Indians junior quarterback Aaron Conley threw for 258 yards and four TDs as Mechanicsburg improved to 5-0 and 4-0 in the division. Senior wide receiver Keith Bebout caught five passes for 152 yards and three TDs in the victory.
“The kids played really well,” said Indian coach Kurt Forrest. “The coach side of me is upset about the turnover and the punt; I’m never happy about that stuff, but the kids are unbelievable. They’re executing at a high level. Every single kid out there is a playmaker for us and you’ve got to respect all of them. Aaron is doing a good job being the point guard, distributing the rock to everybody. We’re taking what the defense is giving us and the kids are just flying around.”
Mechanicsburg junior Jake Hurst scored on a 38-yard run on the second play of the game to give the Indians a quick 7-0 lead. On their next possession, Conley hit Bebout on a deep route for an 88-yard TD to make it 14-0 just a few minutes into the game.
“Aaron threw a dime,” Bebout said. “I didn’t expect that ball to go that far, but he threw a dime.”
On their next possession, Conley’s pass was intercepted by Fairbanks' Bryant Fannin. A few plays later, Ashton Griffith scored on a 1-yard run to bring the Panthers within seven points.
The Indians knew they couldn’t let up against Fairbanks, who beat them in Week 10 in 2017 to deny them a share of the OHC title.
“We had to stay focused,” Bebout said. “We knew they were going to be pumped up. We couldn’t sleep on them. We had to stay focused.”
The Indians countered with a 30-yard TD pass from Conley to Bebout and a 53-yard TD pass from Conley to Hurst to make it 28-7.
Midway through the second quarter, a punt snap flew over the head of the Indians' Hayden DeLong and the Panthers recovered. Fairbanks' Brogan Green scored on a 33-yard run on the next play to pull within 14.
The Panthers wouldn’t score again. Mechanicsburg’s Chayse Propst ran for 79 yards and two TDs for the Indians. Jayden Roland threw an 18-yard TD pass to Liam Smith and Dylan Schetter added a 36-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“Our bread and butter has always been running the football,” Forrest said. “We do enough stuff off of it now that when you start to load up to stop the run because you don’t want that to beat you (we can throw it). We’ve got weapons everywhere and we’re not afraid to use them.”
The Indians can clinch the outright OHC North title with a victory over West Liberty-Salem next week. The Tigers beat Mechanicsburg 35-15 in Week 10 last season to earn a share of the league title.
“We know we’re going to have our hands full with them,” Forrest said. “This is the way it’s supposed to be. You get to play the team up north in Week 6, the last week of the regular season for the league title. This is what dreams are made of.”
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