Corydon slings Pirates, 45-7

In Friday night’s conference- and regular-season finale against Charlestown, Corydon Central’s football team scored on three rushing touchdowns, a punt return, a blocked punt, and a 28-yard field goal.
In the first half.
The Panthers waylaid Charlestown, 45-7, at Dutch Reis Field, which was turned into a quagmire thanks to a brief, but powerful, downpour and a Thursday night soccer match.
Despite being without the services of stars Aaron Motsinger (knee injury) and Brandon Wood (ankle), the Panthers could not have played much better than they did in the opening half.
‘Pretty much everything we wanted to do worked,’ first year coach Jason Timberlake said. ‘It felt good to open up a game like that. That’s what we’ll need in the playoffs.
‘Tonight was a night where we could try some things and get plenty of kids action. It was a good night to have some fun. We even used an all-senior defense at one point.’
Four plays into the game, Charlestown was forced to punt and junior Billy Saulman sashayed along the left sideline for a 71-yard score.
Strong special teams play continued in the second quarter when sophomore Ryan Lynton blocked a punt and senior Anthony Mellado scooped up the loose pigskin and rambled in from 12 yards out.
‘All year we’ve stressed the importance of special teams, and tonight it was pretty obvious. A second-string kid blocked a punt, and we took it to the house, and earlier we had a runback for a touchdown,’ Timberlake said. ‘Plays like that are backbreakers.’
Corydon senior Eric Fowler rushed for 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the winners, Kyle White had 35 yards and a score, and David Terhune picked up 28 yards.
Fowler and Terhune also had interceptions on defense.
As strong as the ground game was for the Panthers, it was the passing effort by sophomore Josh Windell and senior Alex Zimmerman that also pleased Timberlake.
The duo combined for 156 yards on 12 of 20 passing and no interceptions.
‘Our passing game is really coming along right now. Alex got the start and immediately hit White for a nice gain, and Josh came in and picked up where Alex left off,’ Timberlake said. ‘We’re becoming a really tough team to defend when we can throw the ball like we have been the past few weeks.’
Senior tight end Eric Haub accounted for four receptions for 60 yards and a 26-yard receiving score from Windell in the third quarter.
Corydon Central doubled up Charlestown in first downs, 19-8. The Panthers rushed for 184 yards and threw for 156 more. Charlestown was held to 33 yards on the ground and 86 via the pass.
The Pirates mounted only one sustained drive.
Starting at their own 40, the hosts rode the back of leading rusher Jake Jenkins and scored with 1:18 left in the first half. Jenkins carded 38 of his 58 yards rushing on the drive.
Charlestown freshman quarterback Andrew Smith was 11 of 25 passing, with two interceptions, in his third varsity start.
With the contest so far out of reach so early, Timberlake substituted as much as he could to rest his players for this week’s sectional matchup at Greensburg.
‘Obviously, with the field conditions the way they are, (an injury) is a concern,’ Timberlake said. ‘We’ve still got some guys who are dinged up and, hopefully, tonight we can come out with no more injuries and get the entire team healthy.’