Lyndon storms past Olpe in 31-0 rout
Scott Hayes
Saturday, October 6, 2007
LYNDON — The Lyndon Tigers combined an overpowering defense with timely offensive plays to remain undefeated with a 31-0 shutout Friday night over the Olpe Eagles.
“Our defense was phenomenal,” Lyndon’s Keene Niemack said. “We flew to the ball. Everybody had to swarm to the ball. Some people said people could put some points up on us, but we held them (Olpe) to a shutout.”
The Lyndon and Olpe defenses slugged it out in a scoreless first quarter before the Tigers found some offensive firepower in the second quarter. After the Tigers and Eagles combined to turn it over on downs a combined three times and punt five times through the first quarter and a half, Lyndon (6-0) finally was able to find a crease in Olpe’s defense.
Lyndon quarterback Shea Kirsop pitched out to Niemack on the first play of the Tigers’ second drive of the second quarter. Niemack began to roll to the sideline before he pulled up and found wide receiver Jeremy Testerman running all alone down the sideline for what became a 72-yard touchdown pass.
Lyndon’s defense quickly forced Olpe (3-3) to punt, giving the Tiger offense the ball on its 44-yard line.
Niemack capped the quick 1 minute, 6 second drive on the third play when he cut back into the middle of the field after taking an option pitch and showed off his speed, running in for the 51-yard score.
Olpe was forced to punt on its next possession, giving the Tigers the ball at their own 46-yard line with 1:06 left in the half.
Niemack helped put Lyndon back in the red zone with a 49-yard run on the first play of the drive, which set the Tigers up with a first-and-goal on the Olpe 5-yard line.
Olpe’s defense was able to prevent Lyndon from finding the end zone, but Alex Walsh capped the first-half scoring with a 24-yard field goal as time expired.
As impressive as the Lyndon offense was over the final six minutes of the first half, it was the Tiger defense that dominated Olpe throughout the game. Olpe quarterback Matt Redeker had little to no time in the pocket while running backs Josh Lambert and Cole Krueger saw their running lanes disappear as soon as they opened.
Lyndon held Olpe to 30 yards of offense in the first half and 71 yards for the game, and Testerman picked off two Redeker passes in the third quarter.
Testerman said the Lyndon defense worked all week on its coverages and made it a point to not let people get behind it, adding that the Tigers are getting better at taking care of their individual assignments before looking to help out their teammates.
Testerman said Lyndon coach Rod Stallbaumer encouraged them in between the first and second quarters.
“He (Stallbaumer) said, ‘Don’t give up, just keep working your hardest, stay low and take care of your responsibilities,’” Testerman said.
Kirsop said he believed the defensive line had a great night.
“We just got off the ball faster,” he said. “We just got off the ball faster, was just a tad quicker, had a little more strength, and wore them down in the fourth quarter.”
Lyndon running back Kade Nielson added the only two scores of the second half with touchdown runs of 7 and 11 yards in the third quarter.
Lyndon 31, Olpe 0
Friday at Lyndon
Olpe 0 0 0 0 — 0
Lyndon 0 17 14 0 — 31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Lyndon: Niemack 12-153, TD; Nielson 20-48, 2 TDs; Kirsop 5-4; Bernard Butler 1-2; Alex Walsh 1-(-2). Olpe: Lambert 15-20; Krueger 3-17; Redeker 6-7; Wade Schmidt 2-(-5).
Passing — Lyndon: S. Kirsop 5-9, 130 yards, Int; Niemack 1-1, 72 yards, TD. Olpe: Redeker 4-15, 42 yards, 2 Int.
Receiving — Lyndon: J. Testerman 3-118, TD; Jesse Filburn 1-54; Q. Testerman 1-23; Niemack 2-15.