​EVANSVILLE — Dru Ellis took the ball up the middle and immediately bolted out right.First came a broken tackle at the 25-yard line. Then another near midfield. The junior wide receiver followed a block down the sideline for an 86-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. Everything about the play, from the execution to the effort, spoke to what Memorial accomplished in the second half on Friday. A dominant, mesmerizing display of team football. One which could propel the No. 1 Tigers deep into the tournament.More: Southwestern Indiana football sectional semifinal scores, updatesMore: Heritage Hills football takes down No. 8 Reitz in Sectional 24 semifinalMemorial left zero doubt in a 63-28 victory over No. 3 Gibson Southern to advance to the Class 3A sectional championship. Make no mistake — this was a competitive game until it suddenly wasn’t. A tie game at halftime eventually saw a running clock triggered. That’s how good the Tigers were over the final 24 minutes of game clock.”They just keep competing,” Memorial coach John Hurley said. “Hats off to the defense. Give up 28 points in the first half and then come back to shut them down. In that second half, we took advantage of those opportunities.”The second half, should Memorial extend its season deep into November, will go down as one of the most important stretches for the team this fall. Because for everything that went right, the Tigers (11-0) were “hanging on” going into the locker room.Some of it was defensive breakdowns. Caden Rochleau picked apart the Memorial secondary with three passing touchdowns in the opening half. Some of it was missed opportunities. The Tigers failed to turn an interception into points with a drive stalling across midfield. Gibson Southern (9-2) quickly answered with a 38-yard strike to Peyton Johnson.The scoreboard was 28-28 at the break. Everything pointed to whomever had the ball last wins.”We all thought it was going to be a dog fight,” Memorial quarterback Luke Brown said. “But we knew how confident we can be. We never doubted ourselves. We always kept a positive mindset.”Everything flipped in a stunning sequence immediately after halftime.A Gibson Southern fumble on the first play was scooped by Grayson Carter for a 20-yard touchdown. A high throw on the first play of the next possession was intercepted by Liam Schmitt. That led to a Vance Alsman touchdown. Then the Ellis long run following a Gibson Southern punt. Then a Reese Becker interception. So much happened in quick succession that it was difficult to track in real time.Geno Aimone scored with 2:06 showing in the third quarter. Memorial led 56-28. Again, it was tied at halftime.”We just came out and executed,” Schmitt said. “Great plays and another great play. Kept it going. It shows that we’re not just some random team from Southern Indiana. We’re really here to compete. And we have to keep that momentum and mentality going forward.”More: Brandon Artis steps down as Evansville Central foo