COLONY — In a defensive battle largely unheard of in Kansas eight-man football, Crest High and St. Paul High found points a premium Friday night.
St. Paul’s 6-2 lead at halftime would have made some wonder if the team’s weren’t playing baseball, Lancer head coach Brent Smith joked.
Things looked even bleaker when St. Paul scored a second touchdown in the waning seconds of the third quarter for a 12-2 lead.
But Crest didn’t buckle and responded with a pair of touchdown drives, the second capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Kyle Hammond with 4:25 left in regulation.
A critical fourth-down pass defense snuffed a St. Paul drive in the game’s waning seconds and Crest had secured a 16-12 win.
The victory lifts the Lancers to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in Three Rivers League. Most importantly, Crest now sits at 2-0 in Kansas Eight-Man, Division I, District 2 play, which determines which teams will advance to the postseason.
“It was a great game,” Smith said. “Our boys showed some heart and desire. All of these kids are hard workers and they come to practice a workmanlike attitude.”
That attitude paid off as Crest’s offense finally began to click in the game’s waning moments, Smith said. “Things just started to click.”
The Lancers’ only first-half points came when Luke Decker, Jayden Bowen and Dakota Ramsey converged on a quarterback sack in the St. Paul end zone early in the second quarter.
That was it for Crest until early in the fourth quarter, when Kyle Hammond completed his only pass of the game for 31 yards to Jordan Morton. The pass put Crest in prime scoring position. Hammond bowled in from one yard away to close the deficit to 12-8.
Then on the Lancers’ next possession, Dexter Wiley converted a key first down on a 10-yard end around, followed by powerful running by Hammond and Dakota Ramsey. Hammond’s second one-yard touchdown put Crest on top for the first time.
St. Paul drove to the Lancer 10-yard line when Wiley broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone with 1:39 left in the game.
St. Paul still had two timeouts and a chance to get the ball back but Crest was able to convert a first down to seal the win.
Hammond rushed 31 times for 140 yards and was 1 of 5 passing, the 31-yarder to Morton. Ramsey had 15 rushes for 70 yards.
Decker had 12 tackles, Wiley had 10 and an interception, while Hammond had eight stops. Ramsey, Byran Miller and Bowen had seven tackles each.
Crest looks to continue its winning ways next Friday at TRL foe Marmaton Valley.
Crest 0-2-0-14—16
St. Paul 6-0-6-0—12
St. Paul — Ditt 6 yd pass from O’Brien (PAT failed)
Crest — Safety (quarterback sack in end zone)
St. Paul — O’Brien 1 yd run (PAT failed)
Crest — Hammond 1 yd run (PAT failed)
Crest — Hammond 1 yd run (Hammond run)
Lancers win defensive battle
