Fellowship Paladins Fall To Christian Heritage

Submitted by John Heid, sports information director at Fellowship Christian School

The Paladin defense did everything it could, but a victory eluded the Fellowship Christian School varsity football team on Friday night.

FCS led 12-0 at halftime, but could not hang on as Christian Heritage School scored 13 points in the second half to win the Single A Region game. It was a heart-breaking loss for the Paladins, now 1-3 overall.

The Lions scored on a 95-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter and added the extra point kick to cut the lead to 12-7 with about 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Christian Heritage capped a 70-yard-plus drive with a 17-yard TD run on a sweep play with about 3:00 to go. The Lions converted three fourth-down plays, including a fake punt that earned barely enough yardage to keep the game-winning drive going.

“Each team member played their heart out tonight,” head coach Al Morrell said after the game. “It’s a game of inches. They just made enough on that fake punt to keep that drive alive. We played great defensively all night. Our execution was good defensively. They really played well and had a lot of positive energy on that side of the ball. They scored on that long run on a trap play. It was a very tough loss.”

The Paladins had the ball twice in the final 3:00 but could not score. Senior quarterback Shane Young was stopped about nine yards short on a scramble on a 4th-and-20 play near midfield on a run he was very close to breaking. After the FCS defense forced a punt three plays later, the Paladins took over with 50 seconds to go. But Young was sacked on the last play of the game before the Paladins could get into field-goal range.

“Bottom line is we should have scored more points,” Morrell said. “Our defense just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, but a lot of things hurt us offensively. We did execute well enough. We had too many opportunities in the red zone that we did not capitalize on. We needed more touchdowns.”

Junior Jake Williamson booted a pair of first-quarter field goals from 41 and 19 yards to give the Paladins the 6-0 lead.

The Paladins extended the lead as Young scored on an eight-yard run at 5:22 of the second quarter. Williamson’s extra-point kick sailed wide left to leave the score 12-0. Young led the FCS offense with 85 all-purpose yards and 46 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Christian Heritage beat FCS twice last season, including an overtime thriller that eliminated the Paladins from state playoff contention. The Lions are now 4-0 all-time against Fellowship, and improved to 2-2 this season.

FCS gained 127 yards in the game, including 88 on the ground. Sophomore Andrew Minkert collected 28 yards on 11 carries. Young completed five passes for 39 yards, including two to sophomore Ryan Reid for a team-high 17 receiving yards.

Junior Clay Buchweitz led the Paladins with 10 assisted tackles and 13 total stops. Sophomore Jack Hardin collected 12 tackles, including nine assists. He led the squad with three tackles for losses.

Senior Deklan Reid finished third on the team with 11 total tackles, including nine assisted stops. Ryan Reid registered an interception and finished with four solo tackles and five assist stops. Junior Jackson Pryor finished with eight assisted tackles and recorded two tackles for losses.

Buchweitz, junior Reed Kroeber and Deklan Reid all notched one sack.

The Paladins will have a bye week to get ready for their next game. They have six consecutive contests in as many weeks against Region 6-A opponents.

The Paladins will look to snap their three-game losing streak on Homecoming Night against King’s Ridge Christian School at Paladin Field on Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

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