New Lex flexes muscles in toppling Morgan
McCONNELSVILLE — New Lexington showed off its physicality early on Friday.
The visiting Panthers manhandled Morgan in the trenches and Hunter Rose found the end zone three times in helping build a 26-0 first-half advantage.
The early surge was more than enough for New Lexington, which took control of the Muskingum Valley League-Small School Division with a 40-23 victory at The Athletic Field.
The Panthers, who are 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the division, outgained the Raiders 255-3 through the first 16 minutes of the game as Rose finished with 274 yards on the ground. They did not allow a first down until about seven minutes left in the first half.
New Lex coach Kevin Board applauded his line play, as well as Rose's legs, in allowing his team to take control.
"We always want to set the tone. Our line opened holes for Hunter, who took care of the rest," Board said. "They're a running team, and we wanted to get them out of their comfort zone. We did that by building the early lead, and our defense did a good job putting pressure on their passing game."
Morgan has lost three of four games to drop to 4-3 and are 1-1 in the division with a trip to West Muskingum looming.
Raiders coach Chase Bowman had confidence in his team's game plan, but the lackluster opening quarter left him confounded after the game.
"We ran for 150 yards against a good Tri-Valley defense last week, and New Lex has a good defense, too, but we couldn't get anything going," he said. "I felt we had some answers for their running game, and it didn't happen. They outphysicaled us (in the first quarter). We competed later in the game, but it was a disappointing start."
New Lex was ready from the opening whistle. The Panthers needed only four plays to cover 60 yards, as Rose gashed the Raider defense for a 25-yard touchdown run at the 10:25 mark of the first quarter. The two-point play failed, as the lead was 6-0.
Morgan was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 at midfield to end its opening possession, and New Lex moved back down the field. Rose had a 14-yard carry on third-and-8, and Lukas Ratliff ran for eight on fourth-and-3, which led to Rose burrowing his way in from the 1. A Tristen Barrowman extra point pushed the advantage to 13-0 with five minutes left in the first quarter.
A quick 3-and-out by the Raiders was answered on New Lex's next play. Rose burst through a hole and outran the Morgan defense for an 86-yard scoring scamper. The margin was 20-0 after another Barrowman kick with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
Rose had 132 of his yards in the opening stanza. Board praised the mentality he brings to the field.
"He's a tremendous competitor with a great ability to see the field," he remarked. "He seems to run harder as the defense pursues and the end zone gets closer. Along with our line, our wide receivers blocked well down the field for him. He makes the most of the blocking.
"He's a fast, strong, physical back and the total package," Board added. "He's definitely a great asset to our offense."
Despite the Panthers' momentum, a muffed punt nearly gave it to Morgan. However, the defense made another stand as Michael Vernon sacked Logan Niceswanger on fourth down.
Rose's legs, which gained 31 yards on two carries, led to Ratliff finding Tatem Toth for a 25-yard scoring strike. The extra point hit the post, but the lead was 26-0 with 8:20 left in the first half.
The Raiders answered with their only score of the first half. Niceswanger found Kole Searl for 15 yards on third-and-13, and Carson Copeland gashed New Lex for an 18-yard gain. Those plays helped Morgan reach the New Lex 10. Then, on fourth-and-goal, Niceswanger got off a pass under extreme pressure that Searl hauled in for a 9-yard TD. Copeland added the extra point to make it 26-7 at the half.
Neither team mustered much offense in the third, but the Raiders busted through early in the fourth. Searl used a 25-yard gain on a wide receiver screen to keep the drive going, and Niceswanger hit Copeland in the flat for a 10-yard touchdown to cap the 10-play, 55-yard drive. Niceswanger added a two-point run to cut the deficit to 26-15 with 11:35 left in the fourth.
Each team turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing possessions before Rose secured the win with his fourth TD, racing 44 yards with 4:23 remaining.
Niceswanger connected with Copeland for a 13-yard touchdown, while Ratliff capped the scoring with a 17-yard TD run.
New Lex held a 384-285 edge in total yards. Ratliff was 9-of-17 for 93 yards with a TD and an interception and added 30 yards on the ground, Isaac Dick had two catches for 33 yards and Jerek Braglin had three receptions for 24 yards.
While Board was pleased with the victory, he knows consistency is the key if the Panthers want to make a postseason run.
"We're doing a lot of good things, but we're still hurting ourselves. We have to stop that to meet our goals," he said. "We competed well against a team the caliber of Tri-Valley, but our mistakes cost us in that game. If we want to compete with teams like Sheridan and Licking Valley, we have to execute and play cleaner.
"We've showed our potential, but we can't give up momentum when we have it," he added. "We have to take better care of the ball and cut down on bad penalties. We'll focus on cleaning that up."
Niceswanger completed 22 of 43 passes for 231 yards with 3 TDs and an interception, Searl caught 10 passes for 121 yards with a score and Coleman Welsh had four receptions for 49 yards. Copeland also had six catches for 37 yards with a pair of scores, but was held to 31 yards on seven carries.
Bowman challenged his team following the game, knowing other goals are within reach if the Raiders want them.
"I told them our options are to go back to our losing culture or continue to build that winning culture," he said. "I hope our guys chose the latter one, but we will see what we're made of. We have another big game next week."
bhannahs@gannett.com; @brandonhannahs
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: New Lex flexes muscles in toppling Morgan
