Lexington’s title dreams alive and kicking with win over Spartanburg
As a kid, Christian Kinsley always envisioned of hitting a game-winning kick.
Kinsley calmly made that dream a reality Friday when he hit an 18-yard field goal with three seconds left to give Lexington a 38-35 win over defending state champion Spartanburg at Wofford’s Gibbs Stadium.
With the win, Lexington advances to its first championship game since 2000 and will play Northwestern next Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Wildcats’ last state championship came in 1950.
“I was put in that situation for a reason,” Kinsley said. “I wasn’t nervous. Nervous is letting God down. If I’m nervous that means I don’t have any belief, so no nerves.”
“I told him. Relax and kick it through the uprights, you were the best in the business and he did it,” Lexington coach Josh Stepp said.
Kinsley’s field goal capped off a wild eight minutes of the fourth quarter as teams exchanged leads. Spartanburg tied it at 35-35 when Austin Scott hit Mr. Football Tavien Feaster for 19-yard score with 3:32 left.
On the ensuing kickoff, Tyler Schadewald returned it 59 yards to the Spartanburg 32. On third-and-9 at the 18-yard line, Slade Carroll ran 17 yards to the 1.
Carroll was stopped three times, but Lexington called a timeout to set up Kinsley’s game-winner.
Carroll finished with 149 yards and a TD. Quarterback Donny Baker came off the bench for an injured Brandon Blake and led the Wildcats to all three scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
Oscar Ferguson led Lexington with eight catches for 74 yards.
Scott finished with 480 yards passing and three touchdowns but was picked off three times. Tavien Feaster had 192 yards of total offense.
TURNING POINT
With the score tied at 21 late in the third quarter and Lexington backed up on its own 1, Spartanburg was called for roughing the punter to extend the drive. The Wildcats took advantage of the opportunity as they drove the length of the field and Baker hit Schadewald for a 24-yard TD pass.
KEY PERFORMERS
Slade Carroll: Rushed for 149 yards and went over 2,000 yards this season. He has 2,001 yards this season
Daquan Wells: Defensive back had an interception to stop a Spartanburg drive and returned a fumble 80 yards for a score.
Eric Ricker: Had two interceptions and ran a two-point conversion.
THEY SAID IT
“When we needed to make plays and needed to make turnovers, we got them. That was the difference in the game.” – Josh Stepp, Lexington coach
“I knew Brandon was the starter but he has had some shoulder injuries. So I had to be ready when my number was called.” – Donny Baker, Lexington QB
KEY NUMBERS
631: Total offense for Spartanburg, but Vikings had five turnovers
13: Number of consecutive wins by Lexington and first time it has won 13 games in a season in school history
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
L – Carroll 24 run (kick failed), 9:27
S – Feaster 7 pass from A. Scott (Barrett kick), 6:12
L – Green 6 run (Ricker run), 2:15
S – A. Scott 1 run (Barrett kick), :33
2nd Quarter
L – Wells 79 fumble return (Kinsley kick), 9:24
3rd Quarter
S – T. Scott 24 pass from A. Scott (Barrett kick), 8:43
4th Quarter
L – Schadewald 24 pass from Baker (Kinsley kick), 10:28
S – Foster 7 run (Barrett kick), 8:28
L – Baker 17 run (Kinsley kick), 5:28
S – Feaster 19 pass from Scott (Barrett kick), 3:32
L – Kinsley 18 FG, :03
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: L: Carroll 34-149, Green 6-12, Blake 3-10, Baker 5-51. S: Feaster 12-60, A. Scott 6-30, Foster 6-46, Gilliam 2-15
Passing: L: Blake 8-20-1 84, Baker 5-6-0 67. S: A. Scott 35-45-3 480
Receiving: L: Ferguson 8-74, Rumph 3-44, Schadewald 1-24, Hopper 1-9. S: Feaster 11-130, Wilson 6-87, T. Scott 7-84, Rice 3-25, Foster 4-54, Johnson 2-33, Gilliam 1-46, Washington 1-21
Scores, Schedule
Friday’s Scores
Class 4A, Division I
Dorman 21, Byrnes 14
Fort Dorchester 42, Goose Creek 35
Class 4A, Division II
Lexington 38, Spartanburg 35
Northwestern 30, Nation Ford 22
Class 3A
South Pointe 27, Union County 12
Midland Valley 28, Myrtle Beach 14
Class 2A, Division I state championship
At Benedict College
Dillon 51, Newberry 19
Saturday’s Games
At Benedict College
Class A, Division I state championship
Southside Christian vs. Allendale Fairfax, noon
Class A, Division II state championship
Lamar vs. C.E. Murray, 3 p.m.
Class 2A, Division II state championship
Abbeville vs. Silver Bluff, 6 p.m.
All 3A/4A state championships
Saturday, Dec. 12 at Williams-Brice Stadium
Class 4A, Division I
Dorman vs. Fort Dorchester, noon
Class 3A
South Pointe vs. Midland Valley 3 p.m.
Class 4A, Division II
Lexington vs. Northwestern, 6 p.m.
This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 11:35 PM.