ELLETTSVILLE — A dropped touchdown pass in the end zone and two missed field goals.
First and goal at the 4.
First and 10 at the Beech Grove 14 after a bad punt snap by the Hornets.
First and 10 at the BG 30 after a defensive stop.
Beech Grove backed up at its own 3 after a punt. Then at the 2 after an interception.
Any number of times Edgewood could have stepped up and found some points. Instead, they came up empty. It just wasn’t to be as the Mustangs searched for their first 6-0 start since 1984, but Beech Grove had just enough to grab a 12-0 win on Friday, Sept. 26, to spoil homecoming.
“A lot of mistakes on our part,” Edgewood coach Scott Fischer said. “They’re a good football team. We knew that. They play a lot of man coverage and we knew they were going to challenge our receivers, and they did.
“We did some good things, especially on the first drive, but when we had opportunities, we didn’t take advantage of them. And we had been taking advantage of them. But some mental mistakes crept in there that have been problems for us. Now we’ve got to correct them.”
The Hornets (4-2) were the toughest physical test to date for Edgewood, outgaining the Mustangs 292-127. Edgewood was limited to just 24 yards rushing on 27 carries and quarterback Braylon Linerode was sacked twice while limited to 9-of-24 passing for 82 yards.
“Definitely the most physically dominating team we’re played,” Edgewood senior safety/receiver Gunnar Perry said. “Their line was really physical up front, and their running back was shifty and wasn’t scared to put his head down and run you over, either.”
It was tough to swallow for a team that had made all the plays for five straight weeks.
“Good run’s come to an end,” Perry said. “But we just didn’t play well as a team. There was a lot of bickering and arguing going on in the huddle, and that came to bite us toward the end of the game.
“Start of the game, we were playing well as a team. We drove down the field, we got stopped. Missed the field goal, that happened two times. Then dropping a touchdown catch, for me, isn’t very good either. It’s tough not playing well as a team for once.”
Offense sputters in the red zone
Edgewood started off the game with a reverse pass by Jaxton Collier for 21 yards to kickstart a 15-play drive that took over 10 minutes off the clock. The Mustangs reached the 4, then were pushed back to the 14 after consecutive losses. It led to a 31-yard field goal try that thumped off the crossbar.
It would prove to be an omen.
Edgewood ran just six more plays as BG took a 6-0 lead by halftime.
The Mustangs stopped the Hornets’ opening drive of the second half and seemingly caught a break when the punter fielded a low snap with his knee on the ground, giving up the ball at the 25.
Braxton Carpenter (23 carries, 44 yards), converted a fourth and 2 to the 14, but a sack and an incompletion forced another field goal try that faded short and right to keep it a 6-0 game at 5:53 of the third.
“You’re not going to have eight or nine-yard holes when they stack eight, nine guys in the box and challenge your receivers to beat them,” Fischer said. “I still thought we ran the ball pretty well at times.”
Big plays carry Beech Grove
Beech Grove (4-2) showed its potency through the first three weeks, then played without its starting quarterback in Week 4 then without running back Caron Parks in Week 5, both losses.
An intact lineup greeted Edgewood, but the defense had another solid night, keeping it a 6-0 ballgame until the final 7:38.
“I thought our defense hung in there tough,” Fischer said. “I thought we missed some tackles but that kids makes you miss some tackles, too. He’s a hell of a running back. Coach (Rajshawn) Mosley’s got those kids playing the right way. They play fast, they play physical. They were a great challenge for us; we just didn’t execute.”
The Hornets had just 122 yards at halftime, but as the game wore on, Parks picked up steam, gaining 119 of his 157 yards in the second half.
Most of it came on a backbreaking 57-yard TD gallop on a drive that started at the Hornet 3. But 13 and 15-yard gains got Beech Grove out of the shadow of its own end zone.
Edgewood had three sacks on quarterback Bishop Moore, who was 10-of-12 in the first half and 4-of-11 after, but he also had a huge 44-yard connection in the fourth that flipped the field.
How resilient will Edgewood be?
“This coming week will really show who wants to be a part of our program and who doesn’t want to be a part of our program,” Perry said. “Because everyone wants to be here when we’re winning, but if we take one loss, we’ll see if the fans still show up.
“That’s a big thing. Are people still going to show up to practice and still show up to the games for us because we took one bad loss on one bad game? It sucks.”
Things get no easier next week with a conference home date against a Sullivan team that racked up a 68-0 win over Owen Valley and played South Putnam to a 10-0 loss. Then comes a trip to WIC nemesis Northview.
“You gotta see how you’re going to respond when things don’t go your way,” Fischer said. “That’s the next step in this process. We’ve got three more good opponents in the next three weeks, and you’ve got to go get better this week and see how much we can improve after losing a game.”
Perry is ready to get after it.
“This game was good to show us the pace that football is going to look like for the rest of the season,” Perry said. “So, I think we’re going to have to pick it up at practice a lot.”
BEECH GROVE 12, EDGEWOOD 0
Beech Grove (4-2) 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 — 12
Edgewood (5-1) 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 — 0
SECOND QUARTER
BG: Zane Ream 19 pass from Bishop Moore (run failed), 3:25. BG, 6-0.
FOURTH QUARTER
BG: Caron Parks 57 run (run failed), 7:38. BG, 12-0.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Beech Grove (31-135): Caron Parks 23-157, Javier Cruz 1-(-11), Bishop Moore 7-(-11).
Edgewood (27-24): Braxton Carpenter 23-44, Dylan Wickens 1-(-9), Braylon Linerode 3-(-11).
PASSING
Beech Grove (14-23-0-157): Moore 14-23-0-157.
Edgewood (10-25-2-103): Linerode 9-24-2-82; Jaxton Collier 1-1-0-21.
RECEIVING
Beech Grove: Tenauri Woods 5-68, Zane Ream 5-46, Kordell Martin 2-55, Chris Raymer 1-4, Parks 1-4.
Edgewood: Gunnar Perry 3-30, Will Hosey 2-36, Reece Roberts 2-23, Carpenter 2-4, Collier 1-10.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: After flawless first five weeks, Edgewood football suffers power outage vs. Beech Grove
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
