Brownsburg football wins first state title in nearly 40 years
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Brownsburg High School football team won the program’s first state championship since 1985 on Friday night.
The Bulldogs (13-1) beat Westfield (12-2) by the final score of 22-17.
The thrilling title game came down to the final play of the night.
With Brownsburg up 22-17, Westfield had the ball with under 10 seconds to play on the Brownsburg 32-yard line. Westfield quarterback Carsen Melvin knew he needed to score a touchdown on the play. After buying some time, he throw the ball toward the endzone, but his pass was intercepted by Brownsburg’s Drew Bostic at the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line, ending the game.
The Bulldogs outscored the Shamrocks 12-7 in the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference.
Brownsburg’s two touchdowns in the fourth quarter took place on the following plays:
- A 20-yard touchdown pass from Iousua Stephens to Branden Sharp with 9:40
- A Jamere Pendleton blocked punt return touchdown
The two teams had similar stats throughout the night.
Brownsburg had 298 yards of offense compared to Westfield, which had 260 yards of offense.
Time of possession was even closer. The Bulldogs had the ball for 23:46, while the Shamrocks had the ball for 24:14.
With the victory, Brownsburg head coach John Hart became the first head coach in Indiana to win a state championship with three different schools. He won the 4A title with Evansville Reitz in 2007 and the 5A title with Warren Central in 2009.
“I’m just really grateful,” Hart said in a a game recap posted to the IHSAA’s website. “They do humble me – the community does, the school does, and obviously this team. I think a lot of people called us about a 5-5 football team starting out the year, and I don’t know that I was arguing with them. That’s how far they’ve grown and fought together and made believers of everybody.”
It was the second time this season that Brownsburg has beaten Westfield. The Bulldogs topped the Shamrocks 17-13 back in September.
The Bulldogs have now won three state football championships in program history.