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East Central stymies Lawrenceburg

ST. LEON, Indiana – The defending Indiana Class 4A state champions picked up right where they left off in 2023 to start their 2024 campaign – with a dominant victory.

Hosting their Dearborn County and Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference (EIAC) rival, Lawrenceburg, on Friday night, the Trojans started slow but ground out a 24-3 victory over the Tigers, extending their winning streak to 22, the longest currently in the Greater Cincinnati/Tri-State area.

Pregame ceremonies saw East Central honoring their 1994 state champion squad, as this season marks the 30th anniversary of the school’s first of three state championships. Then the 2024 edition took to the field and, at least for the first quarter, resembled nothing close to last year’s juggernaut that romped through opponents to a 14-0 mark.

The first quarter, if anything, was a defensive struggle. The opening kickoff from the Trojans to Lawrenceburg pinned the Tigers on their own 4-yard line, and a false start by Lawrenceburg pinned them even further back to their 2-yard line. A run by quarterback Crue Gilmour netted another yard loss, and a holding penalty then took the Tigers to dangerous territory almost on top of their own goal line.

But on third-and-long, Gilmour connected to wideout Keaten McGrath for a 17-yard completion, which Gilmour followed up with a 12-yard run out to the Lawrenceburg 29-yard line, and it looked like the Tigers might be in business.

The Trojan defense stiffened, however, and forced a turnover on downs, taking possession in Lawrenceburg territory. East Central’s first series, however, ended up just as unsuccessful as the Tigers, with a run for no gain, a penalty, another run for no gain and an incomplete pass by quarterback Nolan Maple forcing EC to punt it back away.

That set a trend for the rest of the first quarter, as both team’s offenses sputtered, while their defenses kept the game knotted at 0-0. It took until under a minute left in the first quarter before the Trojans even secured their first first down of the game.

Lawrenceburg had possession to start the second quarter, and forced again to punt on a fourth-and-four, they pulled some trickery out of their bag, faking the punt and punter Ryan Hinthorne picking up the first down. But what little momentum the Tigers gained from the successful fake soon fizzled despite a personal foul for a facemask on the Trojans, which put the Tigers into EC territory for the first time in the game.

Forced to punt, the Tigers then saw the East Central offense begin to come alive. Taking over at their own 49, the Trojans ran for a loss on two straight plays before Maple connected to wideout Ethan Feldkamp on a third-and-16 to the Lawrenceburg 39. Maple followed that up with another third-down conversion, hitting wideout Trevor Perkins for a 17-yard completion on third-and-11.

Now getting deeper inside Tiger territory, a failed run by EC led to a second-and-10 at the Lawrenceburg 23-yard line, and that’s when the Trojans struck, with Maple hitting Feldkamp for a 23-yard touchdown pass and East Central’s first score of 2024. The extra point by EC kicker Nathan McFee was good, and the Trojans led 7-0 with just over two minutes left in the first half.

The Trojan defense, given a shot in the arm by the score, forced the Tigers to go three and out on their next series, and took over at midfield after the punt. That’s when sophomore running back Ryan Minges began to make his presence known, ripping off a 22-yard run, followed by Maple connecting with Feldkamp for another 9 yards. Then Minges took it to the house on the next play, gashing the Tiger defense for a 21-yard score – while carrying two Lawrenceburg defenders on his back into the end zone – to make it a two-score lead for the Trojans. McFee’s extra point was good, and the half ended with East Central on top 14-0.

The second half started much like the first half for both squads, with each exchanging punts before the Trojans could again begin to threaten. Getting down to the Lawrenceburg 10-yard line, a five-yard run by Minges took them even closer. But a loss of five on a Maple quarterback keeper, followed by a potential Maple to Feldkamp touchdown pass ruled incomplete, led to a chorus of boos from the East Central student section and the Trojans having to settle for a 20-yard field goal by McFee to extend their lead to 17-0.

The fourth quarter began with that very score, and time was running out on the Tigers to get back into the game. The Lawrenceburg offense began to move the ball some, aided by rushes by the shifty Gilmour and personal foul penalties on the Trojans, and were able to get to the EC 5-yard-line before stalling. A 15-yard field goal by Ryan Hinthorne brought the score to 17-3, but with 8:32 left in the game, it felt as if it would take an implosion by both the Trojan offense and defense to allow Lawrenceburg back into the game.

PHOTOS: Lawrenceburg at East Central

The Tigers tried, though, following up their first score with an onside kick that was recovered by East Central. The Trojans then kept it on the ground, with Minges and senior Carson Pieczonka alternating carries, running out the clock and taking East Central down to the Lawrenceburg 3-yard line, where Pieczonka punched it in for his first score of the season. McFee’s extra point added the cherry on top, making the score 24-3, which would end up the final.

East Central head coach Jake Meiners told his team after the victory that, despite the slow start and the challenge the Lawrenceburg defense had been posing, “don’t ever feel bad about a victory.”

“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Meiners said. “We’re a pretty inexperienced football team, and our backs were up against the wall. We faced a little bit of adversity, especially early. But I was really proud of our guys and how they responded.”

Meiners added that he knew East Central was going to have to rely on their defense, especially against a Lawrenceburg squad that he feels is a great football team that will win a lot of games.
“For us to handle adversity, our defense only giving up three points on the night, that’s a really big win for us,” he said.

SCORING BY QUARTERS
Lawrenceburg 0-0-0-3-3
East Central 0-14-3-7-24

SCORING PLAYS
E: Maple 22-yard pass to Feldkamp (McFee kick)
E: Minges 21-yard run (McFee kick)
E: McFee 21-yard field goal
L: Hinthorne 15-yard field goal
E: Pieczonka 3-yard run (McFee kick)

RECORDS: Lawrenceburg (0-1, 0-1 EIAC); East Central (1-0, 1-0 EIAC)
UP NEXT: Lawrenceburg vs. Taylor; East Central at Harrison

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