Ben Davis overpowers Carmel for Class 6A state football title
The play that swung the momentum and launched Ben Davis to its first high school football state championship since 2002 wouldn't have happened if not for a heads-up play by a 5-11, 155-pound junior.
It was late in the first quarter of Friday night's Class 6A championship. Ben Davis' Jordan Wilkerson, his team trailing top-ranked Carmel by 17 points, caught the kickoff a yard into the end zone. He looked to his left, expecting the referee to blow the whistle for an automatic touchback.
He didn't. Wilkerson took off, weaving and twisting his way 75 yards up the field. Four plays later, Ben Davis scored and was on its way to a 42-24 win over Carmel in the third of three championship games Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"In all of the previous games they called it dead," Wilkerson said. "I paused. But he didn't blow the whistle so I just kept going. I saw that huge hole and just ran to it as fast as I could. All I saw was green."
The game seemed to flip from that point forward, in all phases. Carmel (13-1), which defeated Ben Davis 37-14 during the regular season, ran the ball right at the Giants on its first three drives. Chris Perkins scored on touchdown runs of 15 and 11 yards with a 21-yard Nick Stacy field goal sandwiched in between to give Carmel a 17-0 first-quarter lead.
But a 17-point deficit is nothing for this Ben Davis team, which seemed to prefer dangerous living all season. The Giants (12-2) rallied to beat Warren Central 40-36 in the regional and trailed Center Grove by 17 in the fourth quarter last week in the semistate before winning 49-45.
"It's nothing new to us," said Ben Davis receiver Brennan Gillis, who led the Giants with five catches for 50 yards. "We don't stop battling until the end."
Ben Davis made it 17-7 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Castner to Stori Emerson following Wilkerson's return and added a 3-yard touchdown run by Dorian Tate midway through the second quarter to make it 17-14.
That's where the score stayed until halftime. Carmel led, but momentum had clearly shifted.
"When you come back like we did during the season, 17 points didn't seem insurmountable," Ben Davis coach Mike Kirschner said. "Especially since it happened so early in the game. We still had time to make adjustments."
Kirschner said there was no magic formula, although he added later that moving Notre Dame recruit Asmar Bilal from linebacker to safety helped solidify the run defense. Carmel rushed for 468 yards in the regular season meeting, but was held to 237 on Friday.
Two third-quarter turnovers were also key. A forced fumble by Bilal and an interception by Chaz Stringer turned into 14 Ben Davis points.
"We took some shots and it didn't work out," said Carmel coach Kevin Wright, whose team lost 7-6 to Warren Central in last year's 6A title game. "That's on me. Obviously, Ben Davis has a very good football team and we knew we had to control the football. Our defense played well enough to win but we can't keep them on the field like we did. I needed to do a better job calling plays. That's on me."
Leading 28-17, Ben Davis drove to the Carmel 3 but faced fourth-and-goal. The Giants lined up for a field goal but Kirschner changed the call to a fake. Castner, in the role of place-kick holder, picked the ball up off the turf and raced to the right corner of the end zone.
It gave Ben Davis a 35-17 lead with 5:38 left and essentially sealed the win.
"If it works out you look pretty smart," Kirschner said. "If not ..."
Chris Evans, who rushed for 131 yards, added a 38-yard touchdown with 1:46 left.
While the comfy lead at the end was a bit of a plot twist for Ben Davis, it was a fitting end for a team that appeared to have the pieces in place for a special season.
"(The comebacks) show how gritty our team is and how we never give up," Castner said. "We do it for each other and the community around us."
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
