East Central 14, Harrison 7

With a depleted backfield the East Central Trojans head coach Tim Behlmer turned to his leader and linebacker, Payton Stonefield, to get the team out of a first-half funk at Harrison in this week’s US Marines Backyard Battle.

Behind his will and efforts running the ball, East Central (1-0) pulled out a come-from-behind win over the Wildcats for a second consecutive year, 14-7.

Stonefield, the reigning TriStateFootball.com – Indiana Defensive Player of the Year, set career highs with 24 carries and 141 yards and a touchdown.

Harrison (0-1) scored on their first possession of the game, but the Trojans held them scoreless after that. Wildcats sophomore, Jake Weber was solid in his debut under center. He threw a 65 yards touchdown pass to Justin Conners to get the scoring started. Weber would finish the game with 105 yards passing and 89 yards rushing.

The East Central offensive line wore down Harrison in the end. The Trojans would dominate the time of possession battle in the second half holding the ball for 18 of the 24 minutes. A quarterback sneak by Tom Schroer would score the game winner with just under eight minutes left in the fourth.

East Central will get tested big time next Friday as they take a step up in class heading to Ohio to take on Sycamore. Harrison heads to Oak Hills for another non-conference rivalry tilt.