BROWNSBURG — It was the type of game defensive linemen love. Which is probably why Mason Keifer was smiling and saying, “How did you like that?” when it was over.
Brownsburg liked it just fine. The 6A second-ranked Bulldogs knocked off No. 1 Westfield 17-13 on Saturday afternoon in a homecoming game pushed back 20 hours due to the remnants of Hurricane Helene descending on the state. The Brownsburg defense was more levee than hurricane, continuously holding Westfield to either field goal attempts or shutting them out entirely — even when put in disadvantageous positions.
“Whenever you get two fourth-down stops when there’s what, three minutes left man, it just feels amazing,” Keifer said. “One thing we felt coming in was, ‘We need to be more physical up front and more physical all around.’ We were more physical and came out with the ballgame.”
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The way Brownsburg’s defense was playing, the Bulldogs just needed a spark. Enter Branden Sharpe. The 5-9, 165-pound sophomore speedster had been mostly bottled up by the Westfield defense for three quarters. But after Westfield’s Owen Wright kicked a 21-yard field goal on the second-to-last play of the third quarter to give the Shamrocks a 13-8 lead, Sharpe stood with his heels on the goal-line, awaiting the kickoff.
“In my head I was thinking, ‘I gotta make a play,’” Sharpe said. “Because our offense was struggling there a little bit. … The team came through for me.”
Sharpe’s teammates know what the sophomore is capable of anytime he touches the ball. In last week’s 31-30 win over Fishers, Sharpe caught the game-winning pass in the final seconds on a jump ball and finished with nine catches for 128 yards.
“I wouldn’t even dive at Branden Sharpe,” Keifer said. “He’s the definition of a little squirmy dude, man. It’s like he’s got lotion on him. You grab on and he slips off. He jukes you out, outruns you.”
Sharpe took the kickoff on the final play of the third quarter and darted straight ahead, then veered to his left as the kickoff was designed. He cut back inside off the block of junior Drew Bostic, who sealed his man to the outside. Up the field another five yards, Josh Volk blocked his man just long enough for Sharpe to make another cut back to his right and up the field.
Gone. Touchdown. A 94-yard kickoff return put Brownsburg ahead 14-13 going into the fourth quarter with momentum. Sharpe credited his teammates for paving the route, which included a key block from Bostic.
“Our special teams coach, coach (Dan) Schwanekamp, told me I’d be 1-on-1 with their outside guy and I’d just have to seal him to the sideline to make a lane for Branden,” Bostic said. “You don’t have to do too much with him running behind you. You just do your job to the best of your ability and he’s going to do his thing every time.”
Sharpe’s touchdown was the gust of wind the Bulldogs needed. On the previous Westfield drive, which ended with Wright’s 21-yard field goal, starting quarterback Carsen Melvin was hit hard on a 3rd-and-1 run by Brownsburg linebacker Hunter Childs. Melvin, a Bowling Green commit, never returned with an upper body injury.
“We’ll reevaluate him on Monday and see where he’s at,” Westfield coach Josh Miracle said. “Obviously we’re hoping he’s alright.”
The Westfield offense, with Melvin out, went three-and-out on its next drive. Brownsburg (6-0), taking over at its own 29 with 9:47 left, turned to senior quarterback Iosua Stephens, who shares time with sophomore Oscar Frye. Stephens, operating the zone read, reeled off runs of 11, 14, 4, 6, 4, 3 and 2 yards. Brownsburg was able to take more than six minutes off the clock on the 61-yard drive, getting a 27-yard field goal from Will Orlando to take a 17-13 lead with 3:10 remaining.
“It gave our defense some rest,” Brownsburg coach John Hart said of the fourth-quarter drive. “Poor Mason Keifer, I think he’s one of the best defensive players in the state, but those guys had to be gassed. (Senior) Alex Burke was another star who just kept being physical and laying people out. We were physical. We knew this was going to be a game of physicality and didn’t think we run away with it.”
Burke’s sack of Westfield backup quarterback Aiden Grabowski set the tone on the first play of the Shamrocks’ next drive, another three-and-out. The Shamrocks got the ball back once more with 1:04 remaining at their own 27 but were out of timeouts and unable to pick up a first down.
“Just a warrior effort,” Hart said of Brownsburg’s win. “We must be playing eight or nine sophomores right now. We had some injuries, so to see some of those guys step up and the older kids embrace them and coach them along, it’s kind of everything you want to see in football. I hope (Melvin) is OK because he’s a great player as well.”
It was a fruitless fourth quarter for Westfield, but the Shamrocks will likely look back at many missed opportunities prior to the fourth quarter with regret. Brownsburg fumbled on its first possession, leading to a 67-yard drive and a Mikeah Webster 4-yard touchdown run to stake the Shamrocks to a 7-0 lead midway though the first quarter.
But after that, Westfield whiffed on several chances. Brownsburg lost another fumble late in the first quarter, but the Shamrocks snapped the ball over the punter’s head, which led to a short 10-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Stephens and an 8-7 Brownsburg lead.
Westfield drove inside the 10 on its next drive, but was turned away with no points. On its next drive, Westfield settled for a 27-yard field goal by Wright to take a 10-8 lead into halftime.
After a Keegan Krupp interception in the third quarter, Westfield took over inside the Brownsburg 10. But the Bulldogs kept the Shamrocks off the board. Brownsburg turned it over again on the next drive, when the Shamrocks settled for the field goal by Wright to go ahead 13-8 with 1 second left in the third quarter.
“It always starts with me and obviously I didn’t get us prepared enough to execute in those situations,” Miracle said. “But we’ll learn from it and grow. I think we were one of five scoring touchdowns (in the red zone) and we gave up some big plays in special teams. But they are a great team, too, and deserve a ton of credit.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: In No. 1 vs. 2 showdown, defense wins as Brownsburg rises to occasion time and time again
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