LAPEL — Lapel checked off one successful battle with an “Eastern” on its schedule and is looking ahead to another.
The Bulldogs finished regular season play on Friday with a 28-20 victory on Senior Night against Eastern Hancock (Charlottesville), which came into the contest with only one loss on the season.
To open play in the Class 2A Sectional 36 on Friday, Oct. 25, the Bulldogs (6-3) will travel to undefeated Eastern (Greentown).
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“We talk about it all the time that everybody is going into (the tournament) 0-0,” Lapel head coach Tim Miller said. “Having momentum going into the tournament — and we’ve won the last couple years in Week 9 — I think it’s pretty big.
“The goal is to always peak at the end of October and in to November. Hopefully, we’re having another year of that.”
Lapel has won the sectional two straight years and has been in the sectional championship game three straight seasons.
In Friday’s win against Eastern Hancock, the Bulldogs took advantage of turnovers to jump out to a 21-0 lead.
“For whatever reason, we’re momentum-based,” Miller said. “When you let our offense get momentum, we tend to score in flashes pretty quickly. You saw the opposite of that in the second half when we couldn’t get it going; we struggled. We’re hot, cold, hot, cold.
In the first half, with the game still scoreless, the Royals reached the Lapel 3, when quarterback Houston Swan was picked off by Lapel’s Brock Harper. The Bulldogs turned that into a scoring drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Cole Alexander to Noah Frazier.
Three plays later, the Bulldogs had an interception by Tanner Mroz at the Lapel 42. Alexander finished off the Bulldog drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Plough to give Lapel a 14-0 lead.
“Our kids played well against a spread team. Our kids see that every day in practice. They’re not wowed by somebody that can throw well, because Eastern Hancock has a pretty accurate quarterback and they have some good receivers and well-coached concepts.”
With just 53 seconds left until halftime, Alexander, who was making a return after missing last week’s game due to injury, connected with Mroz on a 9-yard touchdown pass.
In the second half, the Bulldogs also took some of the wind out of the Royals’ sails when they converted a fourth-and-13 play on their own 17. Mroz, the Bulldog punter, took off for a 22-yard gain. It turned into the final Bulldog scoring drive. Alexander finished it off with a 1-yard run with 10:04 remaining in the contest. It stretched Lapel’s lead to 28-6.
“Our kids were coached this week that if they got the look to allow it they could call it,” Miller said. “They got the look and I had no idea it was going, but they got the look, called it and ran it. Good job for them.”
Alexander was part of all four scoring plays, throwing three touchdowns and running for the other. He finished the game 15-of-27 for 188 yards and one interception. He rushed the ball nine times for 69 yards.
“We never have any questions about Cole,” Miller said on getting Alexander back after a week off. “He’s absolutely phenomenal, leadership, work ethic. I wouldn’t trade the kid for anything.”
Josiah Scott led the rushing attack with 14 carries for 75 yards. Prough had a team-high 87 receiving yards on four catches. Mroz had five catches for 34 yards.
Defensively, Parker Allman had three sacks, and Jarod Roundtree had two.
If the Bulldogs win at Eastern, they will advance to a semifinal game on Nov. 2 against the winner of the Alexandria (5-4) vs. Elwood (0-9) game.
