What We Saw: Lexington 22, Chapin 14

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LEXINGTON |</strong> Senior leadership matters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lexington has it in bunches from quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='208887' first='Taiden' last='Mines']</strong> to linebackers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='997334' first='Montrell' last='Byrd']</strong> (pictured) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448988' first='Christian' last='Sexton']</strong> on this year's roster. It was especially needed on the team opening Region IV-5A play coming off a bye week following the first loss of the season to Gilbert.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday, all three seniors more than led by example in contributing to the 22-14 victory over Chapin. The win ended the five-game winning streak by the Eagles (5-2, 0-1), while giving the Wildcats (5-1, 1-0) a share of first place in the region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mines accounted for more 190 total yards of offense and helped set up two touchdown runs by <strong>Cam Morris</strong>. One of the scoring drives included a play where Mines rolled out of the pocket and fired a pass downfield caught by junior wide receiver<strong> Zareth Owens </strong>for 43 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The main thing was just trying to keep my line and keep everybody else up around me,” Mines said. “After Gilbert, I realized one person can't do it. It takes a whole team.” &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Byrd and Sexton were also integral parts of a Wildcat defense which held Chapin to negative rushing yards and intercepted quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272715' first='Brady' last='Albro']</strong> twice. It marked the junior's first game this season with a turnover and without a touchdown pass.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albro's second interception occurred late in the fourth quarter after a blitzing Sexton hit him as he released the football and Byrd made the diving catch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“He's a good escape artist, but our linebackers are fast,” said Sexton, who also saw time at wide receiver. “That's one thing I bet teams that the first thing they notice about us is our box is fast. So we got to him. Nevertheless, he is good at getting out and throwing it, but we got to him.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A quarter earlier, Byrd recovered a fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown. He finished with 5 ½ tackles and a sack. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“He's our best pass rusher,” Lexington head coach Dustin Curtis said. “He's starting to keel off on running backs a little bit quicker. He's seeing things better. He's in a really natural position for him and I think Coach Lutz has done a really good job of putting him and Christian especially in positions to be successful.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“(The coaches will) probably tell you those guys are easy to coach. But they are also dialing up plays that put those guys in a position to be the guy. They're doing really well. Montrell was dynamite tonight. Really proud of his effort.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other senior contributors in defense were linebacker <strong>Daniel Bryant</strong>, who also had five ½ tackles, cornerback <strong>Jacob Gephart</strong>, who had three tackles and three pass breakups, and safety <strong>Duke Cleary</strong> who intercepted a potential game-tying touchdown pass in the endzone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='836316' first='Matthew' last='McAulay']</strong> finished with five tackles for a defense, Curtis said, once again bailed out Lexington. He was frustrated by his offense's inability to finish drives which enabled Chapin to remain within striking distance despite being outgained by three times as many yards in the first half as the Wildcats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albro kept the Eagles in the game. He accounted for 151 of their 180 passing yards, the other 29 coming on a trick pass by wide receiver Weldon Gunter that set up an Albro touchdown run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albro also completed 7-9 passes on a 13-play, 72-yard scoring drive in the third quarter ended by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360035' first='Tanner' last='Short']</strong> with a two-yard touchdown run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nevertheless, the Eagles' inability to put together more big plays for the second straight week clearly vexed Chapin head coach Justin Gentry. It also wasted what he saw as a strong effort by his defense, led by linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360369' first='Gavin' last='Stam']</strong> with nine tackles and a fumble recovery.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We didn't play well enough to win the ballgame,” he said. “Our defense fought hard all night. Our defense played well enough to win the ballgame. Our offense didn't show up tonight.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->