‘Our kids are freakin’ ballers.’ LCA win vs. Pikeville proves it’s still 1 of state’s best.

There’s a reason why after losing its first two games, Lexington Christian was still ranked as the No. 4 team in Class 2A last week in the first high school football media poll of the season .

Despite graduating two Mr. Football finalists and losses to two of Class 4A’s best — No. 1 Boyle County and No. 4 Franklin County — the Eagles are no mere afterthought. They can play.

“We’ve learned a lot about our kids. Our kids are freakin’ ballers. They fight. They keep playing,” LCA coach Doug Charles said. “There were a couple of moments in the game tonight where things got a little haywired, but our guys rallied.”

Hosting the late game of its eCampus.com Bowl, LCA pulled away to a 40-26 victory against Class A No. 2 Pikeville, the three-time defending state champions in that division.

“As a new team, we just need to figure out who we are and tonight was a good picture of who we are — we’ll run the ball down your throat and get it till we win,” said senior running back Leland Edwards, who rushed for 114 yards and three touchdowns against the Panthers.

Lexington Christian has loaded offensive line

While LCA lost Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley and Eastern Kentucky running back Brady Hensley, it retained a massive, senior-led offensive line that includes Air Force commit Hayes Preston (6-3, 260 pounds) and Navy commit Trefor Thomas (6-4, 250).

At times, LCA’s backfield had huge lanes to run through, but they also broke tackles to turn short gains into first downs as Edwards, Mac Darland, Daven Hood and quarterback Saxton Howard combined for 248 yards rushing. Howard also threw for 166 yards, including a 47-yard TD pass to Tyler King.

“That’s just the DNA of our team: hard runs, hard-nosed, get what we can get and get onto the next down,” said Edwards, who went untouched for 20 yards on his final TD run of the game.

Hayes plays on defense, too, and essentially sealed the win with an 83-yard scoop and score touchdown as Pikeville fought to climb back into the game midway through the fourth quarter. He said his sprint down the field felt a lot longer than the 83 yards recorded.

“I was just hoping nobody was behind me,” Hayes said of his touchdown, which put LCA up 40-19 with 5:20 left in the game. “I was really scared somebody was going to hog me down. That’s why I did a little dive at the end.”

Though LCA’s defense ultimately played well and grabbed a pair of interceptions and a fumble, it looked shaky early as Pikeville scored on its first two drives.

And the Panthers threatened to extend their 12-7 second quarter lead after Isaac Duty connected with Kingston Braxton on an 81-yard pass that put the Panthers at LCA’s 2-yard line. But LCA didn’t give up another inch, turning Pikeville over on downs.

The Eagles’ offense responded with a 10-play, 98-yard drive capped by Edwards’ first score, a 5-yard run, to take a 14-12 lead with 2:52 left in the second quarter.

Moments later, LCA’s defense turned Pikeville over on downs again, this time at the LCA 29-yard line with 42 seconds left until halftime.

LCA’s secret weapon

It took eight plays and 39 seconds for LCA to gain 41 yards and set up a 48-yard field goal try for defensive end Connor Archer, called into emergency kicking duty after starter Isaac Collins suffered a broken forearm against Franklin County last week.

Archer’s boot cleared the crossbar by a few feet and gave LCA a 17-12 halftime lead.

“I found out Thursday I was the kicker,” explained Archer, who is listed at 6-3 and 260 pounds and had only ever kicked a few extra points last season at West Jessamine. “Yesterday, we went in and just started working, and sure enough, we found out I could kick it that far. It was pretty nerve-racking. I had to go into the locker room and kind of cool down.”

It was determined Wednesday that Collins would not be able to get a cast that would be safe enough for him to play, so LCA held an open tryout.

“Connor says, ‘Coach, I used to play soccer, and I can kick.’” Charles recounted. “I said, ‘Yeah, everybody says they can kick until they get out on the field.’ Right?”

Archer quickly made Charles a believer.

“You can’t script that a guy we never had on the radar to kick until Wednesday comes out and kicks a huge 48-yard field goal that gives us momentum going into half,” Charles said.

Looking ahead

Despite the loss, Pikeville (0-3) remains a favorite in Class A, since those losses have all come against top-10 teams in bigger classes (Class 4A’s Corbin and Johnson Central are the other two). Mikey Hager led the Panthers with 168 yard receiving and two touchdowns. Duty and Blake Caudill each scored rushing TDs.

Pikeville takes on Class A No. 4 Raceland on the road next week. The Panthers’ last two state titles have come at the expense of Raceland’s Rams.

Lexington Christian next hosts Class 3A No. 1 Christian Academy-Louisville on Sept. 13. The Centurions will be looking to avenge its 14-12 home loss to LCA last season, the only blemish on its 14-1 state championship run.

“They’re a complete team,” Charles said. “We’ve just got to go play, and we’ll see what we’ve got when we roll out Friday night.”

Friday’s other Lexington games

Manual 35, Frederick Douglass 28 (OT): Aveion Chenault had three touchdown catches as the Broncos seesawed from up 14-0 early to down 28-14 in the second half to force overtime despite being outgained 313 yards to 168.

Bowling Green 38, Bryan Station 22: Kalen “Jaws” Washington broke away for a 79-yard TD catch on a screen pass from James Davis to cut the Defenders’ deficit to 17-14 in the third quarter, but the Purples pulled away late to avenge last season’s eCampus.com Bowl loss.

North Oldham 54, Tates Creek 12: The host Mustangs racked up 538 yards of offense against the Commodores on the teal turf.

Other scores: Corbin 56, Lexington Catholic 22; Great Crossing 48, Henry Clay 0; Connor 38, Lafayette 0; Collins 35, Paul Laurence Dunbar 0.

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