Charlestown’s Syd Gieseking (7) celebrates as he scores the Pirate’s first touchdown against Silver Creek on Friday at Silver Creek High School. Photo by David Lee Hartlage/Special to the Courier-journal. Sept. 18, 2015
A failed two-point conversion try by host Silver Creek allowed Charlestown to escape with a 35-34 win a Mid-Southern Conference football game Friday night.
Down 28-14 in the third quarter, three big plays got Silver Creek back into the game: A 34-yard touchdown run by Jacob Garrett, then an interception by Dylan Grant that set up a 25-yard touchdown run by Drew Foley. The score was tied at 28 with 11:50 left in the game.
The Pirates didn’t flinch, driving the ball deep into Silver Creek territory before the drive stalled. But on fourth down and seven at the 12-yard line, Brendan Lawler hit Garrett Woods for a touchdown with 7:11 remaining. Dalton Bowen’s point-after kick made it 35-28.
MORE COVERAGE | Floyd Central runs out clock on Jeffersonville rally
GALLERY | Floyd Central vs. Jeffersonville
Silver Creek answered with a drive that was capped with a 5-yard touchdown by Noah Jones inside the final minute – but the two-point try was an incomplete pass.
Two touchdown runs by Syd Gieseking helped the Pirates to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. But down 14 and with two turnovers on the previous two possessions, the Dragons stepped up with a sustained drive that was capped with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jeffrey Belviy to Jones. That made it 14-7 with 6:29 left in the first half.
On the ensuing drive it looked like Charlestown was going to repeat earlier mistakes. After driving to the Silver Creek 10-yard line, penalties pushed the Pirates back to the 25.
But on fourth down and 25 the Pirates came up with a big play – a 25-yard touchdown pass from Lawler to Garrett Woods – and Charlestown led 21-7 at the half.
MORE COVERAGE | Sam Best leads North Harrison in streak-busting win over Brownstown
SCOREBOARD | Stats, scores and standings from around Southern Indiana
WEEK 5 | Indiana statewide high school football scores
It was Silver Creek’s turn to start with good field position in the second half – and the Dragons made it count. Runs of 16 and 10 yards by Jones helped push Silver Creek into the red zone – and Jones finished it off with a 13-yard scoring run to make it 21-14 midway through the third quarter.
On the ensuing drive, a 30-yard run by Jarren Anderson put the Pirates in the red zone. Lawler took it from there with a 7-yard scoring pass to Jamal Long for a two touchdown lead.
| Charlestown | 8 | 13 | 7 | 7 | – | 35 |
| Silver Creek | 0 | 7 | 14 | 13 | – | 34 |
C– Syd Gieseking 5 run (Brendan Lawler run); C – Gieseking 5 run (kick failed); SC – Jeffrey Belviy 26 pass to Noah Jones (Daniel Barrett kick); C – Lawler 25 pass to Garrett Woods (Dalton Bowen kick); SC – Jones 13 run (Barrett kick); C – Lawler 7 pass to Jamal Long (Bowen kick); SC – Jacob Garrett 34 run (Barrett kick); SC – Drew Foley 25 run (Barrett kick); C – Lawler 12 pass to Woods (Bowen kick); SC – Jones 5 run (pass failed).
