Uphill battle was too much for Lexington to overcome against Northwestern

Lexington coach Josh Stepp knew the Wildcats needed to get off to a quick start against Northwestern in the Class 4A, Division II state championship Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.

To say it didn’t happen would be a huge understatement. By the end of the first quarter, the Trojans held a three-touchdown lead and if it could go wrong for Lexington, it did. And unfortunately for the Wildcats, it never got any better.

The Wildcats were stuffed from the 1-yard line, missed a short field and while still within one score, allowed a 54-yard Pick 6 by Miles Corprening. Gage Moloney later scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to seal the outcome in the opening 12 minutes.

“You can’t make mistakes the way we did and expect to beat a very good football team,” Stepp said. “It kind of got out of control.”

Northwestern went 80 yards in seven plays on the opening drive of the game and scored on a 15-yard pass from Moloney to Jonathan Morgan. It looked like the Wildcats might respond but that’s when things started snowballing.

Lexington had a first and goal from the one but two runs lost two yards and a third down pass fell incomplete. After a false start penalty, the Wildcats missed a 25-yard field goal.

The defense held and the Wildcats had good field position at their 45, but two plays later Corprening stepped in front of a Brandon Blake pass and returned it 54 yards for the score.

The quick start and interception return was a huge boost for Northwestern. Coach Kyle Richardson said it was huge for the quick start after having to wait 45 minutes later than the original start after the first two games of the day ran late.

“You never know how they’re going to come out and respond,” he said. “It was huge to get those points but then we held them, they missed the field goal and things just rolled from there. It took their huge crowd out of it.”

It was an uphill battle for Lexington at that point. They needed to control the clock with the running of Slade Carroll but being two scores down quickly, they had to go to the air. Even when they did attempt to get Carroll going, it was tough sledding.

The Trojans were allowing 68 yards a game on the ground and limited the Wildcats to 42 yards on 24 attempts. Carroll had rushed for over 2,000 yards but was held to 25 yards on 16 carries.

“I think the thing that made the difference is how good they were on defense,” Stepp said. “They were very good in the back. We knew it was going to be the best defense we saw all year. We just made too many mistakes.”

Richardson said that is what he’s come to expect from his defensive unit.

“We’ve played great up front all year and they showed up in a big game,” Richardson said.

Despite the disappointing finish to the season, Stepp was proud of his team. They won a school-record 13 games in a row and did things the right way on and off the field.

“I will remember what a great group of kids that we have in that locker room,” Stepp said. “They accomplished a lot of great things on the football field. They do a lot for our school and community. The way they handle themselves off the field means more to me. That’s a great group of kids. The future is bright for Lexington football and we’re excited for what’s to come.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 11:04 PM.