With Bye Week Behind, New Lexington Looking to Make Week Twelve Statement

NEW LEXINGTON, OH – After a week off to start its playoff run, New Lexington is itching to go for week twelve, even after a week’s worth of rest. The number one team in region 15 of Division IV used the bye week wisely as a bridge between the regular season and playoffs.

“For us personally, we wanted the bye week just to be able to get healthy” says head coach Kevin Board. “Every team in the state right now has guys beat up and banged up, just because you’re playing a ten week season, with two scrimmages before that.”

Now that the MVL small school champions and number one seed in their region have patiently waited for week twelve, they are busy preparing for a familiar foe in Fairfield Union.

Board continues, “We really just focused last week on our fundamentals. This week, we’re just really focused on Fairfield Union, what they do offensively, defensively, and special teams.”

After a 26-6 week one win over the Falcons, ‘New Lex’ is confident that round two will follow suit, even if it is some two and a half months following the first encounter.

“Knowing that we get to go out there, play some football, it’s pretty exciting” says junior quarterback Lane Ratliff, who threw for over 200 yards and two touchdowns in the victory back in August. “The week one matchup with Fairfield Union, we know what they are going to do, but they changed a lot. It’s pretty exciting to go out there and just be able to play them again.”

Another two touchdown scorer from week one is senior running back Paul Stenson, who knows what the Panthers will rely on in week twelve.

“Both teams will evolve. I feel like we are going to be the dominant team as we come out, as we’ve came out every game, being a dominant team in the trenches and just running all over teams. We’re all ready to play, ready to get after it, and ready to actually hit someone.”

Nobody knows that more than the guys up front doing the dirty work for the talented Panthers back field, something that fills senior lineman Tristan Braden with a great deal of pride.

“Not just me, all the guys up front, we love running the football” states Braden. “I mean, if we’re running the football, we don’t have to pass. Can’t stop it, just keep doing it, I love it.”

In other words, if it’s not broken, why fix it? There is hardly much to fix anyways for a team which boasted the best record in the MVL this season, for either division. Now, New Lexington gets its first crack at postseason play when the top-ranked Panthers host number eight Fairfield Union on Friday night.

Kickoff is at seven p-m, with pregame getting the action started at 6:30 on Highway 103.