By MATT FULTZ — For The Independent
RACELAND — Whew!
Raceland survived a fourth quarter rally to defeat Lynn Camp 19-13 Friday in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.
The Wildcats stopped Raceland on a fourth down play to get the ball back on their own 43 with 3:30 remaining in the game.
After nine plays, the Wildcats had managed to move the ball down to the Rams 25 with 30 seconds to play when Raceland’s defense made a season-saving play.
Sam Hieneman stepped in front of the Wildcat receiver and picked off Josh Smith’s pass, sealing the victory for the Rams. It was Hieneman’s second interception of the night.
“I read pass,” said Hieneman. “I saw their guy running a little post route. He raised his hand and the quarterback stared at him the whole time, so I just broke on the ball.”
“Sam has been working so hard all year long,” said Raceland coach Randy Vanderhoof. “Sam made an outstanding play there to help seal the victory for us, and thank goodness.
“Both teams played hard for 48 minutes. That is what the state playoffs are all about,” said Vanderhoof. “We feel very fortunate to come away with the victory against a good Lynn Camp team.”
The Rams got on the board first when Tyler Farley connected with Bobby McKee for a 16-yard score. McKee finished with four catches for 61 yards.
Raceland’s second score came courtesy of another great defensive play, this time by Cody Grant. Grant picked off Wesley Steele’s halfback pass and returned it 36 yards to the end zone to give the Rams a 13-0 halftime advantage.
Raceland’s final score of the game came early in the third quarter when Scotty Craft caught a shovel pass from Farley and took it 24 yards for the score to push the lead to 19-0 with 8:16 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcats would answer with a touchdown on the next possession, a 3-yard run by Tyrone Person, to make it 19-7.
Lynn Camp was able to cut the Raceland lead to six, when Steele broke through the right side of the line and rumbled 35 yards for the touchdown. Steele, who came into the came with more than 1,500 yards rushing, was largely held in check by the Ram defense.
Steele finished with 138 yards on 30 carries, 117 of his yards came in the second half.
Raceland (7-4) relied heavily on the pass as Farley completed 22 of 38 passes for 208 yards. The Rams ran only eight times, including two kneel downs at the end of the game.
Raceland will travel to Campbellsville next week for the second-round game.
