COLUMBUS – The Lancaster football team ended the preseason on a good note in its final scrimmage before things get real with next week’s season opener looming on Aug. 21 against Hilliard Darby.
The Golden Gales traveled to St. Charles on Thursday, Aug. 13. They showed a lot of grit by responding each time they were forced to.
The varsity played two quarters of game-like conditions. St. Charles scored first, and Lancaster responded with a touchdown to tie it. After the Cardinals scored to take a 14-7 lead, the Gales got a defensive stop with just under a minute left, then drove right down the field and scored with only 21 seconds remaining, as the game ended in a 14-14 tie.
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Even though the scrimmage ended in a tie, scoring late was a huge confidence builder heading into the first game.
“That is something we talked about this week in practice with the weather being hit or miss: how are we going to respond to adversity?” Lancaster coach Jeremy McKinney said. “The mark of good teams is they weather adversity and come out the other side. We had some moments where we did some good things, and we had things we needed to correct. I didn’t really feel like we hit the panic button, and I don’t think anyone was worried that it would turn a certain way once we fell behind.”
After St. Charles scored, the Gales responded when senior quarterback Brody Broeckel threw a short pass to senior running back Jahmeir Gordon in the flat. He turned it up, broke two tackles and raced into the end zone.
With the Gales trailing 14-7, Lancaster got the ball back with 53 seconds left. Broeckel completed a pair of passes to Kellen Knock and Jack Pompey, putting the ball inside the 5-yard line. One play later, Gordon scored on a touchdown run.
“That was huge to go down and score,” Broeckel said. “We got down, and we didn’t want to end the scrimmage that way. We were able to get a three-and-out on defense, and I’m glad we got the ball back. We haven’t run the two-minute drill that much in practice, so it felt good to be able to go out and execute it at a high level. I always have confidence in our guys, regardless of the situation. That was the expectation in that situation to go down and score.”
McKinney said he is excited for week one.
“Now we get to see the work we put in and what that can lead to,” McKinney said. “They have done everything we’ve asked them to do for the last seven months. Now it’s just taking that next step. At some point, it’s not the coaches; it’s the players pulling each other up, and that’s the next step for us. We named our captains and our leaders, so I am excited to see those kids lean in and see how that goes.”
Five captains were voted on by their teammates, including Broeckel, Gordon, Jackson Reynolds, Nik Brown, and Kellen Knock.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Lancaster football rallies late to tie St. Charles in final scrimmage