Decatur Central beats Whiteland in IHSAA football: Turning point, player of game, top play

Speed, speed and more speed.

Class 5A No. 6 Decatur Central, two weeks removed from a disappointing 26-point loss to Columbus North, may have reasserted itself as the team to beat in Class 5A — or at least one of them — with an impressive 43-29 win over 5A No. 2 Whiteland.

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How it happened:

TURNING POINT: Decatur Central (1-1) scored on the first play of the game on a 64-yard pass from Bo Polston to Kasmir Hicks and led by two touchdowns at halftime. But Whiteland (1-1) rallied to pull within 28-21 on 10-yard touchdown pass from Oliver Taylor to Jordan Palmer with 1:27 in the third quarter. Whiteland then recovered an onside kick and moved to the Decatur Central 32-yard-line early in the fourth quarter. But Hicks jumped on front of a third down pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown. Decatur Central led 36-21, with 10:19 left, essentially putting the game away.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Hicks. The 6-foot, 170-pound junior can fly. Hicks scored on the first play of the game, the interception return and on a 37-yard pass from Polston in the second quarter. Hicks has offers from Purdue, Indiana, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt and most of the Mid-American Conference programs. He finished with four receptions for 150 yards.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Some love here for N’Po Dodo. The Decatur Central senior caught two passes for 57 yards and ran three times for 32 yards. He scored on two nifty TD runs, including a 5-yarder for the final touchdown. The pitch was high from Polston, but Dodo tipped it, turned and pulled it out of the air and then skipped to the corner of the end zone to put the Hawks ahead by 22 points with 9:04 left.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football: Decatur Central beats Whiteland in Week 3