NEW LEXINGTON - Jim Rockwell Stadium got a renovation over the summer for opening night in New Lexington.
“The Rock” didn’t disappoint with a battle deep into the fourth quarter.
Maysville’s defense came through with big plays, burying a last-minute
drive by New Lexington to earn a 9-7 win on Friday night.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game down here,” said Maysville
head coach Craig Clarke. “These New Lex kids always play hard. It was a
hard fought game. We gave up some big plays, but our defense didn’t
break.”
Maysville’s bend but don’t break mentality kept it from giving up big plays to Clapper’s New Lex offense.
The first quarter had both teams punting the ball and playing field position.
New Lex needed to move the ball on the next drive. Clapper found Dimitri
Williams wide open down the sidelines. A holding penalty took back a
74-yard touchdown. Clapper completed the pass for 45 yards despite the
penalty.
Clapper
pushed the New Lex offense into the Maysville red zone with six straight
keepers to the Maysville 10. On second down after a three-yard loss,
Clapper extended a pass play and
hit Jared Wycinski open in the corner of the end zone. Wycinski hit the
extra point, giving New Lex the lead 7-6 at 6:54 left until halftime.
“Bradley (Clapper) is the guy we want to have the ball in big moments of the game,” said New Lex head coach David Rupe.
New Lex battled,
keeping Maysville out of the end zone on three attempts from the
4-yardline. Timeouts were used by both teams on fourth down, and New Lex
stuffed Maysville’s fake field goal attempt by Maysville, but a pass
interference call on New Lex gave Maysville a chance.
New Lex and Maysville scrapped it out for 24 solid minutes in the
second half. Both teams swapped opportunities in the red zone in the
third quarter, but turned it over on downs.
Maysville drained the clock for nearly seven minutes in the fourth
quarter, but a holding cost Maysville an established drive with
5:09 left. Maysville punted the ball back to New Lex.
New Lex needed a big play from its biggest threat on the field. Clapper hit
Aaron Foreman for a 10-yard gain to the 27-yard line after an Alice
punt. Clapper ran for another 11 and hit Wycinski for another first
down, putting the ball at the Maysville 38.
Rupe dialed up a screen play to get the Maysville big linemen in over
pursuit, and Clapper found Foreman to put New Lex into good field
position with 1:51 left.
Clapper hit Williams on an out route.
New Lex’s defense gave up 174 yards on the ground and 56 yard through
the air. New Lex didn’t give up any points in the second half as well.
Clapper finished 7 of 16 with 120 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 61 yards on 22 rushes.
“Our kids gave a great effort. I am proud of our kids,” said Rupe.
“That’s two weeks in a row we’ve come down to the wire. It’s a tough
pill to swallow. Our team has improved from last week.”