By Brady Extin | The Times-Post
LINTON — The Linton-Stockton Miners put the brakes on the Lapel postseason run on Friday night at Linton-Stockton High School.
The No. 1 team in class 2A defeated the Bulldogs 60-24 to eliminate them in the IHSAA regional 19 championship.
What looked to be shaping up as a close game after one quarter, changed quickly when the Miners converted on 4th and 4 on the final play of the quarter.
Already up 13-6, they went on to cap off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to increase their lead, and never looked back from there.
On the Bulldogs’ next possession, quarterback Devin Craig was intercepted by Linton’s Paul Oliver, and one play later, Oliver caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hunter Gennicks.
Three first half touchdown runs by running back Tyler Dollar, including two late in the second quarter, kept the Bulldogs within reach, down just 34-18 at the half, but they were outscored 20-6 to close out the remainder of the game.
As they had all season long, the Bulldogs relied on Dollar, and he made the most of this last game as a Lapel Bulldog.
The lone offensive bright spot for Lapel, he rushed 36 times for 248 yards and four touchdowns.
The school’s all-time leading rusher capped off his record-setting Lapel career by rushing for 2,346 yards and 30 touchdowns on the season.
While he found success on the ground, playing from behind and turnovers made things difficult for other areas of the Lapel offense.
Outside of Dollar, the Bulldogs were held to just 151 yards of offense. Craig threw for 91 yards and two interceptions, and added 56 yards on the ground, while Rylie Hudson ran once for 4 yards.
Nick Witte caught four passes for 75 yards, and intercepted a pass on the opening Linton drive.
As a freshman, Craig threw for 1,560 yards and nine touchdowns, and showed off some ability running towards the end of the season, finishing with 123 yards and four touchdowns.
Witte led the Bulldogs in receiving, catching 74 passes for 908 yards and three scores.
While Dollar will be gone, Craig and Witte both return next season and will be the focal points of a Lapel offense that is optimistic heading into the off season.
