H.S. Football: Keystone's ability to respond makes all the difference against Wellington

LAGRANGE — The two times the Wellington Dukes either took a lead or tied the game in the second half Friday, the Keystone Wildcats responded with a score on their next possession. It was that resilience which helped the Wildcats overcome a slow start offensively and close out a 22-14 victory in Lorain County Leagueplay in front of a capacity crowd on homecoming at Wildcat Stadium. "Crosstown rival, backyard brawl, whatever you want to call it, it feels good," Keystone coach Don Griswold said. "It's been no secret that we've struggled. A lot of injuries. We've played three freshmen a lot, so it's good. It's validating. "That's who we've been all year. Despite the injuries and all the adversity we've had, our kids are tough, blue-collar kids, high character. They don't give up. They just come to work every day and get better." Down by six points to start the second half, the Dukes successfully recovered an onside kick at the Keystone 46-yard line. Then they methodically worked the ball down the field before junior wide receiver Baron Turner Jr. took a jet sweep around right end, stiff-armed his way out of a tackle attempt and powered across the goal line. Alex Frenk's extra point gave the Dukes a 7-6 lead, but the advantage lasted all of 11 seconds. On the ensuing kickoff, Keystone senior receiver Vincent Taylor caught the ball on a bounce at his own 30-yard line, followed his blockers up the near sideline and cut back toward the numbers to elude the final Dukes player in front of him before reaching the end zone. Senior running back Kadin Stivason converted the 2-point conversion run to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead. "It felt great," Taylor said of the special teams score. "I saw the open lane and I just took it. My guys took care of business, and the outcome was we scored. I got the score for my guys, the crowd got loud, and that's what we wanted." The Dukes responded with an eight-play, 55-yard drive that junior quarterback Landon Wright capped with a 17-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Nolan Sasack. The extra point evened the score with 2:02 to play in the third quarter. However, the Wildcats answered with their longest drive of the game, in terms of plays, yards and time of possession. Keystone executed a 14-play, 65-yard drive that Stivason finished with a 2-yard touchdown run behind the left side of his offensive line. Then, senior quarterback Paul Horten called his own number on the 2-point conversion attempt and scored with a bootleg run to the right side of the field to give the Wildcats a 22-14 lead. The drive took more than eight minutes off the clock. "That's small-school football," Wellington coach Rob Howells said. "You've got a lot of guys going two ways. All of the credit to them. They've got some big guys up front that are tough and physical, and they wore on us for four quarters. It just came to fruition in that fourth quarter there." The fireworks in the second half came in stark contrast to how the offenses played before halftime. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Dukes gained a first down on just two plays. However, after a run for a 3-yard loss, Keystone junior two-way player Grady Whitacre intercepted Wright and returned the ball to the Wellington 40. On the ensuing play, Horten found junior running back Wyatt Rose behind tight coverage along the sideline for a gain of 35 yards to set up a first-and-goal from the Wellington 5. Stivason then followed his left tackle and guard into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. The Dukes blocked the point-after attempt. Despite giving Wellington two free first downs on the next possession on personal-foul and unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties over a three-play stretch, the Wildcats made the lead stand up for the rest of the half. "A win feels good," Griswold said. "It cleanses a lot of sins, and we've just got to keep it going." Contact Matt Florjancic at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.