LEXINGTON — The Lexington Minutemen were trying to cook up a plateful of Ohio Cardinal Conference revenge Friday night.
Seniors Seven Allen and Joe Caudill brought all the ingredients.
Nearly a year to the day after watching Ashland complete a perfect regular season – capped by an outright OCC crown in a win over them – the Minutemen bit back with a 43-35 retaliation.
Allen seemed invincible throughout the instant classic at Lexington High School, scoring a career-high three touchdowns on a 25-yard run, a 94-yard catch and a 60-yard pick-6.
The reward was the first outright OCC title since 2008 for the Minutemen (9-1, 6-0), who snapped a 19-game win streak for the Arrows (9-1, 5-1) and locked in a first-round bye in the playoffs.
“I think this senior class is just special,” fourth-year Lex head coach Andrew Saris said. “We knew this was going to be a battle and, holy cow, I think we gave the fans a great game.
“Man is (Allen) a player,” the coach added. “Listen, that dude, I would never want to have to tackle him in space, either … When we needed a big play tonight, he was able to come through.”
Lexington trailed 21-16 less than two minutes into the second half, then exploded for four touchdowns in the third quarter – all of them on plays of at least 48 yards as Caudill built on his own epic performance.
The 6-foot-4 senior quarterback and Michigan State recruit passed for 209 yards, ran for 149 more and accounted for four touchdowns.
Caudill’s 48-yard keeper around the right edge was the fourth lead change of the game, putting the Minutemen ahead for good 23-21 with 10:22 left in the third quarter.
With nearly a full half to play, it was the most points Ashland’s vaunted defense had given up in any game all season.
“You don’t get second chances very often,” said Caudill, who was 8-of-10 through the air and had 17 carries and three touchdowns on the ground. “Last year … we went (to Ashland) and we didn’t get it done, but tonight we got a second chance and we got it done for our team.”
Video highlights
(Below are photos taken by Hayden Gray during Friday’s game between the Minutemen and Arrows. The story continues below.)
The Arrows and standout senior quarterback Nathan Bernhard, an Appalachian State recruit, looked to retake the lead midway through the third period. But Allen jumped a route on the left sideline and took the interception 60 yards the other way to make it 29-21.
It was the first interception Bernhard suffered all season – his first in 337 passes since last throwing one in 2024. While the Minutemen missed the PAT for the second time in the game, they were tilting the momentum.
“Our coach, Dalton Fix, all week at practice he preached to us that (Bernhard) hadn’t thrown a pick all year and he wanted us to go get three to five,” said Allen, who intercepted Bernhard again early in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-10 deep ball at the LHS 2-yard line.
But Bernhard and the Arrows answered back quickly when he connected with senior receiver Gabe Baith in the right side of the end zone for a 31-yard score.
“We came out of half, we punched them, they punched us back and it went back and forth,” Bernhard said. “We struggled running the ball, so we really just had to do it in the air tonight.”
Markale Martin intercepted the ensuing two-point pass to keep LHS out front, 29-27, with 3:56 left in the third. Then Allen struck again.
On the next offensive play, the 5-9 senior speedster caught a bubble screen from Caudill and exploded up the right sideline. Allen momentarily slowed down to make a nifty cutback past an Ashland defender, then finished off his 94-yard highlight-reel run for a 36-27 advantage.
The Arrows went three-and-out on their next drive, and Lex began to take its stranglehold, with Caudill showing off his wheels.
The senior broke a tackle, cut toward the left sideline, then scooted away for a 63-yard touchdown run, somehow managing to tip-toe his way up the sideline after an AHS defender tried to shove him out of bounds.
The lead was 43-27, and an Ashland starting defense that hadn’t allowed a second-half point all season had given up 27 in the third quarter alone.
Bernhard looked like he might lead the Arrows to a quick response in the fourth quarter, hitting Killian O’Brien with a 46-yard deep ball to convert a third-and-20 play to the LHS 18-yard line.
But after three incompletions, a bad snap on fourth down forced Bernhard to go into scramble mode, and his jump-ball near the end zone was picked off again by Allen.
The Minutemen drained more than six minutes off the clock after that, aided by a third-down penalty by AHS and a 15-yard reception from Allen (6 catches, 157 yards).
The Ashland defense forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back with 3:38 left and the Lexington fans beginning to chant, “OCC!”
Bernhard connected with Gunner Lacey a few times to set up Baith’s second receiving touchdown from 12 yards out. The QB then hit Baith in the left corner for the two-point pass to make it 43-35 with 1:40 showing.
But Carson O’Brien’s onside kick hopped into the hands of Lexington’s Avery Crawford and the Minutemen were able to drain the clock.
(Below are more photos taken by Hayden Gray during Friday’s game between the Minutemen and Arrows. The story continues below.)
Bernhard finished 25-of-52 passing for 384 yards and three touchdowns, which included a splashy, 67-yard sprint of a score from Dakota Kruty (4 catches, 88 yards) to open the second-half scoring.
Bernhard also ran for touchdowns of 15 and 11 yards in the first half and cleared 10,000 yards of offense for his career in the game. That included breaking the AHS all-time record for passing yards on a 38-yard completion to Baith (10 catches, 148 yards) to end the first half.
But Ashland couldn’t seem to keep up with the revenge-minded Minutemen.
“There were small windows (to pass into) and I had to run around, try to make plays with my legs and make guys miss,” said Bernhard. “We were able to do that for a little bit, but it just wasn’t sustainable.
“We made some mistakes, couldn’t get stops and that was the result.”
Caudill matched Bernhard in plenty of ways throughout the night, adding a 3-yard touchdown run in the first half and overcoming an early interception to Ashland’s Jeff Hickey.
It was a redemption game of major proportions for Caudill, who threw two pick-6’s in Lexington’s 30-21 loss last season at Ashland.
He hit Brayden Fogle with three first-half passes for 43 yards and watched as Martin helped balance out the offense (60 yards on 17 carries).
Lexington kicker Cohen Lautzenhiser also hit a 34-yard field goal in the first half and made four PATs.
“Those pick-sixes (from last season) are ingrained in my brain; I’ll never forget those,” Caudill said. “I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders right there. I hated it. I knew coming into this one I had to get my get-back.”
With the victory, Lexington picked up its 10th consecutive win at home and improved to 16-4 since its 0-3 start to the 2024 season.
The Minutemen, ranked No. 11 in Division III in this week’s Associated Press state poll, will open their postseason on Nov. 7 at home.
“It was a tough game for us last year, for (Ashland) to come away with a win and walk out with that undefeated season banner,” Saris said. “That was ingrained in our mind for 364 days. For us to come through, have this situation and this big of a game, to get that win is huge for us.
“There was never a time when I doubted these kids or doubted it for a moment,” he said. “I’m just really, really proud of them and we’re on to the next one.”
