Football roundup: G-C/EH win big, NP/MV fall late

Greenfield-Central and Eastern Hancock both won big games Friday night to open the season 1-0.

Greenfield-Central 40, New Castle 7: The Cougars rolled in their season opener at Clayton Myers Field. The Cougars are now 1-0 on the year heading into next Friday's game against Lebanon.

Eastern Hancock 40, Tindley 6: The Royals spoiled Tindley's varsity opener, winning 40-6. EH jumped out to a 40-0 lead at halftime. Logan Splater was over 100 yards passing and Spencer Gilbert ran it for 100 yards in the victory.

EH is now 1-0 on the year and travels to MIFC rival South Decatur next week.

Kokomo 28, Mt. Vernon 21, OT: Kokomo's Tayler Persons ran in from a yard out in OT to give the Wildkats a victory over MV. Persons threw a 25-yard TD pass to Rashad Gray midway through the fourth quarter to rally the Wildkats and tie the game.

Tyler Dicks and Anthony Burnett scored first-quarter TDs to give MV a 14-0 lead, but the Wildkats were able to knot the game back up by halftime.

Burnett scored on a long TD run in the third quarter, breaking multiple tackles along the way, to give the Marauders a 21-14 lead, but Kokomo answered.

MV is now 0-1 and travels to Marion next week. Listen to the game live at HancockCountySports.com.

Whiteland 26, New Palestine 20: New Palestine dominated the yardage, outgaining Whiteland 289-179. The Dragons dominated field position, advancing deep into Whiteland territory many times.

But the Warriors came away on the scoreboard, thanks to five takeaways -- two of which set up touchdowns with short fields, the other three deep in Warrior territory -- that turned the game.

Whiteland's Aaron Harris ran for 96 yards and three TDs, including the game-winning score midway through the fourth quarter, a 10-yard scamper with 7:01 to go. It came after a punt return gave Whiteland the ball on the NP 36.

Harris' first score was set up by an interception that gave Whiteland the ball on the NP 10, and allowed Harris to run in from three yards out. NP cut the deficit to 7-6 when QB Blake Luker hit Nolan Guedel from five yards out on the first play of the second quarter, but the Warriors built the lead back to eight by halftime. QB Adam Gutermuth threw a 19-yard TD pass on fourth down with 14 seconds left in the half.

NP rallied in the third - Luker threw a 35-yard TD pass to Logan Carothers and finished off a drive with a 1-yard QB sneak -- to tie the game at 20-20. Whiteland also turned a muffed punt into a 30-yard drive and a Harris touchdown in-between the scores.

Matt Siergiej ran for 121 yards on 23 carries to lead the Dragons offensively. Collin Hill ran for 49 yards on two carries, as NP had 181 rushing yards. Luker threw for 108 yards and two touchdowns, with Carothers the leading receiver.

The Dragons are 0-1 and visit Richmond next week.

Elsewhere in the HHC

Connersville 34, Rushville 27

Delta 24, Jay County 8

Greensburg 24, Shelbyville 10

Muncie South 30, Yorktown 27

Pendleton Heights 42, Muncie Central 13

Next week in Hancock County

Eastern Hancock at South Decatur, 7 p.m.

Mt. Vernon at Marion, 7 p.m. (webcast: ihigh.com/hancockcountysports)

New Palestine at Richmond, 7 p.m. (webcast: ihigh.com/reddevilmania)

Lebanon at Greenfield-Central, 7:30 p.m. (webcast: www.radiomom.fm)

Cross country

New Palestine and Whiteland split a halftime cross country race that started and finished on the Whiteland High School track during the break in the football game between the two schools. NP's girls won 26-30, led by Sarah Schwartz's second-place finish. Whiteland won the boys race, although NP's Seth Eagleson won the individual event.