foxbat

LCC catches Andrean tight in the box and goes over the top for a 76-yard TD pass. All tied up at 14 with 8:30 left in Q3.

LCC with a pick of their own to keep Andrean from tacking on any last minute points. We go to the half with LCC trailing 14 - 7. LCC will receive to start the second half. Andrean has been in scoring position five times in the first half and only scored twice. LCC has to take this as a positive and has got to be thinking back to the Guerin game.

After a shaky first half, LCC finally puts together a scoring drive going 80 yards in a minute and 42 seconds. Cuts Andrean's lead in half 14 - 7 with roughly 2 minutes left in half.

Andrean makes LCC pay again for a pick. Andrean 14 - LCC 0 with 3:55 left in Q2.

LCC with another turnover. Just shooting themselves in the foot.

Andrean draws first blood on the first play of Q2. 59ers lead the Knights 7-0 with 11:55 left in Q2.

LCC forces Andrean to attempt a field goal, but it sails left. LCC then turns around and has its 2nd turnover with a pick. Still tied at 0 with 22 seconds left in Q1.

LCC forces Andrean to punt, but fumbles the return at their own 15. LCC holds on 4th and 1 from their own 6. Score tied at 0. LCC starts its first drive.

2 POINT GAMES North Miami @ South Adams Milan @ Providence Andrean @ Central Catholic Knox @ Garrett Fort Wayne Luers @ Maconaquah Tri-West @ Batesville New Prairie @ Mishawaka New Palestine @ Chatard Evansville Reitz @ Martinsville Lafayette Jeff @ Warsaw East Central @ Decatur Central Castle @ Bloomington South Lawrence North @ Brownsburg Center Grove @ Warren Central

Metzger averages roughly three carries a game with an average of 7.3 yards per carry. More important than the yards per carry is that plenty of those carries are conversions for 1st downs that keep drives alive.

If Andrean wins this year, with the new SF numbers to stay up, LCC could make it to regional next season and still move down to 1A. They'd have to win regionals next year to get enough points to stay up if Andrean beats them this season. Not sure why SF moved to 3 points to stay. Certainly wasn't considering any p/p schools when that decision was made.

LCC's defense is quick; especially on the edges. LCC's running game beats you to death. This is not the Anthrops' backfield. Looks much more like the Brad Schrader and Jake Milakis kinds of carriers. LCC has gone for it on 4th a lot this season and they are confident enough in that ground game to do it, and make it, on 4th and 3 or 4 situations and do it between or right off the tackles. Meister's a beast and, just when you think he's contained, the give the ball to Cain. Meister's averaging 5.9 a carry and Cain is averaging 7.3. Of course, there's also Metzger who's not afraid to take off if the receivers are covered ... he's averaging a bit over 7 per carry when he gets flushed out of the pocket. Rush light and LCC will run those backs at you. Clog the line with rushers and they'll pick at you all day long. Bring the backs up for the ticky-tack passes and they'll send someone long. As @Tippy mentioned, they look a lot more confident this season and add to that that they don't seem to panic on 3rd and long as they are not consigned to punting the ball off is they only pick-up six on 3rd and 10.

If it's coming down to a field goal, both teams are about in the same boat by the numbers. Both have field goal kickers that are 50% prior to last week's outing. Both are 5 for 10. LCC's Henry has a long of 36 while Andrean's Cusick's longest was 38. Henry has two games where the field goals were in tight games ... 3A West Lafayette where he went 2-2 in LCC's 12-7 win and 1-2 in LCC's 17-6 win over RCHS. Cusick has two games also that were also tight ... a 3-0 win over Hanover Central and a 27-24 win over Hobart. Two of Henry's misses in the Logansport game were not on him and, if I recall correctly, he had a rush kick against Guerin that he missed. In warm-ups, he tends to be fairly consistent around the 40-yard mark. He's hit beyond 50 in warm-up, but not necessarily consistently. One advantage that LCC has this season is that they are 2-2 on 2-point tries including a game-winner in the last minute, in a 22-21 comeback win over Guerin. Under Nay, they also did the same thing to win the state title, 29-28, over Lutheran in 2019, so it's not an anomaly to the Knights if they have to do it again Friday night. The Knights have had the ability over the last four games to run both the one-minute offense at a constant rate as well as a more ground-oriented, clock and field killing offense too. Having the practice at both should add to their confidence, as well as their toolbox, heading into Friday.

LCC 60 - North Montgomery 6. Final.

Jeff a sectional winner over Kokomo 45-14.

LCC now up 46-6 over North Mongomery on a screen from Bobby Metzger to his younger brother, Joey, for a TD. 7:30 left in Q3.

LCC's Seaburg intercepts a North Montgomery screen and takes it pick 6. LCC 20 - NM 6 with 10:53 left in Q2.

2 Point Games Maconaquah @ West Lafayette Central Catholic @ North Montgomery Eastern @ Tipton Fishers @ Hamilton Southeastern Brownsburg @ Ben Davis Cathedral @ Lawrence North Chesterton @ Valparaiso Huntington North @ Lebanon Mishawaka Marian @ Knox Triton @ North Miami

In a couple of the last games this season, Guerin and WeBo, LCC has been working on longer sustained drives that eat time and yards. I've always thought that was one of their weaknesses earlier in the season ... running the one-minute drill on each offensive possession. As a contrast, they put up 73 plays against Guerin for 22 points vs. 41 plays against Delphi for 63 points. In the Guerin game, they ran for 151 yards and passed for another 232. By contrast, against Delphi, they ran for 54 yards and passed for 398. I haven't seen the stats for the WeBo game, but LCC relied heavily on the ground game in the second half to effectively kill the clock off for two quarters. In both the Guerin and WeBo games, LCC got in some practice going for it on 4th down and and making it. This included a 4th and 4 from WeBo's 38 or so with just under two minutes left in the game rather than taking the penalty trying to draw WeBo offsides and then punting it off to pin WeBo against their own goal line with no timeout left. One of the biggest benefits that LCC's seen for their more sustained offensive drives, despite the opportunity for some post-season diversification, is the defense gets a bit more time to breath and they tend perform better in bend-not-break mode.

I stand humbly corrected.

LCC goes for it on 4th and 4 from WeBo's 37 and gets it. 1:30 and running left in game. LCC going to victory formation. Barring a major screw up, LCC will win 28-20.

WeBo closes the gap with TD, but LCC blocks the PAT. LCC gets the ball leading 28-20 with 5:58 left in the game.

WeBo with a sustained drive of their own capped with a QB draw for a TD. LCC still leads 28-14 over WeBo.

Meister with a 7-yard run to cap LCC's opening drive of second half. Steady drive takes us to 8:29 left in Q3. LCC leads 28-7 over WeBo.