Sylvan-Lucas Mauls South Barber in Playoff Opener
Jaxson Heenan and Geriun Boor combined for 310 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns as the Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs ran away and hid from South Barber for a 74-24 road victory in the opening round of the 8-Man Division ll Playoffs Friday evening.
The Chieftains received the opening kickoff and drove quickly into Mustang territory to start the game. A golden opportunity to seize early momentum literally slipped through South Barber's fingers when Caden Rathgeber dropped a sure touchdown pass before the Chieftains turned the ball over on downs moments later.
From there, Sylvan-Lucas got on a roll as Boor, the Sophomore Fullback scored on touchdown runs of 42 and 11 yards to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. South Barber cut the lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Quarterback Gatlin Jewell to Rathgeber.
Heenan, the Junior Quarterback who returned to action after missing two weeks with an injury, scored three touchdowns in a row as the Mustang lead swelled to 34-6 with 1:54 left before halftime. After Jewell and Rathgeber connected again this time from eight yards out to make the score 34-12, Dayton Couse ran the ensuing kickoff back 75 yards for a touchdown allowing Sylvan-Lucas to lead 40-12 at intermission.
Boor sandwiched touchdowns from 32 and 37 yards out around another Jewell touchdown pass and Heenan added a three-yard run increasing the margin to 60-18 after three quarters. After Jewell tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the night, and the third to Rathgeber on the first play of the fourth quarter, Heenan closed out the scoring with runs of two yards and one yard, the latter ending the game with under four minutes left and providing the final score of 74-24.
South Barber's defense which had been porous all season could not stop the Mustang rushing attack. Heenan registered 159 yards on 25 carries with six touchdowns while Boor ran for 151 yards on 13 carries and four touchdowns. The Mustangs as a team rushed for 411 yards and collected 23 first downs while Sylvan-Lucas' defense forced three turnovers and held the Chieftains (5-4) to 236 total yards.
Sylvan-Lucas (7-2) advances into the second round of the 8-Man Division ll Playoffs for the third consecutive year. After facing Osborne in that round in 2018 and 2019, they will have a rematch with Victoria (9-0) on November 6 in Victoria. The Knights who blasted Norwich 54-6 in their postseason opener Thursday night defeated Sylvan-Lucas 52-22 in their first meeting this season on September 25.