Staff writer
In a game with 110 points of total offense, the Peabody Burns High School football team came out on top with a victory over Lebo on Thursday at home. The Warriors earned the 62-48 win and advanced to play Rock Hills at Mankato on Tuesday.
PBHS needed only one play to put up six points on a 60-yard run by Tommy Morris from the Warrior 20-yard line. Seth Topham caught a Hunter Pickens pass for the conversion. Just seconds into the contest, the Warriors took the 8-0 lead.
Lebo also had a successful first possession, scoring a touchdown on an eight-play, 65-yard drive. The conversion was stopped but with 8 minutes, 1 second on the clock, the Warrior lead was cut to two.
Three series later, a 52-yard Braxton Kyle punt set up the next Warrior score. Kyle and Lucas Larsen teamed up for a first-down tackle. A second-down sack by Larsen, with help from brother Keifer Larsen, pushed Lebo back to their 4-yard line. On third-and-15, the Wolves fumbled but recovered in the end zone. Morris made the tackle for the safety. With 2:23 left in the first, PBHS added two points and led 10-6.
The next drive included an 18-yard Christian Gard rush and 11-yard pass completion from Pickens to Topham. Gard finished the drive with a 22-yard run to the right side of the end zone. The conversion pass failed but PBHS led 16-6 with 1:16 left in the first.
More than 10 minutes ticked away in the contest before PBHS added another touchdown. Morris, Gard, Pickens, and Topham all had rushing attempts and combined to advance the ball 30 yards. Pickens connected with Topham for the 24-yard passing score. The conversion failed. The Warriors were up 22-6 with 2:09 left in the second quarter.
Lebo offense had little chance to move the ball before a Topham interception halted them at their own 20-yard line. A first-down catch by Topham set up first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. A keeper by Pickens added six points. Kyle caught the two-point conversion pass. PBHS led 30-6 with 1:16 left in the half.
Three plays later the Wolves earned their second score of the contest. On third-and-10 at the Warrior 37, Lebo connected on a passing touchdown. The subsequent conversion made the score 30-14 at halftime.
First half defensive plays were made by Xavier Jabary, Morris, Kyle, Lucas Larsen, Keifer. Larsen, Topham, Jayden Miller and Clayton Philpott.
The Lebo offense was held to 9 yards in the first series of the third quarter. Kyle, Keifer Larsen, Miller, Philpott, and Lucas Larsen each recorded defensive stops. A punt by the Wolves from the Lebo 24-yard line was returned by Morris to the Warriors’ 36.
A first-down rush by Gard gained 13 yards. Pickens moved the sticks to the Wolves 21 on a quarterback keeper. Pickens connected with Topham in the end zone on the next play for the touchdown. No conversion was added but PBHS led 36-14 with 7:40 on the clock in the third quarter.
The Wolves’ offense responded with a scoring drive that started at their 26-yard line and ended with a 17-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion was added. The Warrior lead was 36-22 with 4:29 left in the third.
Each offense had a series that ended in a punt before the PBHS put together a drive that started late in the third. The drive began at the Warriors’ 15 and included pass receptions by Gard and Topham. It ended with a Pickens 3-yard pass to Morris in the end zone. The conversion pass was unsuccessful. With 8:44 left in the contest, the Warriors were up, 42-22.
Seconds later, a 59-yard pass completion put six more points on the board for Lebo. The conversion run was stopped. The score with 8:29 on the clock still favored the Warriors, 42-28.
The PBHS offense was stopped midfield on the next drive. Kyle’s fourth-down punt landed at the Lebo 14-yard line.
Lebo moved the ball 13 yards before a Miller sack caused a Lebo fumble. Keifer Larsen recovered and the PBHS offense regained the ball at the Wolves 17. On first down, a Pickens keeper gained 9 yards. On second-and-1 at the 7, Kyle pushed through the middle of the line for the touchdown. The PAT failed but the Warriors led, 48-28, with 5:25 left to play.
In less than a minute, the Wolves added a score and a conversion. The 50-yard drive added eight but the Warriors maintained the 48-36 lead with 4:32 left in the contest.
A short Lebo onside kick set up the Warriors’ offense at midfield. Three keepers by Pickens set up a first-and-10 attempt at the Wolves 29. Pickens added one more keeper on the drive for the touchdown. Kyle added two on the conversion. PBHS led 56-36 with 3:32 left in the game.
Two downs into the next Lebo drive, Topham picked off a Wolves pass to give the ball back to the PBHS squad at the Wolves 28-yard line.
Kyle had four rushes on the drive that ended in the end zone with a 14-yard rush on second-and-10. The conversion failed.
With one minute left in the contest, PBHS had the lead 62-36.
Lebo added a score with 19 seconds left on a pass from the Warrior 12-yard line. The score was 62-42.
A successful onside kick gave the ball back to the Wolves. With 6 seconds left in the contest, a long pass and jump ball in the end zone resulted in a touchdown for Lebo, but PBHS defeated Lebo 62-48.
Pickens was 16-for-24 for 231 yards passing. He also had 24 rushes for 150 yards. Topham had 11 catches for 188 yards. He also recorded two interceptions. Morris had two receptions for 11 yards and three rushes for 66 yards. Kyle had two catches for 30 yards and six rushes for 37 yards. Gard ran the ball five times for 46 yards and caught one pass for 2 yards. Philpott had one rush for 2 yards.
Morris led the defense with 12 tackles. Larsen followed with 11 and Kyle added 10. Jabary recorded six tackles and Keifer Larsen and Topham had four each. Brooks Hodges, Pickens, and Miller each had one.
Rock Hills 72, PBHS 26
In the state football playoffs on Tuesday, PBHS lost to Rock Hills, 72-26. The game was called with 7:35 remaining in the fourth quarter on account of the 45-point mercy rule.