CAMDEN — Preble Shawnee moved to 6-0 on the season with a 48-7 homecoming domination of Mississinawa Valley on Friday, Sept. 24.
Despite junior Hunter Crockett not in the lineup for the Arrows, Preble Shawnee still dominated on the ground, rushing for 328 yards as a team, led by junior Grady Hutchinson’s 157 yards on 12 carries.
Hutchinson found the endzone first with a 10-yard touchdown run on the Arrows’ first drive of the game after forcing a Blackhawk punt.
After an interception by freshman Isaac Blankenship on Mississinawa Valley’s next drive, it took junior Brayden Doran just five plays to score on a five-yard touchdown run.
Preble Shawnee’s defense turned the ball over on downs on the Blackhawks’ next drive, and on the Arrows’ ensuing drive, Doran found junior Malechai Stephenson for a 16-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-0 in the first quarter.
Shortly after the second quarter began, the Arrows’ defense forced another punt, and three plays later, Hutchinson took the ball 45 yards to the house for Shawnee’s fourth consecutive scoring drive to begin the game, now up 28-0.
“[Hutchinson] stepped up very, very well,” Shawnee coach Dave Maddox said. “He’s been a very solid defensive player every single week and then with him and Hunter kind of sharing time a little bit, and then with Hunter not playing today, Grady stepped up and did an absolutely outstanding job. I’m happy for him. Brayden Doran is tough every single week. I felt like our offense was clicking pretty well tonight. Guys stepped up where we needed them to step up, played well.”
After the teams traded interceptions, Mississinawa Valley got on the board after an 84-yard drive that was assisted by two penalties assessed on Preble Shawnee to make it 28-7.
“We’ve got to clean stuff up. We make too many mistakes,” Maddox said. “Obviously, too many penalties and – I don’t know that I’ll ever be happy. You’re never satisfied because there’s always room for improvement, but that’s our job as coaches to still watch film and we still point out errors and we still strive to get as good as we possibly can. If these guys keep getting better each week – and they have done that – we’re going to have a really good season.”
Hutchinson set the Arrows up as the Blackhawk 47-yard line after a solid kickoff return, and two plays later, Doran rushed 37 yards for Shawnee’s fifth touchdown of the game to make it 35-7.
Doran would finished with 54 yards through the air and 130 on the ground with three rushing touchdowns. Stephenson hauled in three receptions for 29 yards, and junior Dylan Campbell caught two passes for 21 yards. Cooper Roell caught one pass for four yards and rushed for seven yards in addition to going 6-of-7 on extra points.
Preble Shawnee’s defense put an exclamation point on the game with a 27-yard pick six by senior Xavier Adams as the first half winded down, giving the Arrows a 42-7 lead.
Freshman Brody Lynch led the Arrows with 12 tackles, follow by Roell and Hutchinson with seven each. Campbell intercepted two passed, and Stephenson, Blankenship and Adams were all credited with one.
The Arrows would hold strong on defense in the second half and added another score by Doran (17 yards) in the fourth for the 48-7 final.
“I couldn’t be more happy for the group of guys that we’ve got,” Maddox said. “They’re a good group of kids that are hard workers, and they’ve earned it and they deserve all the credit for everything they’ve accomplished. We talked at the beginning of the season about the opportunity that’s in front of us. We are 6-0 but we’ve still got to work and get better. We’ve still got to stay humble and each and every week, take it one week at a time, but I’m just really happy for them.”
Preble Shawnee will travel this week to face Tri-County North on Friday, Oct. 1. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
