Gordon Lee’s offense stymied by Christian Heritage

On a night when the Christian Heritage offense sometime struggled to find a rhythm, the Lions’ defense more than took up the slack.

Christian Heritage held Gordon Lee to just 119 yards of offense, came up with five turnovers and scored a pair of defensive touchdowns in a 43-0 shutout victory over the Trojans at Billy Neil Ellis Stadium.

After taking the opening kickoff, Gordon Lee marched downfield, aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the Lions. But two straight sacks - one by Trey Kruse and one by Duane Jones - forced the Trojans into third-andlong from their own 23. The Lions then got pressure on quarterback Hunter Hodson and appeared to hit him just as the ball was released, causing it to hang up in the air.

Zach Gentry came down with the errant throw at his own 8-yard line and proceeded to race 92 yards for the touchdown that set the tone for the night. Joe Dixon, who was 4-of-5 on extra points, made it 7-0 with 5:51 left in the opening stanza.

Two plays later, the Lions forced another fumble, which was recovered by Ben Williamson at the Gordon Lee 26. A 21-yard burst by Gentry set up Solomon Locke’s 5-yard scoring run, increasing the lead to 14-0.

Gentry would pick off Hodson again just two plays into the Trojans’ ensuing possession, although the Lions missed a chance to add to the lead as a 43-yard field goal attempt by Dixon hit off the crossbar. But after forcing a short punt, Christian Heritage went 39 yards in five plays as Gage Leonard scored on a 13-yard run to up the Lions’ advantage to 21-0 with 9:12 left in the first half.

Disaster would strike the Trojans on the ensuing kickoff return as they fumbled trying to catch the Lions off-guard with a reverse handoff. Christian Heritage would pounce on the ball at the 7-yardline, but had to settle for a 21-yard Dixon field goal and the Lions went into halftime up 24-0.

The visitors got a long kick return by Gentry to open the second half, setting up the offense at the Trojans’ 30. Evan Lester would pick up a first down on a tough 1-yard run to keep the drive going and he would be rewarded three plays later, getting the call from the 1-yardline. The point after would be missed.

Williamson’s second sack of the evening helped thwart the Trojans’ next drive and after forcing another turnover on downs, the Lions marched 71 yards in 12 plays, aided by a 15-yard penalty on Gordon Lee. Leonard would stick it in the endzone from three yards out with 9:15 left to play, while Dixon’s PAT would make it 37-0 and institute a running clock the rest of the way.

However, the Lions’ defense had one more play in them as Kruse recovered a Gordon Lee fumble in the endzone for the final six points of the night with just 1:10 remaining.

Christian Heritage had 164 yards rushing on 38 attempts, while Locke accounted for nearly half of that, picking up 81 yards on 14 attempts. Gentry added 45 yards on the ground, while Leonard had 42. Quarterback Matthew Neff was just 5-of-11 in the air for 49 yards.

Hodson was 6- of- 11 passing for 49 yards for the Trojans, while Tucker Miller led the ground game with 31 yards on five carries. Brody Cobb added a sack for the Gordon Lee defense.

Gordon Lee (2-7, 1-5) will host St. Francis (4-5) in a Region 6-A crossover game in the regular season finale. Officials announced on Monday of this week that the game would be played at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1.