Kirt Manion
kmanion@cherryroad.com
For the second straight week, the Lourdes football team scored on its final possession of the first half and rallied for a playoff win, this time against Plainview in the quarterfinal round on Friday, Nov. 8, at Pioneer Field.
It was Lourdes that got on the scoreboard first, Callen Schnitzer rushed for three first downs including a 3rd-and-5 conversion and then posted a short rushing touchdown to cap the march. Callen found Blue Oggs on a two-point pass. It was 8-0 with 6:19 to go in the first quarter.
Plainview responded with a 65-yard touchdown drive fueled by a 45-yard pass and capped with a short scoring run. The point after kick made it 8-7 with 3:55 to go in the first quarter.
After getting the ball back on downs, Plainview drove the ball from its own 15-yard line to the Lourdes 14-yard line and kicked a 31-yard field goal to lead 10-8 with 8:03 left in the half.
A fourth down pass play on Lourdes’ next possession resulted in an interception and Plainview paid off the short field with a 25-yard scoring pass and kick. It was 17-8 with 6:23 left in the half.
Lourdes got the ball on their own 12-yard-line and was moving the ball. Callen found Brady Schnitzer on a 16-yard pass play on 3rd-and-5, but a fumble stopped the Knight march.
Plainview got the ball on its own 27-yard-line and drove down the field for a touchdown on a 15-yard pass play. The point after kick made the score 24-8 with 1:40 to go.
Lourdes was not deterred by the deficit. The team got the ball at its own 32 and got moving on a 21-yard pass from Callen to Brady and an 11-yard screen from Callen to Alec Schnitzer. After a touchdown pass from Callen to Blue Oggs was called back on holding against Lourdes, the Knights recreated that magic with a Callen to Oggs scoring pass of seven yards with seven seconds on the second quarter clock. Callen had the two-point run. It was 24-16 at the half.
A Plainview drive from its own 25-yard-line to the Lourdes 16-yard-line was capped with a 34-yard field goal. It was 27-16 with 8:01 left in the third quarter.
The homestanding Knights responded with a workman-like 59-yard touchdown drive. That drive included a hook and lateral play from Callen to Blue to Levi Anthens for a first down. Levi also paid off the drive with a four-yard rush through the middle of the Plainview defense. A Callen to Blue two-pointer had the count at 27-24 with 2:33 left in the third quarter.
Through this point in the game, the Lourdes defense did not have a stop. Lourdes would then stack up several stops. Lourdes forced a punt, was forced to punt and pinned Plainview at its own one-yard-line before getting the ball back on a Blue Oggs interception.
A fumble stopped Lourdes on the ensuing drive, but the Knights got it back on an Alec Schnitzer interception.
A punt gave Plainview the ball at its own 17-yard-line with a chance to run out the clock.
Plainview killed clock, but a mishandled snap turned a short-yardage situation into a 4th-and-long and the visiting Pirates punted with the ball being downed at the one-yard-line.
Lourdes got out of the shadow of its own goal posts thanks to a Plainview defensive holding call. Callen rushed the ball for a solid gain, found Blue for a 21-yard pass and guided the Knights into Plainview territory. After narrowly missing on a pass connection to Oscar Krog, Callen dialed up Krog’s number again and this time the throw paid off with a six-yard touchdown. After a Callen two-point run, Lourdes had a 32-27 lead with 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Plainview attempted to get something going, but their last play, which started with four seconds left in the fourth quarter, ended when senior Robert Honeysuckle knocked the ball carrier to the ground and preserved a 32-27 Knights’ win that has Lourdes marching on into the semifinal round of the Class D1 playoffs.
