LEXINGTON — Madison and Mother Nature were no match for the Lexington offense on Friday night.
The Minutemen racked up more than 300 yards rushing in the first half and raced to a 42-16 win over Madison in an Ohio Cardinal Conference clash amid rainy, windy conditions.
It was the fourth straight win for coach Taylor Gerhardt’s squad, and has Lex fans thinking playoffs and OCC title share heading into a Week 10 matchup with 2-7 Canton South.
“We don’t allow (the players) to talk about it, they don’t do it in front of me,” Gerhardt said. “The only thing we can do is take care of what’s in front of us and everything else takes care of itself.”
Lexington (5-4 overall, 5-1 in the OCC) scored on its first five possessions, ran for more than 300 yards and recovered a fumble in the end zone all in the first two periods.
Ohio State bound senior Cade Stover rumbled for 141 yards and two touchdowns, and got things rolling with a 56-yard run on the first snap.
“We’re really starting to put it together,” Stover said. “We’re running the ball very effectively.
“When you run the ball effectively and control the clock it demoralizes the other team.”
Teammate Alex Green tore off 155 yards and a pair of scores from 55 and 41 yards.
“Our line is really stepping up, all of our running backs are dropping 100-yard games,” Green said.
Indeed, this is the third time during the four-game winning streak the Minutemen have run for more than 300 yards. It’s quite a turnaround for a team that was 1-4 at one point.
“I haven’t been around a more resilient group of kids in my entire career,” Gerhardt said.
Kayden Berry added a 5-yard TD run and freshman Corbin Green pounced on a Ram fumble in the end zone to put the game out of reach by intermission.
The Minutemen led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and goosed it to 42-0 at halftime.
Junior Miles Bond was a bright spot for Madison (1-8, 0-5), rushing for more than 250 yards, including an 80-yard TD dash to open the third quarter and a 60-yard touchdown jaunt in the fourth period. A safety with 1:54 remaining finished the scoring.
The Minutemen will be scoreboard watching and computer plotting all week. Gerhardt’s squad came into the weekend 7th in the computer region, with the top eight teams making the playoffs.
Lex also has a shot at a share of the OCC title, but it would need Ashland to pull an upset at Wooster (5-0 in the OCC) next weekend.
“We have two goals every year, win the OCC and play in Week 11,” Gerhardt said. “We always tell the kids, never give in, never up.”
The Rams will finish their season at home on Friday night against arch-rival Mansfield Senior.
