Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008

Lexington rallies past Greenwood

Kickoff return for score helps Wildcats rally from early 19-0 hole

GREENWOOD — For the first nine minutes of Friday’s non-region game, Greenwood High was dominant, Lexington was dormant and the game was all but decided.

But Greenwood’s inept special teams and Lexington’s power running game made the sure-fire blowout disappear.

Lexington junior Adrian Wigfall sparked the Wildcats with a 100-yard kickoff return late in the first quarter, and Lexington manhandled Greenwood the final three quarters en route to a 34-25 upset victory at J.W. Babb Stadium.

“We made mistakes you can’t make against good people,” Greenwood coach Shell Dula said. “You’re up 19-0 and they haven’t gotten a first down, and then, all of a sudden, they run the kickoff back. We made mistakes ... that hurt us.”

Wigfall’s kickoff return was huge. The 5-foot-10, 142-pound speedster caught the kick on the goal-line, raced up the middle, broke a tackle 20 yards into the return, then raced the final 60 yards down the left side to cut Greenwood’s lead to 19-7 with 3:01 remaining in the first quarter.

“The thing that killed us tonight was the kicking game, and that’s something we talk about over and over and over,” Dula said.

“Then we didn’t punt the ball real well. We didn’t field kickoffs. We didn’t field punts. When you make mistakes like that against that caliber of a football team, it’s hard to win.”

After Byron Best raced 50 yards untouched to push Greenwood’s lead to 25-7, the Eagles’ special teams fell apart.

On Lexington’s next drive, Greenwood stopped the Wildcats, but Best, who also serves as a cornerback and punt returner for the Eagles, failed to field the punt and Greenwood’s offense was forced to start at its own 10-yard line.

Four plays later, Greenwood shanked a punt and left Lexington — hampered by poor field position for most of the game — 40 yards from the end zone. Five plays later, Lexington’s Anthony Carden scored on a 2-yard run.

Later in the second quarter, another short punt — a 25-yarder — gave Lexington the ball at the Greenwood 42. Carden capped off an eight-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown with 28.4 seconds remaining in the first half, cutting Greenwood’s lead to 25-21.

“We’re down 19-0; you talk about guts and courage. From that point on, we dominated and played great,” Lexington coach Allen Sitterle said.

The first drive of the third quarter was a study in that domination as Lexington reeled off a 15-play, 81-yard drive. The drive culminated with Trad Hunter’s 1-yard keeper.

Greenwood had a scare in the fourth quarter when junior defensive lineman Kelcy Quarles lay motionless on the field after making a tackle that jarred off his helmet. Quarles, whom Dula said had a concussion, showed little movement during the 15 minutes he was on the ground. A source later confirmed Quarles was joking with doctors at a nearby hospital an hour after the game.

G — D.J. Swearinger 41 run (Tucker Nelson kick)

G — Swearinger 2 run (kick failed)

G — Byron Best 33 run (pass failed)

L — Adrian Wigfall 100 kickoff return (Wes Bennett kick)

G — Best 50 run (run failed)

Second Quarter

L — Anthony Carden 2 run (Bennett kick)

L — Carden 1 run (Bennett kick)

Third Quarter

L — Trad Hunter 1 run (Bennett kick)

Fourth Quarter

L — Carden 1 run (kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing: G: D.J. Swearinger 17-144, Byron Best 4-101, Marland Hamilton 1-2. L: Trad Hunter 24-119, Anthony Carden 27-72, Dexter Wells 12-46.

Passing: G: Christian Powell 8-19-1-64. L: Hunter 5-11-1-35.

Receiving: G: Javaris Rhodes 2-15, Swearinger 2-6, Cory Fain 1-13, Julius Aiken 1-18, Quin Best 1-7, Byron Best 1-(-2). L: Wells 3-20, Adrian Wigfall 1-11, Carden 1-4.