Late field goal propels LCHS to next round of playoffs
For the first round of the first-ever 6A playoffs — the No. 20-seed 3-7 Westover Wolverines made the quick trip up from Fayetteville to take on the No. 13, 6-4 Lee County Yellow Jackets.
After a tumultuous affair, a late field goal from Alex Borrell lifted the Jackets to a 21-20 win to move to the second round.
Lee County will travel to No.4-seed Union Pines on Friday for the second round matchup at 7:30 p.m.
Against Westover, the Jackets won the toss and deferred to the second half. Borrell’s sky-high squib kick — a signature move — was fair caught at Westover’s 33.
On third and 10, the Wolverine QB connected with his lanky receiver for a leaping catch for the first down to the 44. A 56-yard run by a back looked to be the night’s opening score, but a holding penalty recalled it, nearly moving back to the drive’s original line of scrimmage.
A pass on the third down got it back to the 46, falling about eight yards short of the first for the night’s first punt. The knuckleball was downed by the Wolverine runner at Lee County’s 3-yard line.
Before the Yellow Jackets got a play off, a false start pushed them back a couple of yards. Damien Prosser was the back for the first pair of rushes, but it was Brandon Baldwin who got the first down.
Lincoln Smith dropped a play-action pass on second down, setting up third and about six. Baldwin came up short of the line to gain, and a botched snap nearly saw Borrell’s punt get blocked.
The Jackets’ defense looked to be holding strong on the next Wolverine drive, but a missile on third and two sent Westover past the 50 on a deep slant. Third and nine befell the Wolverines shortly after at Lee County’s 40, and another pass found its mark for the first down.
Lee County’s defense could not keep up with the passing attack, but luckily for the Jackets, Westover took away its progress via penalties repeatedly. Third and 13 was the down and distance from the 29, which saw another long pass make it fourth and one.
A delay of game penalty made it fourth and six. But, like clockwork, the passing attack connected for first and goal from the 8.
The second quarter opened with a rushing score just nine seconds in to break the scoreless tie. The point after kick made it 7-0.
Baldwin muffed the kickoff, eventually falling on it at the 21. Aiden Poole connected with M.J. Sanders for a first down and returned to the familiar target on the next play for two yards. Prosser added a couple on the ground, and Baldwin stiff-armed his way to a first down.
Back-to-back runs netted just a yard, and Lee County faced a third and nine. Baldwin was stopped after a couple of yards for a fourth and long punt, but a roughing the kicker penalty awarded the Yellow Jackets with 15 yards and a fresh set of downs.
A Baldwin run gained the first down at Westover’s 30. An illegal procedure on third and eight was declined. Borrell drilled a 44-yard kick with 5:18 to play in the first half for the 7-3 score.
Westover began its next drive through the air, grabbing long yards on second down.
Facing fourth and four, Westover called timeout. A rush out of the break couldn’t get the distance, and Lee County took over at its own 8 with less than a minute in the half.
Disaster almost struck for the hosts on the first play, as Poole was sacked for what looked to be a safety, but escaped with half a foot of forward progress.
Cody Graham got some breathing room on a Wildcat keeper, making it third and 16 at the 3-yard line as Westover took its final timeout. Another Graham keeper ended the half.
A mix of run and pass started the second half for the Yellow Jackets, with a pass to Jasiyah Collins grabbing a first down. Third and 14 came shortly after, and a catch by Lincoln Smith came up five yards short of the first, forcing another Borrell punt, which was downed at Westover’s 21.
The Wolverines moved backward due to a sack by a swarm of Yellow Jackets, including DeAngelo Prince and Graham, made it second and 17. Two incomplete passes resulted in a punt, which was fair caught by Graham at the Lee County 47.
The Jackets gave possession back immediately on a fumble, allowing the Wolverines to start their drive at their own 43. The drive started with a bang with a couple of first downs to move to the Jackets’ 30.
A deep pass up the right sideline set up first and goal from the 7, and a quick rush into the end zone added another score for Westover. The point after was good, making it a 14-3 lead with 5:45 left in the third.
On third and five, Poole slung a pass to Sanders to extend the drive. Baldwin added eight on a rush for second and short, setting up a screen for Sanders to get another first. Zach Williams pushed forward for another first down to the Wolverine 19.
The drive fizzled out from there, ending with an intentional grounding on third, setting up a 42-yard Borrell attempt. It fell short, but the Jackets’ kicker was “decleated,” and for the second time on the night, Lee County was awarded a first down.
A Baldwin run to the 10 helped put some life back into the hosts. Graham ran it himself out of the Wildcat for a pair of plays, with the final landing him in the end zone, led by Zaza Gibson, TyKerion Shepard, Sharif Thabata, Cale Johnson and Prince. Graham took it in for the two-point conversion to make it 14-11, still in Westover’s favor, with a minute left in the third.
The quarter ended with the Wolverines driving at Lee County’s 37.
Westover quickly had first and 10 at Lee County’s 14. The drive came to a screeching halt at the 11, resulting in a 28-yard field goal by the Wolverines, moving it to a 17-11 score with nine minutes left to play.
A deep shot from Poole to a wide-open Destry Smith resulted in a quick, one-play, 72-yard score, capped off by Borrell’s extra point. The Jackets took their first lead of the night at 18-17 with 8:47 to play.
Westover’s slippery running back flashed his skills on a first-down run to move to the Wolverines’ 39 to begin their next drive. Chad Osborne forced a fumble on a sack on second down shortly after, resulting in third and 27. The Wolverine gunslinger dropped one in a bucket to a wide-open receiver, who thought he had a 77-yard score, but was called out at the Jackets’ 30.
Third at eight at Lee County’s 16 became third and 13 for the Wolverines on a false start. A screen grabbed the penalty yardage back, and a field goal on fourth from the 14 made it 20-18 with 3:10 left to play.
Sanders’ kickoff return to the 14 was ideal, but Baldwin added 16 on a rush on the first play from scrimmage to elicit some energy from hometown fans.
A Sanders catch at the 43 moved the clock under two minutes, which was followed by an incompletion. Lincoln Smith reeled in a catch past the 50, and the Jackets kept up a breakneck pace as the goal was clearly field goal distance for the sure-footed Borrell. A Westover timeout with 1:04 stopped the clock as Lee County moved to the Wolverine 24.
The ball was at the 19 with just 20.8 seconds showing as the Jackets signaled for a timeout. An offside inched the offense closer, with first and 10 at the 14. Another Westover timeout at the 18-second mark delayed what seemed to be inevitable — Borrell trotting out for the game-winner.
That 28-yarder split the uprights on third down from the 11 with just 7.5 seconds left for a 21-20 lead.
Just two Westover plays later, an interception by Collins on a deep pass sent the Jackets to the second round.
“We’ve got the best kicker in the state, you know, so that’s all we’re thinking, is to get down in field goal range,” head coach Steve Burdeau said about the game-winning drive. “We’ve got a senior quarterback and senior running backs that are going to get us down there. The offensive line did a really good job on that last series. We took what they were giving us, and ... we were very resilient throughout the whole game.”
On how he’s preparing his team for the upcoming rematch with the Carolina Pines conference winners, who bested the Jackets just a few weeks ago at their homecoming, 42-3, Burdeau gave a quick answer: “At this point, all that matters is that we have practice on Monday. That’s all we’re going to keep working for.”
