Lexington scores late to hold off visiting West Holmes, 19-13

LEXINGTON — Joe Caudill is a man of his word.

Lexington's junior quarterback vowed to find the end zone, and he did, scoring from 1 yard out with only 55.7 seconds to play Friday night to give the Minutemen a key 19-13 Ohio Cardinal Conference victory over visiting West Holmes.

Lexington made sure the homecoming dance would be a celebration by staying tied for first in the OCC with Ashland. Both are 3-0. The Minutemen won their fourth game in a row to improve to 4-3 after a slow start.

Caudill was a big reason why. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound signal-caller passed for two touchdowns to Seven Allen, as well as his late-game heroics.

"I said, 'I'm going to go get a touchdown for us. I'm going to win the game for us.' We deserve it," Caudill said after the game.

Minuteman coach Andrew Saris has learned to rely on the big guy.

"I'd love to change Joe on the roster to just say football player," he said. "I love him. He is quintessential to our team."

Lexington celebrated the victory, with the student section rushing the field to greet the players.

The Minutemen set up the win by gaining possession with a little more than four minutes to play. West Holmes gambled by going for it on fourth down at its own 42-yard line.

Brandon Reaves recovered a fumble by Knight quarterback Morgan Smith, who would have been short of the first down anyway, to set up the winning drive.

The Minutemen needed eight plays to punch it in for a 19-13 advantage.

West Holmes, which slipped to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference, could advance no farther than its own 34-yard line in a desperation effort.

"I thought our defense came out and played really well," Saris said. "They tackled well. We had a couple of big plays (we gave up) here and there, but for the most part, we rallied to the ball.

"They didn't feel comfortable all night because of that. I could sense it."

West Holmes coach Keaton Leppla also credited the Minutemen "D."

"We didn't execute very well on offense all night," he said. "Defensively, they had a great plan. Those kids played with relentless effort; they were flying all over the place.

"They controlled the line of scrimmage at times. Our run game gets us going, and we weren't able to get our run game going like we wanted to."

Lexington limited the Knights to 65 yards rushing.

The first half was a defensive struggle, with the Minutemen owning a 7-6 edge at the intermission. Following a botched punt early in the opening period, Lexington capitalized on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Caudill to the dynamic Allen to put the home team on the board.

With only 6.6 seconds left in the second quarter, West Holmes answered on a 2-yard pass from Morgan Smith to Lynn Cline to pull within 7-6 at the break.

On its opening possession of the third quarter, Lexington scored on a 52-yard bomb from Caudill to Allen to go ahead 13-6.

Allen, who has battled injuries this season, had only two catches but made them count.

"He's fast," Saris said. "He's got some get-up. Seven is another kid who's fun to watch when he's out there."

Early in the final period, the Knights answered on their best drive of the contest. Smith hit Logan Zollars with a dart near the goal line, with the senior receiver showing some nifty footwork to score from 24 yards out to knot the game at 13-13, but West Holmes never led.

Asked after the game how important the victory was, Saris replied, "Any win is big. This is a very difficult sport. You put everything out there. It's a physical battle; it's a mental battle."

The Lexington coach is not going to get caught looking too far ahead. The Minutemen square off with undefeated Ashland in the final week of the season, a game that could decide the conference.

"All I see is week to week," Saris said. "We're not at the point where we can look that far ahead."

Caudill passed for 159 yards, hitting 10 of 18 attempts. Brayden Fogle paced Lexington with five catches for 42 yards. Markale Martin had one of his best games of the season with 55 yards, averaging five yards an attempt.

"Lexington protected the quarterback really well. We're a blitzing team, and they did a really good job of keeping their kid upright," Leppla said. "Hats off to that quarterback. He's a tough son of a gun back there."

For West Holmes, Smith went 11-of-21 for 138 yards. Zollars caught five passes for 42 yards, while Brock Gallion and Cline each chipped with three catches for 50 and 46 yards, respectively.

The Knights are in possibly their toughest part of their schedule with Ashland looming next Friday.

"There's a lot of season left," Leppla said. "With this conference, it's so even across the board that you don't know what's going to happen week to week."

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

X: @MarkCau32059251

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington scores late to hold off visiting West Holmes, 19-13