Richwood’s season ends

Hillbillies hold off Lumberjacks for 27-20 win in Class A semifinal

By Jim Workman

MAN — Richwood’s quest for a perfect season ended Saturday night.

No. 2 Man held off a late surge from the Lumberjacks for a 27-20 Class A semifinal victory at George A. Queen Memorial Field.

No. 3 Richwood finished its season with a 12-1 record.

“It was a good season,” Richwood coach Jason Rogers said. “I just wish that we could have gone one more game. Somebody had to lose. It’s too bad that it was us.

“Hopefully we can build on this and be back next year.”

Man (12-1) will face No. 1 Madonna (13-0) at the Super Six Football Championships for the Class A state title at 7 p.m. next Saturday.

Richwood made a statement on its first offensive possession, driving 62 yards on just four plays. Junior quarterback Sam Tindal galloped in for a 7-yard touchdown and Dustin Brown booted the extra point to give the Lumberjacks an early lead.

The drive took only 53 seconds.

Man answered quickly as well, going 75 yards on four plays, capped by a 4-yard TD scamper by Andrew Hale. Derrick Earnest’s PAT kick tied it at 7-7 with 9:10 showing on the first-quarter clock.

A longer drive by the ’Jacks that took nearly five minutes stalled on their second possession. Brown’s 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Man’s Michael Lomax to deny Richwood a chance to take the lead again.

The Hillbillies used the momentum change to mount a scoring drive of their own. Brandon Plymale bulled over from 2 yards out, with Earnest’s kick making it 14-7 Man with 2:15 left in the opening quarter.

The Lumberjacks closed the gap with a 31-yard TD pass from Tindal to Seth Poston with 3:08 left until halftime. The PAT kick failed, however, so Man held a 14-13 advantage at intermission.

Hale broke free for a 24-yard scoring run in the third quarter to raise the Hillbillies’ lead to 21-13 heading into the final quarter.

Ryan Crum scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak to increase the ’Billies’ lead to 27-13 with 11:22 remaining.

But the resilient Lumberjacks didn’t throw in the towel.

Tindal stepped up in a big way on the next possession, a 14-play, 64-yard drive that was kept alive by two huge fourth-and-long conversions.

Tindal ran for 12 yards on fourth-and-11 and passed to Brown for 21 yards on fourth-and-8 to keep the drive — and the dream — alive.

Tindal scored on a 7-yard run with 6:20 left to trim the Man lead to 27-20.

Man ate four minutes off the clock before turning the ball over on downs.

Richwood took over on its own 26 with 1:52 left, but an interception on the first play ended the drive, and essentially the season.

Tindal finished with 117 yards rushing and 168 passing. He went over 2,000 yards rushing for the season.

Brown was held to 28 yards on the ground but caught eight passes for 109 yards.

Hale gained 105 yards to lead Man. Crum added 96 yards and Lomax had 72 for the Hillbillies, who had 297 yards rushing.

— E-mail:

jworkman@register-herald.com

Man 27, Richwood 20

R 7 6 0 7 — 20

M 14 0 7 6 — 27

First quarter

R: Sam Tindal 7 run (Dustin Brown kick) 10:58

M: Andrew Hale 4 run (Derrick Earnest kick) 9:10

M: Brandon Plymale 2 run (Earnest kick) 2:15

Second quarter

R: Seth Poston 31 pass from Tindal (kick failed) 3:08

Third quarter

M: Hale 24 run (Earnest kick) 8:07

Fourth quarter

M: Ryan Crum 1 run (kick blocked) 11:22

R: Tindal 7 run (Brown kick) 6:20