DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
At 7-7 and after turning the ball over twice, it appeared that Adams Central’s dreams of reaching the 2A State Finals may have been fading.
At least that’s what Eastern’s fans were telling themselves at halftime Friday.
In reality, the Adams Central Jets were simply just delaying the inevitable with those turnovers and they spent the second half turning drives into touchdowns, somehow taking a 7-7 game to a running clock by converting every drive of the second half into seven points.
“You have to get ahead of us to beat us,” smiled one senior as he posed with the regional trophy with his classmates.
Those seniors not only won their fourth regional in four years, but also completed an undefeated career in games played in their hometown. The Class of 2025 won all 25 games they played at Rick Minnich Field in their careers.
The Jets were guaranteed to travel away from home for the semi-state game, but most were expecting the red and white to go to #1 Lafayette Central Catholic. An upset in the north regional now means that the team will travel to Merrillville next week to take on Andrean, a team with four losses this season.
No school the size of Adams Central has as many regional titles, with the Jets capturing their 17th in school history. In fact, only nine schools of any size have more.
It was certainly a tale of two halves against the Comets, with both teams forcing turnovers and punts in the opening drives. The fifth drive of the contest ended in an ambitious field goal attempt by Eastern, which they did not convert.
From that point on, it was nearly all Jets, as they converted on six of the final seven true possessions, punting only once.
Eastern managed to tie the game at 7-7, throwing the ball over the top of the Jet secondary on 4th & 2 from 32 yards out, with Levi Ramer making the catch in the end zone for the score.
The Comets never sniffed the end zone again.
Adams Central finished with 329 yards rushing, grinding out first downs and springing big plays with their portfolio of options. Matt Heiser again carried the regular load with 126 yards on 17 carries.
Aaron Hirschy had 76 yards on eight touches and Drew Kaehr picked up 48 with just three carries.
Jami Roach gained 58 on the ground and completed two passes to Braylend Reber for 30 yards, including a touchdown to make it 21-7 with a minute left in the third quarter.
The Jets terrorized the Eastern offensive line, scoring five sacks and finishing with a staggering ten tackles for loss.
Hayden Bluhm led the Jets in tackles, picking up one and a half sacks and three TFLs.
Cam Fravel had his usual game – five solo tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and two passes knocked down at the line.
Matt Heiser recovered both Eastern fumbles and added a sack and a TFL.
Reece Hammond also had a great game, registering three tackles for loss.
SCORING SUMMARY
Quarter 1
No Scoring
Quarter 2
8:40 – AC – Matt Heiser 21-yd run, Cowans PAT good, 7-0
1:14 – E – Levi Ramer 32-yd catch from Gibson Eagle, Rolle PAT good, 7-7
Quarter 3
10:53 – AC – Aaron Hirschy 32-yd run, Cowans PAT good, 14-7
:57 – AC – Braylend Reber 14-yd catch from Jamison Roach, Cowans PAT good, 21-7
Quarter 4
9:13 – AC – Matt Heiser 1-yd run, Cowans PAT good, 28-7
6:58 – AC – Aaron Hirschy 30-yd run, Cowans PAT good, 35-7
2:53 – AC – Vance Miller 10-yd run, Cowans PAT good, 42-7
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