GREENFIELD — Delta and Greenfield-Central began playing football against each other in 1997.
They’d played 28 times, including four sectional meetings, prior to Friday night.
Delta won them all.
It’s 28-1 now.
Greenfield-Central set the tone with a dominant start on both sides of the ball in Friday’s 28-14 victory over the Eagles at Hancock Health Stadium.
“I was a sophomore in high school (when the series started), and I am 40 years old,” Greenfield-Central head coach Travis Nolting said. “That’s how long it’s been.
“When I got here, my first year, they put it on us,” Nolting recalled of the 2019 meeting. “We were young and we were learning, and they beat us 77-0 in a rainstorm. I looked over at our kids and said this is a team that’s a state-caliber team. They are a program that has had storied success. We’ve tried to make a lot of headway gaining on some of those bigger teams in our conference. That’s been our goal the whole time, take one at a time.”
Greenfield-Central made its intentions known early, scoring on the first-three possessions.
The first scoring play of the night was the longest. Junior running back Brayden Herrell went 59 yards just 100 seconds into the contest. Logan Masters kicked the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
After Cougar defensive lineman Reese Hill recovered a Delta fumble, the Cougars began their next scoring drive from the Eagles 41. It was a 10-play drive, all runs, culminating with a 3-yard rush, on fourth down, from quarterback Rashawn Street.
Masters’ PAT attempt hit the goal post, but the Cougars had extended their lead to 13-0 with 4:28 remaining in the opening period.
After Delta lost the ball on downs from the G-C 21, the Cougars started their march to a 21-point lead.
Junior Andrew Zellers finished off the series with a 20-yard touchdown run. Masters hit the point-after to give the Cougars a 21-0 lead with 7:26 remaining until halftime.
The Eagles gained some momentum late in the half. After holding the Cougars on fourth down at their 28, they finished off the half with a 31-yard scoring play on a pass from quarterback Kaiden Bond to wide receiver Caleb Elliot with 48 seconds remaining.
On the previous play, a fourth-and-9 situation, Elliot dropped a pass that would have been a first down. Greenfield-Central was called for holding on the play, giving Delta a first down.
The momentum was short-lived. Delta got the ball to start the second half, but went three plays and out.
G-C needed just one play to score. A Street keeper went for 57 yards and a touchdown, giving the Cougars a 28-7 advantage.
Street, who moved from wide receiver to quarterback after an injury to starter Brodie Mayberry, has settled in nicely in his three and one-half games as the team’s starter. He rushed for, unofficially, 135 yards on 16 carries and completed both of his pass attempts in the run-dominant Wishbone offense.
“You’d be hard pressed to find a kid on our team that spends as much time getting outside of practice work in,” Nolting said of Street. “He’s a student of the game. He always has several hours of film logged every week. He’s very smart, makes great grades. I don’t think there’s a position he can’t play other than maybe offensive or defensive line.”
Delta added a fourth-quarter score, and the Cougars were hurt at times with some assessed penalties, but it was the home team’s night from the start and a great stepping stone for the Cougar program now in its third year with Nolting at the helm.
“I’m proud of our effort, proud of my assistant coaches,” Nolting added. “I have a great staff of guys that do a great job of prepping our kids through the week. We’ve got some guys here that have been here in Greenfield a long time and they’ve been waiting for this. It feels good to give it to them and give it to the community.
“I’m proud of our guys. They’ve faced a lot of adversity with COVID and injuries. I’m proud of the effort,. I can’t say enough about the hard work the kids have put in the three years I’ve been here, on the field, in the weight room and in the classroom. They are doing a great job.”
The Cougars have improved in each of Nolting’s three seasons. Coming off an 0-10 season, Nolting’s rookie club went 2-9 in 2019. Last year’s team finished 3-5.
They improved to 5-3 win Friday’s win and are 3-2 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. Delta dropped to 4-4 and 1-4.
The five wins are the most for G-C since 2016 when the Cougars went 6-5.
“We’ve come a long way,” Street added on the program’s first win over Delta. “It means a lot. It was one of our goals to finally beat them. It’s a big thing.”
Along with Street, Zellers had 21 carries for 96 yards. Herrell finished with 84 yards on only eight rushes.
The Cougars finish regular-season play on the road Friday, Oct. 15 at New Castle. Delta plays host to New Palestine.
Greenfield-Central 28, Delta 14
DELTA (4-4, 1-4 HHC);0;7;0;7;—;14
GREENFIELD-CENTRAL (5-3, 3-2 HHC);13;8;7;0;—;28
GC—Brayden Herrell 59 run (Logan Masters kick), 10:20
GC—Rashawn Street 3 run (kick failed), 4:28
GC—Andrew Zellers 20 run (Herrell run), 7:16
D—Caleb Elliot 31 pass from Kaiden Bond (Zion Griffis kick), :48.1
GC—Street 57 run (Masters kick), 10:21
D—Elliot 4 pass from Bond (Zion Griffis kick), 3:57
