By JIM BELSER
Noblesville met Class 6A Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival and No. 2 ranked Brownsburg Friday night, taking the Bulldogs to the brink before falling 17-7 after leading much of the contest.
Brownsburg (8-0) averted the loss by producing the scores it needed down the stretch, overcoming a 7-0 second half deficit. The Bulldogs produced only three sustained drives on offense against the Noblesville defense. Two of those drives came in the fourth quarter and led to scores for Brownsburg, allowing for the Bulldogs escape.
Noblesville coach Jason Roden pointed to fatigue as the difference in the game.
“Fatigue was the difference, we have got to go both ways, we don’t want to but we have to, they just have so much more depth than we do,” Roden said. “But I am proud of everybody, I am happy with the kid’s effort, it is just frustrating.”
A big play for Brownsburg eased the pressure for the hosts as Bulldog quarterback Ben Easters hooked up with Donny Marcus for an 80 touchdown on a screen pass to tie the contest 7-7 in the third.
After returning to the second half down 7-0, the Bulldogs were fired up. Brownsburg defensive pressure led to several big losses for Noblesville on sacks in the third and fourth quarters. As the second half wore on, the Millers looked tired.
Brownsburg took advantage, piling up the yards up the middle with Marcus on the ground on a late game possession. The Bulldogs ended their late surge with Marcus crossing the goal line from two yards out to take the lead 14-7 with 7:56 left.
The Bulldogs scored a final time on a field goal after regaining possession, driving to 12-yard line again pounding the ball up the middle.
After bringing new life to the Noblesville football program is his first season with the Millers, coach Roden is a man with a simple plan to win more.
“We bend but don’t break on defense and we try to be scrappy on offense, that’s our brand of football,” he said.
In the first half, the Millers (4-4) gave themselves the edge, keeping control of possession on offense and blanketing the Bulldogs on defense. Grant Gremel rolled up 12 completions in the first half. An interception by Brownsburg’s CJ Tanner in the end zone as the Millers were marching was the only blemish the first half.
A big target for Gremel in the first half was Jayden Barrett. The speedy receiver exploded for four catches totaling 96 yards for Noblesville, all in the first quarter. Two of his huge receptions, along with a 10 roughing the passer call, landed the Millers at the Bulldog 2-yard line. A play later Gremel crossed the goal line for the Millers on a quarterback keeper to go up 7-0 with 3:24 left in the first quarter.
The Millers held the Bulldogs to 41 yards rushing in the first half, but it was two turnovers Noblesville forced that delivered the biggest impact. After a pair of first downs by Brownsburg following the Millers touchdown, senior cornerback Zach Gruver wrestled a 30-yard bomb out of the sky to come up with the interception in the Brownsburg end zone. Gruber returned it to the 47-yard line of Noblesville.
Alden Richardson added the Miller’s other turnover, intercepting a Bulldog pass at the 32 midway through the second quarter. Noblesville was turned away from a potential score after a 30-yard screen pass by Gremel ended in a fumble recovered by Brownsburg at their own 7-yard line in the second quarter.
“That screen fumble just killed us,” Roden said. “And then Eddie Dziennik gets blindsided on a block and he has to go out. He couldn’t play for a quarter, you know he is one of the best football players in the city and our best player, when you lose that, that’s your momentum right there.”
Gremel for Noblesville was 16 of 27 passing for 165 yards. Noblesville’s final regular season game comes at home as it takes on Avon next Friday.
