Published: November 21, 2009 12:39 am      

LCA ends solid Raceland run

Eagles compile 598 yards of offense in 62-12 rout

LEXINGTON — Different night, same result.

Actually, it was worse than before. For the second time in 34 days, Lexington Christian Academy overwhelmed visiting Raceland. Friday’s win: a 62-12 wipeout for the Class A Region 3 championship.

The Eagles (12-1) host Hazard in the semifinals next week. Raceland finishes at 8-5 and went a lot farther in the postseason than many thought.

“Our kids had a great season,” Raceland coach Randy Vanderhoof said. “Nobody expected us to be in the regional finals after we lost those great kids last year. Our kids hung in there, worked hard every single day.”

Here’s how strong LCA was: the Eagles gained 598 total yards and held Raceland to 278. Vanderhoof was impressed.

“Lexington Christian Academy’s got a great football team, they’ve got a great coaching staff. They’re a hot football team,” Vanderhoof said. “They’ve got a chance to win this whole thing.”

LCA overpowered the Rams, 40-0, on Oct. 16. Last night, the Eagles almost topped that after one quarter — LCA led 34-0 after 12 minutes and 48-0 at halftime.

The Eagles did a lot of everything: senior Lucas Witt threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another; senior Dominic Hayden ran eight times for 162 yards and two TDs; and sophomore Clay Mossbarger returned a Tyler Farley interception 43 yards for another score.

Vanderhoof said the best way to contain Hayden was to “tackle him.” The first play, Raceland didn’t — Hayden ran 59 yards untouched up the middle just 11 seconds into the game.

“We’ve been telling our kids all week you’ve got to come out in the first play and hit them in the mouth and play like this is the state championship game,” LCA coach Paul Rains said.

It grew uglier for Raceland in a hurry: Witt hit junior Max Barjuca for a 7-yard TD; Witt ran from 39 yards away; Witt-to-Brandon Burdette for 25 yards and to Burdette again for another 60.

You could sum up the Rams first quarter offense in two words: not much. The Rams gained just 24 yards.

After Mossbarger’s interception, Hayden’s 62-yard TD run made it 48-0 at halftime. Sophomore Christian Fielden scored from 11 yards out midway through the third quarter.

Raceland finally scored three seconds into the fourth quarter when junior Ralph Burchett scored from a yard out.

LCA’s Adam Hilton later ran 38 yards for a score, and the Rams’ Michael Litteral’s 5-yard run with 3:19 left ended the scoring.

Sophomore Marcus Reed led Raceland with 66 rushing yards on just four carries.