FOOTBALL: Knights slip past Pirates 28-27

Sep. 20—GREENSBURG — After two weeks away from the gridiron, the Pirates returned to action Friday by hosting South Dearborn.

This close battle came down to the final quarter with the Knights scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to hold off Greensburg 28-27. The Knights improve to 4-1 on the season. The Pirates drop to 1-2.

South Dearborn opened the scoring with an Adam Kunkel two yard run. The point after made it 7-0.

Greensburg came back with a Sam West 18-yard run. The point after tied the game at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Greensburg took the lead in the second quarter on a West 2-yard pass to Kaden Acton. The extra point made it 14-7.

South Dearborn answered with a 44-yard pass from Kunkel to CJ Rogers. The teams went to the half knotted at 14-14.

The Pirates had the lone score in the third quarter. Oakley Best scored on a 12-yard run to put Greensburg in front 21-14 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Knights tied the game at 21-21 on an Ashton Kittle 9-yard run.

Greensburg came back to take the lead again as Best scored on a 13-yard run. The point after was no good, but the Pirates led 27-21.

The Knights capped the night with a 5-yard run by Rogers. The point after gave South Dearborn the lead and eventually the win 28-27.

West passed for 183 yards and one touchdown to go with 53 yards rushing and one touchdown for the Pirates. Acton added 65 yards rushing and Best finished with 59 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.

Corbin Mathews led the Pirates in receiving yards with 93. Bradyen Forkert caught one pass for 33 yards and Ethan Meadows added 30 yards receiving.

Defensively, the Pirates were led by Alex Dance with eight total tackles. Eli Moore, Evan Graves and Gabe Jones each had seven total tackles.

The Knights passed for 254 yards and rushed for 214 yards.

Connersville 55, Rushville 33

RUSHVILLE — Connersville was the opponent for Rushville's annual Homecoming game. The Spartans scored 33 points in the first half en route to winning the War on 44 trophy 55-33.

The Spartans opened the scoring on their second possession. Quarterback Gavin Pearson connected with Brayden Pearson on fourth down for the 8-yard touchdown pass. Connersville led 7-0 at the 6:05 mark.

The Lions got the Homecoming crowd excited by knotting the game at 7-7 when quarterback Harper Miller scampered 50-yards for the touchdown at the 3:36 mark.

Connersville regained the lead with a 5-yard touchdown run by Gavin Pearson to make it 13-7 at the 2:19 mark of the first quarter.

One play after a Rushville turnover, Gavin Pearson hit Brayden Jones for the 24-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Rushville moved the ball on the next possession with an 8-play drive, but were unable to score.

Connersville took advantage of a roughing the passer penalty on fourth down to keep a drive going that was capped by a Gavin Pearson 7-yard TD run. with 2:58 to play in the half, the Spartans led 27-7.

After a Lion turnover, Connersville's Cyle Seifert scored on a 6-yard run to extend the lead to 33-7 at the half.

The Spartans opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive. Seifert scored on a 24-yard run to push the lead to 40-7.

The Lions answered with a 30-yard TD run by Miller to cut the deficit to 40-14 with 8:03 left in the third quarter.

Less than two minutes later, the Spartans made it 47-14 on a 5-yard pass from Gavin Pearson to Carter DeBoard.

Miller's third touchdown on the night came with 3:16 to play in the third quarter. Connersville led 47-20.

The Spartans added another touchdown and added a 2-point conversion to make it 55-20 and force the running clock the remainder of the game.

Rushville added a pair of touchdown in the fourth quarter — Adam Sizemore and Maury Manghelli — to make the final margin 55-33.

For the Lions, Miller rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Sizemore added 127 rushing and one touchdown. Manghelli had 35 yards rushing and one touchdown. Chase Woolf caught one pass for 56 yards.

Harley Fuller led the defense with eight total tackles. Sam Barada and Landon Browning both added seven total tackles.

Lapel 34, North 20

GREENSBURG — A 13-point second quarter was the difference in Lapel's 31-20 victory at North Decatur on Friday. The Chargers trailed 7-6 after one quarter and 20-6 at the half. Both teams scored 14 points in the second half.

North opened the scoring with a 2-yard run by Reid Messer. Lapel answered with a 23-yard pass from Brennan Slow to Kaden Camp. The Bulldogs led 7-6.

In the second quarter, Lapel's Tyler Dollar scored on a 40-yard run. Slow then hit Will Alexander for the 12-yards touchdown to push the lead to 20-6 at the half.

In the third, Lapel's Nick Witte scored on a 56-yard pass from Slow. Messer scored on a 6-yard run for the Chargers.

In the fourth, the Chargers cut the deficit again as Carson Parmer connected with Evan Howell for the 17-yard touchdown. Lapel held off the Chargers with a Dollar 76-yard touchdown run.

Messer led the Chargers rushing attack with 105 yards rushing on 27 carries. Parmer was 14-of-27 with no interceptions and threw for 119 yards. Howell and Kaleb Phelps led the Chargers in tackles.

Lapel's Stow passed for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Dollar rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

Edinburgh 33, South Decatur 0

Visiting Edinburgh spoiled Homecoming for the Cougars with a 33-0 victory. The Lancers move to 4-1 on the season. The Cougars are 0-3.

Edinburgh took a 13-0 lead after one quarter and pushed the lead to 21-0 at the half.

The Lancers added six points in the third quarter and six more in the fourth quarter to earn the victory.

For South, Kelby Shook passed for 111 yards. Corbin Johnson rushed for 15 yards. Dale Peters led the Cougars with 38 yards receiving. Rhett Martin had 34 yards receiving and Austin Boilanger had 23 yards receiving.

Luke Burton led the Cougar defense with 10 total tackles and one interception. Martin added nine total tackles. Boilanger, Shook, Tyler Bishop and Ryken Winchester each had six total tackles. Jacob Scruggs had an interception.

East Central 44, Batesville 13

BATESVILLE — The visiting Trojans jumped out to a 28-7 lead at the half en route to the 44-13 victory.

Switzerland Co. 22, Oldenburg 6

VEVAY — The Oldenburg Academy Twisters traveled to Switzerland County and lost 22-6. The game was close all the way, with most of the game being 7-6 until late in the game.

OA's defense played much better with Mark Wolfe leading the way with two sacks, six tackles (four for loss) and four assist.

"Our depth hurts us. The guys gave me everything they had tonight, but at the end of the day, 16 guys is tough and with the heat, it was even tougher. But these guys gave it everything they had and I couldn't ask more of them. They played their hearts out," Coach Mitchell said after the game.

Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com