Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

FRANKFORT - Friday night's match-up with Frankfort was just as much about winning mentally as it was physically for the Western Boone football team. Playing in a driving rain and high winds, they weren't necessarily the best elements for the football game, but the Stars handled their business in a 35-0 win. "We were just trying to take care of the football," Western Boone head coach Justin Pelley said. "In a game like this, you never know what's going to happen." It's the third time in six weeks that weather has played a factor during Central Indiana high school football on Friday nights. Roughly a 1/4 of the games around the state were moved on Friday night. Pelley said that while it wasn't the most ideal, the weather was suited to their offense and what the Stars want to do. "It caters our offense a little bit, but not being able to get outside - it becomes an inside game a little bit," Pelley said. "It came down to who was better up front, and we were better up front tonight. Everyone knew where the ball was going on both sides, so to step up - that's hard to do up front. our line did a great job." Frankfort moved the ball down to Western Boone's 32 on the opening drive but turned it over on downs. WeBo needed just five plays and a penalty to score, with Jacob Smith cashing in from 4-yards out. After a four-and-out, WeBo doubled the lead in just one play, getting a 33-yard touchdown from Mason Amich. The Stars' defense forced a second-straight four-and-out, and this time WeBo needed just three plays to go 42 yards, with Smith scoring from 7 yards out. WeBo made it a perfect 4-for-4 in the first half on touchdown drives, going 77 yards in eight plays on its next drive, scoring a 17-yard pass from Brandon Potter to Layton Yancey. Potter was just 2-of-2 for 43 yards and the score, but the Stars' rushing attack dominated. Amich had 12 carries for 151 yards and Smith had six for 34 and three scores. "It was two more passes than I thought we may throw tonight, but the weather really wasn't all that terrible for most of it," Pelley said. "We just did what we had to do - play smash mouth football and run the ball." The Stars got the second half kick and got the running clock started six plays later on Smith's third TD of the night. From there the only question that remained was whether or not the Stars would pick up their third shutout of the season. Frankfort had a couple of decent drives, three times getting into WeBo territory, but barely had more than 100 yards of offense. "We just made the little adjustments on those drives," Pelley said. "Every team at this time of the year is going to show you something you haven't seen before, so you can't practice everything. The kids have to be able to make adjustments, the coaches can't make them on the fly when they are out there. We called a couple timeouts and got things settled and that's what happened." It was a good reward for the WeBo faithful who braved the elements to support the team, out-numbering the host Hot Dogs on their homecoming. Pelley said the team appreciates the support they get week in and week out. "It's a testament to our community and our kids," Pelley said. "We had parents and several other fans here and we know they are going to follow us no matter what the weather is - that's just who they are. But it's really neat. It's neat to play for Western Boone and coach for Western Boone." The win improved the Stars to 6-0 and 4-0 in the Sagamore Conference. It lowered their defensive average to 7.5 points allowed a game, which would have been top-10 in the state heading into the week. The Stars offense is just outside the top-50, averaging 35 points a game. Western Boone hosts Southmont on homecoming on Friday. "Looking forward to getting back home and hopefully the weather calms down a little bit," Pelley said. "I know a lot of people in our community have it pretty rough right now with all this water. We were lucky enough to play a football game tonight, but in the big scheme of things there are a lot more people out there worst off than we are." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.