THE SPORTS DESK
Prep Football: Foxes make most of receptions, deny Cyclones
VICTORY OVER EASTERN VIEW GIVES KING GEORGE HOME PLAYOFF GAME
BY KURT NICOLL
FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR
On a night accented by errant throws and dropped passes, it was two catches on King George’s final two possessions (one which did not count) that had a major bearing on the Foxes’ 23–21 victory over Eastern View Friday night.
First came an apparent difficult catch by the Foxes’ Raheem White, who landed hard on the ground, but managed to hang on, which would have given King George the ball at near midfield.
Bouncing up, the receiver in his exuberance flipped the ball away, and the nearest official ruled the pass incomplete. The Cyclones
(4–6, 2–5) responded with a quarterback sack, then, upon regaining possession, followed with a 37-yard scoring drive to close to within two points with 3:11 remaining.
“I told him next time to just hand the ball to the official,” Foxes coach Jeff Smith recalled after the non-catch.
Alon Clipper did not duplicate the mistake a short time later when he hauled in Corey Henderson’s third-down pass over his shoulder, between two defenders, and along the right sidelines. Crowd, players and coaches held their collective breath until the official ruled the 40-yard reception was good.
Henderson added another first down and the Foxes (8–2, 5–2) then ran out the clock to ensure the victory.
The win assured the Foxes of hosting their first regional playoff game in 12 years.
“I knew we had to buckle down and I had to make that catch to run down the time,” Clipper said. “It was a little overthrown, but I had to haul it down. That was the only thing that was going through my mind—to win this game.”
The visiting Cyclones turned in a gutty effort, led by quarterback Brandon Settle and wide receiver–linebacker Shaquille Robinson, actually totaling more yards, 245–231, than the Foxes. But Eastern View was done in by four turnovers as well as a botched punt attempt where the snap hit a second-line blocker, leading to the Foxes’ first touchdown.
Xavier James sparked the defense with two interceptions and also recovered a fumble when teammate Jordi Estes knocked the ball out of Settle’s hands from behind at the Foxes’ 15-yard line late in the first half.
Settle shook off the miscues, though, rushing for two scores and 80 yards and made stellar on-the-run completions to Robinson and Justin Gardiner, good for 76 yards and one TD.
Besides his catch, Robinson was all over the field, recording three tackles for losses, and pushing Estes out-of-bounds after a 38-yard gain. The play denied King George another touchdown, forcing it to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Javon Haas.
On the ensuing kickoff, Settle made do with a 60-yard return after being confronted by Haas, allowing his Foxes teammates to close and make the tackle. Chase Bailey’s subsequent field goal attempt from 27 yards sailed wide right.
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Eastern View 0 7 7 7 — 21
King George 7 13 3 0 — 23
First Quarter
KG-C. Henderson 5-yard run (L. Armentrout kick)
Second Quarter
KG-K. Harvey 2-yard run (L. Armentrout kick)
KG-D. Brown 8-yard run (kick failed)
EV-B. Settle 31-yard run (C. Bailey kick)
Third Quarter
EV-J. Gardiner 37-yard pass from B. Settle (C. Bailey kick)
KG-J. Haas 40-yard field goal
Fourth Quarter
EV-B. Settle 1-yard run (C. Bailey kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
EV KG
First downs14 12
Rushing yardage40-151 40-156
Passing yardage94 75
Passes6-16-2 4-15-0
Punts-Avg.2-45.0 6-38.3
Fumbles-lost3-2 2-0
Penalties-yards2-10 6-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: King George—Jordi Estes 20-127; Deshon Brown 5-23, TD; Jacob Baker 4-18; Kendall Harvey 1-2, TD; Corey Henderson 10-(-14), TD. Eastern View—Brandon Settle 20-80, 2TD; Kendrick Kube 11-48; Kendall Daniels 8-35; Travis Jolly 1-(-12).
Passing: King George—Corey Henderson 4-15-0 75. Eastern View—Brandon Settle 6-14-2 94, TD; Jacob Settle 0-1-0 0; Justin Gardiner 0-1-0 0.
Receiving: King George—Alon Clipper 2-48; Jacob Baker 1-20; Raheem White 1-7. Eastern View—Justin Gardiner 2-43, TD; Shaquille Robinson 1-33; Kendall Daniels 1-11; Jacob Settle 2-7.
