What We Saw: Gladden, Frye Lead Lexington To OT Win Over Chapin

Chris Dearing October 30, 2021 @ 12:05 AM

Lexington proved once again they know how to win the close ones. That’s vastly different from last year when the Wildcats could not catch a break and went winless in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. Keshawn Gladden scored from two yards out in overtime to give Lexington a 23-17 victory over Chapin and a first round home playoff game next week. The Wildcats (7-2, 3-1) finished second in Region 5-5A and will host Conway next Friday. Chapin (7-3, 2-2) must travel to face Carolina Forest. Chris Frye set up the winning score when he picked off a pass in the end zone on the first play of Chapin’s overtime possession. Frye added two tackles and a pass break up from his cornerback spot. Gladden capped off his 138-yard yard performance by gaining all 10 yards in the first overtime. He gained eight yards on the first carry then glided in from two yards out for the win. Gladden combined with Tyler Walker to power the running game to 269 yards on the ground. Walker added 77 yards on 17 carries. Chapin opened the scoring with a 70-yard double pass in which [player_tooltip player_id="139289" first="Jayden" last="Bradford"] threw a lateral to WR [player_tooltip player_id="59482" first="Zavier" last="Short"], who hit a streaking RB [player_tooltip player_id="89315" first="Bennett" last="Galloway"] for a 70-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. But the Lexington defense bottled up the Eagles for the rest of the night. Chapin gained 51 yards rushing on 25 attempts. The Wildcats also received a rushing TD from QB [player_tooltip player_id="208887" first="Taiden" last="Mines"] and a 26-yard passing touchdown to Jarrod Mewborn on a fourth down play in the second quarter. Other notables. - LB Grady Johnson and DE Hagin Whetstone did a little bit of everything for Lexington. Johnson was the leading tackler with 11 tackles and two tackles for loss. Whetstone added six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. - Mines was held to 16 yards rushing and 83 passing but his control of the offense was key. He threw one interception in the Red Zone, but he helped orchestrate a 15-play, 60-yard drive that took 7:52 off the third quarter clock. - Galloway finished with 40 yards rushing and one TD to go along with four catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. But he and Bradford were bottled up on the ground with the longest run being 21 yards. - Bradford was 17-of-24 for 147 yards and the costly pick in overtime. Short threw the long TD to Galloway to open the game and added seven catches for 59 yards. - Chapin was led on defense by CB Justin Powe with nine tackles and DE [player_tooltip player_id="204427" first="Max" last="Drag"] added seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. DT Kaiden Isidore added five tackles.