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“We got dominated,” said Solis Friday evening as his club fell to 1-1 and saw their three-game winning streak against the Minutemen snapped. “It’s been a while since we’ve been dominated like that.”
LHS, which improved to 2-0 and has outscored its first two foes by a 91-21 count, took advantage of favorable field position during the first two quarters to open up a 35-14 bulge by the intermission.
The home team’s average starting yard line on their first six possessions was the Shelby 49. The best start was the red and gray 37.
Lexington wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard when Michael Gallik hauled in a short pass from Courtney Avery and turned it into a 55-yard scoring reception on the first offensive play 18 seconds into the game.
The Minutemen had their next two possessions reach Shelby territory, but they wound up punting the ball away.
The Whippets knotted the score on the third series by connecting on back-to-back long passes. Josh Ingle’s 35-yard catch from Zach Strine kept the drive alive on third down and then Kyle Bailey was on the receiving end of a 45-yard catch-and-run for the score at the 4:28 mark. The kick by Dylan Blevins tied the score at 7-7.
LHS scored on their next two series to open up a 21-7 lead behind a 33-yard scoring reception for Tyler Dickson and a 14-yard dash by Antonio Pickens.
Lexington stretched the lead to 28-7 when Dickson snagged a 44-yard TD pass from Avery.
SHS sliced the deficit to 28-14 after a 25-yard scoring run by Zach Strine right before the half, but the momentum was soon lost when Gallik returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards.
The final score for the Minutemen was an 8-yard scamper by Pickens in the third quarter.
The home team rolled up 427 yards in offense, including 219 on the ground. Pickens gained 52 stripes on nine tries while Dickson gathered in four passes for 102 yards. Avery was 8-of-13 throwing the ball for 208 yards.
Shelby generated 240 yards. Strine carried 19 times for 78 yards and was 6-of-12 passing for 102 stripes. Bailey collected two passes totaling 56 yards.
“I told our kids they would be quicker, faster and more athletic this year. More so than they were last year,” said Solis. “With their spread offense, you have to defend them from sideline to sideline.”
Ethan Stephens led the Whippets with 10 tackles while Kyle Bailey had nine sticks and two quarterback sacks. Recovering fumbles were Matt Kauffman and Tyler Grove.
A team going with a large number of sophomores, Solis termed this outing as a growing pain for his club.
“We’re going to have our share of growing pains and this is definitely a growing pain. If we can go out and win next week, no one will remember the week before.”