Lenox advances to dome after rematch

LENOX - After nearly 10 scoreless minutes in the state quarterfinal match, the Lenox Tigers (11-0) and the Fremont-Mills Knights (8-3) realized their normal style of offense wouldn’t work in this defensive rematch.

The Tigers, normally run heavy on offense, made the adjustment to focus on their passing game with sophomore quarterback Gabe Funk. The change led them to a 32-8 Thursday victory over the Knights and a ticket to the state semi-finals at the UNI-Dome Wednesday – their first appearance since 2010.

Adjustment

With Lenox taking all four downs to go only 10 yards through their run game near the end of the first quarter, Funk stepped up and aired a pass to senior Samson Adams. Adams tipped the ball and came away with the reception despite the defensive pass interference.

From that moment on, Funk and Adams were in sync. Funk was 9-12 for 154 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. In their Oct. 14 victory, he only threw for 66 yards and no touchdowns. Adams was on the receiving end of each of those touchdowns, logging 5 receptions for 104 yards. He only had one reception in their previous matchup.

“It’s just great to finally click,” Funk said. “All year, we’ve been that close – a little overthrown, a little under thrown, and tonight it was just perfect.

Just two plays later, Funk found Adams for a 27-yard touchdown to take the first score of the game. The two-point conversion was missed, making the score 6-0 with 2:26 left in the first quarter.

Just like the Tigers, the Knights adjusted their strategy from the previous game. Fremont-Mills quarterback Taylor Reed ran for only 4 yards in their 28-2 loss in the regular season, but logged 81 yards and a touchdown on the ground in Thursday’s game.

The Knights came back with a vengeance to start the second quarter, Reed leading the offense with the march down field. The Tigers couldn’t stop five straight runs by Reed, ending in him taking it in with a 4-yard touchdown run. The two-point attempt by Braxton Blackburn was successful, giving the Knights the 8-6 lead.

“He runs down field, he’s a good runner, a very good runner,” Lenox co-coach Michael Nardini said of Reed. “He’s a tough guy to take down with his size. We made some adjustments and brought a little heat.”

Nardini said co-coach Cole Bonde started getting pressure with the defense and dialing it up against the Knights.

The Tigers continued their offense through their passing game on the next drive, Funk finding senior Isaac Grundman for 18 yards and senior Caeden David for 19 yards before Reed intercepted the ball in the endzone.

Nardini said Funk came over after the play and owned up to not seeing Reed until it was too late. “He communicated with it and that’s part of growing up,” Nardini said. “It was good that he saw it, good to see him mature and be able to step up.”

After just a few plays on defense, Lenox senior Jake Cox put the pressure on Reed forcing him to make a hasty throw. Adams came down with the interception.

“I felt really good,” Adams said. “My coaches have been putting me in a good position in practice. It just prepares us, and then when we go into a game it makes it a lot easier.”

The Tigers made quick work of the short field, Funk finding Adams wide open over the middle for a 46-yard touchdown.

“I felt really motivated,” Adams said. “It’s the last home game. I just wanted to play as good as I could and give the crowd a show, and I’m glad I had the game I did on the last game.”

The Tigers failed to convert the 2-point conversion, making the score 12-8 late in the first half.

The defense dialed it up against the Knights, allowing only 4 yards on four rushes in the next drive, forcing Fremont-Mills to punt with 29 seconds left in the half.

Funk found Adams for a 9-yard reception on first down. Their second down play was blown dead with a penalty against the Knights for illegal procedure. Only 21 seconds remained. After coach and officials discussed, the game clock was changed to 23 seconds.

That two second change would prove vital to the Tigers as with only two seconds left on the clock, Funk threw a Hail Mary to the end zone, caught once again by Adams. With another failed 2-point conversion, Lenox led 18-8 at the half.

The Tigers settled back into their normal style of play early in the second half, Funk, Grundman and senior Keigan Kitzman taking turns running the ball down the field until Kitzman took it in for a 3-yard touchdown.

Rollercoaster

Following the touchdown, the Knights and Tigers would face a rollercoaster of turnovers as they each scrambled for possession.

David came away with a fumble recovery on a muffed punt return, giving Lenox the ball on a short field.

Immediately following, Funk threw his second interception of the night, halting the Tigers’ momentum.

Just two plays later, David came back with another turnover for Lenox with an interception on Reed.

Despite the high-stakes of the game, David said he came out just playing ball. “I knew that we’d have to come out and play like we’d been playing and just treat it as another game,” he said. “I’m just playing with my boys I’ve been playing with since I was a little kid.”

The trip to the UNI-Dome is something he’s been waiting for for more than a decade. His grandma, Sherri Vogel, was there the last time the Tigers made a trip to the state semi-finals in 2010, but she couldn’t take him with her.

“He wanted to go so bad,” she said. “I told him I would take him the next time Lenox made it to the dome.” Twelve years later, that promise is coming true as David joins the rest of the team in their quest for the championship title.

Bounce back

As they had been all night, the Tigers marched down the field - ending up on the Knights 16-yard line. Once again, Funk found Adams for the touchdown, but this time, flags on both sides of the play would bring Lenox back 46 yards.

A holding penalty at the line was 15 yards and unsportsmanlike conduct after the play was called on Adams, adding an additional 15 yards. On top of their 16 yard play being negated, this brought the Tigers nearly all the way back in their own territory.

“I get a little emotional, and that’s just the nature of the game, of a high stakes moment,” Nardini said. “It’s the same thing we preach to them all the time, we’ve got to bounce back. We had some adversity hit us, we have got to bounce back.”

It didn’t take long for the Tigers to bounce back. On a deep pass on first down, David got his hand in to tip the ball and Adams came away with the interception - running 60 yards along the sideline until he found his way back into the end zone for the pick six.

“You’ve just got to bounce back,” Adams echoed. “I came back and had that pick six. It really turns the game around, and gets the crowd back into it, gets the sideline back into it and gets your team back into it.”

The Dome

The Tigers will have to bring their A-game Wednesday as they battle the undefeated Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks in the state semi-final at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. Lenox will play at 4 p.m. following the Newell-Fonda vs. WACO, Wayland game at 1 p.m. The winners will showdown the following week in the state championship game.

The Hawks took down GTRA Thursday 63-14 on an offensive display.

“We’re really excited, especially our seniors,” Adams said. “We’ve got a great quarterback to back us up. We hope we can go in there and put on a show.”