Centerville football wins battle of unbeatens on homecoming night against Northeastern

CENTERVILLE, Ind. — Not even an inoperable scoreboard for the majority of the game could slow down the Bulldogs on Homecoming night.

While several people Friday night stated that the scoreboard constantly going out throughout the game (due to a technical glitch with it being wireless) was the first time they had witnessed such an anomaly at Centerville and referees had to rely on wristwatches, the Bulldogs were not by any means disadvantaged.

Centerville was in control from start to finish against fellow unbeaten Tri-Easterm Conference and Wayne County rival Northeastern in what coach Ryan Cole and his team considered the conference championship game, scoring a defensive touchdown on the Bulldogs' first defensive drive of the game and using a 19-7 halftime lead to emerge as the area's final unbeaten team in a 32-14 victory.

The win avenges a 39-12 loss in Fountain City 364 days prior, in what ultimately decided the TEC championship for the Knights last season.

"I thought we came out and performed well," Bulldogs coach Ryan Cole said. "We had a game plan, trusted in our game plan and our guys executed really well. This is a special win for us. They've worked really hard for this and we've waited for this game for a long time, so hats off to our players, they did a great job."

What happened?

The energy was electric at a packed stadium in Centerville with a standing-only crowd wrapped around the west end zone and connecting both sets of bleachers — justifiably so as both the Bulldogs and Knights entered the game 5-0 with Northeastern ranked No. 9 in Class 2A.

Centerville received the ball to start the game, and while senior quarterback Jake Tinkle's 24-yard pass to sophomore receiver Maddox Pritchett kept the energy high, their first drive stalled out as they were forced to punt.

When Northeastern took over for its first offensive drive at its own 22, the scoreboard went out at about 7:10 p.m., putting a pause in the action for about five minutes before the referees went to their watches.

The scoreboard came back on two minutes later but would turn off again shortly after the Knights converted a fourth down as would be the case for much of the night.

The first play after the conversion, Bulldogs sophomore linebacker Ethan Vecera (11 tackles, tackle for loss, INT, TD) picked off Northeastern's quarterback Blake Waters, returning it all the way to the house for 70 yards and the game's first score with about 6:14 left in the quarter.

"I've never been a part of a game where the scoreboard has gone out for any length of time," Knights coach Wes Oler said. "It's certainly an experience but I thought the crew did a nice job of adjusting. I think it probably affected them more there in the end of the first half when you don't have the clock on the board and you're constantly asking the side judge what the time is because then the refs are keeping it on the field."

Oler continued, "It was a little bit of a struggle early. We started out getting a stop and were driving and the scoreboard went out for a while and kind of lost a little momentum and then you know, they made they made a big play scored on defense and then it was really hard for us to get that momentum back."

After a back-and-forth with neither side able to score, Tinkle found senior receiver Gavin Robinson (2 catches, 39 yards, 2 touchdowns) on the last play of the quarter for a 20-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead (the extra point was blocked).

In the second, neither team could find the end zone for the majority of the quarter, with Knight drives ending in punts and Bulldog possessions ending in turnovers, but towards the end of the half, Northeastern's Waters scampered for a nine-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit in half.

That was quickly negated, however, with Centerville once again finding the end zone with 19 seconds left on a flea flicker trick play from senior receiver Evan Pritchard to Robinson for 20 yards, heading into the locker room with a 20-7 lead.

Defenses stout in second half

After both defenses stood their ground in the third quarter, the Bulldogs struck twice more in the fourth, the first on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tinkle to junior Owen Boyd with 7:32 left, and the second a 50-yard pick six from junior Grady Blake (5 tackles, INT, TD) with 2:38 left, the team's second of the night.

"Our defensive coordinator Sam Pritchard does an awesome job," Cole said. "Ethan Vecera had the first interception that he ran back. That was a huge play to kind of jumpstart the momentum. Then Grady Blake put an exclamation point on it at the end. Our defense is tremendous. They've been great all year and there was an entire team effort there."

The Knights found the end zone one more time on an 8-yard reception by junior Logan White with 8.6 seconds left, but by then it was just a consolation score.

I thought we did a little bit we scored there to cut it to cut it to six. And we just we needed to get a stop there. before halftime but credit to them, you know, their, their experience. Their offense is almost all returning from last year. And I thought that was the difference tonight. They were able to put drives together when even when I thought we stopped the run pretty well. They made they made plays in the pass game. And you know, I think they made a few more plays and they certainly made less mistakes.

In total, Tinkle finished the night 16-for-25 passing with 239 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, to go along with eight carries for 27 yards, while senior Nate Dickenson had five catches for 81 yards.

"We put a lot on Jake's shoulders tonight," Cole said. "We threw the ball a lot and it was just kind of the way the game script went for us. Jake is in his third year starting and he's really just done a great job leading us. I'm excited to kind of see what he does these next three or four weeks."

Waters ended the night for the Knights going 13-for-33 with 101 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, adding 10 rushing yards on eight carries and a score. Junior running back Zane Schneider had 12 carries for 61 yards and senior receiver Conner Archie had three catches for 37 yards.

"He didn't have a great night and that happens," Oler said of Waters' performance. "Unfortunately, when you play quarterback, it's a little more amplified than really any other position in any other sport. But I love his mentality and I know he's going to work hard. He'll get better from here on out and overall he's our leader and he's doing a great job."

Whose next?

For the Bulldogs, they will travel for the first time in three weeks to take on 0-6 Union County in a TEC game, while Northeastern will return home to host 1-5 Shenandoah in a nonconference tilt.

Centerville has won seven straight against the Patriots dating back to 2016, and while they will likely be heavily favored heading into it, Cole was focused on celebrating with the team Friday night.

"We're going to enjoy this one right now," Cole said. "This is a special group as I've said it from the beginning of this year, and I'm just excited for them. They deserve this win and they're going to enjoy it tonight.

Northeastern defeated Shenandoah on the road last year in what was a competitive 35-32 contest for the first win in school history against the Raiders (they were previously 0-10. The series started in 2018 with the Raiders winning in dominating fashion the first three games, but the past two have ended in one-score games.

"It's our youth night so I think it'll be a good crowd with what looks like good weather," Oler said. "They come in with only one win but they play a really tough schedule against some of the teams in our sectional. They're a good program with good tradition, and it's a big game for our program to try to bounce back and get back on track."

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Centerville football wins battle of unbeatens vs. Northeastern