FOOTBALL: Cass holds off Western

WALTON — Kyle Moore and Keith Lee refused to let the Mid-Indiana Conference championship slip away Friday night at Owens Memorial Field.Lewis Cass held a 24-17 lead, but Western had dominated the second half when the Kings took possession with 4:52 remaining. The Panthers’ Jake Lazar had just kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it a one-possession game.Cass picked up a quick first down, but then faced third-and-nine from midfield at 3:02. Moore broke at least two tackles to gain nine yards and the first down. Later, Cass faced third-and-five after Western had used its final timeout at 2:16. Lee used a nice move to free himself on his way to a six-yard pickup and a first down that slammed the door shut on the 24-17 win and the conference championship.“The thing we talked about in the huddle was, you have to dig down deep. You have to want it more than the other team does, and we wanted the MIC [title],” Moore said.Moore finished with a game-high 69 yards rushing on just six carries to lead the Kings. He also spearheaded an outstanding defensive effort.“He is probably one of the best football players I’ve had here,” Cass coach Scott Mannering raved. “He is a really tough kid. That first down he made late, I know two or three guys hit him and most guys would have gone down on that. We had to get [a first down] and he got it.”The Class 2A No. 5 Kings finished 7-0 in conference play to claim their third championship in the last four seasons. The Class 3A No. 3 Panthers settled for second place — also for the third time in the last four seasons.Cass bolted to a 21-0 advantage in the second quarter and took a 24-7 lead into halftime. At that point, Cass had 230 yards of offense and 13 first downs — and Western had seven yards and zero first downs.Western came alive in the second half, but the 17-point halftime deficit proved too much to overcome.“If you start the game at halftime, right? But all the credit in the world to the Cass Kings. They deserve the MIC [title],” Western coach Alix Engle said. “I thought we played two quarters and they played two quarters. Their two quarters just happened to include bigger plays and more points on the board.”The Kings owned the first half. They scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions — and they forced the Panthers into three-and-outs during the same stretch. Moore had tackles for loss to stop the Panthers’ first two drives.Next, Damon Foreman picked off a Western pass at the Western 32. Two plays later, Lee took an inside reverse and raced 28 yards for a touchdown. Justin Hicks’ PAT kick made it 21-0 with 3:21 remaining in the half.The Panthers received a spark when Kyle Brown returned the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, but the Kings followed with another impressive drive that Hicks capped with a 21-yard field goal with less than a second remaining.Cass ran 40 offensive plays in the half while Western ran just 11 as the Kings’ defense dominated.“I challenged them at halftime — ‘Guys, we’re playing so slow and we’re playing soft.’ When you play a team that takes pride in being tough and punishing you, you can’t play slow and you can’t play soft and we did,” Engle said. “But I am proud of this team because they responded in those last two quarters and played their guts out.”Cass left the door open in the third quarter and Western took advantage. The Kings had to punt on their opening drive, then they fumbled on the second drive and the Panthers’ Bart Shepherd recovered at the Cass 14. Four plays later, Mike Jakubowicz scored on a 1-yard TD plunge at 4:01 of the third quarter.Dean Shepherd picked off a Cass pass in the final minute of the quarter, but the Panthers lost a fumble two plays later. Still, the Panthers kept coming. They forced the Kings to turn the ball over on downs with 9:46 remaining. The Panthers followed with a 12-play drive that Lazar capped with his field goal at 4:59 — but the Kings slammed the door with their game-ending drive.The Kings finished with 277 yards rushing. Moore led the way and Colton Zeck (14 carries, 58 yards), Lee (7-52) and Foreman (14-50) also had solid efforts. Foreman, Derrick Worden and Lee had touchdown runs.The Panthers managed just 61 yards rushing and 100 yards total.“That was an outstanding effort by the defense. Scott Rouch, our defensive coordinator, deserves all the credit,” Mannering said. “That’s about as good as we’ve played all season. I’ve seen Western enough to know what they’re capable of and we beat a good team.”