MUNCIE - On Friday evening two North Central Conference (NCC) rivals in Muncie Central (0-4) and Lafayette Jefferson (4-0) hit the field. The Bearcats have struggled to stop their opponents on the defensive side of the ball which has contributed to their winless start. Those defensive struggles would rear their ugly head again as Muncie Central would lose their fourth straight 43-14.
“The way we practice and are doing things on and off the field you wouldn’t know we’re 0-4” Muncie Central head coach Kyle Padgett said. “These guys care a lot, but we've got to stop making mistakes that hurt us.”
Lafayette Jefferson opened the game with the ball and struck fast scoring within three plays. The Broncos took to the air to get down the field quickly with very little resistance from the Muncie Central defense.
The Bearcat offense could not respond on their first drive of the ball game being forced to punt. However, the purple and whites defense stepped up forcing a punt from the Broncos thanks to a bad snap and a sack from junior Dae’cion Echols.
That momentum from the defense transferred quickly to the offensive side of the ball for Muncie Central. The home team leaned heavily on the run game with the combo of Echols and junior running back Gage Emberton to get them down the field.
The Bearcats needed a response and got it after slashing through the Bronco defense and scoring on a short four-yard rush from Echols to knot the game at 7-7 at the end of quarter one.
“You can see how we played in that first half, we were ready, and we were doing really good,” said Padgett.
The energy on the Bearcat sideline shifted slightly ending the quarter with some momentum after the score. However, it didn’t last very long.
The Broncos made their second drive of the game seem like a blip on the radar as the road team opened up the second quarter, yet again, moving down the field with ease. The white and red took their next two drives down the field, taking advantage of the Bearcat defense scoring on both drives and pushing their lead to 22-7.
Muncie Central had taken some punches from the Broncos offense early, but the Bearcat offense had responded well and would do just that, responding with another score shortly before the half.
Echols rushed in his second score of the game for the purple and white on a twenty-yard run to bring them to within one score, 22-14.
However, the Achilles heel of the purple and white has been the defense, and despite some clock and officiating controversy, Lafayette Jefferson was able to punch in another score to lead at the half 29-14.
“All [the officials] told me was ‘we’ll be better next time’” Padgett said. “That cost us big, and they ran the ball and only point seven seconds ran off, we all know that should’ve been the end of the half and I still don’t think that ball got across the goal line.”
Coming out of the locker room Muncie Central showed a lot of fight putting together a methodical drive to open the half. A deep pass from junior quarterback Fletcher Kahle, connected with senior wideout Jovon Williams down the sideline to the end zone.
Despite the connection, Williams was ruled out of bounds at the five taking a would be touchdown off the board. The Bearcats still had a chance to score but could not punch in a score as the Bronco defense held strong turning over the purple and white on downs.
Padgetts message to his team despite the deficit never faltered, it was always about ‘urgency’.
“Urgency can’t just be on game day,” he said. “It's got to be in practice, preparation, film, when we have team meetings, everything. We’re trying to get them to focus and be disciplined in everything they do.”
After that score, it was all Lafayette Jefferson as the Broncos tacked on two more scores before the final horn sounded.
Throughout the contest, there was a lot of controversy regarding the officiating and Padgett made his displeasure known to the crew, but for him, it was really about defending his guys.
“It’s because I love them,” he said. “I’d do anything for these guys and the way they’ve turned themselves around and how they act in school, our attendance, grades, and our behavior, we’re leading the culture change in this school. They’re just excellent young men.”
Muncie Central will host Anderson (0-4) in their next contest on Friday, Sept. 20. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Contact David Moore with comments at david.moore@bsu.edu or on X @gingninj63
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