Instant classic? Inside Boonville's upset win over previously undefeated Reitz

BOONVILLE, Ind. — A sea of black and gold invaded the middle of Bennett Field.

Boonville's football players, cheerleaders and student section rushed to celebrate as the school fight song rang loudly for all to hear. They'd just witnessed an instant classic. An upset for the ages that raised eyebrows across Southwestern Indiana throughout Friday evening.

Who predicted this result? Boonville had last defeated Reitz in 1921. That's not a typo.

Yet, the Pioneers completed the 28-27 victory over the Panthers, the No. 5-ranked team in Class 4A that rode into town still unbeaten. Down went Goliath as the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference champions saw their season end at the hands of the pesky Pioneers from the Pocket Athletic Conference.

Indiana high school football:Check out all the Evansville-area sectional semifinal scores

Now, they're on to the Class 4A Sectional 24 championship for the second time in five years. The thrilling, back-and-forth win qualifies as one of the best in program history. It was certainly the biggest of coach Darin Ward's eight-year tenure leading the Pioneers.

"It was really about shortening the game," Ward said. "In our last two games, we haven't really possessed the ball. I was really pleased in the first half, even in our first drive, just picking up a couple of first downs and starting to run the clock. Once we got into the second half, the game really started to shorten down. And once we were up 28-14, all of a sudden you're just rooting for the clock."

The Pioneers used their punishing rushing attack to continuously march downfield, even without star senior running back Reece Wilder after he exited with an injury. Still, the Pioneers outrushed Reitz by 157 yards, which included a 160-yard outing by senior quarterback Clay Conner.

He was involved almost every time Boonville (8-3) needed a big play. He ran all over the Panthers' defense. He also burned them through the air with a deep-ball touchdown pass to Marques Ballard. Plus, he snagged one of the Pioneers' three interceptions.

Simply put, Conner was relentless in all facets. The motivation to be a winner keeps him going. His father's words to him in the locker room pregame were simple: "Go out and be great."

"And I take that to heart," Conner said. "He tells me to be the best player on the field. And if you can't lead the field and not do the work, you can't give it your all. That's why I'm out there. I just know I have to be the best I can be and lead these guys."

"He's a great athlete. He can make big plays," senior running back Carter Wolfe added. "We just got to keep chugging along to keep him going."

Boonville was counted out by many heading into Friday. Reitz (10-1) had torched opponents with one of the top offenses in the area, and its rejuvenated defense has been known to create havoc. The Panthers nearly escaped with a win, too.

Reitz quarterback Ben Davies threw an 83-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Thomas with two minutes left, a scoring drive that should've tied the game. Except the Panthers missed the extra point. They still trailed by one. And then Boonville failed to convert a third down to ice the game. Reitz regained possession, and it seemed inevitable the Panthers were going to use late heroics to continue their perfect season.

But that didn't happen. The Pioneers grabbed one final interception to silence their doubters. Even if they don't mind being underdogs.

"We embrace it every year," Conner said. "We just come out here and give it our all. And the people that are out here in the stands supporting us are embracing it. It's a small community. That's all we got. We just stick together."

Boonville is guaranteed at least one more game at Bennett Field next Friday when it hosts Memorial (8-3) with a sectional championship on the line. The Tigers, who defeated Jasper in another nailbiter on Friday, are rolling after a slow start.

The Pioneers won't forget how special it was to celebrate Friday night. Come Monday, they'll regroup and set their sights on winning their first sectional title since 2004.

"They have a lot of great tradition," Ward said. "We've got a lot of respect for their program and Coach (John) Hurley. We're happy to get back to Monday and practice again. It'll be another great atmosphere here on Friday night. We're happy and excited to be playing in a sectional championship game."

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on Twitter @Twashington490.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Indiana high school football: Boonville pulls off upset over Reitz