Silver Foxes win on wild night

By: Shawn Singleton/Morning News | SCNow
Published: November 10, 2007

And there wasn’t even a full moon outside.

Lamar’s second-round Class A playoff matchup against Hemingway on Friday night had everything from an inexplicable 15-minute delay to figure out a call by the officials to the sprinkler system at Donald R. Poole Stadium activating during a play.

Out of this madness, a hero emerged for Lamar. Keon Lucas rushed for two touchdowns and collected 16 tackles to lead the Silver Foxes to the Class A lower state championship game with a 29-12 win over Hemingway.

“He’s a relentless guy on both sides of the ball,” Lamar coach Charlie Poole said of Lucas’

performance. “He’s hard-nosed and relentless. The kind of player you want on your team.”

Lucas finished with 123 of the Silver Foxes’ 393 rushing yards. Terrell McClain followed with 110 yards on 11 carries. Tyler Boyd and Jonathan Dargan added 53 and 74 yards, respectively.

The passing game was nonexistent for Hemingway (9-3) and Lamar in the early going.

Boyd and Denzel Wedgeworth threw first-quarter interceptions to each other that stopped potential scoring drives.

With the air attack stalled, the Silver Foxes (10-2) went to the ground. Dargan’s 16-yard run set up a first-and-goal from the Tiger 10. One play later, Lucas blasted in untouched from a yard out to give Lamar a 7-0 lead at the 1:07 mark of the opening period.

After a short punt gave Lamar the ball on the Hemingway 27, it took the Silver Foxes just two plays to find the end zone again. Lucas cut through a crease on the left side and rumbled untouched for an 11-yard score.

Osbey McAllister’s PAT attempt was wide right, and the Silver Foxes led 13-0 with 9:07 left in the second quarter.

“It was a matter of survival,” Poole said. “We sputtered with our passing game early so we went to our running game and some holes opened up.

“After that, we decided if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.”

Lamar’s special teams got into the act near the end of the first half. Deondre Green charged through the line and blocked Wedgeworth’s punt out of the end zone for a safety and a 15-0 advantage with 1:25 remaining before halftime.

The Silver Foxes stayed with the running game on their opening possession of the second half, not attempting a pass. Lucas capped the eight-play, 3:04 drive with his third TD of the game, this time from 2 yards away. McAllister’s PAT gave Lamar a 22-0 lead at the 8:46 mark of the third quarter.

Lamar’s defense, led by Lucas, hounded Wedgeworth all night. The junior finished 6-of-19 passing for 130 yards and a TD. He was also picked off twice by Boyd.