Gordon Lee’s offense stymied by Dade County
Gordon Lee produced the first fireworks on Friday night, but it would be homestanding Dade County who set off the most charges.
The flares exploded high over Magic Morgan Stadium on each of their three first-half touchdowns and the Wolverines held the Trojans out of the endzone in the second half to preserve a 21-12 decision in a season-opening contest in Trenton.
Dade County ran just six more plays than Gordon Lee, but had over five times as many yards (339-64). Still, the Wolverines needed a redzone stop in the latter stages of the fourth quarter to finally help seal the win.
“I tip my hat (to Dade),” Gordon Lee head coach Josh Groce said. “They did a great job. Sometimes that’s the bad thing about the first game of the season. (Dade) came out and showed some stuff we haven’t worked on and haven’t seen. We were in bad position a lot of times and we just have to get better.”
Receiving the opening kickoff, Gordon Lee junior Nate Dunfee fielded the kick at his own 20-yard line, broke to his right, reached the corner untouched and hit the afterburners for an electrifying 80-yard touchdown that brought fans in the visitors’ bleachers to their feet. The extra point was blocked.
Most of the rest of the half, however, belong to the home team.
Dade County (1-0) responded with a 65-yard drive, keyed by a 31-yard run by quarterback Brody Cooper after Cooper was flushed out of the pocket on a fourth-and-11 play from the Trojans’ 39-yard line. Cayden Cooper got in from five yards out just two plays later as the Wolverines went up 7-6 midway through the first quarter.
After forcing the Trojans to punt, Dade clicked off a seven-play, 87-yard march that ended with Cayden Cooper being given credit for a 13-yard TD run with just 25 seconds left in the period, despite vehement protests from the Gordon Lee sideline that Cooper fumbled the ball prior to breaking the plane of the goal.
Three plays later, the Wolverines made it 21-6 on a defensive score. Gordon Lee quarterback Kade Cowan scrambled, but was hit
in the backfield, jarring the ball free. Cornerback Everett Christiansen was in the right place at the right time to grab the loose pigskin out of mid-air and rumble 32 yards to increase Dade’s lead.
Gordon Lee (0-1) answered with its bestsustained drive of the night. After falling on an onside kick attempt near midfield, the Trojans ran 10 straight times and picked up four first downs before Dunfee went around left end for a five-yard score. Conner Whitman had five carries for 27 yards on the drive and collected two first downs.
The Trojans attempted a 2-point conversion, but Dunfee was brought down at the line of scrimmage and the game would eventually go into halftime with Dade in front by nine. And that’s the way it would stay.
The teams exchanged six punts to start the third, the last being a 55-yarder by Montgomery Kephart that was downed at the Wolverines’ 17-yard line with just over seven minutes to play in the game.
Needing a big play on defense, Gordon Lee got one as Chandler Brown forced a fumble by Kaden Moore which was pounced on by Brodie Genter and the Trojans took over at the Dade 23. A third-down roughing-the-passer call, along with a Dade County pass interference penalty, gave the Trojans first-and-goal at the 10, but the drive would ultimately end with a sack and an incomplete pass as the home team took over with 3:14 to go.
Cayden Cooper would finish things off for Dade County with six straight runs, including an 11-yarder on third-and-3 from the Wolverines’ 16-yard line and a 23-yard burst one snap later to effectively seal the victory.
Cooper finished with 161 yards on 22 carries. Brody Cooper had 67 yards on 11 carries and Cody Williams picked 52 yards on eight carries, while Brody Cooper was 4 of 6 passing for 58 yards.
Whitman had a team-high 29 yards on 13 attempts, while Dunfee had 21 yards on 12 carries before leaving midway through the fourth quarter due to severe cramping, something that plagued the Trojans most of the warm, humid night, much to Groce’s dismay. Cowan was just 1 of 4 passing, making his only connection of the night with Penn Askew for 17 yards.
Askew led the defense with a dozen tackles. Holt Roberts collected six tackles and one assist. Hunter Stephens had a sack for Gordon Lee and Kephart had four punts for 40.3-yard average, including two kicks downed inside the Wolverines’ 20-yard line.
LFO will be up next for the Trojans this coming Friday night in Gordon Lee’s home opener. The Warriors were scheduled to play cross-county rival Heritage on Friday, but the Generals were forced to cancel the game due to COVID-related issues. The Trojans have won their last two over the Warriors, including a 29-15 victory at LFO last year.