GREENFIELD — Like a prize fighter moving up a weight class, Greenfield-Central didn’t have enough left in its tank to handle the Plainfield Quakers in both teams season opener at Clayton Myers Field, Friday.
The Class 4A Cougars — who two years ago lost 42-6 to Plainfield in coach Travis Nolting’s first game at the G-C helm — ran out of gas and opportunities to knock off the Class 5A club, losing 21-14 in the non-conference game.
Nolting’s wishbone offense, designed to wear opponents, did just that, but the Cougars, with a smaller roster and more players playing both offense and defense, got wore out, too.
Add on the hot, muggy conditions of an Indiana August evening, the Cougars made too many late-game mistakes after battling with the Quakers all night.
“We punched above our weight tonight and there were some good things, but there are some things we need to correct and get better,” Nolting said.
High on that list is conditioning.
“It was a war of attrition tonight. They were tired. We were tired,” Nolting added. “I take responsibility for our conditioning levels. Obviously, it’s hot out here, but we have to do a better job of preparing through the week with guys potentially having to handle playing both ways (on offense and defense).
“We had opportunities to definitely win this one, so it’s definitely a frustrating loss. There’s a lot of things that should’ve, would’ve, could’ve happened. We have to do a better job of execution. We were in situations to do some things, but, again, we’ve got to up our condition levels. That hurt us tonight.”
Trailing 21-14, Greenfield-Central’s last three possessions ended in fumbles, all recovered by the Quakers.
After converting a third-and-30 from their own 12, the Quakers broke a 14-14 tie with a 5-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Carsen Melvin to senior back Blake Woodard. Kyle Hayden’s third PAT of the night gave Plainfield a 21-14 lead with 9:54 remaining.
The Cougars tied the game on a third-quarter defensive score.
For the second straight series Joey Roland recovered a Juan Nieto fumble. On the latter recovery, Roland went 51 yards for a touchdown, tying the game 14-14. The Cougars missed an opportunity to go ahead when they failed on the two-point conversion.
“I came off the edge and the running back just dropped the ball,” Roland said. “I just picked it up and ran with it.”
The first half was a game of long drives by the Cougars and quick answers by the Quakers.
After Plainfield stopped Greenfield-Central’s six-minute opening drive at the Quaker 6, the visitors scored two plays later on a 95-yard touchdown pass from Melvin to senior wide receiver Cael Vanderbush, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound Division I commit to Western Michigan.
G-C put together a 19-play, 80-yard scoring drive in the second quarter. Taking 7:38 off the clock, running back Brayden Herrell scored on a 6-yard run with 1:06 left until halftime. Herrell added the two-point conversion to give the Cougars a very brief 8-7 lead.
“It was a situation where we felt they were tired. We went into hurry-up mode and tried to utilize our ground game on them and it worked,” Nolting said. “As the game drug on we got tired and that was the difference maker.
“That drive was a great drive and how our offense should work.”
On the next drive, Melvin completed three passes for 47 yards and the Quakers picked up 15 more on a roughing the passer penalty. With 13 seconds left on the clock, Nieto scored on a 1-yard run. With the second successful PAT of the half from Hayden, Plainfield led 14-8 at the break.
Unofficially, Herrell led G-C rushers with 20 carries for 75 yards. Quarterback Brodie Mayberry had 12 carries for 36 yards and went 7-for-10 passing for 87 yards.
Melvin was impressive in his high school debut. Though the Cougar defense ran him down for three sacks, the Quaker newcomer finished 15-for-20 for 261 yards and two scores.
Roland had one of the three G-C sacks, to go with the two fumble recoveries. Dewey Woolsey and Josh VanOsdol also had sacks.
“We have to have less turnovers. That’s probably our biggest takeaway from this game. That probably lost us the game tonight,” Roland added.
The Cougars played the game without junior running back/linebacker Andrew Zellers, the team’s top returning rusher (554 yards and three 100-plus rushing yards games last season). Nolting said he expects Zellers to be back next week.
“We really missed him tonight. Having him back next week will be huge,” Nolting said.
G-C (0-1) is back in action next week, hosting Phelan Academy 7:30 p.m. Friday. It’s the final non-conference game before the Cougars begin Hoosier Heritage Conference play, also at home, on Sept. 3 against Hancock County rival Mt. Vernon.
Plainfield (1-0) plays host to Tri-West next week.
Plainfield 21, Greenfield-Central 14
Plainfield (1-0);7;7;0;7;-;21
Greenfield-Central (0-1);0;8;6;0;-;14
First Quarter
P – Cael Vanderbush 95 yd pass from Carsen Melvin (Kyle Hayden kick), 5:06
Second Quarter
GC – Brayden Herrell 6 yd run (Herrell run), 1:06
P – Juan Nieto 1 yd run (Hayden kick), :13
Third Quarter
GC – Joey Roland 51 yd fumble return (run failed), 5:10
Fourth Quarter
P – Blake Woodard 5 yd pass from Melvin (Hayden kick), 9:54
