By DARIN ALLRED

Register Sports Editor



WICHITA FALLS - For the second time in three playoff games, the Lindsay Knights found themselves down in the first half. But each time, they have found a way to come from behind and win.

The Knights trailed the Munday Moguls 13-3 at the half, but scored touchdowns on each of their first four possessions in the second half to come away with a 30-20 win in a Class A Division II regional semifinal playoff at Wichita Falls' Memorial Stadium

Lindsay (12-1) will take on Albany (13-0) in the regional finals this week. Albany downed Muenster 41-0 Friday.

Two weeks ago, the Knights trailed 14-7 late in the second quarter against Cumby. Against Munday, Lindsay scored on their first possession of the game, but fumbles on the first play of each of their next two drives allowed the Moguls control the clock and take a 10-point lead into halftime.

But just like they did two weeks ago, the Knights scored a touchdown to begin the second half and used the momentum to get the win.

But despite the success his team has enjoyed after halftime (outscoring their three playoff opponents 75-9), Lindsay coach Cody Bounds didn’t want to call the Knights a second-half team.

“These kids have a lot of resolve and I’m just proud of them,” Bounds said. “We came out good. I don’t want to say we’re a second-half team. Against Tolar we came out good and finished strong. This team shows a lot of heart.”

Munday started the game with an impressive drive, but they didn’t get any points out of it. The Moguls used a swing pass from Kenyin Thompson to Johnathan Collier for 19 yards and later a 26-yard run by Dee Paul to move all the way down to the Lindsay 15-yard line. But a pass on fourth-and three was too high for a wide open receiver, giving the ball to the Knights.

Lindsay then did their own march down the field. From their own 15, they used passes of 14 and 28 yards from Dax Fleitman to Ross Jones along with several solid runs from Frankie Cornett and Ryan Haverkamp to get a first and goal at the Mogul 9-yard line. But the drive stalled there and the Knights had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Travis Skinner to go up 3-0.

That 13-play drive ate up nearly seven minutes off the clock. As it turned out, Lindsay would run only seven more offensive plays the rest of the half.

On Munday’s next offensive play, Thompson took the shotgun snap at quarterback and scrambled 31 yards to the Lindsay 35. The drive stalled there and on fourth and 12 from the 37, the Moguls tried a fake punt, but Cornett and John Block snuffed it out and stopped Thompson after just a 4-yard gain.

In what would become an alarming trend, the Knights fumbled the ball on the very next play, giving it back to the Moguls at the Knight 40-yard line.

It looked as if Munday was going to score six plays later as Thompson scrambled again and got near the goal line, but just before crossing into the end zone, he lost the ball and it sailed into the hands of Ross Jones in the end zone for a touchback.

But just like the previous drive, Lindsay fumbled on their first play and Munday took over at the Knight 25. This time, they would make Lindsay pay.

Kyler Urbanczyk had an 8-yard run and later Thompson ran in from seven yards to give the Moguls a 7-3 lead with 3:27 remaining before halftime.

A sack on Lindsay’s next possession forced a three-and-out and a punt. Three plays later, Thompson found Paul behind the Knight defense for a 54-yard touchdown. The extra point kick was blocked by Lindsay’s Madison Parkhill, leaving Munday with a 13-3 lead at halftime.

Lindsay got the ball to begin the second half and their offense decided to step up and make a statement. Fleitman hit Jordan Lane on a 19-yard pass play, then followed that with a 14-yard completion to Parkhill to move the ball into Munday territory. A third-and-9 pass to Jones netted seven yards, leaving a fourth-and-two. Haverkamp powered his way for three yards to give the Knights a first down. On the very next play, Josh Mueller found a whole up the middle and raced 15 yards for a touchdown. Skinner's PAT kick was partially blocked and it hit the crossbar, making it 13-9.

The Lindsay defense then forced a three-and-out and the offense worked their magic again. A third down pass from Fleitman to Jones netted 15 yards and moved the chains. The Knights later faced fourth-and-three at the Munday 36, but again Haverkamp muscled his way for four yards and a first down. Block then had a 12-yard run for another first down and later, Robert Arend scored on an 18-yard run to put Lindsay ahead 16-13 with 4 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

As play moved into the fourth quarter, Lindsay finally forced a turnover of their own as Cornett fell on a loose ball at the Mogul 40-yard line.

After a pair of negative running plays, the Knights faced third-and-12, but the Fleitman to Jones connection worked again, this time for 23 yards. Arend followed with a 10-yard run and Lane added nine on his next carry. Cornett was able to get the final yard for the touchdown and Lindsay’s lead grew to 23-13 with 7:40 left in the game.

Munday went three-and-out again on their next possession. Up by just 10 with over five minutes remaining, Lindsay faced third-and-11 from their own 35. But just like every other third-and-long the Knights faced, Fleitman had an answer, this time to Block for 51 yards to move the ball to the Mogul 14. Three plays later, Cornett scored on a 5-yard run to seemingly put the game away at 30-13 with just 3:05 left.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Thompson showed why he is one of the most dangerous Class A players in the state, returning what was supposed to be a pooch kick by Lindsay 67 yards, breaking countless tackles and even having his facemask grasped along the way. The score made it 30-20 with 2:53 left.

Munday's onside kick attempt was recovered by Cornett, who followed with a 12-yard run on Lindsay’s next offensive play. The Knights were able to chew up a little more than a minute before they had to punt. With Haverkamp icing an injured ankle on the sideline, Jones filled in nicely, getting a nice roll on a 50-yard punt down to the 2-yard line. Munday was able to get two first downs, but three-straight incompletions turned the ball back over to Lindsay, who just took a knee to seal the win.

After the game, Coach Bounds praised the play of his defense. 

“I’m proud of my defense,” he said. “The offense came back and played good, but I’m really proud of the defense. That’s a fast offensive team. We just hung in there and hung in there. Even on the touchdown they scored, they had a lineman right by the receiver and they didn’t call it. I wasn't very happy about that, but hey, we won and that's all that matters.”

The Knights, who have been hobbled with injuries all season, had two more players leave the game Friday, but Bounds says his team will just have to press on.

“We have to keep going,” the coach said. “It’s football so that's the way it is. Everybody is banged up, everybody’s hurt, we just have to keep fighting. I’ve got 53 boys in this program, not just 10 or 11, so we’re going to go fight next week against Albany.