5th ranked Tigers take a bridge too far
October 26, 2021 at 9:34 p.m.
5th ranked Tigers take a bridge too far
By Will Fehlinger-
This one went much the way of last year’s sectional final won by LHS, 49-12. Friday’s opening-round final at Lawrenceburg ended at 49-14.
A 23-yard run-pass option by junior quarterback Brady Morehead had the visitors within two scores late in the first half but Lawrenceburg’s answer in the next 63 seconds exemplified why both the media and coaches placed the Tigers in the Class 3A top five at season’s end.
After a 36-yard return by Brayden Combs, senior Garrett Yoon went to work in the 2-minute offense. He completed 3 of 5 passes, though FC seniors Andrew Merritt and Bridger Bolos nearly picked off the two incompletions. On 3rd-and-10 from the Wildcat 36, Yoon uncorked a strike to senior wideout Dahya Patel for six and ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 35-14 at halftime.
The hosts kicked off to start the second half, surprising the Cats with an onside kick attempt. FC couldn’t corral the pigskin and LHS’ Jayce Bohan recovered in Wildcat territory. Senior Sam Westerfeld sacked Yoon to start the series but the Tigers needed just five plays to cover 50 yards. Lucas Pierce gained 35 of those on the ground and Yoon scrambled to the 3-yard line. Teagan Bennett took it in and one of Mary Brewington’s five extra points gave LHS a 28-point lead.
A holding call on the ensuing kickoff backed FC up to its own 3 and the Cats went one yard backward before punting.
Lawrenceburg’s next drive was atrocious from a penalty standpoint. After a 19-yard pass to Aiden Gilmour, LHS was called for holding and three straight procedure penalties. Following a 10-yarder to Patel, another flag came in for a false start. On 3rd-and-27, the Tigers executed what seemed like a perfect screen play to Lance Bates for a long touchdown … but wait. A holding call made it a net of 13 yards and two incomplete passes turned the ball over.
LHS got the ball right back, however, when Alex Witte forced a sack/fumble on Morehead and Notre Dame recruit Ashton Craig fell on it at the FC 26. Pierce took the next handoff and rumbled in for the TD; Brewington concluded the night’s scoring.
The Tigers scored on the game’s opening possession, using a 6-play, 59-yard drive to go up for good. It was a sign of things to come as Yoon found Patel for a 29-yard gain and, one play later, took it home for a 6-yard TD.
On 4th-and-1 at their own 43, the Wildcats and coach Wes Gillman opted to go for it on their first drive. The result was a tackle for loss. Lawrenceburg took advantage of the short field despite the team’s first of 15 penalties for a total of 135 yards. Yoon converted a fourth down, later finding Gilmour and Pierce for back-to-back 12-yard passes on slant plays; the latter led to a 13-0 lead.
The home team made the mistake of kicking to senior speedster Jacob Schatzle when play resumed. He cut across the field and raced down the sideline for an 81-yard return; Bolos’ conversion run made it 13-8.
LHS then went 68 yards on just five plays to respond. A Yoon draw play netted 27 yards and Bennett did the rest with a 9-yard score.
Aided by two defensive pass interference calls, FC progressed to the Tiger red zone on the next possession. Morehead’s pass to Schatzle set the team up at the 3, 1st-and-goal. But Morehead runs up the middle, to the left, then to the right failed to advance the ball. On 4th-and-goal, Bolos tried a halfback option to the end zone that was intercepted.
Needing 99 yards to score, LHS did just that in 15 plays. On a third down play, Yoon hooked up with Patel, whose spin move freed him up for a 27-yard TD.
Yoon accounted for over 350 yards of offense and Patel caught nine balls for 157 yards. Morehead totaled around 130 yards between the ground and air. Lawrenceburg travels to Greensburg Friday, with Brownstown Central at Batesville being the other semifinal.
Schatzle and Austin Hill were seniors leading in the tackles department (6 each). Bolos added 5, Merritt 4, Westerfeld 3, Kaden Erfman 2 and Tyreke Carr 1. Those seven, along with Hunter Geis, Kristian Prows, Brayden Back and Chet Galyen, will hang up their cleats this week. That class was part of 19 wins across four seasons since Gillman took the headset.
Tigers 49, Wildcats 14
Franklin Co. – 8 6 0 0 - 14
Lawrenceburg – 20 15 14 0 - 49
First Quarter
L – Yoon 6-yard run, 9:41. Pass failed.
L - L. Pierce 12-yard pass from Yoon, 4:34. Brewington kick.
FC – Schatzle 81-yard kick return, 4:21. Bolos run.
L – Bennett 9-yard run, 2:03. Brewington kick.
Second Quarter
L – Patel 27-yard pass from Yoon, 3:16. Brewington kick.
FC – Morehead 23-yard run, 1:49. Pass failed.
L – Patel 36-yard pass from Yoon, :45.2. Yoon run.
Third Quarter
L – Bennett 3-yard run, 9:15. Brewington kick.
L – L. Pierce 26-yard run, 2:39. Brewington kick.
Total yards: FC 152, L 456
Passing: FC 62, L 256
Rushing: FC 90, L 220
First downs: FC 8, L 19
Fumbles/lost: FC 1/1, L 0
Penalties: FC 5-45, L 15-135
Franklin Co.- Rushing: Bolos 10-17, Morehead 14-67, Schatzle 2-6. Passing: Morehead 5-7-62 (2 INT), Bolos INT. Receiving: Prows 2-27, Merritt 1-23, Schatzle 1-12, Bolos 1-0.
Lawrenceburg - Rushing: L. Pierce 7-85, Yoon 12-93, Bennett 5-33, Sam Cornett 2-3, D’Kari Mucker 3-6. Passing: Yoon 18-27-256. Receiving: Gilmour 4-37, Patel 9-157, L. Pierce 3-31, Brennan Bushman 1-18, Bates 1-13.
(Stats should be considered unofficial)
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This one went much the way of last year’s sectional final won by LHS, 49-12. Friday’s opening-round final at Lawrenceburg ended at 49-14.
A 23-yard run-pass option by junior quarterback Brady Morehead had the visitors within two scores late in the first half but Lawrenceburg’s answer in the next 63 seconds exemplified why both the media and coaches placed the Tigers in the Class 3A top five at season’s end.
After a 36-yard return by Brayden Combs, senior Garrett Yoon went to work in the 2-minute offense. He completed 3 of 5 passes, though FC seniors Andrew Merritt and Bridger Bolos nearly picked off the two incompletions. On 3rd-and-10 from the Wildcat 36, Yoon uncorked a strike to senior wideout Dahya Patel for six and ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 35-14 at halftime.
The hosts kicked off to start the second half, surprising the Cats with an onside kick attempt. FC couldn’t corral the pigskin and LHS’ Jayce Bohan recovered in Wildcat territory. Senior Sam Westerfeld sacked Yoon to start the series but the Tigers needed just five plays to cover 50 yards. Lucas Pierce gained 35 of those on the ground and Yoon scrambled to the 3-yard line. Teagan Bennett took it in and one of Mary Brewington’s five extra points gave LHS a 28-point lead.
A holding call on the ensuing kickoff backed FC up to its own 3 and the Cats went one yard backward before punting.
Lawrenceburg’s next drive was atrocious from a penalty standpoint. After a 19-yard pass to Aiden Gilmour, LHS was called for holding and three straight procedure penalties. Following a 10-yarder to Patel, another flag came in for a false start. On 3rd-and-27, the Tigers executed what seemed like a perfect screen play to Lance Bates for a long touchdown … but wait. A holding call made it a net of 13 yards and two incomplete passes turned the ball over.
LHS got the ball right back, however, when Alex Witte forced a sack/fumble on Morehead and Notre Dame recruit Ashton Craig fell on it at the FC 26. Pierce took the next handoff and rumbled in for the TD; Brewington concluded the night’s scoring.
The Tigers scored on the game’s opening possession, using a 6-play, 59-yard drive to go up for good. It was a sign of things to come as Yoon found Patel for a 29-yard gain and, one play later, took it home for a 6-yard TD.
On 4th-and-1 at their own 43, the Wildcats and coach Wes Gillman opted to go for it on their first drive. The result was a tackle for loss. Lawrenceburg took advantage of the short field despite the team’s first of 15 penalties for a total of 135 yards. Yoon converted a fourth down, later finding Gilmour and Pierce for back-to-back 12-yard passes on slant plays; the latter led to a 13-0 lead.
The home team made the mistake of kicking to senior speedster Jacob Schatzle when play resumed. He cut across the field and raced down the sideline for an 81-yard return; Bolos’ conversion run made it 13-8.
LHS then went 68 yards on just five plays to respond. A Yoon draw play netted 27 yards and Bennett did the rest with a 9-yard score.
Aided by two defensive pass interference calls, FC progressed to the Tiger red zone on the next possession. Morehead’s pass to Schatzle set the team up at the 3, 1st-and-goal. But Morehead runs up the middle, to the left, then to the right failed to advance the ball. On 4th-and-goal, Bolos tried a halfback option to the end zone that was intercepted.
Needing 99 yards to score, LHS did just that in 15 plays. On a third down play, Yoon hooked up with Patel, whose spin move freed him up for a 27-yard TD.
Yoon accounted for over 350 yards of offense and Patel caught nine balls for 157 yards. Morehead totaled around 130 yards between the ground and air. Lawrenceburg travels to Greensburg Friday, with Brownstown Central at Batesville being the other semifinal.
Schatzle and Austin Hill were seniors leading in the tackles department (6 each). Bolos added 5, Merritt 4, Westerfeld 3, Kaden Erfman 2 and Tyreke Carr 1. Those seven, along with Hunter Geis, Kristian Prows, Brayden Back and Chet Galyen, will hang up their cleats this week. That class was part of 19 wins across four seasons since Gillman took the headset.
Tigers 49, Wildcats 14
Franklin Co. – 8 6 0 0 - 14
Lawrenceburg – 20 15 14 0 - 49
First Quarter
L – Yoon 6-yard run, 9:41. Pass failed.
L - L. Pierce 12-yard pass from Yoon, 4:34. Brewington kick.
FC – Schatzle 81-yard kick return, 4:21. Bolos run.
L – Bennett 9-yard run, 2:03. Brewington kick.
Second Quarter
L – Patel 27-yard pass from Yoon, 3:16. Brewington kick.
FC – Morehead 23-yard run, 1:49. Pass failed.
L – Patel 36-yard pass from Yoon, :45.2. Yoon run.
Third Quarter
L – Bennett 3-yard run, 9:15. Brewington kick.
L – L. Pierce 26-yard run, 2:39. Brewington kick.
Total yards: FC 152, L 456
Passing: FC 62, L 256
Rushing: FC 90, L 220
First downs: FC 8, L 19
Fumbles/lost: FC 1/1, L 0
Penalties: FC 5-45, L 15-135
Franklin Co.- Rushing: Bolos 10-17, Morehead 14-67, Schatzle 2-6. Passing: Morehead 5-7-62 (2 INT), Bolos INT. Receiving: Prows 2-27, Merritt 1-23, Schatzle 1-12, Bolos 1-0.
Lawrenceburg - Rushing: L. Pierce 7-85, Yoon 12-93, Bennett 5-33, Sam Cornett 2-3, D’Kari Mucker 3-6. Passing: Yoon 18-27-256. Receiving: Gilmour 4-37, Patel 9-157, L. Pierce 3-31, Brennan Bushman 1-18, Bates 1-13.
(Stats should be considered unofficial)
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