Lexington Christian overcomes 19-point deficit at Danville to win football district title
It didn’t come easy, but Lexington Christian was able to secure its first district title as a Class 2A program with a 42-40 come-from-behind victory at Danville on Friday night.
LCA snapped a five-game losing streak to Danville and became the first school to score more than 30 points against the Admirals this season. The Eagles,who defeated Middlesboro and Somerset the previous two weeks to set up a winner-take-all battle for the Class 2A 7th District crown in Boyle County, improved to 9-0 for the first time in school history.
Those milestones appeared unreachable in the early going. Danville jumped out to a 26-7 lead in second quarter. Jaleel Warren provided an interception and subsequent touchdown reception that allowed the Admirals to conjure their largest lead with 9:26 remaining in the first half.
Lexington Christian scored 29 unanswered points after Warren’s efforts to take a 36-26 lead with 4:55 remaining in the game. Junior running back Dillon Wheatley did the bulk of the damage, finishing the game with 249 yards.
“We just knew that we had to win and knew that we couldn’t give up,” said Wheatley, who scored LCA’s final four touchdowns.
Danville didn’t score again until the 4:10 mark of the fourth quarter to pull within 36-33. Wheatley’s last run went for a 27-yard score on 3rd-and-1 as LCA attempted to milk clock with 1:52 to play. Danville added another TD with 14 seconds left but could not recover an onside kick.
The Eagles outgained Danville 501-390 in total yardage but ended with a 244-80 advantage on the ground. The Admirals averaged 141 rushing yards coming into Friday.
Logan Nieves, one of two quarterbacks who splits game reps for LCA, did not play in the second half after he suffered a hand injury. Coach Ethan Atchley said Nieves was going to be diagnosed later but doesn’t think it’ll affect the team long-term.
Brayden Miller, LCA’s other quarterback, finished 10-for-19 for 174 yards and a TD with one interception. Ryan Stucky and Drayden Burton each eclipsed 100 receiving yards for the Eagles.
Friday’s outcome means Lexington Christian will likely have home-field advantage all the way through the state semifinals, should it make it that far. The only wrench in that would be if Danville – which will be favored to meet LCA in the third-round regional – were to lose to the No. 1 seed from the opposing district in a prior round. In that scenario, LCA would travel to that team’s field for the third round.
What lies ahead matters greatly, but what transpired Friday was worth celebrating for a program that’s getting its first taste of big-time success in a while. LCA hadn’t won a district title since 2010, its last season in Class A.
“That was the biggest win of my life,” Burton said. “The biggest win for our team. It feels like a big monkey off our backs, y’know?”
The Eagles host Powell County next week. A win would allow them to match the second-longest win streak in program history, a 10-game stretch in 2009 that ended with their only football championship. LCA won 11 straight games during the 2005 season.
Josh Moore: 859-231-1307, @HLpreps
Lexington Christian 42, Danville 40
Lexington Christian | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | — | 42 |
Danville | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | — | 40 |
D—Don Harris 8 run (kick failed); LC—Logan Nieves 4 run (Will Fugmann kick); D—David Walker 14 pass from Zack Dampier (Tres Walker kick); D—Harris 54 run (T. Walker kick); D—Jaleel Warren 40 pass from Dampier (kick failed); LC—Drayden Burton 34 pass from Brayden Miller (Fugmann kick); LC—Dillon Wheatley 2 run (Fugmann kick); LC—Wheatley 1 run (Wheatley run); LC—Wheatley 1 run (Fugmann kick); D—Walker 49 pass from Dampier (T. Walker kick); LC—Wheatley 27 run (kick failed); D—Walker 2 pass from Dampier (T. Walker kick).
Records: Lexington Christian 9-0, Danville 7-2.
This story was originally published October 22, 2016 at 1:57 AM with the headline "Lexington Christian overcomes 19-point deficit at Danville to win football district title."