For a quarter, it looked like Delta (4-1) and New Castle (3-2) were in for a shootout. That wasn’t the case, however, as the Eagles went on to hold New Castle scoreless in the second and third quarters to go 11-0 all-time against the Trojans.
Delta defeated the Trojans 33-21, and Friday’s game was the closest since 2017 between the two teams when Delta defeated New Castle 56-49.
“Our team’s performance was phenomenal,” Delta senior Evan Conley said. “Everything just kind of clicked together, and we played as a whole team.”
The story of the night was Delta’s powerful running game. All five of its touchdowns were on the ground, with two coming from senior quarterback Brady Hunt and two from lineman-turned-rusher Conley.
“I had a pretty good game, but that couldn’t have come from anywhere without our offensive line and the rest of our offense,” Conley said.
Conley ran the ball once against Shelbyville, but it was Friday night when he got his first career start behind the line he is normally protecting. In his first full game as running back, Conley officially ran at least 220 yards.
“Our coach told me the morning after we played Mount Vernon that I might have a position change,” Conley said. “Our starter was out [Friday], so that was definitely a factor but why they chose me to be running back is beyond me.”
As the first quarter played out, both offenses looked comfortable on the field, looking certain to put up several points for their respective teams. Despite being ranked second in 4A and 12th in the state for defensive scoring average, the Trojans struggled on the defensive side of the ball.
Delta struck first on a 6-yard touchdown run by Hunt to put the Eagles up early in the first quarter. On the very next drive, however, New Castle junior quarterback William Grieser launched a 57-yard touchdown bomb to sophomore receiver Aidan Bradley to tie things up at seven.
Hunt put the Eagles back out in front with 3:44 left in the first on a 3-yard touchdown run. Less than two minutes later, Grieser answered with a 3-yard touchdown run of his own to keep the score tied at 14 by the end of the first quarter.
However, for New Castle, those would be the last points they would score until the fourth quarter. The Eagles defense stiffened up, and the run game from Hunt and Conley proved to be too much.
By the fourth, Delta had earned a 33-14 lead. Time ran out for a Trojans comeback in an effort to beat the Eagles for the first time.
Delta hosts Pendleton Heights (3-2) Oct. 2 — a team they have not beaten since 2015. New Castle travels for a tough match-up against the top team in 4A, Mount Vernon (Fortville) (6-0).
“They’re definitely a good team,” Conley said of Pendleton Heights. “We can’t take anything for granted, and we have to go hard in practice every day. There’s so much that we have yet to do and so much we haven’t accomplished yet, so we’re ready for it.”
Contact Evan Weaver with comments at erweaver@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @evan_weaver7.
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