South Rowan loses at Lexington, 27-12
Published 11:36 pm Friday, October 20, 2017
By Bruce Wehrle
Dispatch Correspondent
LEXINGTON — In a season that has had its high notes and low notes, Lexington’s football team seemingly found its rhythm with an important 27- 12 Central Carolina Conference victory over South Rowan for Homecoming on Friday night.
The win improves the Yellow Jackets to 3-3 in the league, 4-4 overall and keeps the team in good stead as the playoffs approach.
“We did some good things at times, and other times, not so good,” said Lexington coach Chuck Henderson. “But we got into a rhythm on both offense and defense.
“When we were up, it’s tough to have that killer instinct. And that’s something we’ve got to get. It could have gotten a whole lot closer there at the end. We certainly have to eliminate our mistakes.”
The Jackets jumped out to a 7-0 lead almost from the get-go when, after forcing the Raiders to a three-and-out on their first possession, Lexington’s Jared Leverette blocked a punt at South’s 21. Two plays later, Jackets running back Jayron Roberts rolled in from 16 yards out for the early lead.
Then, after forcing the Raiders to punt on their next possession, Lexington marched 70 yards, capped by quarterback Saafir Craven’s nifty 54-yard TD pass to Myles Crosby working on a slant through the middle and then outrunning the secondary for the score. Just like that, the Jackets were up, 14-0.
The Raiders cut the lead in the second period when quarterback Brett Amburn found Cameron Hurd for an 18-yard touchdown pass.
Lexington answered on its next possession, capping a 56-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run and a 21-6 lead.
Then the Jackets opened the second half with a convincing statement right away. Nasheed Peoples brought the kickoff to midfield, and from there, Craven methodically marched the team down the field, capped by a 1-yard TD toss to Peoples for a 27-6 lead.
Although the Jackets looked to have a commanding lead, South raised a little doubt when midway through the fourth period, Amburn connected with a wide-open Garrett Harrington for a 40-yard TD pass when Harrington found himself uncovered after a reverse. That made it 27-12 with 4:18 to go.
But Lexington recovered the ensuing onside kick and managed to hold off the Raiders the rest of the way.
The biggest concern of the night for Lexington was its penalty situation. The Jackets racked up 140 yards on 14 penalties, with several of them coming late in the game.
The Jackets rushed for 219 yards in the game, with Craven gaining 90 on 10 carries.
