GREENFIELD — For the second year in a row, Greenfield-Central’s football team opened its season with a convincing win against an undersized and undermanned Indianapolis Shortridge squad.
Last season, the Cougars easily handled the Blue Devils 48-18 at home. Friday night was no different as Greenfield-Central used a big first half to defeat Indianapolis Shortridge 70-0.
The Cougars now lead the all-time series with the Blue Devils 2-0.
The loss should not haunt Indianapolis Shortridge long. In 2014, after being defeated by the Cougars, the Blue Devils went on to win eight of their next nine contests.
The same can not be said for Greenfield-Central, which went 3-5 the rest of the season.
But that was a different time. A different time for starting quarterback Jeremiah Fields, who added pounds of muscle during the offseason. He finished 4 for 8 passing for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cougars opened the first quarter on fire scoring 35 points while forcing the Blue Devils into three turnovers (two fumbles and one interception).
Junior Bryce Ratliff led the way, scoring two touchdowns in 40 seconds to close the quarter. Fields lofted a pass to the left corner of the end zone for Ratliff’s first score, an 8-yard touchdown with 1:40 to go.
On the ensuing defensive possession, with 1:04 remaining, Ratliff intercepted Indianapolis Shortridge quarterback Malik Dean for a 22-yard touchdown return for his second score of the game.
The Cougars led 35-0 after one quarter.
The second quarter was much of the same as the Blue Devils struggled to get any sort of offense rolling. The Cougars added four more scores, including a 25-yard touchdown run for senior Andy Kim, his second of the game, giving Greenfield-Central a 63-0 halftime lead.
Cougars kicker Trenton Pierce set a new school record in the first half, notching nine extra points to break Austin Frasier’s record of eight in 2010.
The only score of the third quarter belonged to Greenfield-Central junior Matt Chittum, who found the end zone on a 32-yard run with eight minutes remaining in the quarter to give the Cougars a 70-0 lead.
Neither team was able to muster any offense in the final quarter as the Cougars rested most of their starters. Sophomore defensive back Sean Paul collected one interception to highlight the waning minutes.
Greenfield-Central heads to Indianapolis Northwest next week for a 7 p.m. contest with the Space Pioneers, followed by a Week 3 showdown with county and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Mt. Vernon at home.
