DECATUR – With a police escort leading the way, the buses hauling the Eastbrook football team to Decatur on Friday were rarely stopped by traffic. The Bellmont defense did little to offer resistance once the Class 3A Sectional 19 championship game began.

Eastbrook scored on five long touchdown runs and finished with 473 yards rushing, and the defense shut out the defending state champions in a 34-0 rout of the Braves to win the program's first sectional crown since 2004.

The fourth-ranked Panthers made it look easy. With Bellmont stacking the line of scrimmage and attacking with run blitzes, Eastbrook tore up the Braves' defense. Colton Benedict scored on runs of 84 and 47 yards, while Max Widmeyer also scored twice on scores of 76 and 66 yards. Jeremy Porter-Jones found the end zone on a 65-yard score midway through the second quarter. The Panthers finished the game averaging 13.9 yards per run.

“This was not what we expected at all,” Eastbrook coach Jeff Adamson said. “We thought we would be able to get a couple of big plays, but man, we have three fast guys back there.”

Bellmont, which had not shown the run blitz much in film, caught Eastbrook off guard.

“They were bringing their safeties close up, and it allowed us to get some home runs,” Adamson said. “We found a couple plays that were going to be good against that defense.”

The Braves seemed to hold the momentum through a scoreless first quarter. After the teams traded punts on their initial possessions, Bellmont (8-4) put together a 13-play, 49-yard drive inside the red zone, but a stop on fourth-and-2 ended the drive on the final play of the first. Eastbrook opened up the second quarter with Benedict's first touchdown, an 84-yard run on a counter play in which Benedict got to the outside and outran the Bellmont defenders for the score.

After forcing a punt, the Panthers scored on Porter-Jones' long run on the fourth play of the series. With Bellmont crowding the box with defenders, once Eastbrook running backs got to the open field, it was over.

“Our speed came up big,” Adamson said. “We didn't know how our offense would match up with their defense, but we were able to spring some big plays.”

Perhaps the play of the game came late in the first half. With Bellmont facing a third-and-4 from the Eastbrook 20-yard line, a Nick Hall pass was intercepted on an athletic play by senior Caleb Hemmick. The turnover cost Bellmont points and kept the momentum with the Panthers heading into halftime.

“That was the first (interception) I've ever had,” Hemmick said. “I had to think how to hold the ball when I was running, it was crazy.”

Hemmick was the biggest star on defense that shut Bellmont out for the first time since 2007.

“We were in the red zone twice and didn't get points,” Bellmont co-coach Rick Burkhalter said. “Maybe the momentum could have changed (with some points), but that is a very talented football team that Eastbrook has.”

Playing against a run-oriented offense allowed Eastbrook to key on getting penetration into the backfield. Hemmick led the way, running down Hall and the Bellmont running backs several times behind the line.

“Caleb Hemmick was out of his mind tonight,” Adamson said. “We try to keep him freed up (from blockers) because we know he's capable of making plays like that.”

Eastbrook dashed the hopes of a Bellmont comeback on the first play of the third quarter when Widmeyer scored on a 76-yard run. Late in the third, Widmeyer found the end zone on his second long run of the night.

Benedict finished with 151 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. Widmeyer had five rushes for 148 yards and two scores, while Porter-Jones was Eastbrook's leading rusher with 175 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

The Panthers' longest scoring drive of the game was five plays.

“We just came out and executed,” Hemmick said.

Hall, Bellmont's playmaker, was held to 38 yards on 16 carries. Daniel Meyer was the Braves' leading rusher with 104 yards on 23 carries.

“Wherever Nick Hall went that is where they were going to go,” said Burkhalter about the Eastbrook defense.

The Panthers advanced to the regional round after beating three teams with a combined record of 22-11. Eastbrook beat a conference champion in Leo, a team from one of the top conferences in the state in Harding and the defending state champion in Bellmont.

Eastbrook (12-0) will now face another undefeated foe in West Lafayette. The second-ranked Red Devils advanced Friday by beating Frankfort 54-22. The Panthers will host the regional game Friday night.