Balanced effort moves Lexington to semifinals
Lexington used its quick-strike offense and strong defense to keep its season going.
Quarterback Brandon Blake threw a pair of touchdown passes to Taylor Schadewald in a 59-second span in the second quarter, and Lexington shut out Blythewood in the second half for the 30-13 win on Friday in the second round of the Class 4A, Division II playoffs.
The Wildcats, who won their school-record 12th straight game, travel to top-seeded Spartanburg, which defeated T.L. Hanna 38-35, next week at Wofford’s Gibbs Stadium. Lexington has 12 wins this season for only the second time in school history.
Blake finished 15-of-25 for 245 yards and two scores. His 50-yard pass to Schadewald put Lexington up 23-13 at halftime.
Oscar Ferguson led Lexington with eight catches for 129 yards, and running back Slade Carroll added 138 yards and two touchdowns for Lexington. Carroll’s 59-yard run tied it at 7 after Blythewood’s Osei Thomas scored on an 81-yard run on the game’s second play.
Thomas left the game with a knee injury on the second possession and didn’t return. He was replaced by Kyle Wright, who finished with 82 yards.
Blythewood quarterback David Israel had 243 yards total offense, but was picked off three times.
TURNING POINT
Leading 16-13 late in the second quarter, Lexington stopped Blythewood on third down inside its 30. After a short punt, the Wildcats took over at the 50-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Blake hit Schadewald for a touchdown to make it 23-13 at halftime.
KEY PERFORMERS
Brandon Blake: Senior threw for 249 yards and two scores and didn’t throw an interception
Nick Graves: Lexington defensive back blocked a punt for a safety, an extra point and had an interception.
Ken Oliveira: Lexington linebacker had 10 tackles for the defense, which recorded three sacks.
THEY SAID IT
“It was pretty big. I think it changed the momentum of the game because it gave us another possession up. It was a big throw and catch.” – Lexington quarterback Brandon Blake on the TD before halftime
“We had never won 12 in a row. I told the kids they are going to look back five, ten, twenty years from now and realize how tough it is and what they just did.” – Lexington coach Josh Stepp
“We just weren’t consistent all night. They are a good ball club and if you make mistakes they are going to pay the price. They played better than us tonight. It didn’t feel like us out there.” – Blythewood coach Dan Morgan
KEY NUMBERS
207: Penalty yards combined between both teams with more than 100 coming in the second half.
0: Number of turnovers for Lexington and points allowed in the second half by the Wildcats’ defense.
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
B – Thomas 81 run (Turner kick), 11:13
L – Carroll 59 run (Kinsley kick), 9:53
L – Safety, 4:10
2nd Quarter
B – Churn 36 pass from Israel (Kick failed), 6:33
L – Schadewald 15 pass from Blake (Kinsley kick), 1:18
L – Schadewald 50 pass from Blake (Kinsley kick), 0:19
3rd Quarter
L – Carroll 2 run (Kinsley kick), 1:23
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: B: Israel25-107; Thomas 3-87, Wright 16-82. L: Carroll 25-138, Green 6-27, Blake 2-19, Baker 1-1
Passing: B: Israel 12-25-3 136. L: Blake 15-25-0 249, Baker 1-3-0 1
Receiving: B: McGuire 5-56, Patten 3-32, Churn 2-38, Benton 1-7. L: Ferguson 8-129, Hopper 5-5, Schadewald 2-65, Wells 1-1.
This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 11:29 PM.