Update: Wildcats Fall in Playoff's First Round

Updated post: The Lexington Wildcats' historic, dream season is over.

Despite a stellar night by star receiver and USC recruit Shaq Roland, who scored three TDs, the Wildcats were beaten by the Blythewood Bengals 32-28 in the first round of the state AAAA Division 1 football playoffs Friday night at Wildcat Stadium.

The loss undoubtedly will go down as the state's biggest upset of the night. 

Ranked second in the state, and 79th nationally, the third-seed Wildcats saw their season-long dreams of a state championship fade late in the game against a 14-seed Bengals squad they soundly thumped 52-17 earlier in the regular season.

Blythewood got on the board first in the game and a lethargic Wildcats squad found itself struggling the rest of the game. Despite a couple of quick scores early in the second half that put the Wildcats ahead and apparently cruising towards victory, the Bengals clawed their way back late, using a TD and a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. 

A final drive by the Wildcats, down four points with less than two minutes to go, stalled thanks to two back-to-back penalties that pinned the Wildcats deep in their own territory. 

With the victory, the supposedly lowly Bengals, just 5-6 during the regular season, stormed the field along with fans as the last seconds ticked off the clock. The opposite side of the field just sat stunned. 

Original post: It's been an historic season for the Lexington High School Wildcats' football team. 11-0. Perfect. But tonight? Tonight is when the real fun -- and challenge -- begins.

At 7:30 p.m. tonight on its home field, the undefeated and second-ranked (statewide) Wildcats start the against Midlands rival, Blythewood High School.

It's really the start of a brand new season tonight, but if very recent history is any indication, Lexington should win tonight behind an explosive offense led by QB Will Hunter, wide receiver Shaq Roland, and powerhouse running back Kevin Miller -- as well as an improving defense, which has been the team's biggest question mark all season. 

The Wildcats -- the third-seed in the playoffs -- beat the 14th-seed Bengals on Sept. 2 by a score of 52-17.

But don't take Patch's word for it. The experts at the national sports Web site, MaxPreps, list Lexington as the clear favorite. Their final-score prediction? Wildcats, 44-20.

While LHS has been stuck in second-place all year behind Upstate powerhouse, the Gaffney Indians, MaxPreps has upgraded the Wildcats' national HS ranking to 79, as the squad has marched through the regular season unscathed, and unchallenged in all but of a couple of games. 

(The state's top-ranked Gaffney, incidentally, which is the early favorite to win the state championship, is ranked fifth and ninth in two different national polls).

But for Lexington, hope springs eternal -- and it all begins tonight. But, for certain and in the meantime, the Wildcats have clearly earned the distinction of dominating the Midlands this season and in the two-game slugfest known as "Battle of the Dam" -- , and outlasting Dutch Fork (ranked fifth in the state and 256th nationally)

Do you think Lexington can go all the way this year? Tell us why in the comments.