There’s not a “wow” factor to this year’s Carmel High School football team. The defense is strong and solid, the offense steady and durable.

Who’s complaining? What the Greyhounds may lack in flash, they make up for in substance. With a 21-7 win at Ben Davis on Friday, Class 5A No. 1 Carmel wrapped up its first outright Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championship.

“To go undefeated in this league is really hard to do,” Carmel coach Mo Moriarity said. “If you’d have asked me if that was possible before the season, I would have probably said no. I’m really pleased with our kids and our coaches.”

Though the Carmel-Center Grove rivalry has taken the spotlight recently — culminating with Center Grove’s 36-33 comeback win over the Greyhounds in last year’s 5A state title game — Ben Davis has been a thorn in Carmel’s side recently, winning the previous two meetings.

Carmel (8-1, 7-0 MIC) simply wore out the injury- and illness-riddled Giants this year. After playing to a 7-7 halftime draw, Moriarity’s team dominated the second half, holding the Giants (5-4, 4-3) to 39 yards after halftime.

“Right now, I feel like the defense is playing pretty well,” said defensive lineman Blair Trapkus. “In the past, we’ve always been known for having a good defense, and now the offense is coming along and doing a great job, too.”

Devin Brinson returned to the Carmel backfield after missing last week with sickness and rushed for 117 yards on 19 carries. Jesse Hollander added 88 yards on 20 carries and quarterback Adam Shaffer rushed for 87 yards on 14 carries.

Carmel opens sectional play Friday at Westfield. There are some dangerous opponents in its bracket, including Fishers and ninth-ranked Hamilton Southeastern. But with the defense playing the way it has all season, and the offense proving it can grind it out (291 rushing yards), the Greyhounds could be in line for a fourth straight trip to the state championship game.

Carmel lost to Warren Central for the 2006 title and defeated Pike in ’07.

“We’ve still got to come to practice every day and get better,” Moriarity said. “I really think it’s wide open. We’re going to have to play well in the tournament to win. We’re not good enough to where we can just show up and advance. Our kids know that.”

Ben Davis coach Mike Kirschner feels he has a team capable of making a deep run, too. It’s just a matter of what players will be available to him when the Giants open next week at Avon.

With standout senior linebacker Isaiah Lewis “out for the season” with a knee injury and several others battling the flu, Kirschner had just five defensive starters available. All three quarterbacks — starter William Barksdale and backups Antonio Heard and Matt Brock — were also sidelined. Kirschner turned to standout senior running back Phillip Dudley to take the reins at quarterback.

“It’s not an exaggeration: We just didn’t have any quarterbacks,” Kirschner said. “It’s not an excuse. Carmel lined it up and kicked our butts up front.”

Dudley rushed for 81 yards on 24 carries and was 5-for-8 passing for 73 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The game turned on Carmel’s first drive of the second half. The Greyhounds drove 66 yards in eight plays, taking a 14-7 lead midway through the third quarter on Shaffer’s 10-yard run.

Shaffer was intercepted on the following possession, but after a Ben Davis three-and-out, Hollander capped an 11-play, 46-yard drive with a 2-yard run to make it 21-7 with eight minutes left.

Ben Davis got a shot of confidence just before halftime. The Giants marched 79 yards on 13 plays — including nine runs by Dudley — and scored when Dudley hit Donte Asher for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the first half.

[chart]
||||||||
|Carmel|0|7|7|7|—|21|
|Ben Davis|0|7|0|0|—|7|
[end chart]

Car — Adam Shaffer 8 run (Jordan Babcock kick)

BD — Donte Asher 14 pass from Phillip Dudley (Andrew Kashman)

Car — Shaffer 10 run (Babcock kick)

Car — Jesse Hollander 2 run (Babcock kick)

[chart]
||Carmel|Ben Davis|
|First Downs|17|11|
|Rushes-Yards|54-291|39-137|
|Passing Yards|55|73|
|Comp-Att-Int|5-8-1|5-8-1|
|Fumbles-Lost|1-0|2-1|
|Penalties-Yards|5-35|3-13|
|Punts-Avg.|2-34|5-28.8|
[end chart]

Rushing - Carmel: Devin Brinson 19-117, Hollander 20-88, Shaffer 14-87, Damian Pennington 1(-1); Ben Davis: Dudley 24-81, Asher 8-40, Bryce Turner 6-16, Tiyrai 1-0.

Passing — Carmel: Shaffer 5-8-1 55; Ben Davis: Dudley 5-8-1 73.

Receiving — Carmel: Jon Schmidt 2-39, Brinson 2-10, Dylan Mallory 1-6; Ben Davis: Asher 3-25, Jordan Cole 2-48.