MADISON COUNTY — Week No. 3 of the high school football season saw both Lapel and Pendleton Heights pick up big wins on the road.

The Bulldogs traveled to Shenandoah and pulled away in the second half to defeat the Raiders 41-21 to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2021.

Pendleton Heights traveled to New Castle to open Hoosier Heritage Conference play and defeated the Trojans 42-21.

Lapel

A rematch of last year’s game where Lapel won easily 42-8, this season’s meeting between the Bulldogs and Shenandoah was closer for a while.

Two scores in the final 2:34 of the first half erased a 13-7 Lapel deficit and allowed them to enter the break ahead 21-14, and after the Raiders scored early in the second half to tie things back up, the Bulldogs ended the game on a 21-0 run.

The Lapel offensive combo of Devin Craig and Rylie Hudson started the scoring off with a touchdown late in the first quarter.

Craig found Hudson on a 16-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs ahead, but the Raiders responded right back. Quarterback Jarrett Helman connected with Cash Cowley from 24 yards out for the touchdown pass to tie things at 7-7.

After a fumble by Lapel on the ensuing kickoff, Helman then found Garrett May on a 13-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs behind for the first time all night.

Lapel answered with a 34-yard Jack Miller touchdown run with 2:34 to go in the half and tacked onto the lead with a 27-yard pass from Craig to Brice Burress as time expired.

The Raiders tied things back up at 21 following another Lapel fumble. This time, Helman punched in a short touchdown run to even things.

It was the last score the Lapel defense would allow, while the offense doubled their point total during the final 16 minutes.

Craig and Hudson connected for their second score of the night, Miller ran in his second touchdown of the game and Burress caught his second touchdown pass of the night.

The Bulldogs quarterback, Craig, ended the game completing 24 of his 36 pass attempts for 280 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Burress brought in six passes for 78 yards and two scores, Hudson caught six passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns, Jaxon Cripe caught six passes for 72 yards and Isaiah Priest hauled in four throws for 32 yards.

On the ground, Miller ran 20 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

Hudson was just as dominant on the other side of the ball, intercepting a pair of Shenandoah passes to go along with six tackles.

Isaiah Young had a team-high 12 tackles and two tackles for loss and Joshua Crosby had 10 tackles, while both Brayden Pruit and Evan Borkowski each recorded a sack. Karson Kinsinger recorded a fumble to give the defense three forced turnovers in the game.

Lapel will look to stay unbeaten tomorrow at 7 p.m. on the road at Indian Creek.

The Braves are 1-2 on the season with a 42-0 win against Owen Valley and close losses to both Greenwood and Cascade.

The Indian Creek offense runs through senior running back Malachi Mink who enters tomorrow’s game averaging 137.7 yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry.

He has gone for more than 100 yards in each game this season and has scored three touchdowns.

Through the air, freshman quarterback Evan Clark has completed 28 of his 50 passes for 380 yards and six touchdowns but has turned the ball over five times.

Senior Bobby Emberton and junior Jaxon Ramey are the leading pass catchers, with Emberton hauling in 12 passes for 209 yards and two scores and Ramey catching 15 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively, Carson Volz and Levi Pappas lead the way for the Braves with 25 tackles each.

Pendleton Heights

The Arabians began the conference portion of their schedule with another explosive offensive display.

For the third time in as many games, they scored at least 40 points, this time defeating the Trojans 42-21.

From the start, both the ground and passing games were firing on all cylinders for Pendleton Heights.

Senior running back Keaton Jones opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown run, and on the second Pendleton Heights possession, senior quarterback Colton Frank hit Jacob Rowley on a short touchdown strike.

A New Castle score in the second quarter trimmed the lead, but before the break, a 48-yard Jones run set up Frank to find Copper Sims on a 17-yard touchdown pass to put the Arabians ahead 21-7 at the half.

The second half saw more of the same.

After a 70-yard run by Jones to get the Arabians near the goal line, he punched in his second score of the game, and after the Trojans fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Frank found Nate DeRolf on a 33-yard touchdown pass.

The final Pendleton Heights score came on a Garrett Pederson run.

Jones finished the night with 225 yards and two scores on 24 carries, while Pederson ran three times for 46 yards and a score and Talan Foster accumulated 49 yards on four attempts.

Frank threw for 235 yards, three touchdowns and one interception to lead the passing attack. DeRolf hauled in eight passes for 121 yards and a score, Sims ended the night with 62 yards and a score and Rowley had two catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Pederson had a team-high 13 tackles and two tackles for loss, Nico White added 10 tackles and a TFL and Jacob Eldridge had a pair of sacks.

Jackson Gipson recovered the lone New Castle fumble.

Pendleton Heights continues HHC play with a trip to Greenfield-Central tomorrow at 7 p.m.

The Cougars and Arabians have had their fair share of close games over the past few years.

Last season, two of the three Pendleton Heights losses came at the hands of Greenfield-Central.

In the regular season the Arabians fell 43-38 and to open sectional play, they were defeated 27-17.

The Cougars have a strong team once again, entering tomorrow’s matchup 3-0 and ranked No. 4 in Class 4A.

After a pair of easy wins to open the season, Greenfield-Central was tested last week, winning on the road at Mt. Vernon 43-29.

Defensively, they’ve allowed only 37 points all season, while the Arabians have averaged more than 40 points per game.

They’re led offensively by a strong and well-rounded ground game.

Four players have rushed for more than 100 yards this season led by senior Payton Foley. He has carried the ball 11 times for 201 yards and four touchdowns, Cooper Hinton has 14 attempts for 180 yards and three scores, quarterback Dallas Freeman has picked up 131 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and Braylen Benavente has ran for 124 yards.

The receiving core is led by senior Boston Willard who has caught five passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns, while both Hinton and Foley have added scores through the air.

Under center, Freeman has thrown for 236 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

On the defensive side, both Foley and Zach Blevens have the team lead with four sacks, while Trenton Smith has a team-high 30 tackles.

The Cougars defense has forced eight turnovers and has had 10 players record a tackle for loss.