Ben Davis beats Brownsburg in Indiana high school football showdown after rallying from 18-point deficit in fourth quarter
Ben Davis trailed by 18 points in the fourth quarter on Friday night against visiting Brownsburg, which was seeking its third straight win against the Giants.
Thomas Gotkowski, Mark Zackery IV and the Ben Davis defense weren't finished.
Gotkowski scored two rushing touchdowns and Zackery returned an interception for a score as the Giants rallied to score 21 unanswered points to pull off an improbable comeback for a 28-25 victory in a Class 6A Sectional 5 semifinal that will likely go down as the game of the year in Indiana high school football.
Ben Davis (9-1), the No. 1 team in the SBLive Indiana Power 25 football rankings, advances to face the winner of Avon (2-7) and Pike (2-7) next week. Brownsburg, ranked third in the Power 25, finishes its remarkable season at 9-1.
The Giants avenged a pair of losses against the Bulldogs a year ago, including a 48-20 loss in the same Class 6A Sectional 5 semifinals that ended their season.
Ben Davis and Brownsburg went into Friday night's showdown with neither team having lost against an in-state opponent this season. The top-ranked Giants' lone loss came against national powerhouse IMG Academy from Florida.
Stay with SBLive for live updates (featured below), game highlights and much more from arguably the biggest game of the 2023 high school football season:
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4TH QUARTER UPDATES:
BALLGAME! Ben Davis rallies from a 25-7 fourth-quarter deficit to win 28-25.
The Ben Davis defense comes up clutch again.
GOTKOWSKI AGAIN!!! The Ben Davis quarterback's second touchdown run of the fourth quarter puts the Giants ahead 28-25 with 2:07 left.
Ben Davis has now scored 21 straight points to take the lead.
Wow.
Coming down to the final minutes ... and Ben Davis has the ball back.
And now Mark Zackery IV returns an interception for a touchdown to close the gap. The junior defensive back shows why he's one of the most sought-after prospects in the midwest. Brownsburg leads Ben Davis 25-20 with 8:52 left.
Ben Davis answers with a big drive. Thomas Gotkowski with the TD run.
Sherrell, a 5-foot-8, 190-pound senior, entered tonight's game with 1,919 yards rushing and 25 total touchdowns. He's surpassed 2,000 yards rushing through 10 games and has his seventh game with at least three touchdowns scored.
GARRETT SHERRELL AGAIN! Third touchdown of the night extends Brownsburg lead to 25-7.
3RD QUARTER UPDATES:
Brownsburg leading Ben Davis 19-7 after three quarters.
Another big connection from Dunn to Smith. And another Garrett Sherrell TD.
Brownsburg increases its advantage to 19-7 early in the third quarter.
HALFTIME:
2ND QUARTER UPDATES:
Brownsburg takes a 13-7 lead over Ben Davis into halftime.
Quentin Russ with a huge interception to get the ball back for Brownsburg.
GARRETT SHERRELL 62 YARDS TO THE HOUSE!
Brownsburg takes back the lead, 13-7, late in the second quarter.
Ben Davis answers a few minutes later with a 38-yard touchdown run by Alijah Price to take a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
Brownsburg tacks on another field goal to make it 6-0 early in the second quarter.
1ST QUARTER UPDATES:
The Brownsburg Bulldogs lead Ben Davis 3-0 after one quarter.
Brownsburg strikes first with a field goal.
For live updates and complete statewide results, bookmark our Indiana high school football scoreboard and check our individual classification scoreboards below:
STATEWIDE INDIANA FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD
CLASS 6A SCOREBOARD | CLASS 5A SCOREBOARD
CLASS 4A SCOREBOARD | CLASS 3A SCOREBOARD
CLASS 2A SCOREBOARD | CLASS 1A SCOREBOARD
Can't attend this week's game but still want to watch your favorite team live in action? You can watch several of this week's Indiana high school football games live on the NFHS Network:
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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIN
