Onside kicks lead Meadowview past Conecuh
Published 12:55 am Saturday, October 17, 2015
Two onside kick recoveries gave Meadowview Christian the cushion it needed Friday in a 47-32 win over Conecuh Springs.
Meadowview kicked an onside kick with a 20-7 lead in the second quarter and recovered it, setting up Tyler Sebren’s second touchdown of the night. After the touchdown, the Trojans recovered another onside kick and Chase Shipman capped a nine play, 62 yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Shipman’s touchdown gave Meadowview a 34-7 lead at halftime and put the game out of reach in the second half.
“With a few onside kicks that we recovered, that probably made the difference in the game,” said Meadowview Christian head coach Lebo Jones. “They played us wire to wire. We are a little bigger and stronger than they are, but I’ll tell you what — that was a good game, and we have a lot of work to do.”
Jones said Meadowview scouted Conecuh during the Trojans bye week and saw that they were vulnerable to give up onside kicks.
“We knew they were kind of weak in that area and we exploited them. Luckily, it worked out for us,” Jones said. “Like I said, it would’ve been a real close game if it hadn’t been for that.”
The Trojans were already locked into the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Christian Football Association playoffs, regardless of what happened Friday night. At times, they looked like a championship contender. At others, they looked like a team with a lot to work on before taking on Victory Christian in the CFA state semifinals.
“We were blowing them out at halftime… and I think we got a little lazy and they came out and played harder than we did in the second half,” Jones said.
Meadowview opened the game with a 40-yard touchdown run by Jevar McGuire, who totaled 270 yards on the night. Quarterback Jeremy Lee threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mason Kendrick to extend the Trojans lead to 12-0 with 1:24 left in the first quarter. McGuire added the one-point conversion.
Conecuh’s De’Anthony Hampton scored on a 70-yard touchdown reception on the second play of the second quarter to pull his team within 13-7.
The Eagles wouldn’t touch the ball again until there were only seconds remaining in the first half because of the Trojans’ onside kicks.
Sebren scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 20-7 Meadowview. Lee threw a 22-yard touchdown to Sebren after a Trojans’ onside kick. Shipman’s touchdown put the Trojans up 34-7 at halftime.
Conecuh Springs’ Wade Roughton ran right up the middle for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to make it 34-13.
Meadowview marched right back down the field seven play, 50-yard drive.
Chris Wilson punched it in from 1 yard out to make it 40-13 Trojans.
On Conecuh’s next drive, Hampton went 70 yards for a score to pull the Eagles within 40-26.
Meadowview put the game away with Shipman’s second touchdown of the night with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter.
Hampton scored a 17-yard touchdown with 34.3 seconds left to pull Conecuh within 47-32 to wrap up the scoring.
Meadowview will be off next week and will host Victory Oct. 30 in the semifinal round of the playoffs.