Menu
Miners rout Cougars on Homecoming Night
It’s almost an unwritten rule of football. If at all possible, try to avoid scheduling a homecoming opponent who might spoil the festivities by coming away with a victory.
There was little chance of the North Daviess Cougars pulling off the upset Friday night at Linton.
The Linton-Stockton Miners saw to that, putting up eight first-half touchdowns on the way to a 54-6 thrashing of the visiting Cougars on Homecoming Night at Roy Williams Field.
Linton-Stockton coach Brian Oliver spoke to his players about the importance of getting off to a fast start.
“We preached that all week,” the Miners head man said. “We can’t let up no matter who the opponent is. It’s our goal to focus on ourselves and keep getting better day-by-day.”
And the players complied.
After receiving the opening kickoff it took the Miners exactly two minutes to light up the scoreboard.
On the sixth play of the opening drive - a third-and-5 from the Cougar 20 Dreyden Ward swung the ball to Cash Howard in the flat. Howard did the rest, sprinting 20 yards to paydirt.
The Miners took over at their own 44 after a North Daviess punt. On first down Lance Dyer galloped 56 yards for the first of his four first-half touchdowns.
On Linton’s next possession Cash Howard took a pitch and ran 11 yards. Ward connected with Howard for a 39-yard gainer down to the Cougar 1. From there Ward plowed straight ahead for an 18-0 Miner lead at the 2:45 mark of the opening stanza.
North Daviess’ third punt of the quarter left the Miners 60 yards to go.
A Ward-to-Dyer aerial covered the final 42 just 11 seconds into the second stanza.
The Cougars turned the ball over on downs at the Linton 32.
Dyer and Drake Cunningham picked up first downs on the ground. On first down fullback Chance Howard rambled 43 yards to the end zone for his first career touchdown.
On the ensuing possession North Daviess coughed up the football and Chase Howard wrapped up the loose pigskin at the Cougar 25.
The Miners were backed up 10 yards on a holding penalty. It didn’t matter as Dyer ran through, around and past the defenders for Linton’s sixth score with 4:15 remaining until intermission.
North Daviess’ lone score came precisely one minute later. Wynston Lengacher burst straight up the middle and outran the Miner defenders 68 yards to the house.
After the kickoff a penalty and a 15-yard romp by Chase Howard moved the ball to the Cougar 29. From there Cash Howard juked, cut back and weaved through the defense for a 42-6 Miner lead.
The Miners weren’t quite finished. North Daviess fumbled after a short gain. Dyer scooped it up and sprinted home with 53 seconds left until the homecoming crowning ceremony.
Cunningham capped off the scoring on a 3-yard run with 8:35 on the clock in the third quarter. The remainder of the game was played under a running clock with the reserve units on the field.
Neither team was at full strength. Linton-Stockton quarterback Keaton Cox was sidelined with a shoulder injury suffered in last week’s Ritter game. Luke Lannan was inactive due to mononucleosis.
North Daviess’ leading rusher Ethan Malone sustained a concussion in the Cougars’ game with West Vigo and also was held out.
“We were able to get a lot of guys in because of the injuries we’ve had and the outcome of the game,” Oliver said. “So it was a good night for us to come out and see a lot of different faces and be able to evaluate some kids.”
Next up for the Miners is a trip to North Knox.
MINERS 54, COUGARS 6
Score by quarters
North Daviess 0 6 0 0 – 6
Linton-Stockton 18 30 6 0 – 54
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
L – Cash Howard 20 pass from Dreyden Ward (kick failed), 10:00
L – Lance Dyer 56 run (kick failed), 8:31
L – Ward 2 run (kick failed), 1:35
Second quarter
L – Dyer 42 pass from Ward (kick failed), 11:49
L – Chance Howard 43 run (kick failed), 5:42
L – Dyer 35 run (kick failed), 4:15
ND – Wynston Lengacher 68 run (kick failed), 3:15
L – Cash Howard 29 run (run failed), 1:25
L – Dyer 31 fumble return (kick failed), 0:53
Third Quarter
L – Drake Cunningham 3 run (run failed), 8:35
TEAM STATISTICS
| ND | L |
| First downs 8 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards 38-192 | 32-327 |
| Passing yards 45 | 119 |
| C-A-I 6-13-0 | 5-7-0 |
| Return yards 81 | 31 |
| Punts-avg 3-30 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards 7-48 | 6-40 |
| Fumbles-lost 3-2 | 0-0 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – North Daviess: Wynston Lengacher 15-123, W. Allen 6-31, D.J. Owens 11-19, Dante Hopkins 2-15, Joshua Krusenklaus 2-4, Max Wesner 1-1
Jacob Combess 1-(minus 1). Linton-Stockton: Lance Dyer 7-139, Cash Howard 5-63, Chance Howard 3-53, Drake Cunningham 4-34, Gavin House 1-24, Trevor Dyer 3-21, Chase Howard 1-15, Clayton Hauser 1-2, Austin Bohnert 1-(minus 3), Dreyden Ward 3-(minus 5), Trey Goodman 3-(minus 16).
PASSING – North Daviess: Combess 6-13-0, 45 yards. Linton-Stockton: Ward 4-5-0, 107 yards; Lance Dyer 1-2-0, 12 yards.
RECEIVING – North Daviess: Wesner 4-41, Allen 2-4. Linton-Stockton: Cash Howard 2-59, Lance Dyer 1-42, Ward 1-12, Dylan Smith 1-6.
