DANVILLE — Trailing 14-0 against Danville in the second quarter, Crawfordsville seemed to finally catch a break when junior Tyler Hudson recovered what looked like a muffed punt for a touchdown.
The referees thought otherwise.
The ball appeared to go off the punt returner’s foot, and with no whistle heard, that’s when Hudson cruised for what he thought was the easy score. Although, by ruling, Crawfordsville would not have been able to advance once they picked up the fumble.
Instead, Danville got the ball back and on the very next play, senior wide receiver Tyler Hall took a pitch to the outside and went 59 yards to put Danville up 20-0 and eventually win the game 44-7.
“That’s a mental 14-point swing there in the second quarter, but if that goes the other way, who knows what happens,” said Crawfordsville coach Sean Gerold.
“We got to respond better to that, we got to step up and we didn’t in that situation.”
Crawfordsville struggled once again offensively to start the game. By halftime, they only scrapped up 89 yards of total offense.
Their only touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a run by Senior Chris Hammond. He was a lone bright spot in the offense, finishing with 90 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown.
“We have to come out and start the game better. That first drive, we got to move the ball; we have to set the tone offensively,” coach Gerold said.
The only real opportunity Crawfordsville had to manage a comeback was in the third quarter. The offense drove the ball up the field into the red zone, but Danville’s Luke Fields intercepted a pass at the five-yard line and returned it for a touchdown which put Danville up 30-0.
“If they would have scored, it would have been 23-7 and I think it might have been a little tighter ballgame,” said Danville coach Terry Siddall. “When you make a 90-yard return, it knocks the wind out of their sails.”
Siddall also said that the play was “a knife in the back and that’s when we sealed it.”
Danville and Fields were not done there though. After a two-yard quarterback sneak by senior Jon Pedigo, Fields started the fourth quarter with another interception and returned it for another touchdown.
That gave them their final touchdown and their biggest lead at 44-0.
“He seemed to be everywhere,” Siddall said. “It was a great individual effort. I thought he was down two or three times but he just bounced out and scored. You got to give him credit, not too much coaching on that one.”
By then, Danville was able to relax and put in their second-string quarterback. The win was a sigh of relief after last week’s heartbreaking loss to Plainfield, 14-7.
“We worked so hard last week and that loss was painful,” Coach Siddall said. “When you work that hard, you have to get a win to kind of keep things going.”
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