By Spencer Spilman.
The Lehman Lobos got their first win of the season in a nail-biter against the Anderson Trojans Friday night in a non-conference game at Shelton Stadium, 20-8.
The first quarter of this homecoming game was a defensive battle, with both teams failing to put any points on the scoreboard. Anderson recovered a Lobo fumble inside the five-yard line and was in position to score. The Lobo defense held strong, forcing a Trojan field goal. A ‘roughing the kicker’ penalty by the Lobo special team gave Anderson four more downs to get the ball in the end zone.
But the Lobo’s defense stood its ground, and with 2:37 left in the first quarter, recovered a high-snap fumble to keep the score at 0-0. The Lobo offense followed the lead of Paul Matthews who broke free for a 21 yard run to put Lehman into Trojan territory. Matthews, normally a running back, was taking snaps at quarterback to show the defense a different look.
“Paul is like our little spark plug whenever we put him back there at quarterback,” said Lobos head coach Todd Raymond.
The Lobos put the first points on the board early in the second quarter when Jeremy Schilhab connected with John Herrera for a 51 yard touchdown pass with 8:22 left in the half. The Lobo defense continued to give Anderson problems and they failed to move the ball into Lehman territory the entire second quarter.
With the two-minute offense of the Lobos moving down the field, they got some hard runs from Matthews and running back Paul Brown. A 14-yard completion from Schilhab to wide receiver Kelton Powell put the Lobos in the red-zone. Two plays later, Schilhab found Powell for a 19-yard touchdown to give Lehman a 14-0 lead going into halftime.
Schilhab said after the game, “We had confidence. We were having fun. The two-minute offense was rolling, and my guys were just always open,” he said.
Lehman’s defense continued to bother the Trojan offense, refusing to allow them to move the ball. However, a facemask penalty by the Lobo defense helped put the Trojans into Lehman territory.
Trojan running back Chris Ortiz rushed the ball four straight plays, putting the Trojans inside the five-yard line in position to score. One play later Ortiz was hit behind the line of scrimmage and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Lobos to keep Anderson off the scoreboard.
The Lobos put themselves in scoring position on the first play of the fourth quarter when Anderson snapped the ball over the punter’s head. The fumble gave the Lobos the ball at the Anderson 11-yard line.
Seniors Andrew Davila and Tyler Hyss were both in on the tackle of the punter. A few plays later, Lobo Paul Brown busted through the pile for a touchdown. A fumbled extra point left the score at 20-0, Lehman.
Late in the game, the Trojans continued to fight. With three minutes to go, they snagged an interception from Bryce Roberts. The Trojans ran a fake punt on fourth down and completed it for a 43 yard touchdown, but the play was called back for holding.
Anderson got a first down and with 24 seconds left, Joseph Menke connected with Ryan Kuenast for a 12-yard touchdown. After a two-point conversion, the score was 20-8.
Lehman recovered an on-side kick attempt from the Trojans. With a kneel down from Schilhab, the game was over.
“I was proud of our team tonight,” Raymond said post- game. “I just wish we could’ve kept the late score off the board. We will go back to work in the week ahead and hopefully fix the mistakes we made tonight.”
The Lobo’s will have a bye week this week before hosting Hays on September 27 in the cross-town rivalry game.
