By Will Johnson, Sports Editor
PACIFIC — A tale of two halves.
That was one way you could describe Friday night’s football game between Nathan Cabot’s visiting Owensville Dutchmen and the host Pacific Indians.
Ending the first half with a 26-0 lead. OHS needed every one of those points and then some after Pacific outscored the visiting Dutchmen 28-20 in the second half.
Owensville’s 46-28 victory moved them to 5-1 overall on the season and 3-0 inside the Four Rivers Conference (FRC).
“We can’t afford another second half like the one that happened Friday night,” Cabot said. “We’ll have some things to clean up in practice ahead of our final home game Friday night against Union.”
Kicking off to open the game, Owensville caught an early break.
Pacific fumbled the ball only to have Blake Elliott recover giving the Dutchmen offense excellent field position on their first drive from the reservation.
Three plays into the drive, Owensville was faced with a fourth-and-seven from the Pacific 16-yard line.
Opting to go for it proved beneficial for Cabot’s Dutchmen offense.
Junior quarterback Brendan Decker found Bryce Payne open for a 16-yard touchdown pass at the 9:59 mark of the opening quarter.
Charlie Whelan’s extra point gave Owensville a quick 7-0 lead early in their first road game since late August at Potosi.
Pacific mounted a drive lasting about two minutes and traveling over 50 yards.
Going for it on fourth-and-two from the Dutchmen 7-yard line, Derek Brandt dropped Matthew Austin for a six-yard loss causing a turnover-on-downs giving OHS the ball back on offense.
Three plays later on first down from the 29-yard line, Dutchmen junior running back Austin Lowder found nothing but green turf on his way to the end zone during a 71-yard TD run.
Whelan’s kick at the 7:00 mark of the first quarter doubled the Owensville lead to 14-0.
Lowder ran for a season-high 122 yards rushing on nine carries.
Able to slow down Pacific dual-threat quarterback Luke Meyer enough on the Indians’ next drive, Owensville forced yet another turnover-on-downs at the 1:36 mark of the first quarter.
On the very next play, OHS added to their lead.
Decker out ran the entire Pacific defense in addition to dodging a few tacklers on his way to a 69-yard TD run. Whelan’s missed kick left Owensville with a 20-0 lead after one quarter.
Second-quarter action saw both teams trade turnovers and punt until the final two minutes of the first half.
That was when Owensville added to their 20-0 lead Lowder’s second score of the game from 30 yards out.
Another missed extra point left the Dutchmen with a 26-0 lead at halftime.
Getting the ball to start the second half, OHS went three-and-out giving the ball to Pacific at their 30-yard line.
Austin showed his running skills on a 49-yard touchdown run getting the Indians on the board at the 8:55 mark of the third quarter.
Finishing with a game-high 333 yards rushing on 29 carries, Austin scored three of Pacific’s four touchdowns.
Kenneth Bishop’s extra point cut the Dutchmen lead to 26-7.
Owensville needed just two plays on offense to answer Pacific’s first score of the night.
Decker found Brandt open on a 67-yard TD strike with 7:56 for the third quarter.
Whelan’s kick put the Dutchmen back on top 33-7.
Pacific’s very next play from scrimmage saw Austin score again on a 59-yard TD run just 28 ticks later. Bishop’s kick made it 33-14 Owensville over the host Indians.
Brandt then ran the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to give OHS a 40-14 lead with Whelan’s extra point at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter.
Brandt finished with 139 yards receiving on six catches.
In the fourth quarter, Payne caught a 26-yard TD pass from Decker while Pacific got rushing scores from Austin and Meyer.
“We played much better in the second half than we did in the first,” Indian head coach Paul Day said.
