Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

DOVER - Patience was the virtue needed Friday night as Western Boone opened Class 3A IHSAA Sectional 28 play against Purdue Polytech. The neophyte school in just its third year of tournament play entered the contest at 8-1, but as a bit of a mystery as they played a significantly different schedule. The Stars were able to figure out that mystery just enough to get a hard-earned 14-6 victory, thanks to a late touchdown run from Jack Mallory. “I really didn’t know what to expect, to be honest with you,” said Western Boone coach Justin Pelley. “My hats off to coach Henderson and their kids. They present some problems for us. We weren’t ready for those in the first half.” The Techies (8-2) made it clear early on they would be a problem. They were able to get Western Boone off the field defensively on the opening possession, then they completed and impressive nine play, 81 yard drive. Bryce Garrison broke free for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 6-0 midway through the first quarter, but the two-point conversion attempt failed. The Stars (7-3) got their own offense in gear on their next possession. They went 71 yards in seven plays with Quinn Westerfeld scoring from 11 yards out. The extra point from Benson Devol made it 7-6 early in the second quarter. “We’re used to breaking off big plays, but they had the speed to catch up with us,” said Pelley. “We’re used to getting 30- and 40-yard gains, but tonight it was only 5- and 10-yard gains at best.” From there the game turned into a defensive slugfest. Polytech was forced to punt on three straight possessions, but they dominated time of possession to shorten the game. Purdue Polytech was in great position to take the lead late in the third quarter. They burned more than seven minutes off the clock and drove into the Western Boone red zone on 15 plays, but a series of penalties stalled the drive and they suffered the only turnover of the game with a fumble. The teams then traded punts before the Stars finally got a big play. With 4:44 left in the game Mallory broke free for a 39 yard touchdown run to make it 14-6. “Jack finally got out there and free and it was very helpful,” said Pelley of Mallory. “We had about three defensive stops tonight too. Our defense played lights out tonight. All our defensive coaches did a phenomenal job tonight. The offense didn’t have it and they stepped up.” The Techies had one final shot at a drive, but came up just short on a fourth down run and turned it over on downs with 2:26 left. Mallory finished the night with 122 yards rushing and a touchdown. The Stars will visit North Montgomery in the second round, a rematch of Western Boone’s 45-32 win on Sept. 18.