Hounds hold on for 16-14 Homecoming win over Ladysmith
Big plays, defensive stops, turnovers, key penalties -- Loyal’s Sept. 24 Homecoming football game against Ladysmith had it all. And that was just in the game’s final two minutes.
Loyal hung on for the 16-14 non-conference win in a game in which it led at halftime but couldn’t generate much offense after that. Ladysmith moved the ball for almost twice as many yards as the Greyhounds, but football games are won on the scoreboard, not the stat sheet.
It started slowly, with neither offense moving the ball on its first possessions. After Ladysmith’s second punt in the first quarter, Loyal struck quickly as sophomore running back Louie Nikolai found space around the right edge of the Lumberjack defense and scooted 55 yards for a score. Quarterback Eli Zettler found Drew Stieglitz open in the end zone for a 2-point conversion play for an 8-0 Greyhound lead with 6:37 left in the period.
Loyal forced yet another Lumberjack punt on the next possession, but then fumbled on its first offensive play to give Ladysmith possession on the Loyal 29-yard line. That was the spark the visitors needed, and they covered the distance to the end zone in eight plays. Grant Rydlund plowed in for the score from a yard out, and Aiden Wilson carried in the 2-point conversion to tie the game.
Loyal retook the lead at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter, capping off a 67-yard, 10-play drive on Nikolai’s 4-yard run. The Greyhounds ran the same conversion play, with Zettler again connecting with Stieglitz for a 16-8 lead.
Ladysmith drove deep into Loyal territory late in the half.
Aiden Wilson caught a 25-yard pass to the Loyal 11-yard line with under a minute left on the clock, but Ladysmith could not get any closer. Quarterback Logan Alberson was tackled on a fourth-down scramble as Loyal’s defense preserved the lead at the half.
Loyal punted after a 3-and out on its first possession of the second half. Ladysmith’s offense rolled on its first drive after the break, covering 78 yards on 15 plays for a score. Rydlund carried on nine of the plays and broke into the end zone from two yards out to get the score to 16-14. In what would be one of the decisive plays of the game, the interior of the Greyhound defense stuffed Rydlund on the conversion run attempt.
Loyal punted again after just three plays, but caught a break when Ladysmith fumbled on its fourth play after the punt. The Greyhounds took over on their own 38-yard line with 14 seconds left in the third period, but for the third straight drive could not generate a single first down.
Ladysmith started another drive, but Nikolai stopped it by picking off an Alberson pass and returning it inside the Lumberjack 40-yard line. A late hit penalty on the return moved the ball all the way to the Lumberjack 25-yard line with 8:08 left in the game.
With a chance to increase its lead, Loyal instead turned the ball over again with a fumble on its second play.
On its own 14-yard line with 7:22 left, Ladysmith got one first down with the run, then went to the air. Alberson and Wilson hooked up for a pass play down the right seam for 30 yards to the Loyal 32. Three running plays picked up nine yards, leaving the Lumberjacks with a fourth-and-1 play from the Loyal 23. They went to the workhorse Rydlund again, but the Loyal interior defense plugged the gap and stopped him short.
Loyal took over at its 22 with 3:27 left. A facemask penalty on a second-down run gave the Hounds their only first down of the second half. Nikolai was then stopped for a loss on a third-and-2 play, and Loyal punted for the seventh time of the night with 1:22 left. It got one final break, as the Lumberjack return man muffed the catch and Loyal recovered at the Ladysmith 33-yard line. With no time-outs left, Ladysmith could do nothing as Loyal ran out the clock.
Ladysmith ended the game with 305 yards of offense, compared to 156 for the Hounds. Loyal ran 38 times for 156 yards. Nikolai had 107 yards on 15 carries and Sullivan Hansen added 38 yards on 16 carries.
Zettler passed twice with no completions.
Rydlund carried for 137 yards on 32 attempts. Alberson passed 13 times with four completions for 72 yards.
DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO
Point taken
Loyal’s Aspen Hagen drives the ball past Greenwood’s Jasmine Wolf for a point during the Greyhound-Indian Eastern Cloverbelt Conference volleyball match on Sept. 23 in Loyal. Greenwood won the match 3-2.
DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO
