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COON RAPIDS — Coon Rapids-Bayard’s rushing attack proved to be too much for Lenox to handle here Wednesday, as the sixth-ranked Crusaders handed the Tigers a 56-20 loss in the first round of the playoffs.
“They played extremely well,” Lenox head coach Allen Dukes said. “We didn’t have a very good showing. We didn’t block very well, we dang sure didn’t tackle. We just played like crap. Simple. No other explanation for it.”
Lenox had a good start to the game, stripping the ball from Coon Rapids-Bayard kick returner Brody Schlepp, with Spencer Brown falling on the loose ball at the 32-yard line.
But the Tigers went three and out, and punted the ball away, pinning the Crusaders at their own 5-yard line.
It took the Crusaders five plays — all runs by Zach Evans — to punch the ball into the end zone, as Evans scored from 14 yards out to give Coon Rapids-Bayard a 7-0 lead.
Lenox responded with a 17-play, 65-yard touchdown drive, aided by a personal foul on Coon Rapids-Bayard and two fourth-down conversions.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the 19-yard line after a sack, quarterback Carson Cline dumped the ball off to Dustyn Rauch on a counter screen pass.
Rauch ran down the left sideline and scored, but the 2-point conversion was no good, leaving the score at 7-6 with 2:01 left in the first.
“We gave ourselves a chance right there at the beginning,” Dukes said.
Evans took the first play of the second quarter 58 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-6.
On the first play of Lenox’s ensuing drive, Cline was picked off by Darius O’Tool, who returned the ball to the Lenox 15. Two plays later, Coon Rapids-Bayard quarterback Brandon Riley scooted 17 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-6.
“We had a miscommunication, threw that interception that put them up 21-6,” Dukes said. “Just a miscommunication between us and the quarterback. It’s one of those things, it’s bound to happen sometimes. We’re young. We’re graduating five seniors, but we’ll be back.”
The Crusaders went on to take a commanding 42-6 lead into halftime, as Evans accumulated 244 rushing yards and three touchdowns by the halftime break.
“Their offensive line, defensive front — they controlled both lines,” Dukes said. “We had no answer for it. We tried whatever we could. There was just no answer.”
The lead grew to as much as 49-6 after Evans scored his fourth touchdown of the game late in the third quarter with the running clock in effect.
“I thought Zach did a good job once he got to the second level, but those guys up front were opening up some big holes,” Coon Rapids-Bayard head coach John Kesselring said. “He wasn’t getting a lot of guys close to him before he got 6, 7 yards. He does a good job once he gets going.”
Evans finished the game with 288 yards on 21 carries.
Cline connected with Brown for an 18-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, as Brown made an over-the-shoulder catch and got his feet inbounds just inside of the pylon.
“I was worried about the Brown kid,” Kesselring said. “People say he’s really tall, but he’s a great receiver. I don’t think people maybe recognize how good of a player he really is.”
Rauch scored a 2-yard touchdown run as time expired, after Coon Rapids-Bayard had tacked on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Riley to Logan Namanny.
Lenox finishes its season with a record of 7-3, while Coon Rapids-Bayard improved to 9-1 for the season. The Crusaders advance to Monday’s second round, where they will travel to Newell-Fonda, which was a 33-12 winner over Guthrie Center on Wednesday.
Newell-Fonda is 7-3 for the season and is the 2-seed from District 1.
“Like I just told those guys, 7-3 is nothing to shake a stick at,” Dukes said. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re overachievers. Coming into this season, we didn’t know if we’d be over .500. These guys go 7-3, we’ll take that any day. We were competitive.”
Lenox graduates five seniors from its team. They are Caleb Lange, Dusten Reed, Dustyn Rauch, Frank Hoffman and Mike Briggs.
“This bunch of kids is definitely going to be missed,” Dukes said. “They came out, worked hard every day. They busted their butt. They tried to get everybody involved in everything. These guys are going to be missed, but I think we also have a good nucleus coming back for next year and on down the road.”
Coon Rapids-Bayard 56, Lenox 20
Lenox 6 0 0 14 - 20
CRB 7 35 7 7 - 56
1st quarter
CRB — Zach Evans 14 run (Sam Honold kick), 9:35
L — Dustyn Rauch 19 pass from Carson Cline (Run failed), 2:01
2nd quarter
CRB — Evans 58 run (Honold kick), 11:47
CRB — Brandon Riley 17 run (Honold kick), 10:54
CRB — Riley 1 run (Honold kick), 7:41
CRB — Evans 40 run (Reno Doty pass from Honold), 5:23
CRB — Riley 3 run (Kick missed), :41
3rd quarter
CRB — Evans 4 run (Honold kick), 1:10
4th quarter
L — Spencer Brown 18 pass from Cline (Brown run), 10:39
CRB — Logan Namanny 46 pass from Riley (Honold kick), 3:29
L — Rauch 2 run, :00
Individual leaders
Rushing: L - Dustyn Rauch 14-53, Carson Cline 11-33, Josh Mitchell 6-7, Frank Hoffman 2-18. CRB - Zach Evans 21-288, Brandon Riley 6-30, Sam Obert 3-33, Darius O’Tool 4-7.
Passing: L - Carson Cline 10-21-2 for 160 yards, Spencer Brown 0-1-0 for 0 yards. CRB - Brandon Riley 1-2-0 for 46 yards.
Receiving: L - Frank Hoffman 2-55, Spencer Brown 4-48, Dustyn Rauch 4-10, Dusten Reed 1-47. CRB - Logan Namanny 1-46.
Tackles (solo-assists): L - Josh Mitchell 3-8, Spencer Brown 5-5, Jared Hensley 6-3.
Fumble recoveries: L - Spencer Brown 1.
Blocked kicks: L - Spencer Brown 1.