Tigers Edge Lions

Post date: Oct 22, 2012 2:56:56 AM

On Friday night, the Orange Lions continued taking steps in building a football program. While, they fell just short at neighbor and rival Chagrin Falls, the Lions are clearly making progress within their football program. Despite playing at the highly-ranked Tigers' home field, in less than ideal conditions, the Lions used all 3 phases of the game to pounce on the Tigers to hold the lead into the 2nd quarter. Orange started the game kicking off to the Tigers, but recovered a squib kickoff. After a near-miss on a big trick play, the Lions had to punt. Orange's defense showed that they were up for a fight by forcing a quick Tigers punt. Orange turned the ball over on a strip-sack play deep in Lions territory, which led to a Chagrin touchdown.

After receiving the kickoff, Senior WR/RB Chad Sonkin led the Lions on a 11-play 74 yard drive that ended with a Colton Kaufman field goal. The ensuing Lion kickoff looked a lot like the first one of the game, as Orange recovered a short kick. The Lions cashed in big on this drive with a 16 yard TD catch and run by Senior Chris Wilson.

The Lions kicked off again, and recovered their third-straight kickoff! They would settle for another Kaufman field goal and a 13-7 lead against the heavily-favored Tigers. Scoring would stop until the 2:40 mark in the second quarter as both defenses held firm. Chagrin reclaimed the lead 14-13 at that point and took the lead into halftime.

The 2nd half saw both offenses move the ball across the field, but both defenses did not break. Chagrin added two field goals while the Lions could not get close enough for points.

The final score ended up 22-13 after a Chagrin punt forced the Lions to concede a late safety.

Chagrin Falls might have celebrated their narrow victory, but the Lions left the field inspired and determined to continue closing the gap on their rivals. In summing up what we can learn from this game, Head Coach Adam Bechlem noted that, among other improvements, the Lions have shown that they "learned how to compete and have forgotten how to give up!" This is a valuable step for any football program!