MUNCIE — For a half, the Eagles seemed primed to continue a streak and celebrate on their home field.
Those plans fell apart in the second 24 minutes.
Delta High School’s football team fell scoreless in the second half, with a nearly two-decade winning streak coming to an end in a 16-13 loss to the visiting Muncie Central Bearcats.
While the Eagles (0-1) did not score after the intermission, Muncie Central (1-0) turned to Carlos Echols to get its offense going. After carrying the ball just six times in the first half, he got the ball over and over again in the second en route to a 132-yard game on the ground. The Bearcats pulled even in the third quarter on a rushing touchdown from Landan Johnson and a passing score from Mason Ferguson to Doiron Montgomery.
MCHS junior Judah Smith booted a 28-yard field goal with barely more than a minute left on the clock in the fourth quarter. A last gasp effort by Delta failed to come to fruition, and the Bearcats were able burn the remaining seconds for their first win over the Eagles since 2006.
Delta got on the board first when quarterback Deacon Blevins connected with Matt Morey for a 48-yard touchdown. A Ryan Neal interception set up an 18-yard pass from Blevins to Amir Wright-Hill for a 13-0 lead at the half.
Blevins completed 13 of his 21 passing attempts for 146 yards for the Eagles. Aven Thomas ran 15 times for 59 yards.
Cole Mynett, a senior, paced the Delta defense with nine tackles.
The Eagles will go on the road Friday to Monroeville to take on Heritage (1-0), which blasted Bellmont 42-0 in its opener. The teams met in the first round of the 2024 playoffs at Delta, with the Eagles turning in a dominating 54-14 triumph.