Lamar's defense key to 40-6 win over Estill

Estill put up more of a fight than the final score would indicate, but the Lamar Silver Foxes (10-1) still rolled through the first round of the playoffs at home Friday night, winning 40-6 to set up a second round home contest versus Allendale-Fairfax. Allendale-Fairfax overwhelmed Baptist Hill (50-6) and will now face Lamar at 7:30 p.m. this Friday night in Lamar.

The winner of the Lamar game will face the winner of the Carver’s Bay at Hemingway matchup. Lamar has faced both teams in the playoffs in recent years with Carver’s Bay handing Lamar some heartbreaking defeats.

Early on Estill proved difficult to get underfoot. In fact, Lamar’s high-octane offense sputtered a bit in the first quarter as Silver Fox quarterback Trevor Norris (11 of 18, 264 yards, 2 TDs) tried to find open targets. Estill’s rushing game also proved more formidable than one might expect, as they actually outgained Lamar in rushing, 99 to 98 yards. The momentum grab really came from Lamar’s defense.

After a promising start to the drive, Estill fumbled away a handoff exchange on their first series, the first of seven turnovers.
Perhaps the biggest feat of the early going was Norris getting sacked at the Lamar one-yard line instead of in the end zone. Lamar would convert a third-and-long from the 4-yard line, then would drive the ball all the way down the field. Matthew Mitchell (4 catches for 67 yards, 1 TD) would make a sprawling catch at the sideline at Estill 25-yard line on the drive. Jerrod Dargan (10 carries for 22 yards) would then snake his way to the 11-yard line.

After a Norris scramble, with 10:17 to go in the second quarter, Jerel Humbert (4 carries for 10 yards, 2 TDs) finally crossed the goal line to make it 6-0.

Dargan would then intercept an Estill pass at their 28-yard line. Soon, from the 3-yard line, it was again Humbert carrying tacklers into the end zone, powering it in to make it 12-0.

Following another Estill fumble, from a cozy pocket Norris would hurl a dagger to Mitchell on a slant route across the goal line with 4:28 to go in the second quarter, making it 18-0 as Estill’s hopes began to fade.

Then Lamar’s Eric Daney would intercept a pass near midfield and would appear to be tackled, only to emerge free to run down the sidelines to near the goal line. This time it was Norris himself who finished things off, pushing forward into the end zone with 3:34 to go in the second quarter, which was followed by a two-point conversion by Humbert (the only successful conversion by either team on the night).

In the second half nothing of consequence changed, as Norris hooked up with Daney (3 catches, 98 yards, 1 TD) on a 28-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the third quarter, and Mitchell later sprinted into the end zone from 20 yards out, as Lamar ran the clock down to a 40-6 victory.