By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – During this ghoulish holiday, when the costumed and mischievous rush to collect gobs of candy with scare tactics, Evansville Harrison had all the tricks for the treats. Bedford North Lawrence was left holding an empty bag.
Running amok, converting turnovers into sweet points, the Warriors dashed and gashed their way to a stunning Sectional 24 semifinal triumph. They will pay for their sugar high, losing their head coach for the sectional final following his fourth-quarter ejection, but the Stars swallowed all the sour stuff with a season-ending loss.
Powered by a lightning-fast running attack, turning two devastating BNL turnovers into second-quarter points that were crucial, Harrison blasted to a 58-26 win in the second round of the Class 4A state tournament on Friday night. Quarterback Anthony Bavone and running back Dekyleon Rankin were a dynamic duo that BNL could not catch or tackle as the Warriors (5-6) advanced to face Heritage Hills in the championship.
BNL (7-4) gave away too many treats with five turnovers, including two that Harrison took to the opposite end zone during the final three minutes of the first half. The Stars could not recover from those giveaways as Harrison eventually triggered the running clock for a mercy-rule conclusion.
The Stars owned a 20-14 lead late in the second quarter. That’s when the Warriors exploded. Khi’Shaun Brown ripped off a 45-yard run, setting up Bavone’s short keeper for his third touchdown. On BNL’s next snap, Harrison defender Tayten Wilson ripped the ball from Malakai Goodman’s grasp in a human pile – was forward progress stopped before the strip? – at the 45-yard line and rumbled the distance for a shocking score and 28-20 lead. On the following series, as the Stars looked to end the half with a touchdown for momentum, De’Andre Sanders picked off a pass on the sideline and raced 68 yards for a second straight defensive score.
”When you get into the tournament, you’re only playing good teams from this round on,” BNL coach Brayden Tidd said. “You can’t give the ball away to anybody, especially against a team like that, with that much speed. It was a dynamite effect on offense. That’s a recipe for disaster.
“Our offense gave them two touchdowns. You can’t give good teams any openings.”
Any opening, and there were many holes against BNL’s run defense, was exploited by breakaway speed. Bavone exploded for a 68-yard run on Harrison’s first play, and he broke a 51-yarder for the second touchdown. He finished with 183 rushing yards.
Rankin was equally unstoppable, blasting for 180 yards rushing. Harrison totaled 477 yards on the ground.
“It’s hard, when you give them a first-play touchdown,” Tidd said. “They were better than what they looked on film.”
“He did what he does,” Harrison coach Moe Sutton said about his elusive quarterback. “He’s making plays, I can’t ask for anything more. We coach his butt off during the week, and he plays his butt off on Fridays.”
In the second half, the Warriors pulled away. Bavone’s 30-yard connection with Brown (the only Harrison pass completion of the night) gave Harrison a 42-20 lead. The Warriors extended that with a safety (Mitchell Rhoads sacking BNL quarterback Cutler Chastain in the end zone), Brown’s 34-yard bolt for a 50-20 advantage, and Rankin’s 55-yard runaway for a 58-20 lead that started the running clock with 3:02 left.
Harrison, which overcame 20 penalties (including three straight unsportsmanlike flags that led to the Sutton ejection early in the fourth quarter), advanced to its first sectional final since 2016. That destiny was a dream when Harrison started this season at 0-5.
“They needed to believe in themselves,” Sutton said. “They never quit. This is the payoff for not quitting.”
BNL started so strong, then collapsed. The first drive ended with a touchdown as Chastain scrambled 13 yards for the score, and the Stars came back from the first Bavone breakout with Chastain’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Gilbert. Another Chastain-to-Gilbert pass, this one 41 yards, gave BNL its doomed 20-14 lead with 4:07 left in the half.
But in the second half, BNL was shut down until Goodman scored on the final play.
“We couldn’t find anything, couldn’t get anything going,” Tidd said.
Goodman finished with 146 rushing yards, pushing him over the 2,000-yard mark for the season. Chastain completed 15 of 31 for 246 yards, but he was intercepted four times. Gilbert caught eight passes for 135 yards.
BNL, instead of a second straight trip to a sectional final, was forced to wonder about what might have been. Injuries left the roster with huge voids, which finally became too much of a strain.
“That’s the thing, when you lose dang-near half the team to injuries, especially seniors,” Tidd said. “The fact we were in this position is massive props for the young guys that stepped up, and did the job. I’m very proud of them.”
Harrison advanced to face No.11 Heritage Hills, a 42-26 winner over No.8 Evansville Reitz in the other semifinal, in the finale.
Evan. Harrison 7 28 9 14 – 58
Bedford NL 13 7 0 6 – 26
First quarter
BNL – Cutler Chastain, 13 run (Aiden Dralle kick), 6:35; EH – Anthony Bavone, 68 run (Malachi Johnson kick), 6:13; BNL – Jaden Gilbert, 15 pass from Chastain (kick failed), 0:54
Second quarter
EH – Bavone, 51 run (Johnson kick), 10:18; BNL – Gilbert, 41 pass from Chastain (Dralle kick), 4:07; EH – Bavone, 2 run (Johnson kick), 3:13; EH – Tayten Wilson, 45 fumble return (Johnson kick), 2:54; EH – De’Andre Sanders, 68 interception return (Johnson kick), 0:43
Third quarter
EH – Khi’Shaun Brown, 30 pass from Bavone (Johnson kick), 7:14; EH – Safety, sack in end zone, 0:35
Fourth quarter
EH – Brown, 34 run (pass fail), 5:53; EH – Dekyleon Rankin, 55 run (Jareal Mockobee pass from Bavone), 3:02; BNL – Malakai Goodman, 1 run (no PAT), 0:00
Team statistics
EH – First downs 13 (13 by run); Rushing 35-477; Passing 1-4-0-30; Total yards 507; Fumbles 2 (lost 0); Penalties 20-169
BNL – First downs 11 (8 by run, 3 by pass); Rushing 32-159; Passing 15-31-4-246; Total yards 405; Fumbles 1 (lost 1); Penalties 9-65
Individual statistics
Rushing – (EH) Ranklin 18-180, Brown 3-79, Bavone 10-183, Carter 2-12, Hart 1-11, Wilson 1-22; (BNL) Chastain 9-15, Goodman 21-146, Gilbert 2-(-2)
Passing – (EH) Bavone 1-4-0-30; (BNL) Chastain 15-31-4-246
Receiving – (EH) Brown 1-30; (BNL) Gilbert 8-135, Jones 4-86, Goodman 2-17, King 1-8
