How Andrean turned a punt block into the only points in Class 2A title

INDIANAPOLIS -- Christian Gavin thought Brownstown Central was going for it.

The Andrean senior lined up at his left defensive end position on a fourth-and-3 play early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Class 2A state championship with the intention of getting after Brownstown Central quarterback Micah Sheffer.

In a blink, pass rusher turned into punt blocker.

“I wasn’t thinking it was going to be a punt block,” Gavin said. “I thought (Sheffer) was going to pass the ball or give a handoff. But once he did the spin around, I was like, ‘I’ve watched this film a million times.’”

As Sheffer received the snap, he stepped, spun to his right and punted the ball into Gavin’s outstretched right hand. Andrean’s Brady Elish picked up the ball and returned it nine yards to Brownstown Central 43 – where the play had started. Eight plays later, fourth-ranked Andrean finally broke through on a 2-yard touchdown run by Brady Stovall for the only points of the game in Andrean’s 7-0 victory over second-ranked Brownstown Central.

Gavin, Andrean’s leading tackler on the season, finished with five tackles in a stellar performance by the 59ers’ defense against the top scoring offense in the state. But no play was bigger than his punt block.

“I knew he didn’t get too deep in the backfield (on the punt),” Gavin said. “So, I just had to get a hand up, and I blocked it. It was just perfect timing. I was in the right place at the right moment.”

Even after Gavin’s punt block, Andrean (13-1) had to navigate 43 yards against a Brownstown Central defense that was nearly as stingy as its own. On its previous possession, Andrean drove 79 yards before Brownstown Central linebacker Owen Wischmeier turned away Javier McCoy at the 1-yard-line.

“It was obviously frustrating,” said Elish, a senior quarterback who shares time with sophomore Dylan Gore. “But we knew coming in how good of a team this was. Nothing was going to be easy. We just had to keep fighting.”

There was plenty of fight in Elish on the game-winning drive. His runs of 5, 10, 7 and 8 yards – with a 6-yard pass mixed in – helped take Andrean to the Brownstown Central 1. Two plays later, Brady Stovall’s 2-yard touchdown run put the 59ers ahead 7-0 with 5 minutes remaining.

Brownstown Central drove to the Andrean 13 on the next possession, converting a fourth-and-8 on an 11-yard pass from Sheffer to Jack Pace. But on third-and-4, Sheffer tried to get rid of the ball under heavy pressure and was called for intentional grounding. A fourth-and-19 pass to Preston Garrison gained just 11 yards, and Brownstown Central turned the ball back over with 2:11 left.

Elish’s 21-yard run on third-and-8 salted the game away for Andrean, which celebrated its fourth state championship and second since 2021. Elish finished with 120 rushing yards on 21 carries and was 9-for-12 passing for 96 yards.

“I don’t know that I would have predicted 7-0 and shutting out the highest scoring team in the state,” Chris Skinner said. “But I do think our schedule prepares us for this. You saw Merrillville last night (in the 5A game) and everybody in our conference is two classes bigger than us. We saw some wing-T varieties in the playoffs. I never would have predicted 7-0 but I actually liked the matchup.”

The teams combined for three missed field goals, including two by Brownstown Central from 33 and 37 yards. The Braves’ vaunted single wing attack managed just 110 yards on the ground with no runs longer than 11 yards. Sheffer was 9-for-16 passing for 110 yards.

“I figured both teams would score a lot more points,” Brownstown Central coach Reed May said. “We knew they were good (defensively). But we did see Adams Central and Southmont move the ball on them. We thought because our offense is similar, we’d be able to move the ball on them. But they stopped up our lanes and when we were trying to pull, and they did a great job up front.”

It was the first state finals appearance for Brownstown Central and the first for May, who has coached at Brownstown Central for 33 years and ranks eighth in state history with 326 wins.

“You have to give (Andrean) credit,” May said. “Offensively, we tried some different things. Until you watch film, you don’t know exactly what happened. But I thought our kids played with a lot of heart. We knew this was a special group with 19 seniors. Last year we felt like we should have been here and got upset by Linton. We got here. We just came up a little short.”

Andrean offensive lineman and Indiana commit Ben Novak held the trophy as the team sang the school fight song in front of its student section following the team photo. Novak did not look like he wanted to give it up any time soon after the fight song concluded.

“The defense really held it down for us,” Novak said. “The offense, we kept it going. We definitely had to go through some adversity, especially early on. We were on the 1-yard-line twice. It was just about capitalizing on what we did, and our special teams played a huge role. I’m just so proud and thankful of the opportunity we got.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

Andrean 7, Brownstown Central 0

Team

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

--

Total

Brownstown Central

0

0

0

0

--

0

Andrean

0

0

0

7

--

7

Scoring summary

A -- Brady Stovall 2 run (Jax Alvarez kick)

Passing -- A: Brady Elish 9-12-0-96-0, Dylan Gore 5-9-1-77-0. B: Micah Sheffer 9-17-0-110-0.

Rushing -- A: Elish 21-120, Stovall 6-11-1, Javier McCoy 6-10, Gore 1-(-6). B: Sheffer 19-39, Preston Garrison 13-35, Trevor Branaman 8-30, Trey Sweany 2-4, Lindan Lanier 2-2.

Receiving -- A: Tyler Vo 6-45, Gavin Jones 4-110, Brody Lane 2-10, Mark Grubbs Jr. 1-6, McCoy 1-2. B: Garrison 2-50, Kye Trueblood 2-31, Brock Dean 2-18, Jack Pace 2-13, Trey Sweany 1-(-2).

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football: Andrean blanks Brownstown Central for Class 2A title