MADISON TOWNSHIP — Lexington quarterback Joe Caudill is bigger and stronger than many of the defenders trying to tackle him.
At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, the sophomore linebacker is also bigger and stronger than many of the offensive players he encounters.
Both of those factors paid off Friday night in a 31-21 win for the Minutemen at cross-county rival Madison in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
Caudill rushed for 112 yards and one TD and passed for 151 yards and another score as Lexington (4-5, 3-3) snapped a three-game losing streak and kept its postseason hopes alive.
On defense, Caudill ended the final Madison (1-8, 1-5) possession of the night with an interception.
In just his ninth varsity start leading the Lexington offense, the two-way performer has proven the role is not too big. A week ago, he passed for 224 yards and ran for two TDs in a narrow loss to New Philadelphia.
“I just trust Joe running the ball,” Lexington second-year head coach Andrew Saris said. “We’ve seen it (improving) in every game.
“I think he’s gotten better and better and better. He’s just a great running quarterback,” Saris said. “Big kid and hard to bring down.”
Short field, important points
Caudill played the biggest role late in the third quarter and early in the fourth as Lexington scored 10 points in less than five minutes on a TD and a field goal that followed short Madison punts.
Trailing 13-6, Lexington took over on the Madison 19-yard line after a 1-yard net punt. Caudill ran four times in a row, scoring on a 1-yard run to help Lex take a 14-13 lead with 3:49 left in the third quarter.
When Madison went three-and-out on its next possession, another short punt gave Lexington the ball at the Rams’ 28-yard line.
Caudill completed a couple of passes before the drive stalled and junior Will Perkins kicked a 21-yard field goal to extend the Minutemen lead to 17-13 with 11:05 to play.
First-year Madison coach Brent Beasancon said New Philadelphia had success running the ball on the outside against the Rams two weeks ago, just as Caudill did Friday night on QB keeps.
“We have got to contain and get the play pushed back inside,” he said. “Without seeing film, a lot (the runs) were on their sidelines and I couldn’t see them very well.
“You have got to get the play turned in to people coming from inside out,” Beasancon said.
Three scores in final 6:30
Caudill was at it again midway through the fourth quarter when Lexington drove 69 yards on seven plays, rushing for 38 yards on a drive that saw senior Mason Green score on a 2-yard run with 6:30 left to put the Minutemen up 24-13.
But the Rams, who got their first win at Mount Vernon last week, struck back quickly. Sophomore Kaleb Gordon raced 63 yards on Madison’s next play from scrimmage, cutting the lead to 24-21 with 6:11 left.
Caudill, however, was still not done.
He drove the offense 77 yards on 10 plays, including a 42-yard pass to sophomore Brayden Fogle on a third-and-five near midfield. Sophomore Markale Martin’s 7-yard TD run with 1:56 left put the game away.
Beasancon said it came down to execution.
“In one series (in the third quarter), I think we dropped three passes. You can’t win football games doing that,” he said.
A work in progress
Besancon, who owns and operates a dairy farm near Smithville, is the Rams’ third coach in as many years.
A veteran assistant coach for powerhouse Smithville teams that included Saris as a player, he knows it’s a building process, especially on a team with just a handful of seniors, all of whom were honored Friday during Senior Night.
related reading
“There’s seven of them and two of them have been injured for a while. They’ve been a good group of guys for me to be around. I’m happy they’re my first group of seniors and I really felt as though we played to the end (tonight),” Besancon said.
Junior quarterback Cameron Kuhn passed for 166 yards for the Rams. Junior Owen Wigton led Madison with 155 yards on just five receptions, including an 80-yard TD catch.
Earlier this week, Saris told Richland Source that Besancon was his favorite coach when he was an All-Ohio defensive back at Smithville.
Those memories came back Friday night when he looked across the field at his former coach in the same stadium in which Saris once worked as a Madison assistant.
“I’m sure we’ll catch up a little bit tomorrow, but we’re both pretty busy right now. He’s one of those guys and it’s one of those situations where you could spend years apart (and) when you come together again … it’s like I’m 17 again and he’s Coach B,” Saris said.
“I thought those kids, that Madison team, played extremely hard. I am proud of the win. I think both of these teams had the opportunity to win it with the way (the Rams) played. Fortunately for us, we came away with it,” Saris said.
Up next
Lexington hosts Ashland (5-4, 3-3) in the regular-season finale next Friday night. It’s a must-win game if the Minutemen want to be among the 16 teams in their Division III region to advance to the playoffs.
According to www.JoeEitel.com, after week nine, Lexington is 20th in the 26-team region. Ashland is 12th.
“We told ourselves this week it’s a playoff game. In order for us to make it, we have to treat them like playoff games. So we’re going to go into Week 10 the same way,” he said.
Madison concludes its season next Friday night in the annual crosstown rivalry game at OCC leader Mansfield Senior (7-2, 6-0).
SCORING PLAYS
1st quarter
Madison — Khris Adkins-Tolbert 33-yard run (PAT Camden Moysi kick), 7-0
Lexington — Seven Allen 28-yard pass from Joe Caudill (PAT Will Perkins kick), 7-7
Madison — Owen Wigton 80-yard pass from Cameron Kuhn (PAT run failed), 13-7
2nd quarter
No scoring
3rd quarter
Lexington — Caudill 1-yard run (PAT Perkins kick), 14-13
4th quarter
Lexington — Perkins 21-yard field goal, 17-13
Lexington — Mason Green 2-yard run (PAT Perkins kick), 24-13
Madison — Kaleb Gordon 63-yard run (PAT Adkins-Tolbert run), 24-21
Lexington — Markale Martin 7-yard run (PAT Perkins kicks), 31-21
