What We Saw: Lexington 48, Aiken 18

Chris Dearing October 19, 2023 @ 11:00 PM

LEXINGTON | Lexington coach Dustin Curtis was looking for a few things when the Wildcats hosted winless Aiken in the next-to-last regular season contest.   Curtis was able to see a lot of good things but a sloppy second half from the backups left him with a lot to ponder as Lexington prepares to face Dutch Fork in the season finale next week. Second place in Region 4-5A and at least one home playoff game will be on the line.   “Offensively, we have to stop riding the backs of the defense all the time,” Curtis said. “We challenged our kids to play with more pride, more enthusiasm, and more effort. It was great to see some skill players we're going to need to make some plays.”   One thing that Curtis has done to help his offense is he's inserted a couple of playmakers off his talented defense into the backfield to give them a little more explosion on that side of the ball. [player_tooltip player_id='836316' first='Matthew' last='McAulay'] (pictured) and [player_tooltip player_id='448988' first='Christian' last='Sexton'] are providing the bulk of first-team reps at running back while continuing to start on defense.   McAulay brings a toughness to the position. He runs angry and is difficult to bring down in one-on-one situations. He finished with 114 yards and a touchdown on eight carries that included a 39-yard run in which he broke five tackles on the play.   Sexton only received one carry for 12 yards but the Wildcats (7-2, 2-1) used nine running backs in the lopsided victory. Sexton added a 16-yard interception return for a score to go along with five tackles and two tackles for loss.   Torrie Jones added 44 yards rushing and a touchdown and [player_tooltip player_id='208887' first='Taiden' last='Mines'] rushed for one as well.   “We needed more explosiveness, we needed more power,” Curtis said. "Matt runs so hard, like he's angry at the world. Christian adds a level speed. Matt does a really job breaking tackles and making us look better up front with our fits.”   Mines completed 8 of 16 passes for 118 yards with touchdown passes to [player_tooltip player_id='464895' first='Brandon' last='Cromer'] and Tyler DeRienzo. [player_tooltip player_id='800020' first='Tyler' last='Chavis'] also kicked 47- and 37-yard fields for the Wildcats.   One of the keys heading into the postseason will be the play of the offensive line. Bryce Mitchell, Victor Smith, Dominic Feraci, Seth Reynolds and Brennan Rawl have gotten better as the season has progressed but will need to be the catalyst moving forward.   The Wildcats are talented defensively with their linebacker group of McAulay, Sexton, [player_tooltip player_id='997334' first='Montrell' last='Byrd'] and Daniel Bryant are as good as any in the state. Two of the three Aiken touchdowns came on a fumble return and interception return for a score.   “We feel like if we can score between 14 and 24 points, we can be in any game,” Curtis said. "That's how good our defense is.”   AIKEN NOTABLES   [player_tooltip player_id='605528' first='Jameat' last='Williams'] had the highlight of the night with a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown. Williams did a little bit of everything for the Green Hornets, finishing with three tackles, 12 yards rushing, six yards receiving, and he handled all the punting and kick return duties.   Aiken is a young team with just 13 seniors on the roster. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1054957' first='Gray' last='Kitchings'] made his presence felt with a 30-yard fumble return for a touchdown. He finished with six tackles and was also a powerful blocker from his tight end role. Luke Jones connected with Cam'ron Frazier for a 19-yard TD for the other Aiken points.

LEXINGTON | Lexington coach Dustin Curtis was looking for a few things when the Wildcats hosted winless Aiken in the next-to-last regular season contest.