LEBO — Teammates could only watch as senior Luke Decker was attended to late in the first quarter. Decker injured his left ankle and was taken to a hospital by his parents.
Crest High’s Lancers faced a fourth-and-12 situation and trailed 14-6 to host Lebo High’s Wolves in Saturday’s Kansas Eight-Man Division I regional game. The Lancers soon were be down 22-6.
“They probably thought we were done then and in the second half but our guys stood up and battled back,” said Brent Smith, Lancer head coach.
The Lancers fought tooth and nail with the Wolves for a spot in the eight-man division semifinals. They trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half and 24 points in the second half.
Each time getting to within 10 points, Crest was unable to turn the corner on Lebo. The Wolves ousted the Lancers from the 2010 playoffs with a 50-40 win.
Decker, who had missed all of his junior season with a knee injury, came back and sat on the bench to watch his teammates finish the game. He said he had a badly sprained ankle but would have to wait for the swelling to go down to determine how bad the injury was.
Crest finished at 9-2. Lebo advances to the semifinals to face second-seeded Madison, which dispatched Central Burden 58-12 Saturday.
Osborne upset top-seeded Pretty Prairie 50-40. Hill City defeated Hodgeman County 26-20.
“We had a great season and these young men really put a lot of heart and desire into this season,” Smith said. “Losing Luke like that in the first half was a concern for our kids because he is one our leaders.”
Jesse Boone, a sophomore, took on the defensive end role for Decker. On offense, freshman Brock Ellis made a couple of key plays at tight end.
Lebo went on a 10-play drive to open the game, capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by Austin Holmes. Crest countered with a seven-play march as sophomore Kyle Hammond went into the end zone from one-yard out.
Lebo broke the 6-6 tie when Dylan Kelley scored on a five-yard run with 3:32 left in the first quarter. Trevor White tacked on the two-point conversion.
The Wolves were up 22-6 when senior Dakota Ramsey busted through for a two-yard touchdown run at the 7:41 mark of the second quarter.
Kelley returned the ensuing kickoff to the Crest 28-yard line. He finished the drive with a nine-yard run to paydirt.
Hammond fumbled the football on Crest’s next drive as the Lancers trailed 30-12. The Wolves had the ball at the Crest 15.
Then a hard hit by a Crest defender on Lebo’s Holmes popped the football in the air. Right there for the recovery was Crest’s Jayden Bowen.
Bowen turned and raced 65 yards for a touchdown. Hammond had the two-point conversion. The margin was 10 points, 30-20.
Three plays after the kickoff, the Wolves were back up 38-20. That’s where it stood at halftime.
The Lancers took the third-quarter kickoff marched down the field. On the 10th play of the drive, Ramsey lost the handle on the football going into the end zone. Lebo’s Cody Bush recovered the football at the one-yard line.
Lebo went on a 79-yard march to the other end. The final 28 yards on a fourth-and-nine play — a pass from White to Alex Linsey.
“I’m sure they thought we were done then,” Smith said. “Losing the fumble on that first drive was key but the guys kept battling.”
Senior Dexter Wiley hauled in a 13-yard scoring pass from sophomore quarterback Jordan Morton with 9:56 left in the game. That was answered with a one-play drive by Lebo.
Crest was down 50-26 with just over nine minutes to play.
Ramsey went on a rampage. He returned the kickoff to the Crest 35-yard line. A 15-yard personal foul for a face mask against Lebo was added on.
Ramsey held onto the football this time for a two-yard touchdown. Ellis collected the pass from Morton for two points.
Then it was full-steam ahead for Ramsey as he recovered an onside kick for Crest at the Lebo 32-yard line. Hammond, who had 160 yards on 27 carries in the game, dashed 32 yards for the score.
“If we had converted on our PATs (point after touchdown), it would have been a different game,” Smith said. “We failed on four of six two-point conversions.”
Lebo missed three of its seven two-point conversion tries.
Lebo got the next onside kick attempt and was forced to punt with 4:18 left in the game. Crest had the ball at its own eight-yard line.
Linsey halted the Crest drive with an interception at the 2:09 mark.
Crest got the ball back one more time but couldn’t get a quick score. The Lancers gave up possession with 28 seconds left.
“We started off flat Saturday night and gave up some big plays. I thought we moved the ball well but just didn’t finish on a couple of drives,” Smith said.
“We graduate eight seniors, who have really made a mark on the Crest football program. In three years, they have been 23-7 here.”
Ramsey ended up with 47 yards on 16 carries. Morton had five carries for 18 yards and Wiley, a senior end, had one carry for 16 yards.
Wiley made two catches for 47 yards and Ramsey had two receptions for 26 yards. Ellis had two catches for 12 yards.
Leading the defense was Wiley with 10 unassisted tackles and four assists. Ramsey had four solo stops and 15 assisted tackles.
Senior linebacker Thomas Dietrich recorded five solo tackles and six assisted tackles. Decker had three solo tackles and one assist and Hammond had six solo tackles.
Boone had his first interception of the year. Jayden Bowen’s fumble recovery was his fourth of the season, which led the Lancers.
Lebo was led by Holmes with 127 yards on 18 carries and Kelley with nine carries for 55 yards. White was 9 of 16 for 191 yards passing. Linsey made six catches for 147 yards.
Crest 6-14-0-20—40
Lebo 14-24-6-6—50
Lebo — Holmes 5 yd run (pass failed)
Crest — Hammond 1 yd run (pass failed)
Lebo — Kelley 5 yd run (White run)
Lebo — Walford 1 yd run (Linsey pass from White)
Crest — Ramsey 2 yd run (run failed)
Lebo — Kelley 9 yd run (Holmes run)
Crest — Bowen 65 yd fumble return (Hammond run)
Lebo — White 1 yd run (Holmes run)
Lebo — Linsey 28 yd pass from White (pass failed)
Crest — Wiley 13 yd pass from Morton (run failed)
Lebo — Linsey 46 yd pass from White (run failed)
Crest — Ramsey 2 yd run (Ellis pass from Morton)
Crest — Hammond 32 yd run (pass failed)
