Craig's 3-yard Run in the 4th Quarter Made the Difference;

Lyons Playing Strong In State Play-Offs; Defeats Phillipsburg 32-27: Plays Scott City Nov. 8 Here

by Dennis Gonzales

November 07, 2008

Jake Craig’s 3-yard run with 11:03 in the fourth quarter was the difference maker in Lyons’s 32-27 KSHSAA state play-off comeback victory over Phillipsburg Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The 6-4 Lions now welcome Scott City to Buller Field Saturday, November 8 at 6 p.m.

“We felt like going into the game that our spread offense would bother them a little, because they just don’t see that style of play in their league,” said LHS head coach Matt Sandbo. “The bottom line was our guys just refused to lose and kept making plays that you have to do this time of year if you want to keep playing.”

Nick Meyer led the defense. Coming off a 16-tackle performance against Ellsworth, Meyer posted 15 last Tuesday. The defense held Phillipsburg to six second-half points. “Our defense the second half was outstanding to hold them under 100 yards and to keep them out the final minute of the game was just tremendous,” said Coach Sandbo.

Lyons trailed 27-25 when Craig scored the game-winning touchdown. It was one of three scores on the ground for the Lions’s quarterback. He opened the game with a 4-yard run and added a 1-yard run in the second.

Phillipsburg led 21-12 in the second quarter.

Payton Griffitt’s 11-yard TD reception from Craig cut the host’s lead to 21-19 15 seconds before the half concluded. Lyons earned their second lead of the game, 25-19, when Nick Minix snatched onto a 10-yard Craig pass to score at the 9:26 mark of the third.

Craig had a team-high 135 yards rushing on 25 carries. He collected 183 yards through the air, hitting on 17-of-27 attempts. Griffitt latched onto six passes for 76 yards. Brennan Clark had five receptions for 46 yards.

Nick Loesch backed up Meyer’s defensive performance with nine tackles. Josh Voth and Braxton Stonebreaker chalked up six apiece.

The Lions enter their contest with Scott City, having won five of their last six games. Scott City is 9-1 after a 19-0 win over Holcomb in the first round. The Beavers, who average 30.5 ppg. and give up 8.4 ppg., have three shut outs. In seven of their 10 games, they have held opponents under six points per game. Their lone loss, 26-14 to Norton, came in week 8.

“Scott City has a very good football tradition and has a very good combination of juniors and seniors,” said Sandbo. “Fundamentally, they are very good and up front they get off the ball aggressively on both sides.

“Playing in the playoffs is very routine for them and they’ve beaten a very good Holcomb team twice as well as Ulysses and Pratt, who qualified in class 4A.”

Correction: Lyons plays Scott City November 8 at Buller Field, not November
7 as previously posted.