Anytime you get a win, you’re happy.”

The Braves (1-0) will play host to Charlestown next Friday.

BROWNSTOWN – A tradition continued this week at Brownstown Central High School, as the nearly 60 members of the Braves football team and the coaching staff moved into the school’s cafeteria for live-in camp.

The first few days are spent in meetings, and they eventually take the field, sometimes three times a day, running through the offensive and defensive systems.

The culmination of the camp is the white towel scrimmage, which was held Friday at Blevins Stadium.

“I’m a strong believer in meetings,” head coach Reed May said. “So we do a lot of meetings. We do more meetings on Monday and Tuesday than we do anything else.”

On Monday and Tuesday, they had two hour and a half practices, and two practices were held Wednesday and three Thursday and Friday, counting the scrimmage game.

“Basically, it’s a way for us to implement our whole system, have the kids in a confined atmosphere where they are meeting, they are not having to go any place,” May said. “It eliminates the problem of transportation, the kids are here, they don’t go anywhere, they are here all the time. So in our minds, it’s something that’s kind of our tradition now.”

May, who is beginning his 17th year as coach and has done the camp every year, has taken advice from a couple of coaches he knows when it comes to time spent on the field. The advice? Don’t burn the players out.

“We put stuff in all summer, but I’m a firm believer, we don’t want to burn them out in the summer,” May said. “We go Monday, Wednesday, Friday for an hour. We have a couple practices in July, but I want them to enjoy the summer, and then now we’ll hit them hard.”

The live-in camp has been received well by all involved, mainly because it brings out the family atmosphere.

“It’s something that we talked about not doing a few years ago, but the kids love it, the parents love it, they all want to do it,” May said. “It’s a real good bonding thing, too. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors get to know each other. They are living together for basically three days, and I think it makes us a close-knit team and really it brings our parents together, too. They feed us, they work in the cafeteria, they get to know each other.”

A week at camp gives May and the coaches an opportunity to see how well the players have been studying their playbook, which they’ve had since April.

“They are high school kids, and they don’t study it as well as I want them to,” May said. “So this is a way to reinforce what they know and don’t know.”

The scrimmage brings it all to a close, and that’s something the players are ready for by the end of the week.

“I’m sure they talk a little smack to each other about who’s red and black,” May said.

Of course, no score is kept and there aren’t any statistics. The glory comes from just being able to get out on the field and give those in attendance a good showing.

The coaches and players were going to watch film after Friday’s scrimmage, and they will do more this morning, May said. Then, the junior varsity team will practice and cleanup will begin in the school.

Next week, it will be back to the grind, as two-a-days will be Monday through Wednesday, one practice Thursday and the scrimmage Friday night at Jennings County. 
The ultimate goal is probably obvious: getting that state title. The Braves were close last year, as they made it to the semistate game. That goal isn’t changing this year.

“Last year, we played until the middle of November,” May said. “To get to the ultimate goal…you’ve got to take baby steps. Our baby steps this week were getting through live-in camp, getting to know our assignments, figuring out our personnel a little bit more, and next week, our next step is preparing ourselves for Jennings County and after that we go one week at a time.”

The good news is that on Friday, no one got hurt and May saw things he liked.

May hopes they maintain that next week and when the season kicks off Aug. 21 at home against Mitchell.

He also hopes live-in camp is something they’ll long remember.

“I just want the kids to have fun,” May said. “It’s amazing how many ex-players will come back and what they’ll talk about is live-in camp.”

Tyler Neal and Reed Robinson said they are learning a lot about football this week.

They are two of 56 Brownstown Central fifth and sixth graders attending football camp, held on the practice field at Brownstown Central High School.

Neal, who will be an incoming fifth grader said, “I have fun playing Brave Ball. We have learned how to pass and catch, and tackle.”

Neal said this is his first year attending the camp, “I’ll probably be a lineman. I like the camp and I’m learning a lot about football.”

Robinson also said, “I like Brave Ball.”

Brave Ball is a game where the players in each grade are divided into teams, and the only way to advance the ball is by passing it. Players are only allowed to take two steps before passing. If a pass is dropped it goes over to the other team, and also on an interception the other team gets possession and tries to advance it.

Robinson, who will be an incoming sixth-grader said, “I like catching he ball. I like football because my uncle (Zeth Zike) played.

Robinson, who also plays basketball, baseball and golf said, “We’re learning tackling skills at the camp.”

Reed May, head football coach at the high school said over 130 players have attended the various camps this summer. Included in that number are the fifth and sixth graders, the 56 middle school players, and the 18 freshmen that are attending a camp at the school this week.

May also said more than 30 high school players attended the Bishop-Dullughan, and Down and Dirty Camps, plus Steffan Lewis attended DePauw kicking camp.

“In high school we stress going to the Bishop-Dullughan and Down and Dirty Lineman camps,” May said.

He said different things are taught at the different camps. “The freshmen are going to be learning what our high school does. The fifth and sixth graders are basically learning how to block and tackle. We put in our offense and defense for our middle schoolers.

“The middle schoolers are in full gear where this (fifth and sixth) camp is just helmets only.”

May said he is changing the fifth and sixth grade program this fall. “We’re going to have a fifth-grade team and a sixth-grade team. They will be set up basically like the varsity and each team will have (position coaches on offense and defense).

“They will practice Tuesday and Thursday nights 6-8, and all fifth graders will practice together and all the sixth graders will practice together, and every Saturday they will have a game and the fifth graders will be divided up into two teams and play each-other, and the sixth grade will be divided up into to teams and play each other. Every Saturday we’ll have fifth grade red vs. fifth grade black, and sixth grade red vs. sixth-grade black, and you don’t know what team you’re on until that week.

“So that way they’re playing different people, and we’re keeping the fifth-grade together and the sixth-grade together. We don’t have a weight limit any more. The long-range goal is hopefully those kids will get a better understanding of our offense, so when they get to the high school-level they’ve been running our offense since fifth grade.”

Working hard in the weight room and on his football skills has paid off for Kelly Wagner.

Wagner, who will be a senior at Brownstown Central, placed first in the Superstars competition.

The winners were announced Monday night at Blevins Stadium.

“It’s really fun,” Wagner said of the Superstars events. “When we’re lifting in class we’re out there busting hard, but with people here it is so much better. Lifting is one of the things that helps make or break the football team.

“We’ve been one of the stronger teams in the conference for the past couple of years and it has really paid off.”

The Superstars is based on 10 events: bench press, parallel squat, power clean, backward 30 dash, 40-yard dash, T-test, 30 yard 50 pound sled pull, 60-yard shuttle run, weight gain-flexibility and total sales.

Wagner, a fullback-linebacker, said, “The times give us really good position on the depth chart and tell us how we’re going to do in the season and how our speed is going to be. We’ve had really fast teams the past couple of years and we’re really looking to coming out and getting our speed back. Coach (Reed) May had a pretty good speed-training program this past winter.”

“I like everyone coming out supporting Brownstown. The football players busted it pretty hard putting on a good show for the spectators. They show a lot of support behind us and it’s fun to see all the support behind us.”

May said, “We rank the athletes from first to last in each event. We then add their ranking in each of the 10 events and the athlete with the lowest total wins the competition.”

Ryan Shoemaker was second and Michael Leitzman was third in the Superstars.

The F.I.S.T. team of Logan Mills, Ryan Shoemaker, Daulton Anderson, Scott Baker, Jake Brown, Taylor Franklin, Mark Reynolds and Kyle Whitaker was the senior pride team champion.

May said he started the Superstars competition five years ago as an incentive to work harder in the summer.

“It seemed like we were maxing out in the weight room in timing during the same week, but it seemed like they just weren’t into it. In weight class it’s easy because you’ve been doing it all year and you max out, but in the summer you’re tired and it just seemed like I didn’t get the effort I needed.

“So we came up with this idea to invite the fans to come watch. It actually gives the parents a chance to see some of the things we do here. They get to see the kids actually lift and they do a lot better job.

“We got a lot stronger. We did a great job this summer. I wanted to do something similar to what the colleges do for media day.”

May said those things included the fans being able to meet the team, the team being introduced to the fans, the coaches speaking, and the cheerleaders performing some skits with the football players.

The team will practice again Thursday night.

The 7-on-7 competition will be held Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon. Brownstown. Bedford, Jennings County, Madison, Paoli and Springs Valley will compete.

INDIANAPOLIS — Being back under the Friday night lights was a good feeling for Teddy Stucker.

The 2009 Brownstown Central High School graduate was chosen to play for the South team in Friday’s 43rd annual Grange Insurance North-South All-Star Football Classic game at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

Stucker hadn’t been on the field since the Braves’ journey to semistate last fall.

“It kind of shocks you at first until you get back into the groove of things,” Stucker said of being back on the field. “It’s just an honor to be out here with such talented people. It’s a huge, huge honor to be considered worthy enough to come up here and play in this. I just can’t believe it.”

Stucker, who was voted the Braves’ most valuable player this past season, was nominated by BCHS head coach Reed May. Graduated senior football players were selected by the Indiana Football Coaches Association to represent their school, community and all 10 regions of the state, and being chosen was a big deal to Stucker.

“That had been one of my goals since I got into playing high school football was to make it to the North-South All-Star football game,” he said. “I tried to work hard and keep my nose out of trouble and just do what I was expected to do.”

May said that’s exactly what Stucker did.

“He’s a hard-working kid, a dedicated kid,” May said. “Obviously, this past season, if we didn’t have Teddy, we wouldn’t have been where we were. He carried us quite a few years, and we had some other great players, but he had a strong running attack for us and he was a great senior leader last year.”

Stucker played fullback for the Braves and he did so for the all-star team, too. On Friday, he also served as outside linebacker on defense, and he had a nice tackle during the third quarter of the game.

In the game, the South had the 7-0 lead after one quarter before the North scored 17 unanswered points in the second. The South added six more points in the third to get within four, but the North connected on a field goal in the fourth to take the 20-13 win.

Last week, Stucker practiced with the South squad at the University of Indianapolis campus, where they had practices one, two or three times a day. Besides football, the players also spent a day at Camp Riley, which is a camp near Martinsville exclusively for physically handicapped children.

Camp Riley and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame share in the proceeds of the game to assist the handicapped children of Indiana and to promote football in Indiana’s high schools.

“I really enjoyed that,” Stucker said of Camp Riley. “Getting to spend time with special-needs kids, that was a blast.”

Stucker said he didn’t know too many of his teammates, but after spending the week with them and being on the sidelines and in the game with them, he made several friends. He also met some players that will be at Franklin College, which is where Stucker will head to in the fall to play football and study elementary education.

“I just figured if I could come up here and hold my own with these guys, I would probably be all right in college,” Stucker said, “because they are not as old and strong, but they are the best of what Indiana has to offer. I just wanted to hold my own and not get pushed around and show them I belonged up here and show them what a little school can do.”

May, who played in the game in 1974 representing Bloomington South High School and was a coach of the South team in 1996, thought it was great for Stucker to meet the players he was playing with and against.

“The people that he met and played with here, down the road, some of these guys may be in the NFL,” May said. “I know the year I coached, one of the kids on the South team ended up playing about five, six, seven years in the NFL, so you’re watching (a game) on Sunday and you say, ‘hey, I coached that kid.’”

Stucker’s parents, Tedd and Kim Stucker, also attended Friday’s game, and it was an exciting experience for them, too.

“I think we’re just very thankful,” Tedd said. “You never know where things are going to lead, but one thing about him is he’s always had an ability that whatever he’s wanted to do, he’s really worked at and he’s accomplished it. That’s something he has had since he was a very young man.”

Stucker’s football career began when he was a fifth-grader in the 56er program at Brownstown, and thinking back on that, he said he never thought he’d be where he is now.

“I used to be a lineman in the 56ers and made it into (high school) and started playing fullback and started playing good,” Stucker said. “College started to become a real option for me.”

Being a part of Brownstown football helped, Tedd said.

“It’s a community thing, and we’ve just gotten to watch all of these people he’s played with and they’ve all made it happen together,” Tedd said. “It’s just been so great to see a group of young men come together and for him to be one of them that has been able to excel with them.”

His advice to Teddy about Friday’s game?

“I told him this week to go as hard as he could and to stay calm and not let it overwhelm him,” Tedd said. “I think that’s what’s going to help him on through.”

As for his mother, she just had one main concern.

“As a mom, I just hoped he wouldn’t get hurt,” Kim said.

Thankfully that didn’t happen Friday and it didn’t happen any last season.

“We have prayed for him for a long time, and we just give God a lot of the credit for taking care of him and helping him be injury-free this last year and helping him excel,” Tedd said.

Tedd and Kim also credited the efforts of May and the other coaches, the BCHS staff and others who have supported Teddy. That would include the P.O.P.S. Club, which provided money for Teddy’s weeklong stay and for the ad in the game program that raises money for Camp Riley.

Coach May and the Stuckers are ready to see what lies ahead for Teddy.

“College is going to be tougher,” May said, noting that the Franklin team will have more than 100 players. “It’s an all new experience. What he’s got to understand is he went from being a star at Brownstown his senior year, and now he’s a freshman again.”

But May said as long as Teddy keeps working hard on the field and in the classroom, he will continue to make everyone proud.

“It just makes you proud for our total program,” May said of Stucker getting to play in the all-star game. “It just shows the type of athletic program we have at Brownstown and the type of kids we have at Brownstown.

“Teddy’s a great kid, and it’s a great family. That’s what makes it successful is we’ve got kids that work hard with great parents, and it’s just a good representation of Brownstown.”

Teddy sure made his mom proud.

“He’s just a loving kid,” Kim said, “and I think he’s going to do great things.”

Football all-stars
Brownstown Central High School graduates who have played in the North-South All-Star Football Classic:
-Carl Bottorff
-Matt Rochner
-Clay Fritz
-Seth Zike
-Brant Hurley
-Clayton Beard
-Jacoby Hines
-Chandler Lambring
-Adam Mellencamp
-Dustin Allman
-Teddy Stucker

Athletics at Brownstown Central High School have been extremely successful over the past decade.

Our teams have outshined others in our conference by a tremendous margin, though the all-sports trophy hasn’t been claimed by BCHS because of the addition of swimming, wrestling and soccer, which don’t exist at the school. Regardless, the really successful teams at Brownstown all have many attributes in common: hard work, determination, dedication, huge fan support, excellent coaching staffs, to name a few.
Building these excellent teams takes sacrifice and coordination from many different working parts of the community, but mostly from the players and coaches. The skills learned and practiced on these fields of friendly strife sew the seeds of success, which are reaped in the future for exponential benefits.

Mainly, I personally want to take a look at the fundamentals of leadership and hard work that I learned from my own experiences as a former member of the football team (2000-03). I personally can only speak about what I learned from playing football and running track, but I am sure that many of the subjects I touch upon are common on many of the other sports teams, and some which are probably not. 

After graduating from West Point, over this past year, I have linked many leadership practices from the Army that BCHS football coach Reed May institutes on the team as well. Now that might sound a bit harsh, but in reality the two have similar goals—to eventually take a random group of boys/soldiers and have them working as a team by a certain deadline. The Army obviously has a stricter program than Coach May, but not by a large margin. Coach May expects a lot out of the high school kids he coaches and expects them to act like men, even if they have never acted that way before. I had to grow up a lot faster on the football team than I would have anywhere else. The team and Coach May teach you to be tough, mentally and physically, to be on time and motivated to practice/lift/condition, and to be dedicated to a common goal shared by every member of the team and the coaching staff. 

First of all, let’s touch on leadership. I had never been in any kind of noteworthy leadership position until I was on the football team. It was the first time I realized I was in a leadership position and that people actually looked to me for guidance. Every year, Coach May sat down with the incoming seniors—usually a couple of days after losing in the tournament—and laid down what he expected, while simultaneously trying to touch base with each of his leaders. All of the seniors were expected to be leaders and team captains, regardless of past experience, playing time or athletic ability. This way, he could harness the strengths of everyone, and also to avoid pressuring one individual with the responsibility of everyone’s actions. It also gave him a whipping post of sorts that he could use to discipline the whole team.

I can remember one specific example when I was a junior and we had a lousy week of practice during tournament time toward the end of the season, and Coach May had the senior class stay after for some words. I still remember how fired up the seniors were and that we even had a little pep rally so they could fire up the rest of the team with some of their words.

Of how this correlates to individual development, this type of peer leadership is one of the hardest roles to fill, but can also be the most beneficial for everyone involved and builds teamwork. It allows the other players to see how much these last games mean to the senior class and what they will do to win. The only other time I have ever seen leadership development this beneficial was in U.S. Army Ranger School. 

Next, let’s discuss dedication. Coach May and many other sports coaches require their players to participate in summer conditioning, summer camps and competitions and winter weights, and they are encouraged to play other sports, all while keeping their grades in good standing. This may be hard to balance, but it teaches the kids time-management skills and eventually shows them the benefits of hard work.

One example off of the top of my head is seventh- and eighth-grade football. During our seventh-grade season, we went 7-0-1, tying our last game with Salem. Then, after our seventh-grade season was over, we started winter weights for the first time, and the end result was astounding. In seventh grade, we squeaked by in a couple of games and never won by more than a couple of points. After we had spent the winter, spring and summer lifting weights and conditioning, we would beat teams by four or five touchdowns on many if not all occasions and finished the season 7-0.

The hard work Coach May demands and the amount of time a player has to sacrifice taught the player the benefits of hard work. It showed me that in order to get what you wanted in life you had to work harder than the rest. If someone was slacking off in the weight room or on the field, that meant that I was going to be that much better than that person. Every drill and every exercise was a chance to get better, a chance that would never come again. So I would run and lift my hardest and give everything I had, and I believe it paid off. That hard work and sacrifice made each win that much more enjoyable.

Third, let’s talk about the physical and mental toughness developed on the team. Every player may not possess a high degree of mental toughness when he first starts playing on the team, but it is inherently developed by the nature of the sport and from Coach May’s need for perfection. He would often say, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect.” He definitely coached by this rule.

I can remember a few times I was close to quitting the team just because of the amount I would get yelled at; however, I will admit that the majority of it was due to a mistake made by me in practice. Some of these griping out sessions we received were needed to either motivate us to practice harder, study our plays or to simply adjust our attitude. The physical toughness is mainly possessed by the individual at first, but after practicing next to your teammate for years, in some of our cases, we knew deep down that if we were to bow out with some type of injury that it would hurt the team as a whole. 

Finally, I am going to hit on teamwork. The football team at BCHS is truly dedicated to teamwork, and even to the point of criticism. For instance, Coach May’s policy every year is to reload instead of rebuild, meaning that regardless of the talent leaving the team, he still expects the next year’s team to be just as good and motivated. The reason I say to the point of criticism is that I once had a discussion with a certain individual of the community who said, “Coach May’s policy of reloading every year is foolish, you can never have a successful team that way.” The individual believes in building a team around one player or one class. I believe this is what causes great fluctuations in records over the years and is the reason Coach May has had a very consistent win/loss record.

Moving on, earlier when I mentioned the case where another player was slacking off and I took it as my chance to pass them and get better than them, well, I changed my outlook by the time I became a senior. Once I became a senior/captain, when a person would slack off like that, I and many of the other seniors took it as an insult and knew that the lazy player was not only hurting himself, but also the team. This knowledge motivated us to motivate him, so I would not only do the drill hard myself, but then encourage others to do so as well. The teamwork learned at BCHS on the football team has been rivaled by very few other teams I have been a part of. 

I can only say that I have just skimmed the surface on the benefits of playing football at BCHS, but I hope that I have helped everyone realize the exceptional quality of the football program and its coaching staff at BCHS. The leadership demonstrated by Coach May and the care and compassion he has for each one of his players is beyond belief, proven by the fact that almost all of his assistants now have played for him. They all must have seen something they liked about the program and now want to help in any way they can. I know I personally would relish the thought of coming back to coach under him.

I would encourage every boy thinking about trying out for the football team to at least try it out for a whole season, because Coach May doesn’t make cuts. Everyone makes the team. I know that if I hadn’t played, I would have missed out on the chance of a lifetime and an experience I will hold onto forever.

About Sean Schwartz

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Sean Schwartz is a 2004 graduate of Brownstown Central High School and a 2008 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York.

Schwartz played football at BCHS and he played sprint football at West Point. Sprint football has the same rules as regular college football, but the weight limit for players is 172 pounds. There are currently six teams playing in the Collegiate Sprint Football League: Army, Cornell, Mansfield, Navy, Pennsylvania and Princeton.

He played outside linebacker for four years and lettered each year.

Currently, Schwartz is at Fort Benning, Georgia, for infantry training and will be there another year because of his injury at Ranger School. When he’s healthy, Schwartz plans to return to Ranger School, graduate and head to Fort Drum, New York, to be a platoon leader.

In November, Schwartz will be promoted to first lieutenant.