LAPEL, Ind. —
Lapel football coach Nate Andrews had enough on his mind, as three of his key players were lost to suspensions before Friday night’s game against Cardinal Ritter. What made matters worse for Andrews was that he would lose three more to injuries during the Bulldogs’ 48-20 blowout loss to the Raiders.
The Bulldogs had a chance to play the No. 3-rated team in Class 2A on their home field. This was going to be their chance to knock off a football powerhouse in front of a big crowd and with Fox 59 on hand.
Unfortunately for Lapel, it suffered the suspension of arguably the best player on its team, Chandler Guion. The Bulldogs also had to play without juniors Clayton Savage and Jeff Lovetinsky for a violation of school rules.
Complicating matters was the fact that Andrews and his team lost Jordan Maxey, Hayden Heeb and Logan Alberts to injuries during the game.
Lapel had no answer for the Raiders, falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter. Kyle Nardi put the Bulldogs on the board with 7:33 left before the half on a 15-yard scamper.
Cardinal Ritter tacked on two more scores prior to the half and found themselves with a comfortable 35-6 lead heading into halftime.
The Bulldogs were in a position where they could’ve hung it up and quit, but that would not be acceptable to Andrews and his coaching staff. He has routinely complimented their ability to hang tough in adverse situations.
“That’s what we try to do — talk about all the time,” Andrews said of not quitting. “Never give up, and hold your heads high no matter what. This group does that. This group, I really like. It’s a good group.”
They proved their meddle by outscoring their opponent 14-13 in the second half. Quarterback Zack Farley took an end around down the right sideline 77 yards for a score to make it 48-13.
With 2:40 left in the game, Tyler Lovetinsky ran in another score down the right side for the final score of the night for either team.
Andrews said despite the bad luck this week he feels he has a group that cares about each other. He said that is the mark of a good team.
“Even though we’ve had some bad circumstances this week, they’ve hung in there,” said Andrews. “They care about each other, that’s the thing about it. No matter what, they care about each other, and that’s a positive thing. That’s what good teams are all about.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Lapel's Logan Alberts gets the handoff from quarterback Zack Farley as the front line tries to make a hole for Alberts to run through. John P. Cleary
Discussion
Ritter rolls past Bulldogs
- Local Sports
-
-
Tribe triumphs
The Anderson Lady Tribe brought their best defense in Friday night’s semifinal battle against New Castle and rolled to a 56-31 victory to advance to the final of Class 4A Sectional 9 against Pendleton Heights.
-
Wertz rallies Arabians to final
Pendleton Heights junior guard Tiffany Wertz sparked a fourth-quarter rally in girls sectional basketball play Friday and lifted the Arabians into tonight’s title game. PH scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and erased a six-point deficit with five minutes to play in a 63-51 win over Richmond.
-
Broncos advance to finals
Daleville’s girls basketball team pounded Wes-Del for a third time this season, defeating the Warriors 39-11 to earn a berth in the sectional championship tonight against Southern Wells.
-
Winchester's final run fells Frankton
Girls basketball season came to an end Friday for the Frankton Eagles, but it didn’t end quietly. Frankton fell to the Winchester Golden Falcons 60-51 in the Class 2A Sectional 40 semifinals at Shenandoah High School.
-
Elwood better but can't best Tipton
While the final score of 80-46 may not indicate it, there were some improvements for the Elwood girls basketball team in its rematch against the Tipton Blue Devils on Friday night in the semifinals of the Class 2A Sectional 39 at Madison-Grant.
-
Argylls' season runs out of gas in semis
It would not be too hard to pinpoint exactly when things went wrong for the Madison-Grant girls basketball team Friday night in its sectional semifinal game against Eastern. However, identifying the cause of the team’s struggles would be more difficult. The Argylls’ hung tough for three quarters of the game, but fell apart in the fourth with a perfect storm of problems, resulting to a 56-38 loss to end their season.
-
Indians advance to finals
Photos from the sectional semifinal at Greenfield-Central on Friday.
-
Arabians come from behind to beat Red Devils
Photos from the sectional semifinal at Greenfield-Central on Friday.
-
Bearcats upend AHS
Often basketball is a simple game, and it was certainly true for the Anderson boys basketball team here Thursday night. “We had too many turnovers — that’s the game,” said AHS coach Joe Nadaline after the Indians lost to Muncie Central 54-46 for their eighth straight defeat.
-
Bulldogs topple Raiders, win 9th in a row
The Bulldogs keep on rolling. Lapel (16-3) led from start to finish as it beat visiting Shenandoah 69-47 Thursday night to push its winning streak to nine games.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
