It was bantam night in Edinburgh, and although the Lancers did their best to show the youngsters how to play football the right way, it was visiting North Daviess that showed the aspiring high school players how to win, defeating Edinburgh 44-20.
The visiting Cougars (4-1) started off quickly, scoring 14 points before Edinburgh ran its first offensive play. North Daviess quarterback found a streaking Drew Boyd down the right sideline for a 44-yard touchdown reception with 9:20 left in the first quarter.
After recovering a squib kick at the Lancers’ 25-yard line, the Cougars found the end zone once again, with Coltyn McNabb rumbling in from 3 yards out. The two-point conversion failed, but North Daviess was quickly leading 14-0 with 6:56 left in the opening period.
When Edinburgh finally put the offense on the field, it managed to move the ball down the field to North Daviess’ 24-yard line, but Caleb Murphy’s pass was intercepted by the Cougars to stall the drive.
North Daviess, on the other hand, moved the ball at will. It also had some luck on its side. From the 6-yard line, Knepp took the snap and pitched it to running back Corey Andrews. Andrews fumbled the ball, but it bounced right back into Knepp’s hands, who ran it in for the third Cougar touchdown of the half, extending the lead to 20-0 with 2:05 remaining.
Edinburgh (4-1) bounced right back. After a solid return to the 44-yard line of North Daviess, Murphy found Braylon Bryant for a 44-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 20-7 with 1:48 left in the half. On the next North Daviess possession, Lancer defensive back Caleb Dewey intercepted Knepp’s pass at the 36-yard line and returned it for another quick Lancer score.
Suddenly, the Lancers only trailed 20-14 with 1:11 left in the half. But on the ensuing kickoff, Austin Webster returned the ball to Edinburgh’s 16-yard line, setting up a short field for the Cougars. Three plays later, they cashed in as McNabb ran it in from 5 yards out to make it 28-14.
North Daviess continued to churn out the yards and the points on its first drive of the second half. On third and 16, Cougar running back Webster took a handoff and rumbled untouched up the middle for a 34-yard score, extending the visitors’ lead to 36-14 with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lancers answered right back by driving 57 yards in under three minutes, capped off by a Bryant 18-yard scoring run at the 6:09 mark.
After stopping the Cougars on their next drive, the Lancers drove down to the 22-yard line, but North Daviess’ defense once again stepped up, intercepting Murphy on the 2-yard line to stymie the scoring threat. The Cougars then drove 98 yards, capped off by Webster’s second touchdown reception.
Edinburgh hosts Greenwood Christian next Friday.
