5A No. 3 Warren Central had already won twice on the road this postseason against good teams, so the Warriors felt confident about Friday’s test at Brownsburg.
The Bulldogs, looking for their first regional championship since 1985, were a tougher test than what Warren Central had faced in its previous three games, but a huge game from running back Shakir Bell lifted the Warriors to a 14-6 win.
"I think he’s the best running back, that I’ve seen, in the state," Warren Central head coach John Hart said. "He catches the ball well and is a good blocker. He’s very complete and very reliable."
Bell started off quickly, breaking a 35-yard run in the first quarter. Brownsburg answered back with a nine-yard rushing touchdown from Darryl Jordan, but the Bulldogs could not find the end zone again. The Warriors defense stiffened up in the second half. After forcing its third consecutive three-and-out at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Bell ran six times for 50 yards, capped with a 2-yard plunge. Brownsburg got to the Warren Central 12-yard line, but the Bulldogs’ hopes ended when senior defensive tackle Elijah Jones sacked Brownsburg quarterback Robby Robbins on fourth down.
Bell ran for 206 yards and two scores on 30 carries, and the Warren Central defense held Brownsburg to just 171 yards of total offense. Jordan led the Bulldogs with 105 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.
On Friday, the Warriors (11-2) will host defending state champion Center Grove (10-3), which Bell scorched for 305 yards a month ago.
"It’s going to be nice to be home," Hart said. "They’re a great football team and we’re looking forward to it."
Trojans turn up heat on defense
Defending 5A champion Center Grove has put together some impressive defensive performances over recent weeks. The Trojans held No. 2 Columbus East to just 14 points and Bloomington North, which boasted the state’s most prolific rushing attack, to just seven points.
Center Grove turned in another noteworthy performance on Friday, putting the brakes on a Floyd Central team that had put up 138 points in its previous three games for a 42-7 win.
Three Trojans rushed for more than 100 yards in the win. Jimmy Daggett tallied 131 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, Jimmy Boshears had 117 yards and two scores on nine carries, and Nolan Weidman added 108 yards, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.
Floyd Central (9-4) managed just 157 yards of offense. Center Grove (10-3) will travel to No. 3 Warren Central (11-2), which they lost to 28-14 in Week 9.
Carmel's second-half passing edges Snider
In a repeat of last season’s regional matchup, No. 1 Carmel traveled to Fort Wayne Snider and played a game decided by a field goal. Carmel used a strong passing attack to make a second-half comeback against Snider, beating the Panthers 10-7 to remain unbeaten against 5A teams.The Greyhounds scored first on a 30-yard field goal by Jordan Babcock at the end of the first quarter, but went into halftime down 7-3. After only passing six times in the first half, Carmel opened up the second half with 12 passing plays to five runs.
Quarterback Adam Shaffer hit receiver Jon Schmidt for a 39-yard touchdown in the third quarter and the Greyhound defense shut out Snider the rest of the way. Shaffer was 14-of-21 passing for 131 yards and a score, while adding 60 yards on the ground. The rest of the Greyhounds amassed just 67 rushing yards combined. Outside of a 71-yard pass from Snider quarterback Tyler Bobilia to receiver Akeim Kelsaw, Carmel’s defense held the Panthers to just 142 yards and six first downs.
Carmel (12-1) will play at No. 8 Merrillvile (12-1) on Friday for a chance to go the state finals for the fourth consecutive year.
Regional round's other top performers
Quarterback Kofi Hughes ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and passed for 147 yards and two touchdowns in 4A No. 1 Cathedral’s 45-6 win over New Palestine.
Nolan Miller tallied 206 yards on 19 carries, and fellow running back Ari Pappas had 203 yards on 31 carries for 3A No. 1 Bishop Chatard in a 31-14 win at Batesville. Both scored a pair of touchdowns.
The Monrovia defense held the Ritter offense to just 15 points, 26 below the No. 1 Raiders’ season average, and picked off quarterback Ross Hendrickson twice. Ritter’s only two other performances scoring fewer points were against Chatard (7) and Heritage Christian (6) in a downpour.
David Griffey and Jordan Woodard combined for 157 rushing yards and each scored a touchdown in Clinton Central’s win over Indianapolis Lutheran in the Class A regional.
Girls basketball wrap-up
Anna Munn scored nine fourth-quarter points to lift 4A No. 8 Decatur Central (2-0) to a 47-41 win over Perry Meridian.
No. 5 Carmel (3-0) has had three players in double figures in each of its past two games and won all three games by a combined 108 points.
Brittany Wells scored 47 points in No. 9 Hamilton Southeastern’s first two games, both wins.
Lauren Smith score 14 points in the fourth quarter as Scecina improved to 2-0 with a 49-38 win over Howe.
Brierra Young and Miracle Woods each had 12 points as Fort Wayne Bishop Luers improved to 2-0 by knocking off 2A four-time defending state champion No. 2 Heritage Christian 51-49.
Defending 4A state champion Ben Davis opened the season with a 61-30 win over Brownsburg behind a 19-point effort from junior forward Bria Goss. The Giants have won 31 games in a row and 40 of their last 41.
