by Beau Wicker
Pharos-Tribune
INDIANAPOLIS — After one half of play, it appeared Cass’ football team was poised to knock off the defending Class 3A state champion, West Lafayette.
But the Kings made some costly miscues in the second half and the Red Devils got their high-octane spread offense in gear, as West Side knocked off Cass 28-14 in the Horseshoe Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“They made plays when they had to and we struggled,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “They elevated and we didn’t.
“We’re learning how to play, I think, and hopefully we’ll try to get better. But I’m really disappointed with the way we played, especially in the fourth quarter all-around.”
A key turning point occurred in the third quarter, when the Kings (1-1), leading 14-13, appeared to score on a seven-yard touchdown run by Blake Widner. But the play was nullified by a holding penalty, the first penalty of the game by either team.
So instead of taking what could have been an eight-point lead, the Kings faced second-and-12 from the 17. They were later stuffed on a run on fourth-and-4.
The Red Devils (2-0) then completely changed the momentum of the game, driving 90 yards on six plays. On the drive the Devils faced a third-and-21 and scored on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Sean Busch to Aaron Woodard to take their first lead of the game.
“I’m not upset about the [holding] penalty because guys are being aggressive, the guy will see a hold and call it. That’s OK,” Mannering said. “I’m disappointed we couldn’t convert when we got the ball moved back and then the defense couldn’t hold and get the ball back for us. Because at that time I really thought physically we had an edge, we could take the game. It didn’t turn out that way.”
As for allowing the TD pass on third-and-long, Mannering said, “That was a killer. We had no pressure, the cornerback was one-on-one and let the guy break inside of him and they threw a nice ball. I thought that’s how we played the second half: We let them make plays they didn’t make the first half.”
Cass went three-and-out on its next possession and WL’s Ben Waters recorded a big punt return down to Cass’ 19-yard line. Two plays later, Aaron Woodard ran the ball in from 11 yards out to give the Red Devils a 28-14 lead.
On the Kings’ ensuing drive they drove the ball 45 yards before fumbling a pitch on the Devils’ 30-yard line with three minutes left in the game. The Kings fumbled the ball away again with :57 left in a last-ditch comeback effort.
The Kings outplayed the Red Devils in the first half. They opened the game with a 12-play, 63-yard scoring drive. All 12 plays were running plays, and the drive was capped by a five-yard TD run by Caleb Comoglio.
The Kings later had an eight-play, 81-yard scoring drive that was highlighted by an 11-yard TD pass from Jake Stover to Brett Miller to take a 14-0 lead.
West Lafayette had just two first downs until its final drive of the half. On a third-and-goal play with 10 seconds left and no timeouts, Busch found Ben Waters for a six-yard TD pass for a critical score to make it 14-6 heading into halftime.
The Red Devils opened the second half with a nine-play, 72-yard drive. Facing fourth-and-five from the 11-yard line, Busch found Thomas open in the end zone to cut the lead to 14-13.
Busch finished with 118 yards passing and three touchdowns. Woodard had 147 yards rushing on 21 attempts and a TD. Thomas had three catches for 59 yards and two TDs.
Josh Knutson led the Kings with 85 yards rushing on 19 totes. Eckelbarger added 64 yards on eight tries. Stover passed for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Knutson also had a team-high 10 tackles. Eckelbarger added an interception that negated the Kings coming up a half-yard short on a fake punt attempt in the first half.
Another King who made his presence felt under the bright lights of Lucas Oil Stadium was Division I prospect Jake Rouch. The 6-foot-6, 337-pound offensive tackle/nose tackle dominated his side of the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
The Red Devils, who entered ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, won their 17th regular-season game in a row. They went 15-0 last season.
Even though the loss was a bitter pill for Mannering to swallow, his squad, ranked No. 7 in Class 2A, showed a number of good signs, including outgaining West Side 323-293 in total yardage for the game.
“We competed and that’s one of the things I want to do every week,” Mannering said. “We’ve got to get better. Our schedule doesn’t get much easier. I saw Northwestern play [Friday] and I think they’re every bit the team that [West Lafayette] is, so we’ve got to keep working at it.”
