WEST SIDE INDIANAPOLIS — The 2019 high school football regular season has come to an end and it was amazing to watch, especially in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference better known in these athletic streets as the M.I.C. From the word go there was no clear favorite and it ended the same way on Friday night. When all of the smoke cleared there was a four-way tie at the top of the conference thanks to the Ben Davis Giants scoring 23 unanswered points to knock off the then league leading North Central Panthers 23-7 to claim a share of the title with NC, Warren Central and Carmel.
They all finished the season with two losses in the conference. North Central came into Friday’s match up with only one loss in conference play and with a win at Ben Davis they would have walked out of the joint as the undisputed champion. However, coach Jason Simmons and Co. had a little something to say about that.
After going down 7-0 early on in the first quarter. The Giants booted up and scored 23 unanswered points to let a boy know that Ben Davis was still Ben Davis. Senior running back Alijawon “AJ” Hassel put on the full clown suit complete with the water spitting flower and straight clowned these boyz. Like my momma used to say, “He showed out!” Ole boy finished the night with 152 yards on just 23 carries and 2 touchdowns.
Not only did he line up at running back but there were multiple occasions that he lined up in the wildcat when everybody in the building knew that he was going to run it and there was no answer for him. NUTS!!!
Don’t get it twisted, he wasn’t the only Giant showing out on Friday night. Senior quarterback Trent Gipson got loose too. He finished the night completing 26 of 36 passes for 143 yards and an interception. He made up for the INT by putting up another 103 yards on the ground on just 12 carries. IT WAS CRAZY!!!!
Ben Davis’ defense was NUTS too! After giving up the early touchdown they locked down like a pitt bull for the rest of the night. They didn’t give up a single point after that. The front seven kept North Central’s Harry Abell uncomfortable and the BD secondary was lights out. Daylan Carnell came up big again with a pick and cats like Jaylen Dobson, Capone Powell and Dillon Moore wore the North Central receivers shirts all night. The coverage was incredible.
When the dust settled on the MIC regular season there were four teams worthy of holding the conference championship trophy. It may not sound cool but it sure was cool to watch this year. The past two years in the M.I.C. was dominated from start to finish by one team. Ben Davis blasted everybody in 2017 and Warren Central did the same in 2018. However, 2019 was unpredictable from week to week and it came down to the wire. It was a GREAT season and I can’t wait until the playoffs kick off in Class 6A in two weeks. In my Terrell Owens voice, “Get Ya Popcorn Ready” because it’s about to be a blast. Stop me when I start lyin’!
