Wheeler, limited to 32 yards of total offense through the first three quarters, got touchdown drives of 75 and 59 yards in the fourth and rallied to beat Lassiter 13-12 in a Region 6-6A game Friday night at Wheeler’s Corky Kell Stadium.
Taylor Smith scored on a 1-yard run to cut Lassiter’s lead to 12-7 with 9:55 remaining, and a 10-yard pass from Alexander Stack to Jordan McInnis with 5:05 to play provided the winning points.
The victory keeps Wheeler (2-3, 2-1) in a tie with Pope for fourth place behind Allatoona, Sprayberry and Kell, all of which are undefeated in region play. Lassiter, which entered the night tied with Wheeler and Pope, fell to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the region.
Wheeler trailed 12-0 early in the fourth quarter when it took possession at its 25-yard line after Lassiter mishandled the snap on a 25-yard field-goal attempt. Stack threw a 32-yard pass to Mark Essley on the first play and followed with a 42-yard pass to Devin Clark, both down the left sideline, moving the ball to the Lassiter 1-yard line. Smith scored two plays later.
Stack had been 3-of-14 passing for 6 yards in the game before that drive but finished the night 7-of-19 for 97 yards.
“In the course of a game, you keep telling the kids and the coaches to make sure you keep believing, keep believing in what we did in practice, believe in what our program is about, and we’ve got to take this next step,” Wheeler coach Bryan Love said. “All we need is for one electrifying play to happen, and we were able to get that long pass down the sideline.”
Wheeler forced a three-and-out on Lassiter’s next possession and got the ball at the Wildcats' 41 with 8:17 to play. From there, the Wildcats drove 59 yards in seven plays and took the lead for good on McInnis' reception. The Wildcats' two-point attempt failed.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, which was played in a steady rain. Lassiter got the only points in the half on Dixon Noland’s 10-yard touchdown run and Drew Campbell’s extra point with 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Wheeler picked up first downs on two of its first four offensive plays and another midway through the first quarter, but the Wildcats did not get another one until a 12-yard run by Stack with 2:09 left in the third quarter. Lassiter finished the first half with a 96-44 advantage in total offense.
Lassiter expanded the lead to 12-0 in the third quarter despite not getting a first down, but the Trojans got assistance from two errant snaps by the Wheeler punt team. The first gave the Trojans the ball at the Wheeler 8-yard line. After three running plays yielded 1 yard, Campbell kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it 10-0.
Later in the quarter, another snap sailed over the head of Stack, who also punted, and into the end zone, where Stack fell on it for a safety and a 12-0 Lassiter lead.
“We felt like we could move the ball, but we were stopping ourselves in the first three quarters,” Love said. “They did a good job of bringing pressure, but we were very methodical in our approach. But the weather kinda broke a little bit, we got some stops defensively and we finally got some field position, which was key.”
Wheeler finished the game with 149 yards of total offense, a number that was hurt by the 45 yards in losses on the two punt snaps. Lassiter had 140 total yards.
“Playing against the triple-option, it was not fun all week long,” Love said. “We practiced all week long without a football, trying to get our assignments. You can stop them for three quarters and then all of a sudden in one play they can break out, and that can be the difference in the ballgame.”
Lassiter - 0-7-5-0 - 12
Wheeler - 0-0-0-13 - 13
Second quarter
L - Dixon Noland 10 run (Drew Campbell kick), 0:58
Third quarter
L - Campbell 26 field goal, 6:21
L - Safety, 1:15
Fourth quarter
W - Taylor Smith 1 run (Zac Adkins kick), 9:55
W - Jordan McInnis 10 pass from Alexander Stack (pass failed), 5:05
About the Author
