Hemphill, Griffith blast Rensselaer to stay unbeaten
Indiana Preps NWI No. 5 Griffith 49, Indiana Preps NWI No. 7 Rensselaer Central 14
By Paul Honeycutt

RENSSELAER – Griffith found itself in all the right places at all the right times on Friday night in a difficult place to win.

However, the Class 3A No. 10 and Indiana Preps No. 5 Panthers did that exact thing, remaining undefeated in their 49-14 nonconference victory over 2A No. 10 and NWI No. 7 Rensselaer.

In their first-ever regular season matchup, the state’s leading rusher, Griffith senior running back Desmond Neylon, toted it 20 times for 167 yards and four more scores to put his season total at 21.

The one who was in a perfect spot, though, was Griffith senior linebacker Jacob Hemphill, as he grabbed a batted ball and returned it 102 yards for a score, which was in a pivotal moment of the game.

“I knew that it was 21-7 and if they scored on that drive, they had a real chance to come back,” said Hemphill. “We had great coverage on it, Davon (Thomaston) threw a great block and I took it to the house.”

Nearing the end of the first half, Griffith (6-0) was up 21-7 when the host Bombers drove the ball all the way down to the Panthers 4.

On a fourth-and-4, Rensselaer senior running back Landen Musch took a direct snap and tried executing a jump pass that was batted into the air and into the hands of Hemphill, who ran it into the end zone as time expired in the first half.

If the Bombers (5-1) would’ve scored there, it would’ve been 21-14 and since they won the toss and deferred, they would’ve gotten the ball back down just one score.

Griffith coach Phil Mason said this was a beneficial win at an important time.

“This is a hard place to play against a great football program with guys that played really hard,” he said. “From here on out, you know you’re gonna play relentless opponents.”

Griffith made just one blunder offensively when it fumbled on the first possession.

After Neylon recorded a 1-yard TD run at 5:30 in the first quarter, the Panthers took advantage of a Bombers fumble on the next drive, as the Panthers only needed two plays to score on a short drive capped by a Neylon 10-yard TD run.

The Panthers were able to hold Musch, an All-State football player, to just 39 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Musch did score his 16th touchdown on a run from three yards out late in the first quarter.

Neylon added TD runs of 38 and seven yards, respectively, while Griffith senior QB Ryan Bullion tossed his 16th TD pass of the year on a 21-yard pass to Sebastian Kutscher on his way to 117 passing yards.

“Desmond’s a special kid and they were giving it to us because they were more afraid of our receivers,” said Mason. “They were double and triple covering us on the outside and credit to our receivers because sometimes there will be nights we have to run the ball more.”

Lucas Hernandez added 34 rushing yards and a 2-yard rushing TD.

Bombers senior QB Beck Drone finished 12 of 20 for 218 passing yards, including a 35-yard TD pass to David Gilmore.

Rensselaer WR Kale Stokes boasted a huge game with eight catches for 125 yards in the loss.



Griffith 49, Rensselaer 14

Griffith; 14 14 14 7 – 49

Rensselaer; 7 0 0 7 – 14

G – Desmond Neylon 1 run (Kyle Hornyak kick), 5:30 1st

G – Neylon 10 run (Hornyak kick), 4:44 1st

R – Landen Musch 3 run (John Yallaly kick), 0:33 1st

G – Neylon 38 run (Hornyak kick), 11:51 2nd

G – Jacob Hemphill 102 int return (Hornyak kick), 0:00 2nd

G – Sebastian Kutscher 21 pass from Ryan Bullion (Hornyak kick), 9:45 3rd

G – Neylon 7 run (Hornyak kick), 4:19 3rd

G – Lucas Hernandez 2 run (Hornyak kick), 7:57 4th

R – David Gilmore 35 pass from Beck Drone (Yallaly kick), 2:05 4th



Griffith;Rensselaer

First Downs;16;15

Total Yards;330;271

Rushes-Yards;29-213;40-53

Passing;117;218

Comp.-Att.-Int.;8-15-0;12-21-1

Penalties-Yards;6-41;1-15

Fumbles-Lost;1-1;3-3



INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – GRIFFITH, Desmond Neylon 20-167, Lucas Hernandez 5-34, Davon Thomaston 4-12. RENSSELAER, Landen Musch 18-39, Joshua Johns 4-26, Luke Belden 7-20, Rashad Claybon 3-10, Jaden Johnson 2-5, Kale Stokes 1-(-9), Beck Drone 4-(-13), John Yallaly 1-(-23).

PASSING – GRIFFITH, Ryan Bullion 8-15-117-1-0. RENSSELAER, Beck Drone 12-20-218-1-0 Landen Musch 0-1-0-0-1.

RECEIVING – GRIFFITH, Sebastian Kutscher 3-60, Desmond Neylon 2-34, Jason Quillin 2-15, Davon Thomaston 1-8. RENSSELAER, Kale Stokes 8-125, Luke Belden 2-43, David Gilmore 1-35, John Yallaly 1-15.