A Giant comeback: Ben Davis scores 29 unanswered points in second half to stun Lawrence Central

Junior QB Thomas Gotkowski leads comeback effort with four TD passes

By Tyler Hart

INDIANAPOLIS — A cold north wind greeted the Ben Davis football team on Friday as the Giants hosted Lawrence Central and a cold start threatened to spoil their Senior Night fun and festivities.

The visiting Bears scored the first 28 points of the game, but the Giants rallied in the second half with a furious comeback.

Ben Davis scored 29 straight points, including a touchdown and 2-point conversion with just seven seconds left, to pull out an improbable 29-28 victory and clinch at least a share of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championship.

“For us it was about being consistent and trying to take away the big play in the second half, which our defense did,” Ben Davis coach Jason Simmons said. “Defense did a heck of a job stacking stops in the second half there to give our offense a chance. Offensively we finally got into a rhythm and played with some tempo and that made all the difference in the world for us.”

Giants junior quarterback Thomas Gotkowski was a relatively unknown player coming into this season, but has stepped up to become a difference-maker and was clutch again on Friday night.

Leading Class 6A in passing yards with 1,601 coming into the game, Gotkowski found his rhythm in the air in the second half and finished with 277 yards passing and four touchdowns (with two first-half interceptions).

Gotkowski drove the Giants 85 yards over the final two minutes for the winning score. He connected with Lincoln Murff for a 3-yard touchdown pass with just seven seconds remaining and then Murff converted the 2-point conversion to cap off the largest comeback victory in school history.

“We weren’t pushing the ball down the field and that’s out of character for us,” Simmons said. “So for us to be able to do that in the second half was really important for our rhythm. It was important for us to kind of get going there. We hung around long enough to make enough plays to win and that says a lot about this group.”

Ben Davis (5-3 overall, 4-0 in league play) entered the night with one-score losses against three of the top teams in the state in Brownsburg (21-16), Center Grove (35-34) and Carmel (21-14), but against Lawrence Central the Giants showed the resiliency and fortitude of a team that can be dangerous in the playoffs.

“We told our guys on Monday … you’re in the month of October now and every game from here on out can be a championship game for us,” Simmons said. “We had an opportunity to at least clinch a share of the conference title. We have one more conference game left, they do not, so we have to go handle business if we don’t want to share it next week at North Central.”

Ben Davis had several players step up in the comeback effort, led by the defense and standout junior quarterback Gotkowski.

Junior wide receiver Zane Skibinski caught eight passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Alijah Price, one of the top sophomores in the Hoosier State, finished with 116 total yards with 82 yards rushing and 34 receiving, including a touchdown. Murff, a senior, had the late touchdown reception and converted two 2-point conversion runs in the rally.

Lawrence Central (4-4, 4-1) got two touchdowns in the first half from standout junior wide receiver Ahmaad Duff – he ran for a score and caught a TD pass – to take a 21-0 lead into halftime.

The highlight of the first half was Duff’s juggling 56-yard touchdown catch and run for the second score of the night. Duff finished with two catches for 89 yards and three carries for 34.

Mataio Russell returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown to give the visiting Bears a 28-0 lead.

Lawrence Central at Ben Davis football

Photos from Tyler Hart