LAPEL — Lapel coach Tim Miller knew his Bulldog football team had a tall order ahead in its season opener Friday, Aug. 18, when it played host to Class 4A No. 10 Mississinewa. Although the final outcome was not what the team was hoping for, the Bulldogs stood toe to toe with Mississinewa before coming up just short.
Mississinewa scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 98-yard interception return, to overcome a Lapel lead after three periods to hand the Bulldogs a 42-27 loss in the season opener for both teams.
“Effort-wise, our kids gave it everything they had and played hard,” Miller said. “It’s one of those games that came down to two or three plays that we wish we had back.”
Lapel found itself down 18-7 at the end of the first quarter, but senior quarterback Levi Frazier found senior receiver Preston Scott for a pair of touchdowns — a 24-yarder and a 47-yard pass play, the latter coming in the closing seconds of the first half — to give the Bulldogs a 20-18 halftime advantage.
Frazier was 16-34 for 272 yards and three touchdowns on the night, drawing praise from his coach for his performance, notwithstanding the late interception.
“Levi played a phenomenal game, save one throw,” Miller said. “Other than that, he played an awesome game. He took what they gave him and made good decisions.”
He spread the ball around to his receivers as well. Frazier connected with junior Connor Gill six times for 81 yards, including a third-quarter touchdown of 34 yards to give Lapel a 27-16 lead. Senior Caleb Bloom had three catches for 31 yards, sophomore Charlie Prough added four receptions for 59 yards, and Scott had the two TD catches.
“Pretty much everyone in the skill positions got their touches, so we were pretty balanced,” Miller said.
The Bulldogs were able to run the ball early, but their opponents’ size slowed seniors Josiah Hudson (13 rushes, 51 yards) and Dawson Phillips (13 rushes, 41 yards) as the game wore on.
“Our running game faltered a little bit, which is something we’ll need to work on,” Miller said. “But I think (Mississinewa’s) size had a lot to do with that.”
The Bulldogs turn their attention to rival Frankton for this week’s contest. The Eagles ran up an 87-0 win against Anderson Preparatory Academy last week, which got the attention of Miller heading into their Week 2 matchup.
“Clearly, anyone that scores 87 points, we have our work cut out for us,” he said. “We’ll see if our defensive coaches can put together a plan to keep them under that.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at Lapel.