The third time ended up not being the charm for Adams Central Friday afternoon, as they fell for the only time in the season to Indianapolis Lutheran 35-28 for the IHSAA 1A Football State Championship in Indianapolis.
Adams Central got the ball first, and with the help of a big 33-yard completion from Jack Hamilton to Trevor Currie on an early third down. The drive continued, where Hamilton scored on a 1-yard keeper, with the possession taking up half of the quarter.
The Saints then answered, scoring on three straight quick drives, the first being a 67-yard pass from Jackson Willis to DeVuan Jones on a drive that took just three plays and 55 seconds. After a Jet three and out, Willis found LJ Ward on a 15-yard pass on a drive that lasted just one minute.
A second straight three and out by Adams Central led to the third straight score that took 90 seconds, this time on the ground as Braydon Hall scored on a 1-yard run, as the Saints scored 21 unanswered over the course of 7 minutes of game action.
Adams Central did finally find the end zone in the 2nd quarter, as Hamilton found Currie on two big plays for 46 and 13 yards, the latter leading to the touchdown. However, Lutheran scored again as Willis found Ward for 24 yards, bringing the halftime score to 28-14 in favor of Lutheran.
The Saints took the second half kickoff on a drive that doubled their possession time, capitalizing on a 12-play, 77-yard drive, when Willis found Jones for his second touchdown for 20 yards, taking 6:18 off the clock. The Jets answered with a nine-play drive, as Hamilton zinged a pass to Currie for the 8-yard touchdown.
The teams then traded possessions, as the Saints punted for the first time in the 4th quarter, Hamilton threw a deflected interception, a second Saint punt, and the Jets scored for the final time as they went with a spread no-huddle offense, converting on a third-down play on an acrobatic catch by Ryan Tester. On the next play, Tester was bumped out of bounds, came back in, and made the catch, walking into the end zone for the 30-yard strike.
The Jets attempted an onside kick, trailing by 7 with 1:24 to go in the game, but were unable to gather it in, and the Saints went into victory formation and won their third straight title over Adams Central. The Jets finished the season 14-1, while the Saints improved to 13-0, as both teams will be moving up to Class 2A for the next two years due to the success factor.
Scoring:
1st 5:45 AC Jack Hamilton 1 yd run, Trevor Currie PAT GOOD
1st 4:42 IL DeVuan Jones 67 yd pass from Jackson Willis, Dax Lockliear PAT GOOD
1st 2:04 IL LJ Ward 15 yd pass from Willis, Lockliear PAT GOOD
2nd 10:47 IL Braydon Hall 1 yd run, Lockliear PAT GOOD
2nd 8:06 AC Currie 13 yd pass from Hamilton, Currie PAT GOOD
2nd 4:26 IL Ward 24 yd pass from Willis, Lockliear PAT GOOD
3rd 5:39 IL Jones 20 yd pass from Willis, Lockliear PAT GOOD
3rd 0:55 AC Currie 8 yd pass from Hamilton, Currie PAT GOOD
4th 1:24 AC Ryan Tester 30 yd pass from Hamilton, Currie PAT GOOD
PASS: IL—Jackson Willis 13-18 226 yds, 4TD; AC—Jack Hamilton 16-24 226 yds, 3TD 1INT
RUSH: IL (135)—Braydon Hall 30-145 TD, Jackson Willis 1-4, DeVuan Jones 2-1; AC (100)—Jack Hamilton 12-50 TD, Keegan Bluhm 16-50, Ryan Tester 2-0
REC: IL—Jeremiah King 6-61, DeVuan Jones 2-87 2TD, LJ Ward 2-39 2TD, Ja’varrea Cooper 2-25, TJ Clark 1-14; AC—Trevor Currie 6-126 2TD, Ryan Tester 5-81 TD, Braylend Reber 3-17, Max Hamilton 2-2