This was supposed to be a different story. For the second year in a row, Brebeuf was hosting a Sectional 22 opening round game against an opponent that was supposed to give them everything they could handle, making this one of a handful of games in Central Indiana that were expected to be close, competitive matchups. Crispus Attucks brought a gaudy 8-1 record to the north side, having won eight straight since a week one loss to Lutheran. Attucks boasted two senior playmakers, QB Corshawn Sartain and RB Darrell Taylor, that could score any time they touched the ball, and Brebeuf was ripe for the picking at 2-7, a rebuilding year for Matt Geske's program. Indy Star writer Kyle Neddenriep, who knows more about HS football than Hallmark knows about mass-producing profitable Christmas movies, picked the Braves to win by a point, 35-34. And indeed, what happened at Brebeuf on Friday night was that one team rode dominant performances by its two best players to a signature victory, but that team was wearing maroon and gold. Junior QB Keegan Bouwkamp, in his second game back from a week one broken ankle, threw for five touchdowns and ran for a sixth, while senior LB/RB/Spirit Animal Parker Maiers had 11 tackles, a forced fumble, a blocked punt and a rushing touchdown to help Matt Geske win his sixth straight Sectional opener as the Brebeuf coach, 56-14 over the Tigers, who- despite being perhaps the most famous high school in Indianapolis, and possessing a museum's worth of historic achievements in basketball, have yet to win a 4A Sectional game in football. The game was essentially over in the first quarter, when Bouwkamp led Brebeuf to touchdowns on its first three drives, all of which were begun near midfield. TD strikes of 18 yards to Edwin Watson, 18 yards to Keivon Mattox, and then 20 to Mattox put the Braves up 21-0 less than nine minutes into the game. More importantly, Brebeuf made key stops on defense as Maiers stopped Taylor on third down, forcing a punt on Attucks' first drive, and Nate Johnson swamped Sartain on 4th and 1, stripping the quarterback for a lost fumble on their second drive. Sartain and Taylor- as good as advertised with 230 and 196 yards in total offense respectively- led Attucks to two scores in their next three possessions to give the plucky IPS school a whisp of hope at 28-14 early in the third, but Brebeuf took just four plays to score on the next drive, finishing with Bouwkamp's prettiest pass of the night, a 24-yard slant to a streaking Edwin Watson in the back of the end zone, to extend the lead to 21. From there, the Braves defense took command, as an Eli Drake interception and a caused fumble by (yawn) Maiers allowed Brebeuf to get the lead past 35 to enact a running clock and an abbreviated ending to a game that had long since ceased to be suspenseful. In the end, there were two factors driving this game's lopsided outcome. Attucks was probably a little bit of an overvalued stock after blowout wins against the likes of Christel House, Shortridge, Tindley and Washington. Brebeuf, by contrast, had a lanky WR- Carter Cosgrove- cosplaying as a QB for most of the season against one of the state's toughest schedules, leading to an 0-6 start. But now Geske's team is as healthy as they've been all season, and Bouwkamp is starting to look comfortable back there, throwing for over 500 yards and 8 touchdowns in his last two games. Parker Maiers is breaking things every week, and his teammates like Drake, Johnson and supersoph Joshua Rogers (2 sacks, giving him a team-leading 5 for the season) are following his example. Just in time for a trip to Broad Ripple to play ...Chatard, the Circle City Conference neighborhood bully that has beaten Brebeuf 33 of the 36 times they've played, including all seven times they've met in the playoffs. Average score of those seven games? 35-7. It was 37-6 earlier this season, when the Braves were held to eleven total yards by the Trojans. Even Chauncey Billups would say those odds have to change eventually. Perhaps this is the week! Go to Chatard on Halloween to cheer on your Braves against the #1-ranked Trojans, and don't be afraid. This football team certainly won't be.