Arabians rally falls short against conference rival Cougars

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PENDLETON — Scoring the game’s final 20 points wasn’t enough.

Pendleton Heights put together a frenetic second-half comeback, but the first-half damage had already been done.

Greenfield-Central dominated the first 24 minutes against Pendleton Heights then had to hang on in the final seconds to beat the Arabians 27-20 at John Broughton Field in Hoosier Heritage Conference football game on Friday.

It was the Cougars’ first win in the series between the Hancock County and Madison County rivals since 2016. They lost twice to the Arabians last season, both at Clayton Myers Field in Greenfield, including a 42-6 decision in the first round of Class 4A Sectional 21.

Pendleton Heights came into Friday’s game unbeaten and ranked No. 10 in the Indiana Football Coaches Association Class 4A poll.

Greenfield-Central improved to 2-2 overall (1-1, HHC).

Along with its first loss against the Cougars in five years, it was Pendleton Heights first loss of the season. The Arabians are 3-1 overall (1-1, HHC).

“Give (Greenfield-Central) credit. They executed a flawless game plan,” Pendleton Heights head coach Jed Richman said. “That’s a pretty good defense. That front 7, those guys can play ball. They deserve a lot of credit. They controlled the line of scrimmage and they just flat-out whooped us.

“Our kids have no quit. We’re a proudful program and we’re going to keep fighting until the end.”

The Arabians, trailing 27-0 at the half, scored a defensive touchdown in the third quarter, then added a pair of late fourth-quarter touchdowns to get within one score of the Cougars. Twice, Pendleton Heights recovered onside kicks. It had the ball in the final minute before a fourth-down sack of quarterback Luke Candiano by Greenfield-Central linebacker Brad Allen ended the game.

“I’m proud of them, but we’re not good enough to turn it on and off,” Richman added. “I’ll use (Alabama head football coach) Nick Saban’s quote, ‘We took the rat poison all week.’ Somehow we got voting points (in the coach’s poll) and we thought we arrived. We’re not the No. 10 team in the state and you saw that (Friday).

“We spent three weeks thinking we’re pretty good and tonight we realized we’re not invincible. Greenfield deserves the credit. Coach (Travis Nolting) did a heck of a job. They played really hard.”

G-C rushed for 309 first-half yards.

Greenfield-Central fullback Andrew Zellers capped off a dominating first half with a school-record 96-yard touchdown run with just 35 seconds left until halftime. It was his second score of the first half. He put the Cougars up 13-0 with a 3-yard run early in the second quarter.

Zellers had 177 first-half rushing yards on eight carries. For the game, he finished with 229 yards on 19 carries. The Cougars rushed for 451 yards.

Cougar running back Joey Roland opened scoring with a 37-yard run with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

In G-C’s 20-point second quarter, running back Brayden Herrell had a 37-yard score. He ran untouched straight up the middle, then added the two-point conversion.

Herrell finished the game with 78 rushing yards. Roland had 76.

While the G-C Wishbone offense was doing the damage on one side of the ball, the defense was impressing, too.

Pendleton Heights had just three first-half first downs.

The Arabians were without starting running back Ethan Ross, who was on the sidelines the entire game with a wrap around his right elbow.

The combination of playing without Ross against a physical Cougar defense proved to be too much, until the second half.

Pendleton Heights took advantage of Greenfield-Central turnovers and found itself with the football and a chance to tie or win the game with its final possession.

In the third quarter, Pendleton Heights scored on defense. Sophomore linebacker Dresden Roberts stripped the ball from a Cougar running back and sprinted 75 yards for six points. The Arabians missed the PAT.

In the fourth quarter, set up by a G-C fumble, Pendleton Heights went 72 yards on nine plays, finishing with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Candiano to Marvin Jones with 3:44 remaining.

The Arabians recovered the onside kick, then scored on fourth down from the Cougar 34. Candiano connected with sophomore receiver Reese Reddington with 2:39 left to cut the Cougar lead to 27-20.

Again, Pendleton Heights executed a successful onside kick, but this time the series ended with a Candiano fumble, recovered by G-C’s Joey Roland.

The Cougars followed with a three-and-out, giving the Arabians one last chance.

With 1:10 to go and starting from the Arabian 23, the home team got near midfield before the sack ended the game.

“We took the ball away when we needed to. We made a defensive score. Nobody quit,” Richman said. “That’s what we talked about at halftime. My big thing, when we dig a hole, and I tell this to my 7-year old. When you’ve dug a hole, stop digging. You can’t climb out until you stop digging and we kept digging and digging and digging. That’s as true a statement as I’ve ever made. These kids hear it all the time. Finally we did and we started playing.”

“Definitely a step in the right direction,” Cougars coach Nolting said. “We came out hot in the first half and the second half turnovers hurt us. It’s a big win for the program.”

For the Arabians, Candiano completed 16 of 27 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Reddington had six catches for 69 yards and a score. Jones had six grabs for 54 and a touchdown. With Ross out, Quinn Devault led the running game with 14 carries for 79 yards.

The Arabians continue a run against its conference opponents from Hancock County, traveling to New Palestine next week before a trip to Mt. Vernon on Sept. 24.

“We have nothing but respect for (New Palestine), but right now we’re my biggest concern and how we learn from this,” Richman said. “It doesn’t matter who our opponent is next week if we don’t block and tackle and play harder, it doesn’t really matter. (New Palestine) is a monster. I know, right now, Mt. Vernon is on top, but New Pal is not a far second. They’re an exemplary program, but we have to focus on ourselves more than anything.”