FRANKTON — Patience was the theme of the night for the Lapel Bulldogs.
After grabbing an early lead behind two first-quarter touchdowns, the finishing touches wouldn’t materialize until the fourth as Lapel stayed the course to defeat rival Frankton 26-7 on Friday night.
“For it being the second game of the year, it’s nice to see character, and how the kids responded after coming out from halftime,” Lapel coach Nate Andrews said after his team beat the Eagles for a fourth time in five years.
“I told them, ‘Just hang in there. We didn’t play very well. We’re going to start making plays.’ And that’s exactly what happened. I’m proud of them.”
The Class A Bulldogs jumped out quick, scoring on two of their first three possessions. Senior running back Josh Owen punched through first, breaking free for a 12-yard run to cap an 11-play drive spanning 3:59.
A pitch-and-catch strike from Lapel quarterback Ryan Scott to Brandon Freeland for 12 yards on second down after a 41-yard kick-off return by Evan Roberts put the Bulldogs up 13-0.
But then the offense stalled as Frankton’s defense rose to the challenge, keeping the game in reach.
“I was proud of them. They kept playing hard, and the defense played well,” Frankton coach Otis Cress said after his team dropped to 0-2. “We held them. Against our defense they didn’t get any easy touchdowns.”
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs struggled to maintain possession as Class 1A Frankton forced a fumble recovered by Elliot Taylor and Bobby King snatched an interception.
Lapel answered back with two fumble recoveries by Kaleb Reed and Logan Ingle as the team exchanged possession on four consecutive series.
Frankton finally broke the trend with an 83-yard scoring drive as quarterback Tyler McKeon hit Ian Imel for a 28-yard score with 45 seconds left in the first half.
McKeon passed for 68 yards and rushed for 43 behind an injured offensive line, which has lost three starters in two weeks. Two starters were injured against Lapel.
“We were ahead by a couple of scores, but it wasn’t comfortable at all,” Andrews said.
In the third, Frankton’s defense stepped up again, spoiling a scoring chance for Lapel, which powered to the Eagles’ 7 yard line before a Brandon Wood fumble recovery halted the Bulldogs again.
“That would have sealed it, I think,” Freeland said. “That was huge.”
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs’ offense ended the silence.
Scott found Freeland for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 10:01 remaining in the final frame and three minutes later, Sam Foust broke the game open.
Intercepting McKeon on fourth-and-6 as Frankton stood 19 yards from Lapel’s end zone, Foust grabbed an errant throw and sprinted 81 yards for the decisive score.
Scott passed for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
“We try to stay positive at all times,” Andrews said. “We’re going to go through ups and downs and have some setbacks. We try to stay even keel and try to look for the positives. That kind of put it out of reach.”
Execution in the backfield played a role as well.
Lapel (2-0) rushed for 173 yards on 39 carries with Shelby Weeks leading the Bulldogs’ three-headed attack with 88 yards on 17 carries.
Owen finished with 43 yards on 11 carries and Freeland added 34 yards along with 64 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
“We just kept trying to pound it. Get four yards at a time and run the clock,” said Freeland, who also had an interception. “There’s three rotations we have. We have three awesome backs back there.”
They now also have bragging rights.
“It’s my senior year. That’s all there is in the regular season until we get to the playoffs,” Freeland said. “That’s all there is right now (beating Frankton).”
Lapel 26, Frankton 7
Lapel 13 0 0 13 - 26
Frankton 0 7 0 0 - 0
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
L — J. Owen 12 yd run (C. Guion kick)
L — B. Freeland 12 yd pass from R. Scott (kick failed)
2nd Quarter
F — I. Imel 28 yd pass from T. McKeon (T. McKeon kick)
4th Quarter
L — B. Freeland 2 yd pass from R. Scott (2pt failed)
L — S. Foust 80 yd INT return (C. Guion kick)
Team Stats
Lapel Frankton
First Downs 17 10
Rushes-Yards 39-173 33-103
Passing Yards 85 82
Comp.-Att.-Int 7-18-2 6-16-2
Total Net Yards 258 185
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-2
Punts-Avg. 1-39.0 4-29.5
Penalties-Yards 12-95 7-53
Individual Stats
Passing (C-A-Yds-TD-INT) — L: Ryan Scott 7-18-85-2-2. F: Tyler McKeon 5-14-68-1-2, Tyler Long 1-2-14-0-0.
Rushing (C-Yds-TD) — L: Shelby Weeks 17-88-0, Brandon Freeland 8-34-0, Hayden Heeb 1-3-0, Ryan Scott 2-5-0, Josh Owen 11-43-1. F: Tyler McKeon 15-43-0, Trevor Cress 7-22-0, Tyler Long 6-24-0, Ian Imel 5-14-0.
Receiving (C-Yds-TDS) — L: Brandon Freeland 5-64-1, Micah Walls 1-16-0, Josh Owen 1-5. F: Bobby King 2-28-0, Trevor Cress 1-9-0, Ian Imel 1-28-1, Brandon Wood 2-17-0.
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