Published: November 29, 2008 12:35 am            

LCA’S Comeback Dooms Raceland

Witt’s legs, arm lead late rally for Eagles

RACELAND — Raceland withstood Lexington Christian’s comeback in the regular season.

This time around was different.



The Rams were up 20-3 in the second half of their Class A quarterfinal against LCA on Friday night, but a feverish rally by the Eagles’ dangerous offense quickly turned into a 27-20 victory for LCA.

LCA junior quarterback Lucas Witt was the difference maker, throwing for 376 yards on 21-of-35 passing. He also led the Eagles with 47 yards on the ground.

“He’s the general on the field,” LCA coach Paul Rains said.

And he looked it, too.

Down three scores midway through the third quarter, Witt and LCA went into comeback mode — a dangerous place for the quick-striking Eagles to be. The result of that was three touchdowns and a field goal before the Rams knew what hit them.

Witt connected on a 34-yard pass to Ben Hartley at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter and a 74-yarder to Branden Burdette just a couple minutes later to cut the Rams’ lead to 20-17 before the start of the fourth quarter.

LCA kept the pressure on the Rams in the fourth quarter, slowing Raceland’s offense and striking for another long touchdown for the game-winner. Witt found Dalton Henzman on a 52-yard pass after rolling to his left to avoid Raceland’s pressure to snap a 20-20 tie.

The touchdown connection to Henzman was Witt’s third touchdown pass, coming with 1:43 left in the game.

“You have to give credit to LCA and their players and coaches,” Raceland coach Randy Vanderhoof said. “You know they’re going to keep fighting.”

Raceland had a chance of its own for a comeback after Henzman’s score. On fourth-and-9 from their own 49-yard line, Rams quarterback Tyler Boyles found junior Bobby McKee over the middle of the field, the pass going a little high and forcing McKee to go up to try to make the catch. LCA’s Tyler Townsend and Adam Hall converged for a big hit on McKee, though, knocking the ball loose and ending Raceland’s run at an unbeaten season and state championship.

The Rams finished 12-1.

“It was the first Raceland team to win 12 in a row and there’s no question it was the best Raceland team to wear the orange and black since 1926,” Vanderhoof said. “We felt like this was a state-championship caliber team and still feel that way. It’s just a shame they didn’t get a chance to end it on the carpet in Louisville.”

Raceland opened Friday’s game with a long, bruising drive that finally ended on a 4-yard John Scott Carver run. The drive lasted 7:25 and went for 75 yards on 13 plays.

The Rams held the Eagles in check for most of the first half, too, allowing just 161 total yards, a 37-yard field goal accounting for the only LCA points.

And then a sudden shift in momentum seemed to give Raceland the edge in the third quarter. Bret Denton ripped off a 67-yard touchdown run off the left side and the Rams got the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff when Townsend was stripped of the football. Raceland’s Todd Selvage picked up the loose ball and returned it to LCA’s 10-yard line.

On the Rams’ next play under center, Carver took a handoff over the right side for another touchdown to give Raceland a 20-3 lead.

Witt’s ability to avoid Raceland’s rush and make plays outside the pocket squashed Raceland momentum, though, and led to the LCA comeback. Many of Witt’s long completions came while on the run.

Witt connected with Joey Meehan eight times for 86 yards. Hartley and Burdette combined for seven receptions for 179 yards, good for a 26 yard per catch average.

“Lucas is a great player who runs well with the ball,” Vanderhoof said. “It’s one of the things we talked about. He’s always looking down field to make the play; that’s when he’s most dangerous. He’s a back-yard type player.”

The loss marked the second straight season the Rams have lost to LCA in the playoffs and the third straight time the two have met in the postseason. In the regular season, Raceland held on for a 37-35 win over LCA after another second-half rally got the Eagles back into that game.

“My hat’s off to LCA,” Vanderhoof said.

Denton led Raceland with 166 yards rushing on 22 carries. He was just one of a handful of seniors who played their last game at Raceland on Friday. Seniors had every carry and every catch against LCA.

“It was a great bunch and a great bunch of seniors,” Vanderhoof said. “They really believed they were the best Class A team in the state. It’s a tough life lesson.”

        

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