INDIANAPOLIS — It was a MIC showdown in the Operation Football Game of the Week between Ben Davis and Warren Central.
Heading into Friday night's game, Warren Central had not allowed a single point all season while the Giants were hoping to turn their season around following a disappointing 1-3 start to the year.
The Warriors struck first when quarterback Jaydin Rivers tossed a 17-yard touchdown to Airic Hester to put Warren Central up 7-0 early in the first quarter. Much later in the first quarter, the Warriors marched down the field before being stopped short of a touchdown. Kicker Jermaine Ellery knocked through a 20-yard field goal to put Warren Central up 10-0 with just two minutes to play in the opening quarter.
After taking over on offense, Ben Davis marched down the field and became the first team to score on Warren Central all season when kicker Bryan Garcia-Diaz put through a 14-yard field goal.
The Giants quickly got the ball back after the field goal, setting up a 50-yard touchdown pass from Alijah Hackett to Mark Zackery to tie the score at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was scoreless, but also interrupted by rain. With about three minutes to play in the first half, the game was put under a lightning delay that stopped the game for about an hour. The final three minutes of the second quarter were scrapped and the game went right into halftime.
Following the second half kickoff, the Giants defense came up with a big play when Jey'Vair Horton intercepted a pass from Jaydin Rivers. The Giants offensive possession did not last long, however, as Warriors senior safety Taurien Tapp intercepted a deep pass from Ben Davis quarterback Isaiah Rogers.
However, Tapp was tackled inside the Warriors own 10-yard line. This led to a big play when the Giants' defense stopped a running play in the endzone for a safety to give the Giants a 12-10 lead.
After trading possessions, Ben Davis extended their lead over Warren Central to 15-10 with a 23-yard field goal by Garcia-Diaz. Warriors' quarterback Jaydin Rivers was briefly taken out of the game, but later came back out on the field to help lead a huge drive.
Rivers again found Hester in the back of the endzone to give the Warriors the lead back. Marcus Bell Jr. ran in for the two-point conversion to make it 18-15 Warren Central at the end of the third.
After taking over on offense to start the final quarter, Ben Davis again marched down the field, but was stopped short of the endzone. An 11-yard field goal by Bryan Garcia-Diaz tied the game once again at 18-all.
With the clock winding down, Ben Davis set up for what would have been a game-winning field goal. However, the kick was low and might have even been tipped, giving Warren Central the ball back with just seconds on the clock. The Warriors and the Giants headed to overtime.
On one of the first plays of overtime, Mark Zackery picked off Rivers to give Ben Davis possession with a chance to win it. However, the Giants had to settle for a field goal, meaning their defense needed to make sure Warren Central did not find the endzone in order to score a major upset.
Unfortunately for the Giants, Kendall Garrett got the toss from Rivers and took it to the house to keep the Warriors perfect on the season.
Ben Davis now falls to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the MIC. Warren Central improves to 5-0, despite allowing its first points of the season, while also moving to 2-0 in the conference.
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