SHINNSTON, W.Va. — Frankfort attempted one pass Friday night in a Class AA first-round playoff matchup against Lincoln.
It just so happened to go a long way toward saving the Falcons’ season.
After the No. 4 Cougars went ahead for the first time at 17-14, the Falcons answered with a 63-yard touchdown drive aided by a 32-yard pass from quarterback Luke Robinette to John Anderson. Five plays after the long play through the air, Parker VanMeter scored on a 3-yard run for what proved to be the winning TD, allowing No. 13 seed Frankfort to prevail at Stydahar Field, 21-17.
“That pass play was huge. I had my fingers crossed and Luke made a nice play and John Anderson made a nice play on the ball,” FHS coach Kevin Whiteman said. “That last drive was very nice. We were running hard. Parker had some nice runs. It was good timing. We had that formation with that quick pitch and we were waiting all night to run it and it was perfect timing to run it. It helped set up the touchdown.”
The victory allows Frankfort (7-4) to play No. 5 Poca in a quarterfinal next week.
Robinette’s 32-yard pass came on second-and-9 from the Cougars’ 49, and although he was relatively well-covered, Anderson came up with a critical catch that put Frankfort in the red zone.
“We focused on the run so much, we were worried that they’d break a guy wide open,” LHS coach Rob Hawkins said. “We had two defenders there, but unfortunately, we didn’t get our heads turned to see it, so they get the long completion. I can’t fault our defense. Frankfort came out and played hard the last two drives and drove it, and after that, our defense stiffened up and did a good job.”
Lincoln (8-3) got the ball back with 6:10 left and got two first downs on pass interference penalties, the second of which came on fourth-and-5.
Facing fourth-and-7 from the Falcons’ 37, Nick Kellar’s pass fell incomplete, allowing the Falcons to regain possession with 1:35 remaining.
VanMeter’s 7-yard run on the third play of that series allowed the Falcons to expire what was left of the clock.
Frankfort dominated the opening quarter to build a 14-0 lead. The Falcons got a 39-yard touchdown run from Peyton Clark to hold a 7-0 lead 3:27 into the contest. After forcing a three-and-out, Frankfort drove 66 yards in seven plays and doubled its advantage on Clark’s 10-yard run with 2:34 to play in the opening quarter.
“We overcame a ton of adversity,” Whiteman said. “The first quarter, we were lights out and played great. Everything fell apart after that. All the penalties and I’m disappointed with some of the penalties. But we kept battling and that’s the main thing. We preach about being relentless warriors and that’s what we were tonight.”
The Falcons’ led by 14 until late in the first half when Lincoln produced its first points on Liam Gallegher’s 25-yard field goal. The Cougars capitalized on an inadvertent whistle that allowed them another attempt at the kick after Gallegher’s original try was blocked.
Trailing 14-3, the Cougars marched 57 yards and reached the end zone on their first drive of the second half when Kellar tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Lopez. That cut Lincoln’s deficit to four at the 8:52 mark of the third quarter.
Lincoln had a chance to take the lead on its next series, but Kellar was intercepted by Landon Kinser for a touchback.
“We bent a ton,” Whiteman said, “but we didn’t really break and that was key.”
The Cougars, however, didn’t squander their next opportunity to go in front as Kellar again found Lopez, this time for a 25-yard touchdown that allowed LHS to take its first lead two plays into the fourth quarter.
“We adjusted the blocking scheme at halftime and it definitely made a difference,” Hawkins said. “We were able to get the run game going.”
But the Falcons didn’t waver, and instead answered with their most important scoring of the season that allowed them to prevail on the road.
“We played well offensively in the second half,” Hawkins said, “but had a couple drives that didn’t hit home and that’s the difference in the game.”