Decatur Central defeats Greenwood with late TD pass
GREENWOOD – Decatur Central has a number of kids that Greenwood coach Mike Campbell calls "one-play capability athletes" — players that can change a game at any moment. Unfortunately for Campbell, Decatur Central made one of these game-changing plays when it mattered most on Friday night.
Trailing by five with 16 seconds remaining and the ball at the Greenwood 24-yard line, Decatur Central quarterback Bryce Jefferson dropped back and floated a pass high to the corner of the end zone, leading his favorite target Tyrone Tracy. Tracy sprinted to the corner, stretched out his arms, cradled the ball and gave the Hawks a 13-12 win.
More high school football coverage:
►High school football roundup: Week 7
► Carmel slows Ben Davis, but can't stop top-ranked Giants
► From a wheelchair to the end zone, Hawks made a kid's dream come true
The Class 5A No. 5 Hawks (6-1) won on the road over Mid-State Conference foe Greenwood (5-2).
Jefferson and Tracy produced a bulk of the yardage for the Hawks. Jefferson went 12-of-22 for 172 yards and two touchdowns through the air with 12 carries for 117 yards. Tracy finished with 67 yards and the deciding touchdown.
“We know Bryce Jefferson and Tyrone Tracy are kind of our bread and butter,” Decatur Central coach Kyle Enright said after the game. “We’ve got to go to those guys in crunch time. What a throw and catch.”
Enright also gave credit to a 4A Greenwood team that came just a few plays short of upsetting a top-five 5A squad.
Greenwood’s defense was especially impressive. The Hawks came into the game with a high-powered offense averaging 49.3 points per game that put up totals of 55, 54, 63 and 63 points in their past four outings. The Woodmen shut Decatur Central out completely in the first half and allowed only two scores in the second.
“I thought our defense was outstanding,” Campbell said after the game. “We put (our defense) in bad spots early in the first half, and they responded and kept them out (of the end zone).”
Neither team scored in the first half. The two teams traded scores in the third quarter. After scrambling back over 20 yards to his own 35-yard line, Jefferson found an open Calvin Thomas with a throw and catch for a 42-yard touchdown on a broken play. Greenwood answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped with a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Seth Gallman. A missed extra point kick left Greenwood trailing, 7-6.
Greenwood earned its first and only lead late in the fourth when Gallman hit wide receiver R.J. Myers on a post route for an 88-yard touchdown pass. A failed two-point conversion left Greenwood with a 12-7 advantage with 1:38 remaining — just enough time for that final Decatur Central drive.
DECATUR CENTRAL 13, GREENWOOD 12
Decatur Central 0 0 7 6 — 13
Greenwood 0 0 6 6 — 12
DC — Calvin Thomas 42 pass from Bryce Jefferson (Kelvin Sanders kick)
G — Seth Gallman 1 run (Mark Ostermeier kick no good)
G — R.J. Myers 88 pass from Gallman (two-point attempt failed)
DC – Tyrone Tracy 24 from Jefferson (two-point attempt failed)
Rushing — Decatur Central: Jefferson 12-117, Thomas 3-16, Tracy 11-(-9). Greenwood: Nick Willham 25-88, Gallman 12-81, Anthony Williams 1-5.
Passing — Decatur Central: Jefferson 12-22-172. Greenwood: Gallman 7-10-136.
Receiving — Decatur Central: Tracy 4-67, Austin Mitchell 3-28, Demontai Franklin 2-20, Alex Mitchell 2-19, Thomas 1-42. Greenwood: Justin VanDyke 4-35, Conner Battinau 2-18, Myers 1-88, Williams 1-9.