CLARKSVILLE — With wins over Floyd Central and Louisville Holy Cross in the last two weeks, the Providence Pioneers’ football squad had taken a big step forward.

But on Friday night in a 41-18 loss over visiting Indian Creek at Murphy Stadium, Providence took a big step back.

“I told our kids, we’re not a team that can afford to come out flat like that,” said Providence coach Larry Denison, whose squad fell behind 28-0 in the first half and never recovered. “It took a few adjustments at halftime and we played better in the second half. But our goal is to be better every week, and we didn’t do that.”

The Braves jumped out to a big first half lead by chewing up clock — and yardage. Indian Creek quarterback Tyler Wray, the state’s leading passer coming into the contest, was an afterthought for much of Indian Creek’s first two drives as it kept the ball on the ground.

Tailback Dokken Egenolf carried the ball 13 times on those first two drives, which ended with scores — the first a 2-yard Justin Cochran run and the second a 6-yard touchdown pass from Wray to Kyle Meiklejohn. During that time, Indian Creek ran nearly 14 minutes off the first-half clock as two subsequent Providence drives stalled.

Indian Creek scored on each of its four first-half drives, with Wray tossing additional touchdown passes to Brenden Smith and Morgan Morrison towards the end of the first half as the Braves racked up a 28-0 lead.

“We knew we were going to win the battle up front and stop the run,” Denison said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that. We didn’t play as well up front, and didn’t play as well overall as we should have.”

Providence (2-2) simply had difficulty getting on track offensively, but finally broke through at the close of the first half. On third down near midfield, quarterback Nathan Banet found Owen Mattingly for a 39-yard completion along the Pioneer sideline that brought Providence inside the Indian Creek 10-yard line with about one minute remaining.

Three plays later, Banet followed center T.J. Hutt into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run. But the Pioneers had to settle for six, as place-kicker Andrew Wimp’s extra-point attempt was blocked and Providence trailed 28-6 at intermission.

Providence scored one touchdown on defense and another on offense in the second half. The Pioneers’ Dorian Noel, who had a 64-yard-touchdown catch called back for a penalty in the second quarter, ran for a 6-yard touchdown run towards the Indian Creek sideline midway through the fourth quarter.

On Indian Creek’s first play from scrimmage on their ensuing drive, the snap sailed over the head of Wray, and Nick Hayes scooped up the football for a 25-yard return.

Wray was efficient, completing 12-of-15 passes for 169 yards and four touchdowns, and Egenolf finished with 113 yards on 21 carries. Mattingly added 73 yards on the ground for the Pioneers.

“We’re going to have to come back and look at some film, but we didn’t do what we needed to win this football game, and that’s the bottom line” Dennison said.

Providence will travel to Christian Academy of Louisville next Friday.



INDIAN CREEK 41, PROVIDENCE 18

Indian Creek 7 21 0 13 - 41

Providence 0 6 0 12 - 18  

First Quarter

    IC - Cochran 2 run (Morrison kick); 6:51, 7-0.

Second Quarter

    IC - Meiklejohn 6 pass from Wray (Morrison kick); 11:01, 14-0.

    IC - Smith 29 pass from Wray (Morrison kick); 6:14, 21-0.

    IC - Morrison 3 pass from Wray (Morrison kick); 2:07, 28-0.

    P - Banet 1 run (kick failed); :29.5, 28-6.

Fourth Quarter

    IC - Smith 28 pass from Wray (kick failed); 9:00, 34-6.

    P - Noel 6 run (pass failed); 5:52, 34-12.

    P - Hayes 25 yard fumble recovery (kick failed); 5:43, 34-18.

    IC - Egenolf 16 run (Walker kick); 1:22, 41-18.



Statistics

Rushing

    Indian Creek (33-182): Egenolf 21-113; Wray 5-26, Cochran 3-15, Whitaker 2-16, Smith 2-12. Providence (36-183): Mattingly 17-73; Bell 9-37; Banet 3-16; Noel 4-23, Dickerson 4-44.

Passing

    Indian Creek (13-16-203-0): Wray 12-15-169; Smith 1-33; Providence (2-6-51-2): Banet 2-6-51-2.

Receiving

    Indian Creek: Smith 7-93; Meiklejohn 3-37, Morrison 2-46; Utecht 1-37; Providence: Mattingly 1-39, Hauber 1-13.