LEXINGTON — Two losses in three games to start the season is not what Lexington coach Taylor Gerhardt expected from his veteran team.
But after dropping a 9-7 loss to Norwalk on Friday night, Gerhardt didn’t have far to go to affix blame.
He stopped at the mirror.
“We didn’t play Minuteman football tonight. We have not played Minuteman football yet this season. And that is on me,” the third-year coach said. “We have a very good football team here and we have not played anywhere near our potential.
“We have the horses to get it done. I am not putting our players in the positions they need to succeed.”
In a game devoid of offense, the Truckers (2-1) earned the non-conference win despite gaining just 61 yards of offense, including minus-15 yards rushing.
DEFENSE RULES: The two defenses combined to score nine of the 16 points and set up the game’s only offensive touchdown.
After a punt pinned Lexington deep in its own end, Norwalk took a 2-0 lead when a Minuteman running back slipped in his own end zone for a safety with 3:56 left in the first quarter.
Lexington QB Logan Pfizenmayer tossed three interceptions in the first half, the last of which set Norwalk up on the Minutemen 6-yard line late in the second quarter. Truckers QB Trenten Morrow scored on a 1-yard run to put Norwalk up 9-0 with 1:01 left in the half.
The Lexington defense got on the board in the third quarter. Norwalk’s Brandon Haraway fumbled in his own end zone and Lexington’s T.J. Gerhardt fell on it with 10:15 remaining.
Gerhardt acknowledged his defense played well, but said that was not enough. His offensive line opened few holes and seldom gave Pfizenmayer time to throw.
Senior running back Hunter Biddle, a 1,000-yard rusher last season, was limited to 84 yards on 19 carries. Pfizenmayer completed just 9 of 22 passes for 101 yards and finished with four interceptions.
“Those same players on defense who executed there did not execute on offense,” he said. “We have to learn to play well in all three phases of the game — offense, defense and special teams. We have not played a complete game yet.
“We missed assignments. Norwalk did a good job of being aggressive and stunting and pinching up front and they ran to the ball very well. But we just didn’t execute,” Gerhardt said.
SPECIAL TEAMS ACE: Perhaps the star of the game was senior Norwalk punter Griffin Rinner. All he did was average 48 yards on eight punts, consistently either pinning Lex deep in its own end or at least flipping the field when Norwalk was in its own end.
“That’s a weapon,” Gerhardt said. “How he got it to land and roll the right way every time … if he was doing that on purpose, my hat’s off to him. But there were some of those punts we should have caught, too.”
Norwalk coach Chris McFarland praised Rinner’s work.
“That’s why he is the best punter in the area. He has a real chance (to kick) at the next level. We didn’t play well on offense tonight, but defense and special teams can win a lot of games,” McFarland said.
GUT CHECK TIME: Lexington opens Ohio Cardinal Conference play next week when the Minutemen make the quick trip down Ohio 97 to play Clear Fork.
“We have to face some cold hard facts,” Gerhardt said. “Each one of us has not done the job we need to do in order to be successful. In times like these, you can either lay down and die or you can stand up and fight.
“I challenged each of our coaches and players after the game tonight. I will be here tomorrow at 8 a.m. ready to fight and I have no doubt my team and staff will be there, too.”
