“This is high school football, and it’s so fun that it’s hard for me to sit back and have a lot of bad thoughts regardless of the score,” Carlisle coach Mike Brown said after his squad’s season came to an end with a 41-0 defeat. “You get opportunities to coach these young men, but also hopefully make an impact on them and make them better young men.
“I told them in the locker room, ‘This is not going to be the toughest thing you go through in life.’ These seniors dreamed about being able to play in the playoffs one day, and now they have. It didn’t go the way they wanted it to, but they’ve done it. They can tell their kids about it someday. You need to look at all the good things.”
The Indians (6-5) played with the Blue Devils for a while. It was a 7-0 contest after one period, but the hosts marked touchdowns on their first three second-quarter possessions to take a 27-0 lead into intermission.
Drive-killing penalties hurt Carlisle early. Then Brookville started to fall into a groove.
“After a while, they just wear on you because they play so hard play in and play out,” Brown said. “We got off to a decent start, and I never felt like there was a time where we didn’t have a play to make. It wasn’t like a helpless feeling. But the next thing you know, it’s 27-0.”
Harry Hall paced the Blue Devils (11-0) with 112 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Bailey Wallen also scored twice, once on the ground and once on a pass from Justin Heck.
Brookville was making its first postseason appearance since 2008.
“It’s just an undescribable moment right now,” said Hall, a senior fullback/linebacker who contributed an interception and plenty of tackles on defense. “We’re going out there and grinding every single day. It’s the best group of guys I’ve ever played football with in my life.”
The Blue Devils limited Indian fullback Ridge Reed to 62 yards on 15 carries, and 34 of those yards came on the final two plays of the game.
Wallen (12 carries, 68 yards), Austin Delk (seven carries, 44 yards) and Heck (seven carries, 42 yards) were among Brookville’s ground chewers. Heck was 4 of 8 for 78 yards through the air and was picked off once (by D.J. Chambers).
“I think our kids and maybe everybody had a little bit of jitters in the first playoff game,” Blue Devils coach Mike Hetrick said. “I give Carlisle some credit. They came out and played well. They were hitting hard. I think it woke us up a little bit.”
It wasn’t surprising to see Brookville wear down the visitors.
“That’s kind of been our operating procedure for the year,” Hetrick said. “We just try to play our game and keep getting after it. It’s not always pretty, but I think eventually we start getting comfortable with what we’re doing and kind of establish ourselves, and it goes from there.”
“We started off a little slow, but that’s how Brookville football goes,” Hall said. “We learn from our mistakes, and then we start punching people in the mouth and pouring it on. It’s powerhouse football. We joke around at school and say, ‘They know what we’re going to run. We’re just going to outpower ’em.’ ”
Adam Goodpaster started at quarterback for the Indians before getting replaced by Jake Moore late in the second stanza. Goodpaster was 3 of 7 for 24 yards, while Moore was 4 of 8 for 30 yards.
Both quarterbacks threw an interception, though Moore’s was a little more painful. Michael Lander grabbed a Moore aerial at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown with 1:24 remaining.
“I just dropped back in my zone, and it was like he threw it straight to me,” Lander said. “I just caught it and ran. I was just trying to keep it out of the end zone and keep that big ol’ goose egg on the scoreboard. One of my teammates, Alex Cruea, threw a block down the field that freed me to the end zone, so that was pretty cool.”
Hetrick said he was thrilled to see Lander, a senior cornerback, have a moment like that.
“He broke his collarbone in the summer, so we weren’t even sure he was going to be able to play at all,” Hetrick said. “He just came back the last half of the year.”
Hall and Tyler Horstman registered sacks for the Blue Devils, who won the yardage battle 344-197. Carlisle managed just 70 yards in the opening half.
“Our defense was all over the place,” Lander said. “It was awesome. Our run defense was stuffing them everywhere, and our pass defense kept them to a minimum.”
Zayne Hart did some nice running on limited carries for the Indians (four attempts, 52 yards). Brown was pleased that his team showed some resolve in the second half.
“I’m extremely proud of this team because when it’s 27-0 at half, it’s easy to come out and play like it’s 27-0, but our kids came out and played like it was 0-0,” Brown said. “I’m proud of how the seniors finished and how the underclassmen played.”
Bradley Harrison attempted a 41-yard field goal for Carlisle early in the third quarter, but his boot was short.
The Indians lost senior defensive lineman Eric Baker to a back injury late in the first half. After the game, Brown pointed to Baker as he left the locker room and said the injury wasn’t believed to be serious.
“Carlisle is a good team. We had to earn everything we got tonight,” Hetrick said. “They started blitzing a lot in the second half and made us look bad at times.”
Defensively, Brookville has allowed 94 points all season. Friday’s contest was the Blue Devils’ third shutout of the year.
“Our kids pride themselves on being a good defensive team, and they played well tonight,” Hetrick said.
Next for Brookville is a regional semifinal against Greeneview next Friday night at a neutral site to be determined. The Rams outlasted Milton-Union 35-34 in the first round.
“We can go as far as we want to go,” Hall said. “Everyone’s in this year. I believe, I think everyone in the community believes, and I think everyone on the team believes.”
“Our kids have been pretty good about being level-headed,” Hetrick said. “They take one game at a time, and that’s not just a bunch of coachspeak. These kids have handled it that way and never got too high on themselves. They’ve achieved some of their goals, but not all of them. Not yet.”
Carlisle 0-0-0-0—0
Brookville 7-20-0-14—41
B: Bailey Wallen 21 run (Connor Chase kick)
B: Wallen 23 pass from Justin Heck (Chase kick)
B: Harry Hall 9 run (Kick failed)
B: Hall 2 run (Chase kick)
B: Hall 1 run (Chase kick)
B: Michael Lander 100 interception return (Chase kick)
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