The Cedarville Pirates traveled down I-40 Friday evening to open conference play against the Lamar Warriors. After both teams cruised to a 3-0 non-conference start, this was the first true test for each squad.
Up to this point, Cedarville and Lamar had dominated the ground game against their opponents which left a lot of anticipation leading up to this game.
Lamar was quick to put points on the board with their first drive of the game taking the lead 7-0. The Pirates would find end zone pay dirt with their third drive of the ballgame on a long run by Darryl Kattich to move the score to 7-6.
The Pirates forced the Warrior offense to punt their next two possessions before the Warriors added another touchdown on their fourth drive of the game to go up 14-6. That score did not stay long as the quick hitting Pirates found pay dirt again just before the half on a long run up the middle by Kelin Mitchell to move the score to 14-12.
Lamar started the second half with a ground pounding, time management drive that chewed up 7 minutes and 41 seconds off of the clock leading to their third touchdown of the evening to go up 21-12.
Following that drive, the Pirates Defense dropped the anchor, ending further fireworks for the Warrior offense. The Pirates would find the end zone on their next two possessions by running back Kelin Mitchell and quarterback Calloway Henslee to take the lead 24-21.
The Pirates Defense forced two turnovers on the Warriors last two possessions which led to the Pirates lining up in victory formation to run the clock out.
The Cedarville Pirates improve to 4-0 on the season, 1-0 in conference play and will host the Charleston Tigers, Friday, October 4, at 7:00pm.
