March 29, 2024

Lenox tops East Union in weather-shortened game

AFTON — “It was a weird ballgame. It was just really weird.”

That’s how Lenox head coach Allen Dukes described his team’s 36-32 win over East Union in “monsoon” conditions on Friday night.

When Dukes and the Tigers left the field Friday night, he didn’t think his team would be granted a win, as the two teams were called off the field with 5:23 left in the game because of lightning.

Lenox had bolted to a 22-6 lead in the second quarter before a 45-minute weather delay and led 36-14 at halftime.

But the Eagles scored 18 unanswered points in the third quarter to cut the lead to 36-32.

Neither team scored in the 6:37 of the fourth quarter that was played.

“When the officials stopped the game, it was suspended,” Dukes said. “I see on the standings, they gave us a win and them a loss. Yeah, it’s nice, but that’s not the way we wanted it to be done. I’m under the impression the state made the decision that it was a game with how much we had played.”

Lenox scored on its first possession of the game when Carson Cline connected with Josh Mitchell for a 30-yard score. Cline added two more passing touchdowns in the first half — one to Jared Hensley and the other to Dustyn Rauch.

Rauch added two rushing touchdowns in the first half, as Lenox built its 36-14 lead. Rauch finished with 96 yards on 22 carries. Cline finished 8-of-16 passing for 122 yards.

“That first go around, before the delay, we were able to get to the outside on them,” Dukes said. “We ran our option play and ran it well. Dustyn ran it really well.”

But halftime adjustments shifted the momentum in East Union’s favor.

“I felt like we came out and played a sluggish first half,” East Union co-coach James Hardy said. “Came back out and got our offense going. We ended up not finishing it, but the momentum was ours in the second half.”

Cole Campbell connected with Brandon Hulsey for a pair of long touchdowns in the second half and Jonathan Weis added a 67-yard touchdown run to draw the Eagles to within 36-32 at the end of the third quarter.

Campbell finished 3-of-6 passing for 166 yards, with all three passes going to Hulsey. Defensively, Campbell recorded nine total tackles and two interceptions.

“Cole really came out both offensively and defensively,” Hardy said. “He was an outstanding outside linebacker for us. He had an outstanding game on both sides of the ball.”

East Union, now 0-1 for the season, travels to Essex on Friday in non-district action. Lenox, at 1-0, hosts Mormon Trail on Friday.

Lenox 36, East Union 32

Lenox 14 22 0 0 - 36

EU 6 8 18 0 - 32

Individual leaders

Rushing: L - Dustyn Rauch 22-96, Josh Mitchell 5-13, Jared Hensley 1-4, Carson Cline 8-(-2). EU - Jonathan Weis 18-90, Mike Ward 9-30, Cole Campbell 6-17, Brandon Wittstock 2-8, Ryan Collins 2-8, Clayton Miller 2-5.

Passing: L - Carson Cline 8-16-2 for 122 yards. EU - Cole Campbell 3-6-0 for 166 yards.

Receiving: L - Josh Mitchell 3-39, Jared Hensley 1-40, Spencer Brown 2-29, Dustyn Rauch 2-17. EU - Brandon Hulsey 3-166.

Tackles (solo-assists): L - no defensive stats available. EU - Clayton Miller 2-4, Brandon Wittstock 0-2, Cole Oliver 0-3, Kyle Seales 3-8, Beau Boswell 2-5, Cole Campbell 3-6, Mike Ward 4-7, Tyler Kelley 3-5, Gabe Nixon 1-1, Brayden Martinez 1-1.

Interceptions: EU - Cole Campbell 2.