Monday Film Room: How Indiana's 2-point conversion had 'state championship' pedigree

True freshman David Ellis executed the play perfectly because he had seen it before, and helped his Michigan high school team win a state title on the exact same play.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It was early in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s home opener against Ball State, and the play really wasn’t a big deal at the time. The Hoosiers had just scored a touchdown to go up 12 points and it made sense to go for a 2-point conversion to make it a two-touchdown game.

No big deal.

True freshman wide receiver David Ellis took a handoff on an end-around and then threw a perfect pass to Indiana tight end Peyton Hendershot for the two points. IU went up by the 14, but it didn’t really matter. Ball State never threatened again and the Hoosiers won, 34-24.

Really, it was no big deal.

But what was a big deal was that Ellis and seen the play before. He was the star then too, but on the other side of the ball during last year’s Michigan Class XA state championship game. His team, Chippewa Valley, was leading by a point and Clarkston ran basically the same play to try to go for the win with 27 seconds left. Ellis made a great defensive move to blow up the play to secure the win.

Now that’s a big deal.

“David made a huge play for us there,’’ said Scott Merchant, Ellis’ coach at Chippewa Valley. “He read it perfectly and took the tight end, but then he jumped the quarterback who had leaked out and the kid on the reverse had no one to throw to. We brought him down and it was over. He basically helped us win a state title on that one play.’’

The similarities to the play are so eerily similar that we had to break this one down on our first weekly "Monday Film Room" segment.

Indiana’s 2-point conversion

Here’s Indiana alignment on the play. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr., is in the shotgun and running back Stevie Scott is in the backfield. David Ellis is split left. Tight end Peyton Hendershot is split out to the right. 

Screen grab from television broadcast on CBS Sports Network

Penix takes the snap and rolls to his left, making it look like a run option with him and Scott. Ellis starts heading toward the right.

Ellis takes the ball from Penix and started rolling to the right.

Ellis had to elude a rushing defender, and when he did, he set his feet to throw.

Ellis' first option is to run, and the second is for a receiver in the right edge of the end zone.

Instead he finds Hendershot over the middle and hits him with a perfect throw. "We practiced that play maybe five times, and never once did he ever throw it to me,'' Hendershot said Monday. "I'm just supposed to be a decoy and running across the end zone. I'm just out there to be out there.''

There was plenty of celebrating afterward, and it carried on all the way through the raucous locker room after the win. "He told me he was coming for my job,'' Penix said. 

Watch the complete video here. 

Indiana Hoosiers tight end Peyton Hendershot (86) celebrates his two point conversion catch with teammates in the second half of the game against the Ball State Cardinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Reaction to Ellis' play

Chippewa Valley coach Scott Merchant watched the game live Saturday and loved Ellis' play. He's a big fan, obviously, and they shared texts over the weekend. 

"We had a good laugh over one of the stories that somebody wrote down there that said he was a quarterback in high school. That's not true at all,'' Merchant said. "We ran the Wildcat with him maybe five times while he was here and he ran it every time. He never threw a single pass here.''

But it also didn't surprise Merchant that Ellis made such a great play for Indiana. It's just a start.

"He would have known that his tight end was a third-read option because he saw that play last year in our state championship game,'' Merchant said. "He's just a really smart football player and he can pretty much do anything.

"Indiana really got a steal with him. He ran back five kickoffs for touchdowns for us last year, and he had one for 94 yards in the our state championship game. He'll do that for Indiana, too, be a big threat in the return game.

How Ellis wound up at Indiana

Chippewa Valley is in Clinton Township, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The 6-foot, 207-pound athlete — who was a 3-star recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings — had committed to Central Michigan in April of 2018, but decommitted and visited Indiana in the summer. 

He loved his visit and committed a few months later, and the Hoosiers held off a hard charge from Michigan State to keep him at home after his big senior year.

"Mike Hart (Indiana's running backs coach and still the all-time leading rusher at the University of Michigan) did a great job recruiting him,'' Merchant said. "And I give a lot of credit to David. He stayed loyal to Indiana, even after a bunch of schools tried to come after him late. He really liked what Indiana was doing down there.''

Ellis will be a huge factor in Indiana's return game this year. He'll have a hard time getting many looks at receiver with so much veteran talent in front of him, but he very clearly is going to be hard to keep off the field.

"He's a very exciting player,'' Merchant said. "The Indiana people are going to love him.''

They already do. 

And they can't wait for his next perfect pass.

Watch a 2-minute video of his state championship game here, which includes his kickoff return for a touchdown and that final 2-pooiint conversion play.

SC! Locker: The 2019 Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic (@detpkc) starts 8/29 with @CVBigReds taking on @SalineFootball. Here's highlights of Chippewa Valley defeating Clarkston in the 2018 Division 1 Final. Purchase tickets now > https://t.co/nCsdwXFWbq pic.twitter.com/NKfOncZdA7

— STATE CHAMPS! Michigan (@statechampsmich) July 30, 2019